2014 Season Preview thread

[pennstatenut]

I found the issue

will a mod please edit Pitt's record to 9-3(6-2)

I had both Pitt and Syracuse losing the game against each other

I would've never said a word if knew you were giving sPITT another win.

 

[BoiseStateFan27]

I would've never said a word if knew you were giving sPITT another win.

can't take it back now sir LOL

 

[BoiseStateFan27]

sorry I haven't done a preview in a few days

time to get back at it

Memphis Tigers

Preview: This program was absolutely horrible when Justin Fuente took over as head coach, slowly he's starting to make them a little better, sure the 3-9 record last year was worse than the year before, but the 3-9 record was up against a much tougher schedule, and feature several close losses. A loss is a loss but for a team like Memphis being within a touchdown of Louisville and UCF last year was good for them. This year Memphis should continue to improve, but with that improvement comes an even tougher schedule as the non-conference features road games against UCLA and Ole Miss.

Predictions: Memphis should open with an easy win over Austin Peay, and then lose in a not so close game against UCLA, after a bye week I see Memphis beating Mid Tenn State and then losing to Ole Miss, Cincinnati and Houston. Memphis continues the losing streak by losing at SMU, but then wins at home over Tulsa, and wins on the road against Temple. Memphis ends the season losing at Tulane and at home against USF, before beating UConn at home.

Predicted Record: 5-7(3-5)

 

[BoiseStateFan27]

SMU Mustangs

Preview: SMU's first season in the American was a bit of a disappointment, they didn't make a bowl or beat anyone that had a winning record, they did play in some wild games though. This season SMU returns a decent amount of players, and while quarterback is a question they should be better, but the early portion of the schedule is absolutely brutal, the worst team they play non-conference is North Texas who won 9 games last year.

Predictions: I think North Texas loses enough players that SMU will beat them after getting blown out by Baylor in week one, SMU will also lose to Texas A&M, TCU, East Carolina and Cincinnati to start 1-5, seriously all 5 of those teams could be in the top 25 this year, what a rough start. SMU will beat Memphis and win on the road against Tulsa to recover a bit, SMU loses to USF, UCF, Houston and UConn to end the season on a 4 game losing streak, SMU will have had a better team than this, but this schedule is tough.

3-9(2-6)

 

[BoiseStateFan27]

Temple Owls


Preview: Last season was Temple's return to the conference now known as the American, it didn't go too well. Temple went 2-10, lost on a crazy hail mary to the Fordham Rams, and even lost to Idaho. This year will likely be more of the same as Temple just doesn't have much talent right now, and their non-conference isn't easy either they have games against Vanderbilt, Navy and Penn State. The conference schedule is more of the same Temple didn't get a lot of opponents that they stand a chance against.

Predictions: Temple starts 0-2 after losing to Vanderbilt and Navy. Temple then beats Delaware State, loses to UConn and then wins over Tulsa. After that Temple will lose out as they are outmatched on the road against Houston, UCF and Penn State and at home against East Carolina and Cincinnati. Temple's only slight chances of winning are at home against Memphis and on the road against Tulane, I don't see them winning either one.


Predicted Record: 2-10(1-7)

 

[BoiseStateFan27]

Tulane Green Wave

Preview: Last season was a breakout season for Tulane, they were among the top teams in Conference USA and made a bowl game. They have been recruiting pretty decently too, so the program is on the rise. Problem is they still lose experience and enter a new tougher conference. The non-conference schedule is pretty brutal for them too so a repeat bowl birth will be tough to reach.

Predictions: Tulane will likely be 0-2 after their conference opener at Tulsa and a home game against Georgia Tech. The game against Southeastern Louisiana will result in a win. Tulane then has road games against Duke and Rutgers, which I also see them losing. If Tulane does turn out to be even a little better they could go 4-1 against this opening schedule only losing to Duke. Tulane does beat UConn and then loses at UCF. Tulane will lose at home to Cincinnati and on the road to Houston but does beat Memphis. Tulane loses at East Carolina and wins at home over Temple to end the year.

Predicted Record: 4-8(3-5)

 

[BoiseStateFan27]

Houston's record won't change but I have them beating UNLV now, apparently they're playing them instead of Tennessee Tech now

this dadburn late they schedule this

anyways on to the next one

Tulsa Golden Hurricane

Preview: Last season was a season where things fell apart for Tulsa, they went from a consistently good team to going 3-9 and getting blown out in a lot of games, it was definitely a big disappointment. They return some players so they shouldn't be as bad of a team this year though they still won't be in a bowl.

Predictions: Tulsa will open out the season and their time in the American conference against Tulane in a game they win. Then Tulsa gets a pretty uncommon home game against Oklahoma but they lose that one. Tulsa wins on the road against Florida Atlantic and beats Texas State. Unfortunately that is it for Tulsa as they fail to win again. Games on the road against Temple and Memphis will be winnable, along with home games against SMU and maybe USF, but I don't see it.

Predicted Record: 3-9(1-7)

 

[BoiseStateFan27]

Central Florida Knights


Preview: UCF had easily their best season ever last year, lost only one game and was a surprise winner of the Fiesta bowl. They ended up having their QB be the 3rd pick in the NFL draft to the Jacksonville Jaguars on top of it all. It was a surprise considering they were joining a new conference, then again a lot of teams were. This season UCF replaces the main players in this run the quarterback and runningback. Last season the one issue UCF had was they did play some close games against mediocre teams, so losing those players might put them below that, the schedule is a little tougher this year too with games against Penn State, Missouri and BYU who I believe will all be good. UCF does return a lot on their defense though, so they're not entirely rebuilding. A repeat trip to a BCS bowl is unlikely though.


Predictions: The first 5 games are brutal, well 4 of the first 5. UCF opens with Penn State in Ireland, then goes on the road to Missouri, has one break against Bethune-Cookman, then goes on the road against Houston and hosts BYU. I see all four of those teams (the lone exception being Bethune-Cookman of course) hovering around the top 25 this year. I see UCF having a 1-4 start, UCF does recover though, they go on a 6 game winning streak by winning at home against Tulane and Temple, on the road against UConn, back at home against Tulsa and SMU, then winning at rival USF. The road game against East Carolina results in a loss that ends UCF's winning streak.

Predicted Record: 7-5(6-2)

 

[BoiseStateFan27]

South Florida Bulls

Preview: The Willie Taggert era got off to about the worst start imaginable when USF got housed 53-21 by McNeese State in the first game. USF at least got a little better as the year went on but it's pretty clear that this isn't going to be a quick fix. Taggert is a good coach though so I expect them to improve a little bit.

Predictions: USF will handle their FCS opponent Western Carolina in their opener this year, then lose some tough home games against Maryland and NC State. USF beats UConn, then loses at Wisconsin and at home against East Carolina. USF wins at Tulsa then USF loses at Cincinnati and at home against Houston. USF does win at SMU and at Memphis, before losing at home to UCF.


Predicted Record: 5-7(4-4)

 

[BoiseStateFan27]

SMU Mustangs

Preview: SMU's first season in the American was a bit of a disappointment, they didn't make a bowl or beat anyone that had a winning record, they did play in some wild games though. This season SMU returns a decent amount of players, and while quarterback is a question they should be better, but the early portion of the schedule is absolutely brutal, the worst team they play non-conference is North Texas who won 9 games last year.

Predictions: I think North Texas loses enough players that SMU will beat them after getting blown out by Baylor in week one, SMU will also lose to Texas A&M, TCU, and East Carolina to start 2-4, seriously all 4 of those teams could be in the top 25 this year, what a rough start. SMU will beat Cincinnati in an upset and Memphis plus win on the road against Tulsa to recover a bit, SMU loses to USF, UCF, Houston and UConn to end the season on a 4 game losing streak, SMU will have had a better team than this, but this schedule is tough.

4-8(3-5)

correction on SMU's record

 

[BoiseStateFan27]

Houston Cougars

Preview: Last season ended up being a highly resurgent season under a freshman quarterback, Houston got off to a strong start and while they didn't finish extremely strong it was still a very successful season for Houston. Houston doesn't lose much from last year's team and will remain aggressive at getting turnovers, this combination should lead to an even more successful year.

Predictions: Houston opens with Texas-San Antonio who should be pretty good but Houston will win the game, Houston then plays Grambling State which could get really ugly, Grambling State is struggling in the subdivision. Houston then loses at BYU and beats the super recently scheduled UNLV(really this late?) Houston wins at home over UCF and then beats Memphis, Temple, USF, Tulane, Tulsa and SMU to complete an 8 game winning streak. This winning streak will end on the road against Cincinnati.

Predicted Record: 10-2(7-1)

correction on Houston too, after I did this Houston replaced Tennessee Tech with UNLV

 

[BoiseStateFan27]

American Conference

1. Cincinnati Bearcats 9-3(7-1) - Cincinnati wins 3 way tie because they beat Houston and East Carolina
2. Houston Cougars 10-2(7-1) - Houston claims 2nd on better record and probably higher ranking
3. East Carolina Pirates 9-3(7-1)
4. Central Florida Knights 7-5(6-2)
5. South Florida Bulls 5-7(4-4)
6. SMU Mustangs 4-8(3-5)
7. Tulane Green Wave 4-8(3-5)
8. Memphis Tigers 5-7(3-5)
9. UConn Huskies 4-8(2-6)
10. Temple Owls 2-10(1-7)
11. Tulsa Golden Hurricane 3-9(1-7)

 

[BoiseStateFan27]

tomorrow I will start on the Big 10

 

[BoiseStateFan27]

Big 10 begins with

Illinois Fighting Illini


Preview: Illinois football has been struggling for quite a while now, last year was no different, it got off to a promising 2-0 start when they beat Southern Illinois and blew out Cincinnati. The 10 point loss to Washington didn't really dampen things either and they blew out Miami of Ohio to start 3-1. Unfortunately the middle of the season was not good to Illinois as they started struggling on defense mostly. This season Illinois actually picks up on upgrade on the offensive with quarterback Wes Lunt, the offense will be good, but the issue is again, will their defense stop anyone? Tim Beckman was a defensive coordinator at one point, but ever since he's been a head coach his teams have always been in offensive shootouts(anyone remember his games at Toledo during weekday Maction when both teams scored 60 points??) With the Big 10 schedule Illinois has they will likely be on the losing end of some shootouts this year.

Predictions: Illinois starts out very similar to last year, a 3-1 start with a loss to Washington, except this time the wins are over Youngstown State, Western Kentucky and Texas State at home. Illinois then loses to Nebraska and beats Purdue. Illinois loses at Wisconsin, at home against Minnesota, at Ohio State, and at home against Iowa for a 4 game losing streak. Illinois does surprise non-bowl eligible Penn State before losing to Northwestern in the finale, to give Illinois a tough decision on whether to retain Beckman or not.

Predicted Record: 5-7(2-6)

 

[BoiseStateFan27]

One more for today, I never realized how difficult it was to find an Indiana logo that wasn't oversized.

Indiana Hoosiers


Preview: Last season saw Indiana at least develop an identity and very nearly make a bowl game finally, Indiana fell one game short of a bowl unfortunately. Indiana was really good on offense last year, but the problem was they couldn't stop anyone. It resulted in a lot of ridiculous scores, winning 73-35 over Indiana State in the opener, losing 63-47 to Michigan around the middle of the season, beating Illinois 52-35 and beating rival Purdue 56-36. Probably the best game Indiana had last year was in October when they won 44-24 over Penn State. This season Indiana will still be good on offense, and hope the defense can't get worse, bad news is the schedule is tougher, good teams like Missouri and Bowling Green that they had at home last year are now on the road this year. In conference they don't get a lot of breaks being in the tougher big 10 division and drawing Iowa from the West.

Predictions: Indiana opens yet again with a win over Indiana State, but then loses consecutive road games to Bowling Green and Missouri. Then returns home against Maryland, early in the year is a bad time to play them as that's when Maryland will be a strong team, Indiana likely loses in a shootout. They finally rebound by winning at home over North Texas, but then they lose the next 4, at Iowa, home against Michigan State, at Michigan and at home against Penn State. Indiana breaks that losing streak by winning at Rutgers, Indiana loses at Ohio State and then ends with a win at home over rival Purdue. I think Indiana is actually better than last year but the tougher schedule means their record gets worse.

Predicted Record: 4-8(2-6)

 

[BoiseStateFan27]

Iowa Hawkeyes

Preview: Iowa after struggling for a few years finally became a solid team again last year. Iowa won 8 games, which included a big 38-17 win over Nebraska in the regular season finale, Iowa then lost in a close one against LSU(who they were supposed to be way outmatched against) in their bowl game. Now this season Iowa returns a lot of those players, their defense should be really good while their offense won't be great but solid, Iowa's non-conference is very winnable but tricky, a bad game in any of them(yes even against Northern Iowa, they're a good FCS team and got Iowa State last year) could result in a loss and send their season in a downward spiral. Most likely Iowa gets off to a good start and competes for the West as they have both Nebraska and Wisconsin at home.

Predictions: Iowa wins the opener against Northern Iowa, and then survives a tricky one against a really good Ball State team. Iowa takes down their rival Iowa State and wins at Pitt to finish 4-0 in the non-conference schedule. Iowa gets a strong conference start by winning at Purdue, home against Indiana, at Maryland and at home against Northwestern to start 8-0 on the year. Iowa finally hits a setback as they are upset on the road against Minnesota, they bounce back to win at Illinois and upset Wisconsin at home. The finale is a good win at home over Nebraska

Predicted Record: 11-1(7-1)

 

[BoiseStateFan27]

Maryland Terrapins

Preview: Last season was one that started out with promise for Maryland, a 4-0 start with several easy wins, they had a bye week to prepare for Florida State but that's where things fell apart Maryland ended up getting destroyed 63-0, afterwards Maryland went on a stretch where at one point they were blown out by Wake Forest and were dominated by Syracuse. They had one last highlight when they surprisingly won in overtime at Virginia Tech. Maryland would get dominated in their bowl game by Marshall. The key is Maryland has quite a bit of talent, as starters, but they're not very durable and Maryland doesn't have great depth. They have the best receiver duo in the Big 10, but they need to stay healthy this year unlike last year.

Predictions: I'm expecting similar to last year, Maryland starts out very promising, winning early games at home over James Madison, at USF, home against West Virginia and at Syracuse and Indiana. Maryland gets a rude awakening after the 5-0 start at home against Ohio State, though it won't be anything like last year's 63-0 destruction at the hands of Florida State. Maryland loses a close one against Iowa, then loses at Wisconsin and Penn State as they start to wear down, and injuries strike them again, plus they're playing some really good teams. The losing streak continues at home against Michigan State and at home against Michigan. Maryland finally ends the long 6 game losing streak by winning at home over Rutgers in the finale.

Predicted Record: 6-6(2-6)

 

[rmilia1]

Iowa Hawkeyes

Preview: Iowa after struggling for a few years finally became a solid team again last year. Iowa won 8 games, which included a big 38-17 win over Nebraska in the regular season finale, Iowa then lost in a close one against LSU(who they were supposed to be way outmatched against) in their bowl game. Now this season Iowa returns a lot of those players, their defense should be really good while their offense won't be great but solid, Iowa's non-conference is very winnable but tricky, a bad game in any of them(yes even against Northern Iowa, they're a good FCS team and got Iowa State last year) could result in a loss and send their season in a downward spiral. Most likely Iowa gets off to a good start and competes for the West as they have both Nebraska and Wisconsin at home.

Predictions: Iowa wins the opener against Northern Iowa, and then survives a tricky one against a really good Ball State team. Iowa takes down their rival Iowa State and wins at Pitt to finish 4-0 in the non-conference schedule. Iowa gets a strong conference start by winning at Purdue, home against Indiana, at Maryland and at home against Northwestern to start 8-0 on the year. Iowa finally hits a setback as they are upset on the road against Minnesota, they bounce back to win at Illinois and upset Wisconsin at home. The finale is a tough one to predict but things seem to be going well for Bo Pelini and Nebraska at the moment so they get revenge for last year's embarrassing loss as Iowa loses.

Predicted Record: 10-2(6-2)

IF Iowa starts 8-0 and then loses to Minnesota I may have to nut punch myself. Thatd be a HORIBLE way to lose your first game. LOL

 

[963BUSC]

IF Iowa starts 8-0 and then loses to Minnesota I may have to nut punch myself. Thatd be a HORIBLE way to lose your first game. LOL

Iowa should start 8 - 0. In fact I wouldn't be at all surprised to see them at 10-0 going into their game with Wisconsin. Wow I heard Iowa had a favorable schedule this year but that is a really clear schedule.

 

[BoiseStateFan27]

IF Iowa starts 8-0 and then loses to Minnesota I may have to nut punch myself. Thatd be a HORIBLE way to lose your first game. LOL

LOL! it is

but I feel like it's something Iowa would do

Minnesota should be decent this year too. Wouldn't be as bad as losing to Purdue or Indiana LOL