Crystal Ball ‘07: Wins And Losses

27 Responses to “Crystal Ball ‘07: Wins And Losses”

1. Bluffhawg on July 18th, 2007 1:40 pm

   Hogballer, I hope that refers to your knowledge of roundball, because you are waaayyy off on Football.

   I say they’ll lose to Bama or Tennesse, but no both. I just don’t see us going into Baton Rogue and beating LSU.

   Worst Case 10-2 Best 11-1
2. Hog 'n Iowa on July 18th, 2007 1:47 pm

   I think we’ll be undefeated til we go to UT and we’ll drop that one plus the LSU game. If we get by Tenn, then it could get very, very interesting. Big “if” though.

   10-2 reg season
3. T-towner on July 18th, 2007 3:00 pm

   You guys certainly have a lot of respect for Saban—he has a lot of holes to fill.
4. Walking on Sunshine on July 18th, 2007 3:49 pm

   T-towner, the thing that scares me about that Alabama game is it’s the first, home conference game for Saban. It’s on ESPN, at night. They’ll be jacked to the moon!!! I think Bama will be able to throw it some this year too, which I think could be a weakness for our defense.

   That threat of a quality passing attack is why I think we’ll have trouble with Tennessee as well.

   If we can get some guys to step up at corner, I could easily be in that “11-1 camp” with Bluff.
5. OwassoHog on July 18th, 2007 3:49 pm

   Unfortunately, all of the predictions are probably closer to reality than we’d like to believe. If so, this will be a step in the WRONG direction.
6. BlindHog on July 18th, 2007 3:56 pm

   9-3 Cotton Bowl would not be a bad year. Losses to LSU, Tenn, and Alabama. 8-4 or 7-5 is a real possibility but you have to figure Darren will win one or two by himself.
7. GonzoHog on July 18th, 2007 4:38 pm

   I’m still trying to figure some of you guy’s out. Alabama is as weak as I can ever remember, and I promise you Saban will not pull that win off, somehow, magically by himself. They will not stop our backfield in running or passing situations, and our D-line will be better than thier O-line. The D-backs and the special teams will be the only thing they have that will match up. Tennessee and LSU will be our only 2 regular season losses of the year, and don’t be suprised if we steal one of those. If we do, there’s a 99% chance of returning to Atlanta. Kentucky is no cupcake, but still won’t be in our class of athletes. They won’t steal one from us at home. Auburn will be our toughest opponent at home. If thier running game isn’t any harder for us to stop than it was last year, then they won’t steal one either. Mississippi on the road could be an upset, but not likely. This could be one of those games BlindHog mentioned that D-Mac could win by himself. I don’t see South Carolina beating us at home. If I was going to predict a road win, I would say LSU, for the simple fact that we rarely play well in Tennessee. We have had some wars in Baton Rouge, and everything could be on the line in that game, it being the last game of the season. If we make it back to Atlanta, I figure we will be playing either Florida or Tennessee. I’m not even going to try and predict a winner in that one. GO HOGS!!!
8. Bluffhawg on July 18th, 2007 4:41 pm

   Walking On Sunshine, I say that Jerell Norton will be a better corner than Chris Houston. Granted he’s young, but he really has the talent. I’m just hoping that he makes that move this year. The corner spot that worries me the most is who comes off the bench to replace Vinnetts spot?
9. Waldron Hog on July 18th, 2007 4:53 pm

   I’ll go with 8-4. I think we’ll win a game you don’t have us picked in and lose a game we shouldn’t.
   If we win at Alabama and don’t let it go to our heads, we could be in for a fun ride again. I just don’t see us beating Bama under the circumstances of that day. Kentucky could be like Vanderbilt 2 years ago. Let’s hope not. Any road game is tough even if we aren’t playing an elite team. We need to win a couple against the big boys but I’m not betting on more than 1.
   Sunshine, You could see 11-1 if… Pass the peace pipe around brother.
10. Dieinghog on July 18th, 2007 4:57 pm

    I guess I am the only one who thinks the Hogs have a real shot at going undefeated. With HDN build me up speeches I believe we will win all of the tough games especially LSU since that was the game we were knocked of track last year and now we will have payback one our mind.
11. Bluffhawg on July 18th, 2007 5:01 pm

    Now that’s what I’m talking about Dieinghog. Where have you been? I’ll amen your posts, if you’ll amen mine!!

    Go Hogs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
12. TipsterHog on July 18th, 2007 7:53 pm

    It’s hard for me to believe that we’ve gotten to the point where someone thinks picking the Hogs to be between 3-5 and 5-3 in the conference is considered “waaay off”. Did I miss something and we suddenly turned into some sort of perennial powerhouse that steamrolls over the SEC every year?

    The fact is we are .500 in conference games in the 21st Century. Thinking this year’s team will be around (plus or minus) that again sure doesn’t seem that “off” to me.

    We’ll all be thrilled to be wrong. To be 8-0 or 7-1 or 6-2 in conference. I just think the conference is too strong…and the road victories too tough…to predict that will be the case this year…or just about any other year.
13. Jon Jackson on July 18th, 2007 8:00 pm

    Uh…Loss to Ole Miss??? Are you kidding me?

    You guys also need to go back and look at Sabans record at the begining of each year. He is known to be terrible the first half of the season. Of course I’m sure that ya’ll have done ya’lls research on all of that. The loss to Ole Miss pick points that out(rolls eyes).
14. TipsterHog on July 18th, 2007 8:08 pm

    Like Sunshine, I just look at that Alabama game as an ambush game. Wrong time and wrong place. Saban’s first conference home game. Frenzied crowd. ESPN game.

    I do think we’ll be the better team going in and, if we handle the insane atmosphere, then we’ll win. The best team doesn’t always win, of course…especially on the road.

    And even someone as positive as Bluffhawg (I think based on his first comment) realizes it’s a trap game that ‘Bama could ’steal’ at home.
15. TipsterHog on July 18th, 2007 8:21 pm

    Jon Jackson…I’m trying to figure out how three out of four people picking a win over Ole Miss is considered a “ya’ll”. Maybe you need to do “ya’lls research” again and actually go back and read the original post.

    Everyone has a right to their opinion here. You can disagree with it by making your own case and not ripping someone else.
16. hog-ebriated on July 18th, 2007 10:27 pm

    Ole Miss? Alabama? . . Better watch out for Kentucky this year (8-5 last year with a very good offense and a returning senior QB) . . o.k, that may be a stretch, albeit less of a stretch than Ole Miss.

    9-3 Losses to LSU, Auburn, and pick’em (Alabama/Kentucky/USC-Right/Tennessee).
    If recent history is any indicator, Fayetteville games don’t provide much home field advantage.
17. Bluffhawg on July 19th, 2007 8:26 am

    Tipster hog .500 in conference was a reality when the only true offensive threat that we had was Matt Jones. This team has about 4 to 5 true options in the running game alone. If we were to go .500 (which is very, very unlikely), then we must seriously look at cleaning house on the hill. I still say this is without doubt the most talented team we’ve fielded in the HDN era. 10-2 worst case 11-1 best case.
18. Dieinghog on July 19th, 2007 11:44 am

    The only thing we needed last year to go undefeated was some upgrades on special teams and qb play. I hope that the hype around Alex T and David Lee were not just hype and that they are as good as advertised. If that is the case we know RH will have his guys ready to play and we have the best backfield tandom in America with that said undefeated.
19. BlindHog on July 19th, 2007 1:01 pm

    Last year was great until the end. I know we all loved it.

    How quickly we forget that Vandy was just a whisker away and Alabama beat us everywhere except the scoreboard. We got by South Carolina on one interception and Tenn came to town with no QB and a one legged tailback. The year before our 4-7 could have been 6-5 so easily at Alabama and Georgia. This is the SEC folks. It is time to wake up and smell the coffee.

    Someone please quote me that last time an SEC team went 7-1 in conference back to back.
20. Bluffhawg on July 19th, 2007 1:04 pm

    Blindhog, The same can be said for Florida. They scraped by in several games last year. Heck, against South Carolina, three missed field goals by SC kept them out of the win column. It always seems to be the team that does what it takes to win. I think this group has that edge (if they stay healthy).

    Please quote me the last team that had talent the caliber of P. Hillis, F. Jones & D-Mac in the same backfield and you’ll probably find the team that 7-1 or better two years running in the conference.
21. BlindHog on July 19th, 2007 1:28 pm

    Just keep dreamin’ Bluff. The wake up call is a comin’.
22. Bluffhawg on July 19th, 2007 2:02 pm

    I’m sure the team appreciates your support BlindHog!!
23. BlindHog on July 19th, 2007 2:06 pm

    Besides, what does this have to do with Florida. You are just making my point with another team.

    This is a great league with great teams and great coaches. For once we are close to par with some of the top teams. But each year is a battle. A couple of teams catch the early breaks like we did last year, develop a little unexpected talent, like we did last year, and get on a run while the others stumble a little or catch a bad injury at the wrong time or get out coached. That is just the way it is in big time college football.

    Not that it has not been discussed a couple of time before but that was one of the big disappointments with the collapse last year. YOu just don’t get in that position very often. You just don’t. The great teams dig deep and go the extra mile to win it. It is a fallacy in the emotion spent by Dale’s teams. They are out of gas at the end.
24. BlindHog on July 19th, 2007 2:09 pm

    The hogs love their fans. I know that.
25. Bluffhawg on July 19th, 2007 2:41 pm

    You were pointing out how easy it would have been for the hogs to lose several early games, I agree and pointed out that the national champions had the same problem. You are right it happens to all teams.

    Now that we have that straightened out
    worst case 10-2 best case 11-1 (and with a few more of those breaks you were talking about, “who know”)
26. Hawgfan100 on July 19th, 2007 4:49 pm

    Since, like Bluff, I’m an optimist where my Hogs are concerned I’ll go out there with him: 10-2 and 11-1.
27. HogBlogger on July 19th, 2007 10:15 pm

    Alabama will be tough. It is an ambush game. Plus, Herring has a tendency to get out-coached in early games against good staffs.

    If our new offense has issues early in the year getting un-tracked - not un-reasonable to expect being all new, NFL and much more ‘rich’ in what it does and all - then that will compound the possibility of it being a tough game.