A first look at the schedule next year

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Schnauzer

Schnauzer

Pretty Sure You are Wrong
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My apologies if I missed it but I didn't see anything on this looking down recent threads. Ya, sure... we don't even know for sure everyone that will be in a gopher uniform next year. But, afte a fun win to end the season and the current good vibes coming from the future prospects for this team, what are your thoughts on what to expect for next year? I didn't get the individual games right this year but I did predict 3-9. My current prediction for next year is 6-6...

Sat, Sep 01 at UNLV Las Vegas, Nev.
Sat, Sep 08 New Hampshire TCF Bank Stadium
Sat, Sep 15 Western Michigan TCF Bank Stadium
Sat, Sep 22 Syracuse TCF Bank Stadium
Sat, Sep 29 at Iowa * Iowa City, Iowa
Sat, Oct 13 Northwestern * TCF Bank Stadium
Sat, Oct 20 at Wisconsin * Madison, Wis.
Sat, Oct 27 Purdue * TCF Bank Stadium
Sat, Nov 03 Michigan * TCF Bank Stadium
Sat, Nov 10 at Illinois * Champaign, Ill.
Sat, Nov 17 at Nebraska * Lincoln, Neb.
Sat, Nov 24 Michigan State * TCF Bank Stadium

I know there is a lot of concern over missing out on the big traveling neighbor home games (Nebraska, Iowa, Wisconsin). However, in terms of seeing Gopher victories at home, the prospects appear to be better than at any previous season in the new stadium. Big "ifs" but if the team can continue to improve, there is a chance to extend the momentum gained in the second half of this year. I'll be honest, if it comes down to it... I'd rather look at empty seats than red sweatshirts with upside down "M's" on them anyway (understanding that a sold ticket to anyone is more $ for the "U").
 

I think it is definitely reasonable to expect more wins than last year, failing to reach four would be a step backwards given that we have an easier schedule and have gotten the growing pains which led to bad losses against NDSU and NMSU. I don't want to say that four out of conference wins is certain (seems like a bit of a stretch to claim 4 victories before the season starts when we only won three this year), but going 4-0 is certainly doable. If we pull that off, we have Purdue and Northwestern at home, we seem to have Iowa and Illinois' number, we hung with MSU last year, playing for the jug at home should be a boost, and I never want to call a rival game against Wisconsin out of reach. My feelings on next year are that 3-9 is unacceptable, 4-8 would be a disappointment given the easy schedule, 5-7 would be good progress, and reaching a bowl game would be a very exciting season for us. Anything over 6 wins would be a huge surprise, but stranger things have happened.
 

I look and see 6 wins. UNLV, New Hamshire, Western Michigan, Syracuse, Illinois, and Purdue. If we go to Iowa and bring back Floyd its 7. If we find a not to beat ourselves Northwestern is 8. The question is how do we handle loses at Wisconsin and Nebraska. Does the Little Brown Jug mean anything?
 

Might not be able to pull it off in Lincoln, so I'll go with 12-1.
 

I'll bite, I predict 5 wins +/- 2. It's easy to say we'll be 4-0 after the weak Masonesque non-conference schedule, but this is still a young team and I could see them tripping once or even twice. During the conference, the teams that jump out as having a good chance for winning are NW, PU and Ill. But this team is losing a lot of Sr. leadership and won't have a ton of Seniors making impacts next year, so they will be young and probably still slow and undersized. So maybe we sneak a win at IA in there or a loss to UNLV, but in the end I'm thinking we'll be flirting with Bowl eligibility, which ain't a bad place to be right now.

I'm just exited to see the growth from the returning players having been in the system for a year and being more familiar with it and the coaches. Assuming Kill doesn't randomly can his coordinators and change systems... :)
 


I see 3 wins likely in non-conference, whether the one loss comes against a decent Syracuse team or stumbling early on the road at UNLV for the first game (which would stink given how bad they are). Not sure one which. 4-0 would be a surprise for a young team in year 2 even with the improvements.

I see us losing to Iowa on the road. We've played somewhat close there in 07 and 09 but other than that they have our number in Iowa City. If we correct our mistakes from this year against NW and play better at home I see a win. I only hope to play Wisconsin close at Madison next year but don't expect a win even with them losing Wilson. I'll chalk up a win against Purdue - nothing to back it up but they don't seem to be improving year after year and I think Kill will outcoach them at home. Michigan will be a sad loss at home.. Hoke builds on this year's defensive improvements and Robinson continues to improve. Illinois will be under a new head coach and we've proven we can play with them and beat them in their house. I expect a win there. Nebraska will be tough, expect a loss but I'll be there to root the team on. I think we play tough in the cold against MSU and pull out a win - no more Cousins at the helm will leave the offense possibly one dimensional (esp in the cold) and the team plays with some serious fire. Despite our last game not being a rivalry game (again).

So, I am expecting at the very least 5 wins next year, 6 would be satisfying, and 7 would mean we squeak one out I'm not expecting.

3-1 to 4-0 in NC
3-5 to 4-4 in conference play (2-6 would be disappointing in conference play given it's what we did this year but still possible)

Total range of 5-7 (drop one I'm not expecting) to 8-4 (everything goes our way but we only beat 1 team we shouldn't).

Anything else would be no improvement over the last 4 weeks of this season which I just don't see happening under Kill.
 

W 1-0 at UNLV
W 2-0 New Hampshire
W 3-0 Western Michigan
L 3-1 Syracuse
W 4-1 (1-0) at Iowa
L 4-2 (1-1) Northwestern
L 4-3 (1-2) at Wisconsin
W 5-3 (2-2) Purdue
L 5-4 (2-3) Michigan
W 6-4 (3-3) at Illinois
L 6-5 (3-4) at Nebraska
L 6-6 (3-5) Michigan State
 

We should be favored over New Hampshire, Western Michigan, and UNLV. Syracuse, Iowa, Illinois, Purdue, and Northwestern are even. MSU will be slightly favored and Michigan, Wisconsin and Nebraska clearly favored. If we win the games we should and go 3-2 in the even games we go bowling. A better record in the even games or an upset of MSU wll give us a winning record.
 

4 wins in 2012. We would have 4 wins this year if Duane would have been given the ball on the one vs NMST.
 



If I had to guess right now, with my "win confidence" in parentheses ...

at UNLV W (75%)
New Hampshire W (85%)
Western Michigan W (65%)
Syracuse L (45%)
at Iowa L (35%)
Northwestern W (55%)
at Wisconsin L (20%)
Purdue W (60%)
Michigan L (20%)
at Illinois W (60%)
at Nebraska L (30%)
Michigan State L (40%)

So, 6-6 (3-5). But if I had to give a range right now I'd say 4-8 wins. Eight being extremely optimistic.
 

We all thought we'd be 3-1 after the first 4 games this year, so I really have no idea. We should expect 5-6 wins, anything less would be disappointing.
 

You have to hope that the Illinois game showed the underclassmen that the team is capable of getting someone down and putting their boot on the other team's throat. They need to get out and win those first two games convincingly. Lots of question marks, but if they want to be bowl eligible, they need a fast start.
 

I'm not going to predict anything. This year taught me that. However, getting to 6-6 seems like a reasonable goal. Not a standard by which to see the season as a success or failure (because other things like quality of wins and losses play into that) but a reachable goal that I'm sure Kill will set for the team.
 



The nice thing is that the only games I see as automatic losses are @Wis and Mich. We should be competitive in all of the rest, i.e., the outcome of the game is in doubt until the late 3rd or into the 4th quarter. I'll predict 6 wins - going 3-1 in non-con with a loss to Syracuse, beating NW and ??? at home, and getting the 6th win from somewhere else that no one sees coming. Illinois might be a relatively easy win depending on how well they do this hiring cycle.
 


NC: Win at UNLV, split with UNH & WMU, loss vs Syracuse

B1G Home: Big loss to Mich, 1-2 vs NU/MSU/Pur

B1G Road: Win at Illinois, big losses to the rest

Most likely: 4-8, 2-6
Best case 7-5, worst case 3-9.
 

W 1-0 at UNLV
W 2-0 New Hampshire
W 3-0 Western Michigan
L 3-1 Syracuse
I think there is a chance to go 4-0 here but my guess is we drop either Syracuse or UNLV and end up 3-1. Given how weak this stretch is less then 3-1 would be disappointing to me.

L 3-2 (0-1) at Iowa
W 4-2 (1-1) Northwestern
L 4-3 (1-2) at Wisconsin
W 5-3 (2-2) Purdue
I think we win the home games and lose the road games. Despite our recent run of success against Iowa it is tough to win at their place. I would feel better about this one if it was not the conference opener.

L 5-4 (2-3) Michigan
W 6-4 (3-3) at Illinois
L 6-5 (3-4) at Nebraska
L 6-6 (3-5) Michigan State
I think there is a chance for 2-2 in this stretch. On the flip side I can also see the possibility of 0-4. I think Illinois will be in a bit of disarray next season with the coaching change so getting them on the road is possible. Might be a chance to split with Michigan/Michigan State depending on how they look next season. Don't see much shot at getting a win in Lincoln but you never know.

So overall 6-6 (3-5) seems very doable. Anything less then 5 wins with this schedule would be very disappointing. All will hinge on the non-conference games. Really need to get all 4 but need to win a minimum of 3 or the season could be a disaster.
 

I will go the coach Kill route which is we should expect to win every game.
 





I don't pretend to know what Syracuse will look like next year (other than replacing their qb) but they are HORRIBLE this year. 5-6(1-5 big east) which will probably become (with a loss @ Pitt) 5-7(1-6) and if the officials and replay officials for their Toledo game hadn't been completely blind...4-8(1-6).
 

Looking at Syracuse schedule, they seem a lot worse than I thought. The WVU game is a head-scratcher though. We can't base next year too much off of this year however.

Wake Forest W 36-29 OT
Rhode Island W 21-14
@ USC L 38-17
Toledo W 33-30 OT
Rutgers L 19-16 2OT
@ Tulane W 37-34
#15 West Virginia W 49-23
@ Louisville L 27-10
@ Connecticut L 28-21
South Florida L 37-17
Cincinnati L 30-13
 

Dont get too excited fella's. I know the end of the season was amazingly exciting and I'm certainly not trying to be a negative nelly, but some of you might be expecting alitte much still. We lost our best RB, WR, TE, DT, LB, Safety, and possible CB if Troy doesnt get is medical hardship waiver. Thats alot to lose. Sure we have some decent peices coming back most importantly Gray and most of the Oline, but there are alot of question marks. Im hoping for 4-5 but if we get 3 again I wont be mad.
 

I would agree with you if we had lost stars but with the exception of Royston we lost fairly average B10 players. We'll have to wait until the spring and see how the replacements work out. If Hageman becomes consistent in going into beast mode, like he was with Illinois, and development of the young ends, we may become pretty good on defense. Experience and development on the Oline bodes will give Gray more time to throw and better lanes to run. Kill has to put all the pieces together but some of them look promising.
 

There are always going to be holes to fill and players to replace. The biggest change going into next year though is we trade a brutal schedule for one that looks a lot easier on paper at least. This team should win all the non-conference games next season. I am predicting we drop one of them but if you look at the teams we are playing that should be a 4-0 stretch. So if you start the season 4-0 or 3-1 it is a bare minimum to expect at least 1 or 2 conference wins at the extreme low end. If we end the year with only 3 wins that will be a major disappointment to me and with a new president and AD could end up seeing Kill treated the way Turner Gill was. I hope that doesn't happen here but I am not liking the trend in college athletics where coaches are being given less and less time to get things done.
 


About when they get good

BOOM! said:
When are we ever going to play Indiana?
Click to expand...
The way the Gophers luck typically goes, we'll play Indiana at about the time they have an Antwaan Randle El type player blossoming into his own. We missed Michigan's down years. Missed Ohio State as they transition, and Indiana has been at the bottom of their transition as we missed them as well.
 


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