Your Predictions For The West

[NoLongerN]

This season reminds me of T-ball.  You can't ask for a better set-up.  I suppose there will be some arguments made about "if only", but again, it's a T-ball schedule.  You can't ask for an easier schedule to go 10-2 or 9-3.  Going 6-6 will affirm everything from this skeptic, yet, I believe he will be retained if he hits that [perhaps less].

[JJ Husker]

10 hours ago, The Dude said:

 

If we're going to fire him for winning twice as many games as last year what was point of keeping him at all?  

 

Why keep him to see if he can get things moving in the right direction only to fire him the instant it starts moving in the right direction?

I totally get what you’re saying. The problem is, he shouldn’t have been retained after last season. He’d checked all the boxes of being let go at that point. So yeah, winning twice as many games as last year, and let’s be honest that’s still a pretty low bar, might not be enough for another year. And yes, that would be the most Nebraska thing ever.

 

I don’t think it comes to that however. If he wins twice as many Trev will keep him. They remember the optics of Frank.

[suh_fan93]

I’m not sure how one goes about predicting a team like this with so many new puzzle pieces on both sides but the SF factor is still the constant so I can still see one of the big reasons for the 5th place prediction.

[Dr. Strangelove]

1. Wisconsin - The best and most consistent team in the West.

2. Purdue - A team with a good Quarterback and coach, with a very favorable schedule. 

3. Iowa - consistent but lacks offensive firepower. A more difficult crossover schedule prevents them from finishing higher.

4. Minnesota - Decent head coach and solid pieces. Has a chance to upset Iowa or Wisconsin to finish higher.

T-5th - Illinois - Difficult schedule but they return a pretty good RB. They've beat Nebraska two years in a row. I hope that ends this season. 

T-5th: Nebraska - Extremely favorable schedule but because Frost can't develop players, we're going into the most favorable schedule in years after hitting the reset button on offense. Could finish with any record between 3-9 and 9-3. I think they go 6-6.

7 - Northwestern. They'll be better than last year but it'll be tough sledding for them. 

[BigRedBuster]

23 minutes ago, suh_fan93 said:

I’m not sure how one goes about predicting a team like this with so many new puzzle pieces on both sides but the SF factor is still the constant so I can still see one of the big reasons for the 5th place prediction.

True.

 

If Nebraska wants more respect in the preseason polls, they need to start proving they deserve it.  I think they will be higher than this.  But, I'm a fan and am usually optimistic towards the team this time of year.  Someone outside the fan base has no reason to place them higher right now.

[Red Five]

49 minutes ago, JJ Husker said:

They remember the optics of Frank.

 

The optics now compared to 2003 are 180 degrees different.

 

Firing a coach that goes 6-6 to bring his 5 year record to 21 and 35 is a whole hell of a lot different than firing a coach that went 9-3  to bring his 6 year record to 58-19.

[JJ Husker]

12 minutes ago, Red Five said:

 

The optics now compared to 2003 are 180 degrees different.

 

Firing a coach that goes 6-6 to bring his 5 year record to 21 and 35 is a whole hell of a lot different than firing a coach that went 9-3  to bring his 6 year record to 58-19.

I’m not saying it’s the exact same thing. But, if Frost does go 6-6 thereby doubling his previous win total (which BTW is still unacceptable with this schedule imo) and he were to get fired, the situations would be somewhat similar in that both coaches should’ve been fired the year prior to when they were.

 

That is why I think retaining SF was maybe ill advised. It set us up for needing to accept mediocrity for another year or two. I realize Trev’s clock doesn’t start until he makes a HC change so I understand why SF is still here. 5, 6, 7 wins playing in the B1G West with the usual 2 minimum noncon patsies should be the worst we should ever accept and they sure shouldn’t pile up year after year.

[admo]

The good news is we will win at least 8 this year (my money on it), and HCSF will be ok.  Win-Win all around.  Then, just got to keep it going the following year and so on. 

 

I'm serious, I really think the Huskers are going to have a great season.  

[JJ Husker]

59 minutes ago, admo said:

The good news is we will win at least 8 this year (my money on it), and HCSF will be ok.  Win-Win all around.  Then, just got to keep it going the following year and so on. 

 

I'm serious, I really think the Huskers are going to have a great season.  

My heart agrees. Unfortunately I’ve felt this way each of the past 4 years so to prevent disappointment I have to go with my head which says, fool me once or twice or thrice, shame on them, but a fourth or fifth time, shame on me.

[teachercd]

3 hours ago, Micheal said:

1) Wisconsin

2) Iowa

3) Nebraska

4) Purdue

5) Minnesota

6) Northwestern

7) Illinois

 

Purdue could be a surprise with their schedule. 

 

Also I hope Nebraska wins the West, the conference, and the Natty. hahah

If PU gets beat at home by PSU in their opener...they will have a crappy season.

[Husker in WI]

2 minutes ago, teachercd said:

If PU gets beat at home by PSU in their opener...they will have a crappy season.

 

I think they could recover from that. If they lose to Minny or Maryland before us they'll be reeling though. I'm skeptical of Purdue - I don't expect the defense to be as good this year, and they don't have a legit #1 receiver for the first time in a while. I don't think Iowa's offensive philosophy was the only thing holding back Tyrone Tracy and Charlie Jones.

[Guy Chamberlin]

12 hours ago, The Dude said:

 

It's like we're living in a very long episode of the Twilight Zone where the fanbase to my favorite sports team hates winning.  Start 0-6 for the first time in school history?  No problem!  Finish with a record slightly worse than the worst 4-8 team of all time? Wonderful!  Win enough to get to a bowl game for the first time in 6 years?  Fire the sumb!^@h!

 

I think you're reading this unfairly. 

 

Start 0-6 for the first time in school history?

(Big problem. Seriously, WTF?)

But finish 4-2 with a good looking freshman QB?

(okay. that's something to build on.) 

 

Four seasons later, finish with a record slightly worse than the worst 4-8 team of all time?

(not wonderful at all. This is season four with hand-recruited talent. We've lowered expectations significantly. Even Frost's biggest supporters are concerned. Even Rod Serling agrees that Scott should be on the hot seat. 

 

Win enough to get to a bowl game for the first time in 6 years?

(that's still a pretty low expectation given the schedule, and Year Five for the Frost system. Might be enough to keep his job another year. But again, few would be shocked if Trev declares the Frost experiment over. It's not a Nebraska thing. It's a college football thing.)

 

Pretty much the opposite of a fan base that hates winning. 

 

To put it another way: Imagine traveling back in time to 2017 and telling Husker fans that Scott's 6-6 season in 2022 would be his best record in five years, and that the reason he doubled the wins was because he went 3-9 the year before. 

 

Scott can silence his doubters with 9 wins, 8 wins, maybe 7 wins. Hoping he does. But it's not radical impatience if there's a lot of grumbling about a 6-6 season. 

 

 

[Undone]

We're a 5-7 team so I'm going to predict a 5-7 season.

 

Want to be completely wrong and win 9 in the regular season but I'm just not seeing it. There's enough talent & resources to put together at least a 7-5 team but Scott's program has some serious demons to shake off to make even that happen.

[HuskermanMike]

I still see us as 4th in the West, which puts us middle of the pack.

 

I think 7-5 retains Frost. Why? Because he will be 5-5 versus p5 competition. The other two games he is expected to win. I think for every bad loss he has this year (Illinois or Indiana) he has to have a big win (Iowa, Wisconsin, OU). I am riding on the 7-5 train. If he can't do that this year we deserve to go out and get us a coach that can. The schedule does not get easier for him. 

 

You should find 5 wins against 

Northwestern

Purdue

Indiana

Rutgers

Illinois

Minnesota

Iowa

 

Very unlikely

Wisconsin

OU

Michigan

 

 

[Guy Chamberlin]

Average teams beat good teams every fall Saturday. Sometimes they're called upsets, but most ranked teams suffer one or more a year. 

 

Two years ago a Kansas State team that finished 4-6 beat Oklahoma in Norman. Last year Nebraska took multiple ranked teams down to the wire.

 

Nebraska will likely lose to a good not great team like Purdue and/or Minnesota, but we have every reason to expect they pull off at least one upset of an OU, Wisconsin, or Michigan because it's way, way, way overdue.