& what most of us are telling you is that firing him after a 9 win season, no matter how easy it is, will set a bad standard of what is expected here as a head coach. Setting the bar that high will scare off almost every coach. If Bo has a 9 win season in '12 & another 9 wins in '13. Some fans may call for his head, but not many more then are calling for it now.
If he gets to 9 wins in 12' I agree. But, I don't see a 9 win season in 12'. That's a much tougher schedule than 11'. Normally I see 6-7 guarentee wins on the board. I can only pick out 3-4 next year. very early but...
SMU is a win
UCLA likely a win (though road game is scarey).
Arkansas State, with Gus will give us a run for our money. That's definately a toss up. We'll need to score.
The other game is likely a patsy.
Wisconsin - loss, I think they'll have Pelini's number for a few more years.
Ohio State - loss, no way we go to Columbus and take down Braxton.
Northwestern - toss up, but they likely will be favored after we come into the game w/ 2-3 losses.
Michigan - loss. Robinson, mobile QB, nuff said.
Michigan St. - toss up. away game so they'll likely be favored when we have 3-4 losses going in.
Penn State - toss up. i think we'll be favored but I have no idea how to guage that program at this point
Minnesota - win
Iowa - toss up. I think we should win, but it's an away game and I have no idea what our defense/offensive line will look like at this point.
To get to 9 we have to win all 5 of those toss ups. Just don't see it happening. it's not far fetched to think we'll go 3-2 during those, and finish 7-5.
Here is my question to you KC, with all of the returning experience on O why do you think those games will be losses? Nothing over the past 4 years has shown that we will see less than 9 wins, I really think 10-11 is more likely. Look at the teams you are showing as losses or toss ups:
-Arky St. is good on their level, but they won't beat NU at home. Not to mention they will have a new coach next year, not completely sold on GM either. He needs talent to win and there isn't enough there right now.
-Wisconsin losses a LOT including their do everything QB, his replacement doesn't appear to be too mobile. We all know what Bo does to immobile QB's.
-OSU is one I think I would agree with right now, but we don't know for sure.
-NW got a lot of breaks in Lincoln, they need help to beat NU and I don't think a more experienced O gives them as many next year. We saw a lot of improvement in this area last year, I think the trend of improvement continues.
-MU I would rate as a toss up not a decent bet at a loss. MU on the road hasn't shown they can win consistently, not to mention if DR can stay healthy. They did lose at MSU and Iowa last year, both teams NU handled at home. I think MU coming to Lincoln, and NU playing much better in Special Teams, makes this a toss up. Two other factors, MU loses some really good talent next year and I think NU improves on D with a decent number of returning players.
-MSU loses quite a bit next year, especially at QB, WR, and probably on the D-Line as well. It is in E. Lansing, but the next QB will be immobile. This is a decent bet at a win IMO.
-PSU loses a ton of players next year, will be under new management, and come to Lincoln. This is a decent bet at a win IMO.
-Iowa has an inmobile QB and an unimaginative offense. This is a decent bet at a win IMO.
I see 9-11 wins in the regular season, and I would tend to lean towards 10-11. The winner of the NU-MU games wins the Division and with OSU not eligible for the Title Game, wins the Conference IMO.