ESPN predicts we win 8.3 games.

[fishwater99]

https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/27461638/college-football-conference-previews-storylines-using-sp+

3rd in West and 6th in he SEC.

Thoughts?

 

[Nunya.sixpack]

wonder how they think we will do in chemistry.
they've likely confused us with someone else, as usual.

 

[Dawgzilla]

I would love to win 4.5 conference games!

 

[patdog]

I think SP+ is mostly ******** number crunching, but 8 wins is about right.

 

[QuadrupleOption]

I think SP+ is mostly ******** number crunching, but 8 wins is about right.

I can see 9 if things fall right but 8 is a good pick.

 

[57stratdawg]

Seems high

 

[Drebin]

I hope we get that .3 game against Bama. Would be a tremendous moral victory.

 

[GloryDawg]

I figure we start with 7 minimum then move up.

The seven are:
four OOC
KY- At home and they lost a lot of key guys.
Ole Miss- at home and they suck.
Arkansas- how much better will they be?

Next up
Auburn
A&M
Tenn
LSU

Could win two of those and that gets you to nine wins.

I can see 8.3 as a projection.

 

[IBleedMaroonDawg]

I think 8 is a safe number. We have a lot of questions but we also have a great deal of experience in our squad. Yes, we have lost defensive talent but we have very few spots where our two-deep is solid.

Experienced OL. Solid RB and TE starters.

IF Tommy and our receivers can just play dependable ball we make 8 wins. If they really gel, me might surprise everyone.

BTW, looking down the other conference projections, the 8.8 projection for Miami makes me wonder what they are smoking.

 

[dorndawg]

Hope they are right, I'm afraid 8 is our ceiling. I'm a pessimistic 6-6, our schedule is rough.

 

[Drebin]

Hope they are right, I'm afraid 8 is our ceiling. I'm a pessimistic 6-6, our schedule is rough.

I don't see this at all.

Sure wins: La-Laf, Southern Miss, Kansas State, Abilene Christian
Likely wins: Arkansas, Ole Miss
Probable Wins: Kentucky, Tennessee
Toss ups: Auburn, LSU, A&M
Likely loss: Alabama

I don't see how we don't get to 8 wins, unless we have some significant injuries or something catastrophic.

 

[dorndawg]

I'll happily eat crow if wrong.

Sure wins: La-Laf, Southern Miss, Abilene Christian
Likely wins:
Probable Wins: Kansas State, Kentucky, Arkansas
Toss ups: Auburn, Tennessee, Ole Miss (this game is always a toss up)
Likely loss: Alabama, LSU, A&M,

 

[johnson86-1]

I don't see this at all.

Sure wins: La-Laf, Southern Miss, Kansas State, Abilene Christian
Likely wins: Arkansas, Ole Miss
Probable Wins: Kentucky, Tennessee
Toss ups: Auburn, LSU, A&M
Likely loss: Alabama

I don't see how we don't get to 8 wins, unless we have some significant injuries or something catastrophic.

I think if our DT's are really a problem, that gives a lot of opportunities for upsets. If we have to sell out to keep people from punching us up the gut for 4 yards a carry as the game drags on and we get tired, then our margin for error shrinks alot.

If we lose to UT or UK, I think this will be part of the story of what happens. That might be the entire story with UT, probably would need to be combined with turnover issues with UK. I think if we don't get to 7 wins, it will be because of something catastrophic or we will know we have a coaching problem.

All that said, I am expecting us to go 8-4 and will be disappointed if we don't get at least 8, but I don't think it's a given.

 

[patdog]

More like this:

Sure wins: La-Laf, Southern Miss, Abilene Christian
Likely wins: Kansas State, Arkansas, Mississippi
Probable Wins: Kentucky, Tennessee
Toss ups: None
Not favored, but could win: Auburn, LSU, A&M
Likely loss: Alabama

We'll probably wind up losing 1 we should win, and winning 1 of the 3 we're underdogs in, so 8 wins.

 

[Diggin Out Yo Wife]

I think SP+ is mostly ******** number crunching, but 8 wins is about right.

Why? Bill C is usually pretty accurate. Of course, his numbers showed we were supposed to be an 8-win team last year, so that rubs a lot of our fans the wrong way, considering it's a piece of evidence supporting Moorhead's 2018 record.

 

[Drebin]

More like this:

Sure wins: La-Laf, Southern Miss, Abilene Christian
Likely wins: Kansas State, Arkansas, Mississippi
Probable Wins: Kentucky, Tennessee
Toss ups: None
Not favored, but could win: Auburn, LSU, A&M
Likely loss: Alabama

I believe all three of those are true toss ups. LSU is at home and we've played them well recently. If we are improved offensively that will be a good game. A&M, we've beaten three times in a row, and the games haven't been particularly close. Auburn, we usually struggle with them on the road but they have a lot of question marks this year.

 

[The Peeper]

Translated that means we're winning after 3 quarters and then there's a phantom interference call in the endzone or a receiver goes out of bounds and comes back in and makes the game winning catch. Sound familiar?

 

[MSUDC11]

I think there is a realistic chance for this year to go like we thought last year was going to go and we find ourselves in the 9-10 win range. Last offseason I don't recall many questions about how well Fitz would mesh with Joe's offense, many people were actually concerned about Shoop coming off his stint at Tennessee. Obviously the defense was nothing to be concerned about but the offense definitely was. This year I get the sense that people are skeptical about the offense but feel confident in our defense save one position (DT).

If Stevens delivers (I'm not talking Heisman candidate good, just need him to be a quality SEC QB) then this offense could be a lot of fun. Defensively we'll take a step back and perhaps even have some games where we give up 30-40 points, but we should still be competent on that side of the ball.

As others have said, there is only one game on our schedule that is a sure loss. You can make a case for us to win every other one. I think it's highly unlikely we go 11-1, but I would not totally rule out 9-3 or 10-2. Auburn and Tennessee could be very mediocre football teams or worse, so it's possible that we don't even need to be that great to win those games. Do that and take care of business in the "should win" games, and you're looking no more than three losses before you factor in winnable games against A&M and LSU.

That said, I still have us going 8-4 because 1. I think Auburn will be good and very tough for us to beat on their home field and 2. I think we beat LSU or A&M but lose to Tennessee or another team we are expecting to beat. But I can totally wrap my head around this being a really good year for us. To be fair, I don't think you can rule out 6-6 or 7-5 either.

It all depends on how good Stevens is in this offense and how big of a drop off we have on defense.

 

[Junction John]

Dear Dead Injuns:

unless we have some significant injuries or something catastrophic.

Just a reminder that we did lose 80 games of player eligibility this year... I'm sure Drebin forgot the sarcasterisks. He was just kidding. Don't take this as a challenge, please.

 

[Willow Grove Dawg]

**Let's just cancel the Bama game & call it a tie**