Dogs In A Pile

Still looks like a 7-5 team to me. Missing a few pieces and lack of depth. Iowa wins the West. NU finishes 4th.

After back-to-back 4-8 seasons I have a hard time seeing how they warrant a top 20 rating this year. Especially considering the lack of a standout RB, depth at WR and a questionable OL. Plus the defense is a concern overall IMHO with some big holes in the back 8. I'll be happy if they can pull off a 7-5 season and just get to a bowl.

Between the big question marks at RB, WB, TE & a chronically mediocre OL. Plus a D I wouldn't count on to save our bacon in the tough games and some very questionable special teams play I'm thinking 7-5. And would be pretty happy if they can hit that. Still a few years away from being back even if the staff can continue to ramp up the recruiting IMHO.

24/7 came out with their B1G O/U predictions today. As noted in the article, they are guessing where Vegas will start the odds at later this spring. Nothing too surprising I guess. 24/7 Total Win Projections They have DONU at 6.5 wins which pretty much falls in line with the 7-5 season I'm predicting at this point. OSU, Mich. & PSU at the top.

I'm hoping to see improvement next year and the schedule appears to be more favorable but a lock for a preseason top 25? Not sure how that is realistic, especially losing Divine & Stanley on O and seeing the D struggle like they did most of the year. They need upgrades at more positions than you can count. Not to mention, as improved as they were, they still ended up 4-8. I'd have a hard time even thinking about ranking them top 25 preseason.

Nebraska - 20 Iowa - 31 Rushing - 138 Passing - 171

The weather at several games this year sucked. Hope it averages out next year. MSU has a great run D and with the weather not much chance to pass much. They pursue tenaciously and don't miss many tackles when they get there. Fox sucks IMHO. Several important close plays during the game didn't even bother to get a replay. At least Beth wasn't commenting.

MSU - 20 NU -16 Rushing - 87 Passing - 183

Didn't have to worry about it much since you were lucky to get 1 regular season game a year back then. For a long time the max. a team could be on TV for regular season games was 3 times in any 2 year period. Got to listen to Lyell Bremser on KFAB. In an odd way, I really miss those days. Lots of great memories. Oh, big screen in the stadium? Kind of miss those days too when the fans were focused on the game itself and not some grand overreaching entertainment experience that ends up being a nonstop commercialized barrage of advertisements. Games back then had a flow to them that the modern game lacks with more football and way less dead time. Games were generally in the 2 1/2 hour range, not the 3 1/2 hours we have now even with the clock stopping and staying stopped when the ball carrier went out of bounds.

Illinois - 35 Nebraska - 45 Rushing - 304 Passing - 254

I learned I'm horrible at predicting the outcome of games which is why I don't gamble. And for being 2-7 I'm not really upset and have very good feeling things are going in the right direction pronto. Even though it was a loss I was proud of the way the team played and fought to the end. Maybe not next year, but in the not too distant future, HCSF is going have them in the conf. champ. game on a fairly consistent basis I'm confident. The offense is already lethal and as they continue to add skill players that fit the system and beef up the OL I only see it soaring higher. Defense has taken huge strides since the first few games. Still a long way to go but it is so nice to see improvement as the year progresses. I still think we are down on talent in at several, if not most, positions and lack depth most everywhere, not just on D. Whatever it takes they have to get the special teams fixed in the off season. Even playing just average ST play would look great right now. This will continue to be a source that contributes to losses until fixed. I'm sure HCSF will formulate a plan to fix this huge weak spot.

Well, better to find out now rather than on NSD. Too bad, I really think he could have been a star in Frost's offense. But at least we are used to this type of thing happening so it doesn't come as much of a surprise.

I heard this on a podcast in the last week or two but don't remember who reported it. Might have been Callahan. Three times was the number they mentioned. Worse than missing the nice locker room I would think having to dress with all the 5th stringers and walk-ons who will probably never see the field would be pretty humiliating if you were vying for playing time or a starter. Definite step in the right direction.

I'd be pretty happy if we could keep it to 21 points. But I have a feeling that it could turn into a pretty bad embarrassing beat-down with the way out defense has performed up to this point this year.

NU - 31 OSU - 63 Rushing - 189 Passing - 234