Teams who will improve Record

[RetroVK]

I have compiled my lists for teams that will improve/regress atleast two games from their regular season record a year ago. Today , I am listing the teams that I feel will make a good turnaround this season. With each team I have given a tiny blurb as to why I feel things will turn for them. This makes for a long post and at the same time is insufficient space to go into a lot of depth in my reasoning. I am more than willing to discuss any team in specifics with those that wish. My first thread on the forum, so I hope it is helpful to those who bet total season wins. This is for regular season only, bowls not included.

HAWAII -- Last year 10-3 , my projection for 2007 12-0

I am not sure but I think there is a chance that Hawaii has just added my old high school to their schedule. The schedule is a joke and Hawaii will be favored in every game they play this year. The tougest game on the mainland for them this year is at Fresno State. Hawaii gets Boise state at home this year in late november. The way I see it, Hawaii has 3 months to prepare for Boise.

Miami Ohio --Last Year 2-10, my projection for 2007 6-6

I look for major improvement from the offensive line. After last season, it is easy to forget that Miami Ohio is one of the better recruiting teams in the MAC. That talent should pay dividends this year in conference play. They also avoid w mich and c mich on the schedule this year and those two teams are the class of the conference.

UCLA --Last Year 7-5 , my projection for 2007 9-3

Lets face it, almost the entire team is returning from last year and this is a team that can survive if the number one qb gets injured , with Cowan as a back up.

Memphis -- Last Year 2-10 , my projection for 2007 7-5

This offense should be pretty hard for conference USA defenses to stop. The defense is suspect for sure but can only improve and this team is finally pretty healthy after being devastated by injuries last year. They lost 5 games last year by under a TD. Another reason to look at memphis as a team whose record will improve is a schedule that includes arkansas state, nicholls state , middle tennessee state , Rice , Tulane and UAB.

Colorado --Last Year 2-10 , my projection for 2007 5-7

The team is only slightly better than they were last year. The first game of the year is HUGE for them vs Col state. If they drop that game, they could go in the tank again. Have a good coach and a system that works and one of the better off season programs in the whole nation. The team can only get better as they learn the Hawkins offense. If they tank this year, Hawkins better start hosting some recruiting trips at the local strip clubs.

Fresno State -- Last Year 4-8, my projection for 2007 7-5

This is a team that really underachieved last year. However, if you look closely at the previous year, you will see that Fresno got a little unlucky. They outplayed Oregon last year in a 7 point loss, outplayed Washington last year in a 1 point loss, laid an egg for an atrocious utah state team losing by 1 point, and had san jose state on the road during their best season that I can remember. Had a hard time replacing the senior qb from 2005 last year but Brandstater looked much much better down the stretch last year.

Penn State --Last Year 8-4 . my projection for 2007 11-1

I think this could be Penn states year. They have one .... ONE tough road game at Michigan. They catch overrated Wiscy and overrated Ohio State at home and catch Notre Dame in a revenge spot at home. If Penn state beats michigan in late september you might want to look at their odds to win the national championship. LOVE this football team this year, especially when most folks are going to think the DL is a weakness (2 sophs and a fresh) when it will actually be a STRENGTH

Souther Miss -- Last Year 8-5 , my projection for 2007 10-2

Hard to find a loss other than at Tennessee and at Boise state. They miss both Houston and Tulsa on the CUSA schedule this year.

Florida State -- Last Year 6-4 , my projection for 2007 9-3

The coaching can only be better and the team should have some confidence with with easy 6-0 schedule to start the year. If things fall right, they could actually be a national title contender.

 

[E.T.G.]

Great first thread, welcome to the site as well..

I agree, Hawaii should run the table. The cheating MAC, I like to stay away from so I will take your word on MOH. UCLA should also improve their record by 2+ here. The defense will def. keep them in the game. Its hard for Memphis not to improve from last season, same for Colo. I think the key with Fresno will be the early season schedule, they got SAC St, then trips to A&M and Oregon. A 1-2 start heading into the WAC can be a confidence killer for this team. The last 3, I agree with as well. I really like the RB from SoMiss, Fletcher and for FSU, as long as the offense doesn't totally suck, they should be able to pick up 8-9wins.

 

[brewer]

illini :36_7_1:

 

[E.T.G.]

Regular season record: 7-5.... I think its quite possible SoCarolina can win 9 regular season games this yr. A lot of people don't think so but this is by far the best defense in Columbia in a while. The OL must come together but it should be better than the OL was at the end of last yr as there is a lot more depth. The front 7 is real deep and the game at UGA will be a huge indicator of where this season is going.

 

[RetroVK]

I actually looked at S carolina too but came up with 8 wins. the linebackers spurrier has here are pretty quality. at tenn , at arkansas (who will be down this year) home to florida and home to clemson (also think they will be down this year) is a pretty tough closing schedule. Much like the mentioned illini , s carolina will probably be a team I will be involved with financially but also like the illini I am not sure it will necessarily translate to a large increase in number of wins. the bulb did seem to go on over mitchells head down the stretch last year though. As you said ETG, the bulldog game week 2 will tell us what we need to know.

 

[E.T.G.]

I actually looked at S carolina too but came up with 8 wins. the linebackers spurrier has here are pretty quality. at tenn , at arkansas (who will be down this year) home to florida and home to clemson (also think they will be down this year) is a pretty tough closing schedule. Much like the mentioned illini , s carolina will probably be a team I will be involved with financially but also like the illini I am not sure it will necessarily translate to a large increase in number of wins. the bulb did seem to go on over mitchells head down the stretch last year though. As you said ETG, the bulldog game week 2 will tell us what we need to know.

Pretty good answer, tough to argue with any of it. The road schedule is tough and that UGA game is very very important because the next real game is at LSU and more than likely a loss.


As far as another team improving by 2+wins, maybe NMST. They have winnable OOC games (SE Louisiana, New Mexico, UTEP, Arkansas Pine-Bluff) and they should improve on their 2-6 record in the WAC. They return pretty much the whole team and this is the 3rd yr for head coach Hal Mumme and his system. Holbrook and the offense need to limit the turnovers because they can move the ball all over the field on the teams they play.

 

[RetroVK]

Yes nmsu has a good chance to improve on the win total. Very contingent on one player staying healthy. Hell his arm might fall off with the number of passes he is going to be throwing. the home schedule is cake though. i can see this.

the other team I wanted to add was la monroe .... but I kind of want to keep this team on the down low because i think they will be a cash cow this year and i dont want the world catching on to this. i pick them to win the sun belt over troy.

 

[E.T.G.]

Yes nmsu has a good chance to improve on the win total. Very contingent on one player staying healthy. Hell his arm might fall off with the number of passes he is going to be throwing. the home schedule is cake though. i can see this.

the other team I wanted to add was la monroe .... but I kind of want to keep this team on the down low because i think they will be a cash cow this year and i dont want the world catching on to this. i pick them to win the sun belt over troy.

NMSU will welcome back a RB they didn't have last yr as well so that should help the offense even more as he was the leading rusher coming back in the WAC heading into 06' before getting hurt.

As far as La Monroe, I haven't got to that conference yet but I am well aware of this team because they caught my eye last yr losing 42-40 to Kentucky. They got their whole offense back and most of their defense, The OOC schedule isn't too kind with games @ Clemson and @ A&M but they were +20 to UK last yr so with a line like that vs. these BCS schools, its worth a shot.

 

[RetroVK]

I can't decide if college football is better than sex or if college football is sex.

 

[Mags]

No Miami, FL? How can't they improve? Only one disagreement here, Wiscy is NOT over-rated.

 

[RetroVK]

Well, betting against miami the last few years has been easier than photo copying money. they went 6-6 last year and have away games this year at oklahoma (superior team) at fsu (superior team) at virginia tech (superior team), at boston college (superior team and they catch them at end of year when they should have new system down better) .. throw in a home schedule that includea TAMU, virginia , and georgia tech and you can see how it is going to be tough on this team to win a ton of games. 8 wins is possible, but no other team has been bigger underachievers year in year out the last few years. I bet them in the bowl game vs nevada last year (ouch) where they squeezed by with a 1 point win. I have little reason to believe this team will suddenly start playing inspired football. The qb does have a first name of kyle and we all know that anyone named kyle rocks ... so they got that going for them , which is nice.

As far as wiscy being overrated , I will no doubt be in the minority with my opinion here. They lost the most dominant player in all of college football last year in thomas. It will be much more difficult now that they cannot run behind him and pick up first downs in two plays or be left with third and short. last year when faced with third and short , third and medium they had a veteran qb in stocco to pick up the first down. now, they will have an unproven qb who will be facing third and much longer on average than they did last year. Including this teams bowl game last year they played 3 teams of quality. they beat arkansas in the bowl game by 3 , lost at michigan by 2 td, and beat penn state by 10 at home. Granted their schedule is super easy so they will likely be 6-0 before heading into penn state. They will be a go against team for me when making wagers this year based on how I see them being valued by linesmakers and public.
Wow , they have another easy schedule. I may get a chance to watch them play here in vegas when they play the mighty rebels. Anyone remember the game wisc at unlv when the stadium lights went out midway through the fourth quarter ?? voided all sports tickets to the dismay of badger bettors.

 

[E.T.G.]

Good shit here Vegas, great read

 

[RSMS9999]

re

hard to argue with any of these

 

[cubsker]

I can't decide if college football is better than sex or if college football is sex.

I like to have sex at halftime. 20 minutes is about perfect.

 

[Dmoney416]

I like to have sex at halftime. 20 minutes is about perfect.

But then you miss the game analysis and the out of town scores - get your priorities straight. :36_11_6:

 

[B.A.R.]

I like to have sex at halftime. 20 minutes is about perfect.

damn you machine..lol'an_horse'

 

[STEED]

oregon

 

[parare]

– Last year 6-6, 2007….9-3 (quite possibly 10-2)
<O</O
Ferentz couldn’t have asked for a better schedule to re-establish his program as a double-digit winner (well, I guess he could have asked for Wiscy and PSU to be home games). But besides those two games, every other is extremely winnable. No Michigan and no tOSU. They’re sure to be favorites in at least 9, and the 10th is @Purdue, a team that even last year’s Hawkeyes had no trouble with. Even the teams that could pose some trouble (i.e. <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com

Iowa</ST1

Illinois</st1:State> and <ST1<st1:State w:st="on">Indiana</st1:State></ST1) have to visit Kinnick and the pink locker rooms.
Granted, they’ll have to establish a new QB, but Tate didn’t have a great senior year anyhow. Along the same lines, it wouldn’t seem that <st1:State w:st="on"><ST1Iowa</ST1</st1:State> could be any more injury-plagued than they were last year.
So, I guess I’ll make <ST1<st1:State w:st="on">Iowa</st1:State></ST1 my Notre Dame team of 2007 (10 wins, January bowl, and a date with some 9-3 or 8-4 team that will crush the Hawkeyes).
<O</O
I’m also gonna go out on a limb and say:
<O</O
Vanderbilt – Last year 4-8, 2007….6-6 (maybe 7-5)
<O</O
I think the combination of an underrated defense, a presumingly-improved offense, and a fairly favorable (as far as the SEC goes) schedule should add up to Vandy going to its first bowl since I was in the womb (1982).
I’m counting home games against <st1:City w:st="on"><ST1Richmond</ST1</st1:City>, Ole Miss, EMU, and Miami (OH) as wins. Hopefully, Vandy won’t assume as much as I have (see <ST1<st1:City w:st="on">Mid.</st1:City> <st1:State w:st="on">Tenn.</st1:State></ST1 in ’05).
In addition to that, I think they can win at least two of these three at home: <st1:State w:st="on">Alabama</st1:State>, <ST1<st1:country-region w:st="on">UK</st1:country-region></ST1, and Wake.
@ Auburn may be a little too much to ask, but look at them beating <st1:country-region w:st="on"><ST1Georgia</ST1</st1:country-region> between the hedges last year. Also, <st1:City w:st="on"><ST1Auburn</ST1</st1:City> seems to be a bit of a mystery team at this point.
<st1:country-region w:st="on">Georgia</st1:country-region> will be looking for major revenge, and @ Florida, <st1:State w:st="on">Tennessee</st1:State>, and <st1:State w:st="on"><ST1South Carolina</ST1</st1:State> will be tough, no doubt. However, they have played <st1:State w:st="on"><ST1Florida</ST1</st1:State> tough the last two years (including the controversial 2OT game in ’05), and actually beat Tenny at Tenny in ’05.
Of course, in spite of all of this, I realize that we’re still talking about Vandy. There’s no way they should have missed a bowl game in ’05, but they did. I’m just figuring that it’s about time for Vandy’s luck to change, and for them to catch a few breaks, and maybe even finish positive on the TO margin.

 

[frankiegotti]

i think kentucky has a good shot at surprising because i'm looking for their qb to only improve.


Great thread by the way, looking forward to future conversations with you vegas in the upcomming season.

good health

 

[RetroVK]

If only vandy played in another conferenc