2011 Bowl Projections - Post Spring Practice

If there are post-season penalties, they’ll likely be handed down by October. I would expect that they would be for 2011.

If that happens, Northwestern doesn’t get to 6 wins.

that MSU was inches away from 8-4 in the regular season. ND, Purdue, NW…And there was no OSU or Nebraska. So if any team will take a dive, it’ll be Sparty.

But Michigan over Michigan State? That’s a tough projection.

and a mobile QB coming back from a knee injury. Last year was the only year Tez was able to actually be relied upon. The hardest cog to replace is going to be Liuget. And as for the Zook part, at least he can win a bowl game.

But since they are I think it makes the big problem that much better. Toon needs to step up this year to replce Gilreath but that is uncertain.

Also I left Kendricks out on purpose. Whoever Wisco trots out at TE will be just fine. I don’t see Wisconsin becomming terrible either, I just think Rose Bowl may be a bit of a stretch. Personally, anywhere between Gator and Capital One Bowl seems the most likely.

Seriously. He really didn’t have a running game or a good receiver at NC State, and now he could walk on to a situation where he has a pretty good but iffy WR (Toon), a young WR (Abbrederis) and a solid set of TEs (Byne, Pedersen). Along with an actual running game (BHGP’s beloved Brady Ewing at FB, Montee Ball and James White at HB)

Something tells me Luck is really going to regret his decision not to come out early.

even the starting QB anymore? I hope so, because him being under center increases our chances to win by AT LEAST 75%

but everyone will be back by then and the game is at home. Still gonna be close, but nowhere near as worried this year as I was this time last year. I think you see a huge dropoff on the D-Line as well at Wiscy, with no JJ up front.

After telling myself that another 9-0 start is crazy I had the teams from PA and Northwestern as potential losses. I still think it’ll be another year before Hoke turns Michigan around, though.

I view the Iowa-PSU game as a toss up. If Penn State settles on the right QB it could be like the 2007 game-a relatively easy win. That being said you are wrong about Purdue and Minnesota; I don’t see either team improving much this year. Iowa should win both of those games. Michigan, on the other hand, is totally unpredictable. There could be a slight regression to 5 or 6 wins or a marked improvement to 8 or 9. We should know by 11:30 PM on Septemeber 10th which way the Wolverines are probably headed.

I like your 9-3 projection. I just refuse to discount Iowa, regardless of their lineup, because of how good Ferentz is at putting together a team that competes. I’m fully expecting a loss (and a few batteries to be thrown at me) when we make the trip to Kinnick. Plus, I mean, Norm Parker can’t blitz nearly as much as he did last year against the ’Cats, can he?

I see a split with UM and MSU, a loss to Neb, and room for a head-scratcher somewhere (assuming you scratch your head at PSU/NU/Pitt) to leave a 9-3 tally.

has a new head coach so it is tough to get a read on them.

I get that hope springs eternal in the spring — in more carefree moments I envision Coker running wild, the Vandy that staged a late comeback to tie OSU in ’09 be the one who shows up all year, the defensive line being a pleasant surprise, the speedy linebackers helping the defense actually defend the spread effectively, and the safeties being not-awful. All of that happens and Iowa stages a magical run to the B1G Championship Game at 10-2 or 11-1. But is that likely? Uh, no. Not at all.

There’s only been one team in the B1G over the last decade who’s been able to consistently reload at an elite level — and they’re dealing with multiple suspensions and a new scandal every month. So it’s more than reasonable to have some doubt about them, I’d say.

Everyone else has at least 1-2 giant question marks surrounding their team. And everyone else is likely to have some units that develop into very happy surprises and some that are nasty disappointments. There’s a chance some team might have a horseshoe up their ass — like MSU last year or Iowa in 09 — but that’s not a given and it’s hard to know who that might be in advance. I think there’s also a chance that this year’s Big Ten is Pete Rozelle’s wet dream and it’s just parity-riffic and there’s a ton of teams finishing between 6-6 and 9-3.and no real standout elite teams. I think we could see some very close, exciting division races with a lot of exciting, high-scoring football games (I think defense is going to suck this year in the Big Ten).

Michigan is probable going to be better on D, and probably a little worse on offense. I think 7 wins is the benchmark for Hoke’s first season. I could be severely underestimating how he has and will continue to develop the team, considering there are 20 returning starters (I know half of them were on the worst D in the B1G) who have some real talent. Or they could just bite it and go under .500. The offense will be statistically worse, but if you go back and look at the red-zone stats for Michigan last year…well they were horrible. With a more ‘Big Ten’ friendly philosophy on offense, I think that will improve…maybe. It’ll be an exciting season that is for sure.

Now that TCU-Boise has been moved to the Blue turf, I think the Broncos win that one. I think Boise slips up in the Georgia Dome to start the season.

but I doubt there were a lot of people picking them to go 9-2 in Weis’ first year. I just don’t see them making a jump from 5 losses to only 2; they would have to win all of the games that they are favored in, and they haven’t done that in a while.

Since this is a Big Ten site, being optimistic about ND being good just doesn’t seem right. We should be piling on ND as much as we can and enjoying their relative mediocrity.