Tin Man
Loquacious Constituent
I'm hungry for the next chapters, BSF. Pretty please, with Smurf Turf on top!
I'm hungry for the next chapters, BSF. Pretty please, with Smurf Turf on top!
10-2 losing to MSU and OSU
who would have thought it would be a challenge to find an Ohio State logo that isn't oversized?
Ohio State Buckeyes
Preview: Last season was one that good for most of it, but ended pretty disappointing. Ohio State went undefeated in the regular season but lost in the Big 10 championship with a chance at the national championship on the line, and then lost in the Orange Bowl to Clemson. The most glaring issue was the defense, at times it couldn't stop anyone, especially towards the end when a Michigan offense that failed to score a single touchdown in regulation against Northwestern two weeks before, put up 41 on Ohio State's defense, which included Michigan's offensive coordinator who they wanted fired(and eventually did) looking like an absolute genius calling plays against Ohio State's defense. One issue with this might have been the coaching on defense, but they also have young players starting for the defense too. This year one of the co-defensive coordinators left, and a new one is in, the young players will also be a year older, so now it will be interesting to see how this side of the ball develops, Braxton Miller and co on offense will score a lot of points in games this year so if the defense is even decent, Ohio State could have a special year. The next issue is Braxton Miller, now when he's on the field and healthy he's very good, but he did get hurt quite a bit last year and Ohio State doesn't have Kenny Guiton as a backup this year like they did last year. What will happen if Miller gets hurt again? For now though the Buckeyes are definitely contenders for the Big 10.
Predictions: The opener at Navy is a tricky one, how will the defense prepare for the triple option? Ohio State had some issues with Navy when they hosted them a few years ago, I think Navy will challenge them again, but Ohio State will again win. The next game against Virginia Tech is another interesting one, but I see Ohio State winning it. Ohio State then beats in state Kent State easily, and also wins an interesting in state game over Cincinnati. Ohio State wins over the newcomers at Maryland and at home over Rutgers. They keep going winning a tricky road game over Penn State and winning at home over Illinois. Ohio State finally sees defeat losing at Michigan State. Ohio State wins out from there, winning at Minnesota, and at home over Indiana and rival Michigan.
Predicted Record: 11-1(7-1)
Michigan Wolverines
Preview: Last season was a pretty disappointing season for Michigan, they really had several weird games(so weird I'm definitely going into detail.) they opened 2-0 and looked really good on both sides of the ball, suddenly the following week they came within a play of losing at home to Akron, and then the week after needed a comeback to beat a horrible UConn team. Michigan then appeared back on the right track after the game against Minnesota, but then lost in overtime to Penn State for their first loss. Michigan then scored 63 points in a ridiculous 63-47 shootout against Indiana, then promptly only scored 6 points while getting crushed by Michigan State. Michigan lost again, and then went overtime in an ugly game against Northwestern(seriously it was 9-9 entering overtime) that made the Indiana game seem like years ago, Michigan then lost the final two regular season games and lost big to Kansas State in their bowl game. Michigan was mainly hampered by a struggling offensive line, they return 4 starters(maybe only 3 one just got arrested) and Gardner is back looking to become more consistent than he was last year, where he sometimes looked unstoppable and other times didn't look like he should even be a college quarterback. Good news is the schedule isn't very difficult Michigan draws Minnesota and Northwestern from the West division. The non-conference though brings some haunting memories for Michigan fans, Michigan lost to Appalachian State the last time they played them, and everyone knows the story behind that. Michigan also has home game against Utah, they opened against them the following season and ended up losing that game along with having an embarrassing 3-9 season that year. Michigan has a lot of storylines with them this year as you can tell by this really long preview.
Predictions: I can't see a repeat of last time Michigan played Appalachian State unfortunately, as Michigan wins, Michigan does lose at Notre Dame in the final game between the two for the foreseeable future, Michigan then beats Miami of Ohio pretty easily, but does lose to an improved Utah team at home to finish the non-conference 2-2. Things get better for Michigan though, they win easily at home over Minnesota, and at Rutgers, they also get a big home win over Penn State. Michigan does lose at Michigan State after the bye week though. Michigan then beats Indiana in a game that will probably not have as crazy of a score as last year's game, and then wins a pretty tough one at Northwestern. Michigan wins at home over Maryland but to the displeasure of their fans loses on the road at Ohio State.
Predicted Record: 8-4(6-2)
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)
An interesting note
Some of the teams that are in the Mac East, don't play each other in conference play this year, I haven't seen divisional opponents not play each other like this before