ESPN Pundit's Predictions for 2015

#26
#26
Sounds about right with a median expectation of 8-4, but what happened to Chris Low? Did he retire?

In business, many companies try to set high, but realistically achievable goals. Feel like for UT in 2015, that goal should be winning the SEC East. I wouldn't be disappointed if we were 2nd in the SEC East behind UGA or Mizzou, either, but I'd be absolutely thrilled if we won the East even if we did so with 3 - 4 losses. Disappointment IMO would be finishing 4th, 5th, or lower in the SEC East. We absolutely should expect to do better than Kentucky, Vandy, and South Carolina.

One thing I would say about expectations: too many people evaluate records as if it were still 1995. Back then, our schedule normally consisted of 2 OOC cupcakes, 3-4 in-conference cupcakes (Vandy, Kentucky, pre-Spurrier SC, etc), and a 1-2 mid-level SEC clubs. We only really had 3-4 tough games per season, which is why 8-4 was considered such a disappointing season back then. These days, we really only get 1-2 cupcake games per year and we normally have at least 6 "tough games", if not 7 or 8. Given that, 8-4 in 2015 is not that different from 9-2 in 1995.

I'd be very happy with 8-4, and especially 8-4 with an added bowl win. 9-3 and I'm thrilled. SEC East champs and I'm thrilled.
 
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#28
#28
volgrad500 said:
ESPN has UGA second in their power rankings, so I'm not sure how seriously to take them.

SEC preseason power rankings - College Football Nation Blog - ESPN
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On paper, UGA is easily in the top 5 in the nation. But you could've said the same thing most of the past 5 seasons.

The only thing that makes me believe "this time it's different" is that Jeremy Pruitt really started to fix that defense last year. The D under Todd Grantham was always the Achilles' heel for UGA. That said, now UGA has a new OC, so it's possible that their troubles shift to the other side of the ball.
 
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#29
#29
DiderotsGhost said:
On paper, UGA is easily in the top 5 in the nation. But you could've said the same thing most of the past 5 seasons.

The only thing that makes me believe "this time it's different" is that Jeremy Pruitt really started to fix that defense last year. The D under Todd Grantham was always the Achilles' heel for UGA. That said, now UGA has a new OC, so it's possible that their troubles shift to the other side of the ball.
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haha I must admit it's probably my built in bias, but I've seen Georgia supposedly be loaded and not produce. I guess the question at QB make me think they are more vulnerable than they may be in reality.
 
#30
#30
The problem with these predictions is we don't really know how good Anyone really is. Like most I expect to win 3 of the OOCGs and beat Vandy and Kentucky. I also think we win 3 or more of the others. But what my hope is we catch lightening in a bottle and the OL is much improved and Bama and our major East opponents, Florida, Georgia, and Missouri have sub par seasons. If Georgia, Florida, and SC can't find QBs and Missouri can't replace those DEs we could well win all those. Bama again doesn't have a QB can Kiff "build" another one like he did with Sims? Chances are one or more of these teams will put it all together, but dang if they don't all look beatable in August.
 
#32
#32
TheBigOne10 said:
Never even heard of these losers. If we go 7-5, there is a serious problem. 8-4 at the least is what I expect. 9 wins would be nice. Screw predictions, can't wait to see all this play out on the field.
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Are they losers bc they don't fit your idea of how the season will play out? They may consider you a loser or a Coolaid drinker for over hyping. Just saying.

I agree though that predictions can be frustrating and I can't wait for the games and season to play themselves out.
 
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#33
#33
6-6 or less and we have a problem
7-5 wouldn't be the end of the world, but we better win the bowl game
8-4 is the reasonable expectation, I think
9-3 would be a great improvement
10-2 or better and we should all be ecstatic and get Butch an extension ASAP

I don't think this OL can get us +4 wins from last year's team. That's just expecting a lot. I wouldn't mind being wrong about that, but that's a tough feat for any team.

I do think that we have the defense and playmakers on offense to get those +2 or even +3 wins.
 
#34
#34
PMC2726 said:
8-4 makes you extremely happy? So you are cool if we lose to BAMA, OKL, UGA, and either UF, MIZZU, or SC? There's not much progress there!! We lost to UGA by 3 last year (and 3 the year before). We lost to UF by 1. Just the slightest bit of improvement means we win those games this year.

I'll be extremely happy if we beat UF, UGA, Mizzu, and SC. I can handle losing to Bama an OKL if we keep it close. That's progress! :hi:
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This......
 
#35
#35
5 gimme wins (BG,WCU, UK, NT, VU)
1 likely loss (Bama)
6 games left
- home vs OU
- @ UF
- home vs Arky
- home vs UGA
- home vs USC
- @ Mizzou

3-3 in those games is 8-4.

We'll know almost all we need to know by 9/26. If we're 2-2, I think we're heading for 7-5.
 
#36
#36
PMC2726 said:
8-4 makes you extremely happy? So you are cool if we lose to BAMA, OKL, UGA, and either UF, MIZZU, or SC? There's not much progress there!! We lost to UGA by 3 last year (and 3 the year before). We lost to UF by 1. Just the slightest bit of improvement means we win those games this year.

I'll be extremely happy if we beat UF, UGA, Mizzu, and SC. I can handle losing to Bama an OKL if we keep it close. That's progress! :hi:
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I'd be cautious of using margin of loss from a previous season as a reference for improvement. I'm a believer that we beat both UGA and UF, but football is way more complex of a game to say that we should win a game because we only lost by "x" amount last year...

We're dealing with a lot of moving parts and an oblong shaped ball. What happened last year is more or less irrelevant when it comes
to making an educated prediction.

Just sayin'
 
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#37
#37
PMC2726 said:
8-4 makes you extremely happy? So you are cool if we lose to BAMA, OKL, UGA, and either UF, MIZZU, or SC? There's not much progress there!! We lost to UGA by 3 last year (and 3 the year before). We lost to UF by 1. Just the slightest bit of improvement means we win those games this year.

I'll be extremely happy if we beat UF, UGA, Mizzu, and SC. I can handle losing to Bama an OKL if we keep it close. That's progress! :hi:
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You overlook that those teams may have improved. We are not playing the 2014 gators or bulldogs. Just saying that with a few key injuries we become even younger than what we are now. 8 is a good number. If over then fantastic, if under then it's a wtf.
 
#38
#38
BigSteve09 said:
6-6 or less and we have a problem
7-5 wouldn't be the end of the world, but we better win the bowl game
8-4 is the reasonable expectation, I think
9-3 would be a great improvement
10-2 or better and we should all be ecstatic and get Butch an extension ASAP

I don't think this OL can get us +4 wins from last year's team. That's just expecting a lot. I wouldn't mind being wrong about that, but that's a tough feat for any team.

I do think that we have the defense and playmakers on offense to get those +2 or even +3 wins.
Click to expand...
Perfect description
 
#39
#39
Most of us agree that 8-4 would be a good result, and 9-3 would be a tremendous success. However, Volnation will meltdown after our first loss. Guaranteed.
 
#40
#40
ansleyr815 said:
Most of us agree that 8-4 would be a good result, and 9-3 would be a tremendous success. However, Volnation will meltdown after our first loss. Guaranteed.
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Oh, no doubt. We have a stretch where we play Arkansas, Georgia, and Alabama back-to-back-to-back, and with Oklahoma being our second game of the year it's entirely possible we exit October with a 3-4 record.

In that darkest timeline, the meltdown here would be catastrophic. We're talking scorched earth, Chernobyl levels of tantrum. Despite the fact we'd probably still be favored to win out the rest of the season and finish 8-4.
 
#41
#41
Sam Khan is a TAM homer and an SEC West fanatic. I haven't placed a lot of faith in anything he says.

Same goes with Ching although he's an LSU homer.

The most telling is Ed Aschoff. He hates the Vols (he's a UF homer) and for him to predict a 9-3 season means a lot.
 
#42
#42
I think 7-5 or 8-4 is most likely. I think UT is one year away from being a serious contender for the East, but stranger things have happened.
 
#43
#43
Not sure why people are saying Alabama game is a loss. Alabama will have played 7 or 8 games in a row and we will be coming off a bye week. Butche Jones record coming off a bye is ridiculous good and should be a close game to end.
 
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