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Crystal Ball ‘08: Wins And Losses

July 21, 2008 by TipsterHog 

Robert Felton (AP Photo/Todd J. Van Emst)

It’s a big week for Razorback athletics.  The program launches a newly redesigned web site today that will attempt to suck less than last year’s redesign.  And hopefully it won’t be as crappy as the 2005 redesign, as well.  (Hmmm…we’re beginning to sense a trend here.)

More importantly, Bobby Petrino will attend his first SEC Media Days as the Hogs head football coach.  The annual event kicks off in Birmingham on Wednesday and Petrino is scheduled to appear on Friday along with players Jonathan Luigs and Elston Forte.

In the meantime, we’re ready now to unveil our predictions for the 2008 football season.  Like last year, we’ll have a three-part series of posts this week breaking down our prognostications.  And today, it’s the biggest kahuna of them all:  wins and losses.

Opponent (Win/Loss) TipsterHog HogBlogger Sunshine HogBaller
Western Illinois  W  W W W
Louisiana-Monroe  W  W W W
at Texas  L  L L W
Alabama  L  W L W
Florida  L  L L W
at Auburn  L  L L L
at Kentucky  L  W W L
Ole Miss  W  W W W
Tulsa  W  W W W
at South Carolina  W  L L L
at Mississippi State  W  W W W
LSU  L  L W W
Conference Record 3-5 4-4 4-4 5-3
Season Record 6-6 7-5 7-5 9-3

A few notes:

  • Whoa…a lot of carnage listed there.  Throw out the highest and lowest picks and we’re still just barely predicting a winning season.
  • In case you haven’t heard, HogBaller and Sunshine have officially switched their positions after the Petrino regime change.  Sunshine is still positive…but HogBaller’s light at the moment is completely blinding.
  • And speaking of HogBaller, he must think Tebow is going down with an injury before game five…right?  Also, did I somehow miss the memo about the newly dominant Gamecocks?
  • There’s only one loss we all agree on:  Auburn.  As for unanimous win predictions, any blogger or commenter who doesn’t pick a win over Ole Miss will be banned from the site.  (Just kidding.)

Coming up next: Who will be the division champs of the SEC?

Filed Under: Football, Razorbacks, SEC
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Comments

11 Responses to “Crystal Ball ‘08: Wins And Losses”

  1. HognTx on July 21st, 2008 8:35 am

    Damn. What a site to see on a Monday morning first thing. Now granted, I need to get up there a lot more, but now I think I need to get there faster for some of the drinking festivities as the selections listed made me freak.

    I HOPE Hogballer is the best selector of all for selfish reasons, actually I think the other selectors do too. But some of the selections make you wonder. Tipster seems to be on an even keel, but even I think the Petrino fever will work some magic in the mountains and make things happen few could predict (except HogBaller here).

    Now I realize I am wishing for a rapid return to greatness, but a 7-5 record or better makes for a wonderful first year. A 6-6 record is a satisfactory first year for the new coach. But I think there will be more wrinkles for the other coaches to try and iron out than we can imagine, if he can make the players work his schemes. HogBlogger and Sunshine have most of my picks, except I hope for the miracle on Auburn, a pure upset. My UT coolaid drinker down here in enemy country says he is worried about Arkansas and thinks their QB (Colt McCoy) is horrible, he hates him. Thinks he turns the ball over to much and is over hyped. So maybe we pull that over their heads too as they will be an over whelming favorite. In the end, nothing matters but the numbers at seasons end. I want to come up and see one game this year at least, but tickets seem to be at a premium right now.

    I am still watching the recruiting scene to see what we get which will be some clues and if some key players could be found. I live very close to Caddo Mills and Rockwall where some of the players mentioned to us are committed or leaning. Some locals who know the players personally, Rockwall guy named Austin Moss and his cousin), think we may be getting two of the best they’ve heard about from others in their lifetimes. Since they’re old, they must be good. I hope to get to see Ryan Calender play some to see what he could be, not what he is right now. You guys are great, I hope to see you all soon again for a lunch or something. Go hogs!

  2. BlindHog on July 21st, 2008 10:28 am

    College football is a game of emotion, breaks, and a team that catches fire, bonds into a real team, and sometimes great Xs and Os.

    And, you can’t have a zoo without the animals.

    As far as emotion goes. I think Petrino’s style is going to breed confidence. And, the bonding will come from shared sacrifice. The Xs and Os are on hand.

    Way to go Hogballer. Beat Florida and lose to SCar? Otherwise, I will take 9-3 or 8-4. Ok, 8-4, Texas, Fla, Auburn, LSU.

  3. OwassoHog on July 21st, 2008 10:33 am

    Interesting forward looking at these predictions but obviously way too early to be serious yet.

    As for the new web site, YUCK! It just reminds me why I didn’t go to hogwired.com. :-(

  4. LA Hog on July 21st, 2008 11:31 am

    I can see 8 and 4 record best case scenario or 6 and 6, Texas doesn’t scare me one bit. As for the SEC I am not sure, we could beat Florida and lose to Ole Miss God forbid, but I think overall I think we will be competitve in conference play, besides we may be out scoring people this year.

  5. HOGFAN23 on July 21st, 2008 3:51 pm

    I work down in Al. quite a bit and the buzz on the hogs down there is that we will have a hard time pulling off three wins this year. We will be extremely under rated by everyone till at least mid way through the year. The talk is all about how we replace our entire offense from last year which would be a problem if HDN were still the coach, but Petrino has installed a totally different philosophy so who really knows how well we’ll do. I think that Casey will have a break out season and with the promising talent in the freshman class, I think it’s quite possible to pull 6-8 wins. GO HOGS!!!

  6. TEXASHOG on July 21st, 2008 6:52 pm

    Although the schedule is brutal, I can see 8 or 9 wins with the right “bounce” on Saturday. If the Dbacks and linebackers come on, as suggested, and Casey can stay healthy, this will be a better year than advertised. I believe some of the new guys, especially at the skill positions, may have a major impact, as well.

    The Texas game, in my opinion, is winnable yet far less important than ANY conference game. Razorback fans need to stop giving the Horns more credit than they deserve. The Hogs are in a better conference and have facilities that compare well with anything seen in Austin. And though Mack Brown deserves his kudos, Bobby Petrino will take the UA’s program to a different level. Just give him some time.

    Auburn is going to be tough on the plains. Otherwise, I think the Hogs have a decent chance - all the way down the line. The Alabama game will be huge. GO Hogs!

  7. Walking on Sunshine on July 21st, 2008 8:22 pm

    I’ve got to tell you, I’m not a believer at all in LSU this year. That was the game, for me, that puts the Hogs over .500 this year.

    We’ve seen it first hand several times over the last 15 years…you just can’t play in this league without a quarterback. I think LSU will struggle to score, and I believe we will fare well against teams that fall into that category.

  8. HogBaller on July 21st, 2008 10:44 pm

    The rationale behind my “blindingly bright” predictions are based upon a few key assumptions that I made to come up with a 9-3 prediction:

    1. Petrino and staff are a major upgrade over the previous staff.
    2. The Hogs are flying under EVERYONE’S radar.
    3. The offense and defense will not be one dimensional.
    4. Texas and LSU are overrated.
    5. Alabama and Florida @ home, along with Petrino’s desire to prove he can coach in the SEC, give me confidence he’ll be laying in wait.

    Put those together and I think you have the makings of a surprise season where this team jumps up and bites a few teams in the backside.

  9. GonzoHog on July 22nd, 2008 9:29 am

    Predictions for the up-coming season is a real head scratcher. There are so many different senarios that could happen. 1st of all, I think we should win our first two easily. 2ndly, I believe even if we don’t pull off the win at Texas, I think we can give the Longhorns a major scare in Austin. This would be disappointing, but a major confidence boost going in to the ‘Bama bame. 3rd, we’ll beat ‘Bama, I promise you! 4th and 5th, We should lose to Florida at home and away at Auburn. 6th, Kentucky will be a win. 7th, Ole Miss is a win (hopefully a major blowout!) 8th, Tulsa should be a win, but you never know. 9th, I predict SC will be ready to take us down in Columbia. 10th, I believe we’ll take Bulldogs in Starksville. And last, but not least, I think the “battle in the Rock”, with LSU is a toss-up to end the season. My finale prediction is that we’ll go 7-5 on the year. 8-4 or 6-6 are both possibilities, but even a 6-6 year will be pretty good for Petrino in his first year, especially is he’s competitive with loses to the bigboys.

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