This thread attracted a diverse array of four posters last year, so why not start it again?
I'll probably sound like I did last year - which is to say, like I've sounded every year since they got good - in saying "I have no idea how this team is ranked so high" but that's sort of my battered wife syndrome talking. Still, 11th in the country seems awful high for a team that lost significant talent on both sides of the ball. With Gaffney gone, they'll need a big year out of Hogan, and the thing that was so clear in the Rose Bowl was that they did not trust Hogan - not even a little bit - to make a play. Granted, the MSU pass rush was nasty, but their unwillingness to put the ball in Hogan's hands and let him sling it spoke volumes.
So, I'll put in my prediction of 8-4, with losses to U$C, ASU, OSU, and Oregon. My greater ambition is to get back on the field carrying a trombone at some point, because I'm old and my opportunities for fun are decreasing.
I'll probably sound like I did last year - which is to say, like I've sounded every year since they got good - in saying "I have no idea how this team is ranked so high" but that's sort of my battered wife syndrome talking. Still, 11th in the country seems awful high for a team that lost significant talent on both sides of the ball. With Gaffney gone, they'll need a big year out of Hogan, and the thing that was so clear in the Rose Bowl was that they did not trust Hogan - not even a little bit - to make a play. Granted, the MSU pass rush was nasty, but their unwillingness to put the ball in Hogan's hands and let him sling it spoke volumes.
So, I'll put in my prediction of 8-4, with losses to U$C, ASU, OSU, and Oregon. My greater ambition is to get back on the field carrying a trombone at some point, because I'm old and my opportunities for fun are decreasing.