Alright, I'm ready, baby! Rankings are current preseason rankings:
W vs. Nicholls
W at Grand Canyon
W at #21 Arizona
W vs. Hawaii
W vs. The Citadel
W vs. Hampton
W vs. Lindenwood
W vs. Miami (FL) [Big Ten/ACC Challenge]
L at #7 Maryland
W vs. Michigan
W vs. Old Dominion
W vs. Missouri (St. Louis, MO) [Braggin' Rights Game]
W vs. North Carolina A&T
- I wanted to pick us to lose at Arizona because it's so early and I didn't want to look like a homer ... but I have an odd feeling we take them down.
- If we escape Arizona with two wins, I honestly don't see us losing a non-conference game. We could always drop an absolute stinker (please, no!!), and I don't know what to expect from Miami; everyone knows the Missouri game will be tough and intense.
- I think we aren't quite prepared for Maryland on the road just yet and lose in ugly fashion. However, we turn around and beat a Michigan team that's had our number for far too long in convincing fashion at home.
- Order is restored and we beat Missouri with an incredibly intense effort in St. Louis ... on SEC Network.
-- Enter the Big Ten slate with an 11-0 non-conference record and a 1-1 record in-conference, leaving us at 12-1 overall entering the new year
--
L at #1 Michigan State
L vs. #23 Purdue
W at Wisconsin
W vs. Rutgers
W vs. Northwestern
L at #23 Purdue
L at Michigan
W vs. Minnesota
W at Iowa
W vs. #7 Maryland
L vs. #1 Michigan State
L at Rutgers
W at Penn State
W vs. Nebraska
W at Northwestern
W vs. Indiana
L at #18 Ohio State
W vs. Iowa
- I think we start off losing at MSU and vs. Purdue, and everyone will freak out that we are 1-3 in the Big Ten before we get an impressive win in Madison ('bout time we won there again!).
- After dropping two rough road games to Purdue (I predict they'll oddly have our number ... hopefully we avoid them in Indy) and Michigan, we sort of "find ourselves" and get a nice road win at Iowa and a resume-building upset of Maryland at home.
- I think MSU is going to be clicking by the time we play them in Champaign, and unfortunately we will come up just short. We will also drop a disappointing game at Rutgers (Saturday home game for a team that I think is underrated and played us so tough last year), dropping us to 18-7 (7-7), and the Negative Nancies will have a field day on here.
- After losing to Rutgers, we will win with an inspired effort at PSU before taking care of Nebraska and Northwestern. We will then beat Indiana at home before going into Columbus at 22-7 (11-7) and a likely top 25 ranking. This game is a tossup at this point, but I went conservative and picked a loss, dropping us to 22-8 (11-8).
- I think we finish off the season with a revenge-inspired drubbing of Iowa, remembering how they embarrassed us in our backyard at the United Center last year.
-- That puts the final tally at 23-8 (12-8), a record I think we all would kill for. I think we win two in Indy and obtain somewhere between a 5- and a 7-seed, depending on what the field looks like.
Sweet Sixteen, here we come. --
I am so excited for this season! Let's do this, boys!