If a few things work out, this season could be great!

If a few things work out, this season could be great!

Agree. The first week is pretty good.

Thursday: South Carolina at Vanderbilt(at least it's something)
Friday: Boise State at Michigan State
Saturday: Notre Dame vs. Navy in Dublin(9am)
Michigan vs. Alabama
Monday: Georgia Tech at Virginia Tech

I actually like Purdue to win their division and make the Big 10 title game against Michigan.

What?

What?

Sept. 1st..... Michigan vs. Alabama in Dallas. That is the way to start the season.

I am a huge Wolverines fan but think unless they play the perfect game they will get
beat but I just like seeing a matchup like this early in the season. Great scheduling.

I don't know about winning the division, but there is a fairly plausible scenario here to make the title game.

1) Purdue beats Wisconsin at home on homecoming.
2) Ohio State beats Wisconsin. Bonus points if Purdue beats Ohio State, but it's not required.
3) Wisconsin and Purdue beat the other teams.

Obviously, that requires Wisconsin to be significantly worse than last year and Purdue to meet expectations of being better. I don't think it will be happen, but Purdue is likely the only team to challenge Wisconsin from going to another title game.

Northwestern and Minnesota are going to face a tough time I think.

Which of these do you think are certain losses for the Cats?

Sept 1 @ Syracuse
Sept 8 vs. Vanderbilt
Sept 15 vs. Boston College
Sept 22 vs. South Dakota
Sept 29 vs. Indiana
Oct 6 @ Penn State
Oct 13 @ Minnesota
Oct 20 vs. Nebraska
Oct 27 vs. Iowa
Nov 10 @ Michigan
Nov 17 @ Michigan State
Nov 24 vs. Illinois

I predict a 3-1 non-conference, and losses @Penn State, Nebraska, Iowa, @Michigan, @Michigan State.

They should beat Illinois, but it's a "rivalry" game and Illinois may be playing well by the end of the season.

Which of these do you think are certain losses for the Cats?

Sept 1 @ Syracuse
Sept 8 vs. Vanderbilt
Sept 15 vs. Boston College
Sept 22 vs. South Dakota
Sept 29 vs. Indiana
Oct 6 @ Penn State
Oct 13 @ Minnesota
Oct 20 vs. Nebraska
Oct 27 vs. Iowa
Nov 10 @ Michigan
Nov 17 @ Michigan State
Nov 24 vs. Illinois

I think their only certain losses MSU and UofM. I think we could be competitive with Nebraska, Iowa, and Penn State and have a good chance of beating the rest of the slate.

Alabama will beat Michigan by about 50 if Denard Robinson continues to just chuck the ball up in the air everytime he throws a pass. That guy is the worst QB in the nation when he throws the ball.

I'm with you. It's nice that two huge programs are facing each other to start the season, but I'd be pretty surprised if Michigan is within 3 TD's in the 4th quarter.

NU never vastly improves in the offseason.

Saw Fitzgerald at the Cubs game yesterday with his kids. Looked like he was ready to suck this season.

What?

Does anyone vastly improve during the offseason? It's not like we're talking pros where you can sign a couple skill position guys and boom... you have a better team.

A couple of NU thoughts for this year:
Another year under Kain's belt should help
The defense really couldn't be worse than last year
A healthy Mike Trumpy and the addition of Malin Jones into the rotation should improve the nonexistent RB position
Arguably one of the better WR corps in the B1G

The negatives are clear:
No Persa, No Dunsmore, No Ebert.

The non-conference games are tougher than usual. Vandy is actually improving recruiting at a rapid pace. BC usually puts a decent squad together. Syracuse can't stay bad forever, can they? We luckily don't have dOSU or Wisconsin, which is REALLY nice. Other than back-to-back Michigan and Michigan State away game, I can't really suggest any of those games aren't winnable (liking my double negatives?). Obviously Nebraska and Iowa are probably losses too, but within a margin for error, where one of those games could go our way.

Should be a fun season regardless.