I would say number 41 is pretty high for a team coming off a 7-6 season and needing to replace bunches in the lines. I guess I view this as pretty positive really. Do I think we can do better? Yes, but to finish number 41, we will need atleast 9 or 10 wins. Can we end up in the top 25? Long shot but maybe with a little more GOOD luck this season.
Could we end up number 55? Yup. Not out of line at all. That would require us to win 7 or so. I don't know where we would have been 'ranked' last year after the bowl game but probably around number 60. So this is a good jump up in my view.
41 would be about 8-5 for a team from the Big Ten
9 or 10 wins in the Big Ten would be ranked in the range of 10-28
Based on the way we played last season it would be fair to say our record could have ranged from 4-8 (no bowl game ) to 11-2
I think 41 would be on the low side for my prediction.
Win over Oregon and we go 12-2 (bowl loss or ccg loss)
Loss to Oregon and we go 9-4 (bowl win and no cc game)