2014 Season Preview thread

[BoiseStateFan27]

Alabama-Birmingham Blazers

Preview: Long story short, UAB does not have a good football program, they're buried in the state of Alabama, behind Alabama and Auburn in the pecking order, and on top of that Troy usually beats out UAB to pick up the remains, and now South Alabama is already ahead of UAB in the Alabama pecking order too. UAB hasn't ever won a bowl game, and has only been to one ever, a loss to Hawai'i in 2004. Last season was more of the usual for UAB as they won only two games, while they hung around in some they suffered some really bad blowouts. UAB now starts this year with a new head coach as their previous head coach left to take the offensive coordinator job at Louisville. Bill Clark is the new coach, he came from in state FCS program Jacksonville State, after only one year there, he did a great job, and I would say it was a nice risk UAB took to get a potential major riser in the coaching ranks, if he turns out to be really good perhaps he can get UAB to a bowl game one day before he leaves for a bigger program. For now he doesn't have too much to work with this year, UAB might be slightly improved, but they most likely won't reach bowl eligibility.

Predictions: UAB opens the year with a home loss to Troy before losing at Mississippi State. UAB does get their first win of the year winning over Alabama A&M. UAB gets on a bit of a roll as they win at home over FIU and get another win at Western Kentucky. The conference schedule hits a tougher point as UAB loses at home to North Texas, and on the road against Mid Tenn State, Arkansas and Florida Atlantic. UAB takes home losses to Louisiana Tech, and Marshall and loses at Southern Miss to end the year.

Predicted Record: 3-9(2-6)

 

[BoiseStateFan27]

Texas- El Paso Miners


Preview: Last season was not a good one for UTEP as they struggled to a 2-10 year. New Mexico State and FIU were their only wins, though it was only Sean Kugler's first year and he didn't have the best of slate's, the offensive line wasn't very good and QB Jameill Showers(who was originally the starter at Texas A&M before Manziel took the spot) along with Nathan Jeffery the running back both suffered injury issues. This season Showers and Jeffery are healthy now, and will hopefully stay that way throughout the year, as Showers is talented and so is Jeffery as Oklahoma fans may know from a few years ago, UTEP also has another option at running back in Aaron Jones who had a very good freshman year. Offensive line is Sean Kugler's specialty so I think he'll find better options there. The other good news is the defense can't go anywhere but up at last season, when the defense switched schemes twice the offseason before. UTEP should make an improvement, and maybe perhaps be bowl eligible if things go right.


Predictions: UTEP starts the season with a loss at New Mexico, and then at home to Texas Tech, UTEP gets a home win over New Mexico State for their first win of the year. UTEP then loses at Kansas State and at Louisiana Tech, they return home and get a win over Old Dominion. UTEP after the bye week loses at UTSA, and then wins at home over Southern Miss, before losing at Western Kentucky. UTEP gets a nice home win over North Texas and another surprising one at Rice then loses at home to Mid Tenn State to end the regular season.

Predicted Record: 5-7(4-4)

 

[BoiseStateFan27]

Texas-San Antonio Roadrunners

Preview: This program has become very good very fast, Larry Coker has definitely done a good job here. UTSA found themselves having a very good year, they took 3 losses from their tough non-conference schedule, but they only lost two in conference play and really had a lot of momentum at the end of the year too, only issue was despite their 7-5 record they weren't yet eligible for a bowl game as they were still too new to FBS, now this year with a lot of starters returning UTSA is now eligible for a bowl and with the team they have you can at least expect them to make one, they're a contender for the Conference USA crown though, if UTSA can just get through the brutal non-conference schedule and maybe even pull an upset it will be smooth sailing.

Predictions: So about that brutal non-conference schedule...UTSA opens the season at Houston, at home against Arizona and at Oklahoma State, all 3 games will be losses but UTSA will at least put up a fight at times. They get a bye week to recover and then play at Florida Atlantic which I see them winning, UTSA then has home games against New Mexico and FIU which they win, they keep winning as they win at Louisiana Tech, at home against UTEP and at Rice. UTSA gets another home win over Southern Miss, and then is surprised on the road against Western Kentucky, before ending the regular season with a win over North Texas.


Predicted Record: 8-4(7-1)

 

[BoiseStateFan27]

Western Kentucky Hilltoppers

Preview: Western Kentucky has been on a very good run as of late, competing for conference championships and being bowl eligible, they grabbed a big coaching hire in Bobby Petrino for last year, but he got offered the Louisville job and left this year. Western Kentucky already had a replacement in mind, but there's still the worry of the fact that whoever takes over for Bobby Petrino seemingly has an awful season, this along with the loss of some of their biggest playmakers, which were their running back Antonio Andrews, linebacker Andrew Jackson and their safety, perhaps there could be trouble, the other issue is team's that move to a new conference tend to struggle there, with that all together I think Western Kentucky is going to have a very bad start to the year, they get it together a little bit later in the year though.

Predictions: Western Kentucky opens with a home loss to Bowling Green, then loses on the road to Illinois, Mid Tenn State and Navy, the bad start continues with a surprising home loss to UAB, and a road loss to Florida Atlantic. Finally Western Kentucky gets a win, beating Old Dominion at home, they then lose at Louisiana Tech before winning at home over UTEP, Army and surprisingly UTSA. They lose at Marshall in the regular season finale.

Predicted Record: 4-8(3-5)

 

[BoiseStateFan27]

Tomorrow and Wednesday will be the independents, and then I'm going on vacation so no predictions for a bit. I timed this really well because finding the division alignment for Conference USA was near impossible before today.

EAST

1. Marshall Thundering Herd 12-0(8-0)
2. Middle Tennessee State Blue Raiders 8-4(6-2)
3. Florida Atlantic Owls 4-8(4-4)
4. Western Kentucky Hilltoppers 4-8(3-5)
5. Alabama- Birmingham Blazers 3-9(2-6)
6. Old Dominion Monarchs 3-9(1-7)
7. Florida International Golden Panthers 1-11(0-8)

WEST

1. Texas- San Antonio Roadrunners 8-4(7-1)
2. Rice Owls 7-5(5-3) - wins tiebreaker by beating La Tech and North Texas
3. North Texas Mean Green 6-6(5-3) - beat La Tech
4. Louisiana Tech Bulldogs 6-6(5-3)
5. Texas- El Paso Miners 5-7(4-4)
6. Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles 3-9(1-7)


Conference-USA Championship: UTSA over Marshall(UPSET!!)

 

[BoiseStateFan27]

oh dadburnit! My Army preview didn't post last night

 

[BoiseStateFan27]

I'll get that one up again after this for now, little out of order

Brigham Young Cougars

Preview: BYU had a pretty solid year last year, the main thing they did was fix the offense. The last few years before BYU had an offense that wasn't producing too much, last season with a more hurry up style they ran more plays than anyone and had some good success with it, bursting on to the scene with a blowout win over Texas. Though the blowout over Texas was the only win BYU had in the first month, as they lost to Virginia in bad weather conditions, and rival Utah has had their number lately. BYU went on a roll during the midseason, before losing to Wisconsin, Notre Dame and Washington in their bowl game. Overall it was a decent year, and though they lost the star of their defense in Kyle Van Noy, BYU should still be primed for a good year, especially with the easier schedule.

Predictions: BYU opens the season with a win at UConn, and then surprises Texas at Texas, before returning home and beating Houston, while grabbing revenge over Virginia. Utah State surprises BYU at home though, so BYU suffers their first loss of the year in that one, BYU then gets wins at UCF and at home against Nevada before losing at Boise State. BYU grabs a win at Mid Tenn State, and at home over UNLV and Savannah State because apparently BYU is trying to submit an application to the SEC. BYU then suffers their annual loss to a horrible big 5 conference team in a road loss to Cal at the end of the year.

Predicted Record: 9-3

 

[BoiseStateFan27]

I might have to start typing these into word documents

lets hope this posts this time

Army Black Knights

Preview: Things haven't been good for Army football in a while, last time they even had a solid season was in 2010 when they went 7-6 with a bowl win. Even that year wasn't too great for Army as they lost to both Air Force and Navy that year. While these academies do aim to win game and make bowls, the biggest priority for them is to beat each other, and when it's come down to the battles for Army playing Air Force and Navy, Army has often come on the losing end. The worst part for Army is the losing to Navy, Army hasn't beaten Navy since 2001! Well over a decade now since they have gotten a win over Navy. Previous coach Rich Ellerson actually came close twice in 2011 and 2012 to beating Navy but couldn't close the deal, and as a result of that and Army's struggles in general the past few years he was fired and now Jeff Monken steps in to try to improve things for Army football. Jeff Monken has been a very good coach of the triple option at Georgia Southern, consistently making the FCS playoffs with them and putting up notable performances, in 2011 his team ran all over a dominant Alabama defense filled with NFL players, and last year which actually was one of Monken's worst at Georgia Southern he got a win over the Florida Gators. Monken is one of the most likely to have success at Army, but it will be very difficult, especially this year.

Predictions: Army opens at home against Buffalo, a game which I'm predicting a loss in, Army then has road game against Stanford and Wake Forest which will also be losses. Then Army plays a very strange road game against Yale, not often to FBS teams play on the road against FCS schools, but I think Army will get their first win of the year in this game. Army then takes home losses to Ball State and Rice, before getting a second win of the year, winning at Kent State. Army loses home games to UConn and Connecticut, before losing at Western Kentucky. Army gets a win over Fordham before being off two weeks and then playing their annual rivalry game against Navy, and unfortunately for Army it's tough to see them ending the losing streak to Navy this year, they lose that one.

Predicted Record: 3-9

 

[BoiseStateFan27]

Navy Midshipmen

Preview: Things have been pretty good for Navy football lately, they haven't lost to Army since 2001 and they consistently find themselves making bowl games. Things looked like they were falling a bit for Navy in 2011 when they failed to make a bowl, and in 2012 they made one with a mostly easy schedule, but with quarterback Keenan Reynolds running the option very well for Navy, they had a great year last year, Navy was a lot better against good competition, beating Indiana and Pittsburgh and very nearly getting a win over Notre Dame. This year Navy brings back Keenan Reynolds along with some others, and best of all Navy's toughest opponents, Ohio State and Notre Dame are played at so called "neutral" sites, but they are in the same state as Navy so they're both essentially home games. Navy was close to beating Notre Dame last year and gave their defense fits, and Ohio State's defense has had it's struggles last season too, so basically every game on Navy's schedule is winnable, though it's highly unlikely that they will actually win them all.

Predictions: Navy opens the season at M&T bank stadium against Ohio State, the potential for a surprise upset is here, but I see Navy falling short in this one, Navy then gets road wins at Temple and Texas State. Navy then picks up home wins over Rutgers and Western Kentucky. They then get themselves a big road win over rival Air Force, Navy then wins over VMI and San Jose State at home. Then Navy takes on Notre Dame at FedEx field, once again the potential for an upset is here, Notre Dame plays a very tough schedule and Navy may not catch their focus in this one, but in my prediction Navy only has one loss so they catch Notre Dame's attention and fall in this one. Navy then gets a home win over Georgia Southern, before losing a tricky one on the road to South Alabama. Navy does get the ending to the year they want, extending their winning streak over rival Army in the regular season finale.

Predicted record: 9-3

 

[BoiseStateFan27]

made some fixes, I noticed that I completely messed up my Syracuse one, I was going to have both teams winning their games against Maryland and Notre Dame.

 

[BoiseStateFan27]

My last preview until I'm back from vacation

Notre Dame Fighting Irish

Preview: Last year was a pretty up and down year for Notre Dame, they had some good performances and some pretty bad ones too, the tone was set at the start when Everett Golston was kicked off the team and Tommy Rees, who was a pretty up and down quarterback was the starter. This year Golston is back on the team, but there are a lot more challenges, the defense took some losses and both coordinators left for head coaching jobs. Notre Dame's schedule has been a major talking point too, so far in the preseason it appears to be the toughest in college football, it's Notre Dame's first year of their scheduling agreement with the ACC, and they actually play 4 of the toughest opponents this year's ACC has to offer. Notre Dame will most likely lose too many games to make a big bowl, but they should be good enough for a top 25 ranking.

Predictions: Notre Dame opens with a pretty easy win over Rice, they then face Michigan in the last game between the two teams for the forseeable future, the two coaches will have their teams very well prepared for this one, I think Notre Dame barely edges it out. The next game is in Indianapolis against Purdue, Purdue usually gives Notre Dame a good fight but Purdue is just not very good and Notre Dame seems to play well for their shamrock series games, Notre Dame wins easy. Notre Dame then plays Syracuse at Metlife stadium, it will be a tricky one as Syracuse is improved this year, but Notre Dame edges past. Notre Dame takes their first loss of the year at home against Stanford and then wins at home against North Carolina. Notre Dame then has a big road game against Florida State, but its difficult to see them winning that one, Notre Dame then gets a bye week to prepare for Navy's option attack and that bodes well for them as they win that one. Notre Dame then plays at Arizona State and that turns out to be a loss for them. Notre Dame gets home wins over Northwestern and Louisville before their good run against USC(partially caused by Kiffin) comes to an end with a loss on the road to them.

Predicted Record 8-4

 

[Used 2 B Hu]

Time to begin the Big 12 with

Baylor Bears

Preview: The easy way to sum up last year was it was the best season in Baylor football history, Baylor opened with a ridiculous run, scoring 69 or more points in 5 of the first 6 games. They would roll off to a 9-0 start that included a very impressive 41-12 destruction of Oklahoma who later beat Alabama in the Sugar Bowl. Baylor had a bit of a sour end though, they had a meltdown at Oklahoma State and were blown out, then they lost their bowl game to heavy underdog UCF. One issue has seemed to remain, Baylor tends to struggle away from home, how will that affect them this year? That can be answered by one game, Baylor plays at Oklahoma on November 8th, Oklahoma is considered Baylor's biggest competitor for the Big 12, this game will determine it, Baylor also has to avoid losing any of their other road games. They certainly have the talent, they lost some good players on both sides, but also bring a lot of really good ones back, including Quarterback Bryce Petty.


Predictions: Baylor wins easily over SMU and Northwestern State to start out the year, and they are slightly challenged but still win at Buffalo. Baylor actually goes on a road winning streak, winning over Iowa State and surviving one against Texas. Baylor beats TCU and wins at West Virginia. Baylor then beats Kansas to get off to an 8-0 start before it all comes crashing down in a loss at Oklahoma. Baylor wins at home over Oklahoma State, beats Texas Tech in their rivalry game at Cowboys stadium and wins over Kansas State at home.


Predicted Record: 11-1(8-1)

Giggity...

 

[BoiseStateFan27]

Now that I'm settled after vacation, time to resume this thread with the Mac conference.

Akron Zips

Preview: Akron had been very far down for quite a while now, but last season was one where Akron showed a lot of improvement under Terry Bowden, Akron showed signs early when they grabbed headlines by coming within a play of upsetting Michigan. Akron truly showed how improved they were at the end of the year though when they won 4 of their last 5 games including a surprising win over Toledo in the season finale. With a good amount of returning starters and Terry Bowden still around as the head coach, Akron seems on track to be the Mac team that improves suddenly to bowl eligibility, though the schedule isn't overly easy.

Predictions: After an easy season opener against Howard which Akron wins, Akron has games at Penn State, at home against Marshall and at Pitt which are all good opponents, though not completely out of reach for Akron to pull the upset, but I have Akron losing all 3 of them. Akron then gets home wins over Eastern Michigan and Miami of Ohio, before getting a road win at Ohio and losing on the road to Ball State and at home to Bowling Green. Akron then wins at Buffalo, before winning at home over UMass and at Kent State to gain bowl eligibility.

Predicted Record: 7-5(6-2)

 

[pabartl787]

Penn State Nittany Lions


Preview: Penn State faces yet another season under sanction with no bowl eligibility, but that doesn't mean their short of talent on the team though. Last season saw Penn State have some good games(including upsetting Wisconsin), but also saw them get destroyed by Ohio State and surprisingly blown out by Indiana. Focus is difficult with no bowl game or conference title hopes, so they're quite erratic. Penn State also saw an offseason coaching change, losing Bill O'Brien but they managed to hire another great coach in James Franklin, this year they return some good starters too. Penn State will still be slightly erratic, but James Franklin is a good motivator so there will be less of it this year.

Predictions: Penn State opens with two non-power 5 conference teams that are actually quite challenging opponents in UCF and Akron. I see Penn State winning both, as well as winning at Rutgers, and at home against Northwestern to start 5-0. They suffer their first loss at Michigan, then lose at home to Ohio State. Penn State wins at home over Maryland, at Indiana and at home over Temple. Then suffers a random upset loss at Illinois before upsetting Michigan State at home.


Predicted Record: 9-3(5-3)

10-2 losing to MSU and OSU

 

[WB1214]

Looks good and I agree with most so far. Can't wait for the SEC

 

[BoiseStateFan27]

Thanks sir! I shall be there soon, the SEC will be the last conference I do.


For the most part I have these all done in my head, once I do have them all done, we'll go over the resume's of the non power 5 teams and I'll most likely make another thread where we can basically have a SportsHoopla committee to decide which non power 5 team is the one that deserves to be in the big bowl.

After that I'll do my bowl predictions

and I'll do for each conference a potential sleeper and a potential bust

I'm going to define a sleeper team as one that could exceed my prediction and have a much better than I predicted year. And a bust as one that could disappoint my prediction.

 

[BoiseStateFan27]

Ball State Cardinals

Preview: I didn't really have any idea who Pete Lembo was when Ball State first hired him, after a little research I thought he just may have success there. Well as it turns out he has done a very good job at Ball State, and last season was his best one yet, and the best Ball State has had other than the year that they started out 12-0 but lost the Mac championship and their bowl. Lembo is currently one of the best mid-major coaches out there, he currently has Ball State as the best program in Indiana other than Notre Dame of course, Ball State has a 2-0 record against Indiana under Lembo and Purdue's program is currently a mess. Lembo's Ball State team blew out Virginia at Virginia last year as well. Ball State lost a lot of starters this year but since they're in the Mac where good coaching is big, especially when a good coach has been at the program this long, Ball State may not take a step up from their 10 win season last year, but don't expect them to fall far from it either.

Predictions: Ball State opens with a win over Colgate(lol), and then has a road game against Iowa, which is a tough one and I'm predicting a loss in it, but Ball State definitely has a shot at the upset, Ball State then beats Indiana State. Ball State opens conference play at Toledo which I predict a loss in, and has their final non-conference game on the road against Army which Ball State wins. Ball State then has games at home against Western Michigan, at Central Michigan and at home against Akron, and they win all 3 of those, before having a game home game against Northern Illinois who has beaten Lembo every time in his tenure at Ball State, but right now I trust Lembo a little more than Carey as a head coach, so I'll go with Ball State in this one. Ball State wins at UMass and at home against Eastern Michigan before ending the season with a big road game at Bowling Green which I predict a loss in.

Predicted Record: 9-3(6-2)

 

[Tin Man]

...they started out 12-0 but lost the conference championship and their bowl...

Recently, another, more widely recognized school's football team had a similar season.

 

[BoiseStateFan27]

Recently, another, more widely recognized school's football team had a similar season.

well somewhat sir, this team only went 11-0 and didn't make a conference championship game though.

 

[BoiseStateFan27]

Bowling Green Falcons

Preview: Last season was one of the best seasons Bowling Green had in a long time, winning 10 games which included a blowout victory in the Mac Championship over an at the time undefeated Northern Illinois team, Bowling Green definitely had some momentum at the end of the year, and even though Dave Clawson left for Wake Forest, Bowling Green did a great job finding a replacement in Dino Babers. Babers is a riser in the coaching ranks, he had lots of experience at several programs as an assistant, but the offensive style that really got him was the fast up-tempo offense similar to that of Baylor(which is where he brought his style from.) At Eastern Illinois he was immediately successful bringing them from the bottom of FCS to a solid record in his first year, and then to the playoffs in his second year, in a season that also included a 40-19 blowout win over San Diego State of FBS, and lost to Northern Illinois by only a score of 42-39 despite Carey of Northern Illinois claiming before the game that Eastern Illinois was their toughest non-conference opponent. The Quarterback from Dino Babers system at Eastern Illinois ended up going to the New England Patriots in the second round of the draft. As I will say a lot, in the Mac coaching plays a big deal in a team's success, so Bowling Green is in a good position with Babers as their coach, it also helps that he has the players in place already to run his offense, Matt Johnson the quarterback took over after a few series in Bowling Green's opening game and immediately had success and took over the starting job, he went on to have a good year, and that's only his first year as a starter, meanwhile running back Travis Greene ran for over 1,500 yards last season and more than any other running back in Bowling Green football history, a good deep group of recievers return as well. Bowling Green despite losing some starters still looks good on the defensive end of the ball, Bowling Green has a deep group on the defensive line still, with a good group of linebackers the front 7 is very good overall. The secondary is the biggest question on the defense because of the loss of Boo Boo Gates who was a very good starter at the safety position, as well as others. Overall though with the roster they have expect Bowling Green to contend for the Mac title again.

Predictions: Bowling Green opens with a road game at Western Kentucky, who by the way plays in Bowling Green, Kentucky, so imagine the confusion with that one, why they decided to do this to us I don't know, but Bowling Green should win that one, as well as the home opener against VMI. Bowling Green then has a big home game against Indiana, as it's not often that they host a Big 10 opponent, Indiana blew out Bowling Green last season but the defense couldn't play well against Indiana's up tempo style, this season the defense will have gone against it every week in practice so Bowling Green will be more prepared for it and I believe manage to pull off the victory in this one. The biggest game of the year for Bowling Green is at Wisconsin, I unfortunately cannot reasonably predict a victory in this one for Bowling Green, so a loss here. Bowling Green then wins at Umass, at home against Buffalo, at Ohio and at home over Western Michigan, Bowling Green then begins a series of Maction games starting with a road game at Akron, which will be challenging but I predict a win, at home against Kent State which they win, and then on the road against Toledo which I hate to say it but Toledo has had Bowling Green's number as of late, so I predict Toledo getting the upset, Bowling Green ends the regular season with a good win over Ball State though.

Predicted Record: 10-2(7-1)