Generalize your team's upcomming season...

[Hubbs]

Forget the projections and predictions and honestly evaluate your teams strengths and weaknesses. I can sum up Auburns chances in two words "Special Teams". After the ball is kicked Auburn is as good as anybody in the SEC... kicking it is just as much a guess to me as anybody. Offense and defense will be solid this season. Coaching is a hit and miss thing. Tuberville has good ones around him but is good for 1-2 brain farts a season. First 5 of 6 games being at home helps a youg OL gel for the SEC west race but 4 tough road games will present a big problem for our kicking game. JMO

[copycat]

Better coaching on the offensive side + best lines in the ACC + very good RB/FB combo + better passing QB - greatest WR in the game - not-so-good 4 year QB = oh I say about 9-3.

Defense shouldn't be a problem at all. It hasn't been since Tenuta got here :)

Special Teams are hopefully improved, at least on coverage. Punter is best in the country, kicker should turn it around a bit.

[Seven]

My 2 cents:

You don't replace Smith, Gonzales, Ginn, Pitcock, and Pittman and get better. But the Buckeyes, while not as prolific on Offense as last year, will still be decent with a little more emphasis on the running game this year. Boeckman, while new at starting, is in his fifth year in the program, so should be considered a "seasoned" non-starter. He doesn't need to be great, just Krenzel efficient-like to be successful. If Chris Wells stays healthy, he could turn out to be special. The defense should be outstanding. The questions emerge on the d-line, but the first several games ought to allow the unit time to find itself. Special teams ought to be outstanding as well. Coaching is outstanding. I wouldn't trade Tressel for anyone. The schedule is favorable, with the biggest games coming at the end of the year against Wisconsin, at Penn State ( night game) and of course, at Meatchicken. Also, while I believe we should and will beat Washington, it is noteworthy that the last two trips there have been ugly. A transition year for Ohio State, away from the 'Smith' era. The big question is can they rebound from the Florida thrashing? New team, new year, and new opportunities. 10-2

["14-O" U.]

Agree w/ "Seven" for the most part.

It's also worth mentioning that the kicking game at Ohio State should continue to be a strength with Aaron Pettrey retuning as a sophomore. He was very good as a freshman (8/11 overall, 3/4 from 40-49y and 2/3 from 50+) and there is solid backup/competition with Pretorious. Trapasso is back again to punt as well. Kick return game won't be the same without Ginn/Gonzalez. Not sure about any details on kick coverage but with most of the defense back there will be plenty of young guys competing to show what they can do to earn more playing time on defense.

[EvilVodka]

Better offense

[Blue Hen]

My two favorite D1 teams......one in the 'make believe' division and one in the 'championship' division, have opposite projections.

The VT Hokies will be very speedy and experienced on defense ( hopefully more disciplined ) and that should keep 'em in most games. The offense , while featuring some nice play makers ,can only go as far as an unsettled QB and offensive line can take 'em. Projection - good PSEG, but probably not BCS.

The Delaware Blue Hens, I fear, will be awful again on defense but one of the very best offensive teams in the new Colonial Athletic Association ...the old A10, and probably the deepest league in all of the champ division. The Hens return an amazing 10 offensive starters. I forsee a bunch of 36-38 type games. Projection - an 'at large' candidate for the D1 championship field.

[GatorGrad]

The Gators only return 2 starters on defense. All of the new starters are very talented, but young and inexperienced. Thankfully, the offense should be fantastic. We have a veteran offensive line, the fastest WR's in the SEC, and a QB that actually fits the offense that Meyer wants to run. Thus, I see a lot of shootouts for this Gator team, especially early in the season while the defense grows up.

By the end of the season, I expect the offense to be clicking 100% under first year starting QB Tim Tebow, and the defense to be much improved. Unfortunately, I see two early season losses to Tennessee and LSU. Auburn, Georgia, South Carolina, and FSU will be tough games as well. All in all, I see a 3-loss season with a strong finish which will set us up for 2008 when I expect the team to be back competing for championships.

If there is a year to beat the Gators, this is it. Starting in 2008 and beyond, thanks to our top recruiting classes of 06 and 07, the Gators are going to be tough to beat.

[Trojangles]

Soft Spots: J. D. Booty needs to have good players to hand and throw the ball to. USC must find them in Fall practice, or there will be problems.

Strengths: Excellence at all defensive positions, good prospects for a solid offensive line, and a talented starting quarterback.

Question Marks: Challenging schedule with several tough road games, change in offensive coordinators, and identifying which of the more talented rookies will break into the lineup.

[tigercpa]

Quarterback competency

[Doc]

to play PSU in late October. They have a couple tricky games prior to that but should be able to beat MSU at home and Purdue on the road.

By the 9th game, the new starters are no longer new starters. They'll have 8 games under their belts and if they're 8-0 they should have a lot of confidence. With a win against PSU, the'd be 9-0 with a home game against a Wisconsin team that will probably be ranked in the top 10.

Anyway, I think the OSU defense will be awesome. They return trememdous talent at LB (Laurinaitis, Freeman, Homan, Grant, Gibson, etc.) and DB (Jenkins, O'Neill, Russell, Washington, Coleman, etc.). They have great defensive ends in Gholstin, Wilson, Terry and plenty of bodies to fill the tackle spots.

Offensively, they have the pieces to be special but it will come down to how quickly the QB will extablish his leadership and get comfortable in the roll. He has people to throw to, he has a line that will protect him and Wells will be a beast at running back...

I know that they lost a lot but I think back to the '95 team that had George, Hoying, Glenn and Dudley as the offensive leaders. The next year Stanley Jackson, Pepe Pearson and Dimitrious Stanley stepped into those roles and the team was actually better. Robiskie, Hartline and Small are pretty solid receivers. Wells was the one of the best player in the country in his high school class, the key is the QB - I don't think the Buckeyes can expect any QB to put up the numbers Troy Smith put up - they were the best in school history.

[Hubbs]

The Gators only return 2 starters on defense. All of the new starters are very talented, but young and inexperienced. Thankfully, the offense should be fantastic. We have a veteran offensive line, the fastest WR's in the SEC, and a QB that actually fits the offense that Meyer wants to run. Thus, I see a lot of shootouts for this Gator team, especially early in the season while the defense grows up.

By the end of the season, I expect the offense to be clicking 100% under first year starting QB Tim Tebow, and the defense to be much improved. Unfortunately, I see two early season losses to Tennessee and LSU. Auburn, Georgia, South Carolina, and FSU will be tough games as well. All in all, I see a 3-loss season with a strong finish which will set us up for 2008 when I expect the team to be back competing for championships.

If there is a year to beat the Gators, this is it. Starting in 2008 and beyond, thanks to our top recruiting classes of 06 and 07, the Gators are going to be tough to beat.



Same with Auburn. We do lose Cox but other than that we return alot the next few seasons. With West Virginia as an opener in '08 the Cox loss will be huge. This Kodi Burns kid is suppose to be legit so who knows.

[Stumpy Stew]

Like Hen, I have two teams I pull for.

The first is N. Carolina. A lot of excitement due to new coach Butch Davis, but I think maybe a 4 win season. Lots of pontential but not a lot of proven talent. But the Tar Heels may surprise a team they are not suppose to beat. Looking forward to the future though.

The other is the 2 time defending national champion Appalachian St. Mountaineers. The qb and rb return, the O-line is good, a good recieving corp also. Some questions on D with replacement in the line and LB. But the Apps should be in the thick of the SoCon race and has a good chance at the 3-peat in the playoffs.

[HoyaSooner]

I'll sum it up in one word:

Quarterback

[Hail to the Victors Valiant]

Michigan:

Another year where a natl championship is within reach. However, the teams has been through this before. The offense must open up, be less predictable and be the deciding factor more than it wants to. The personnel is there for that to happen, but seeing is believing. That being said, the defense might be better than publicized, but I do not know if it will win too many games. Contain mught be all Michigan can ask for. The athletes are present for Ron English to continue his aggressive approach on D, so excitement should not be lacking. Our punter Mesko is back and is a weapon, but the kicker and punt returner are both new.

The schedule is favorable with 8 home games and only 1 or 2 tough road games. In sum, I foresee another 10-plus win season and quite possibly another Big Ten Championship. A natl championship might be out of reach however.

[tradition90]

Keys to Success:
*Performance from QB - Verdict is still out on whether JD Booty is too short to perform in a 3 step drop offense and whether he can gain the touch to hit the receiver on the long ball.
*Health on the DLINE - L Jackson (DE); S Ellis (NT) are Senior AA candidates, but replacements while talented are still young
*Offensive Coaching - USC Offense has lacked an identity since the departure of Norm Chow and generally failed to make halftime adjustments. I believe that Lane Kiffen was more about building stars and forcing the ball into R Bush and D Jarrett at times when it would have been much better to pound LenDale White or utilize other assets such as S Smith and TE F Davis. I am looking for S Sarkisian to build an identity and take what the defense gives up. I hope that he brings more adjustments as the game progresses (ie the RoseBowl Michigan game) vs unimaginative playcalling (ie UCLA game).
*Healthy FB - Never would I have imagined how important the FB position could be, but USC went through 6 FB's using walk-ons to complete the season which adversely affected the running game last year.
*Turn-over ratio on the road - The Trojans have several big Road Tests this year and cant lose the turnover ratio 4-0 like they did last year against the Beavers or it will be challenging to escape with a win.



On the Positive Side...This is an unusually veteran team with 15 starters either 4th or 5th year players. The team has competed throughout the season for the last 2 MNC's and lost and these players have stuck around to win a championship.

OFFENSE
The OL should be the strength of the offense. The skill positions are littered with young talented players that will excel if the QB can get them the ball in the right system. The offense should be very, very good and will probably be limited by Pete Carroll's conservatism in the big road games.

DEFENSE
Most close to the program believe that this is the most talented group in the Pete Carroll era. The weaknesses are consistent with Trojan Schemes in that the CB's play off the ball and the quick front 7 over pursues. Therefore, the defense is exposed to counters, traps, and patient offenses using 3 step drops. Finally, T Mays is a True Soph phenom at the Safety position, but has real issues wrapping the defender. I would expect a few big plays as playmakers bounce off Mays and scamper toward the endzone.

Losing to anybody before the BCS Championship game would be a disappointment, but with road games at (Nebraska, Notre Dame, Oregon, California, and Arizona St) it is not necessarily unlikely, just difficult to project where it will be.

[jeff4bucks]

agree with Seven. OSU 10-2, 11-1 is a real push. transition year on offense.

doc- Stanley to Stanley back in '96 was a good combo, but you also had Germaine and David Boston on the team too, which didn't hurt... I like your optimism, but I don't think OSU will be better on offense next year.
Hope I'm wrong.