This year we started the year with thirteen, with Patterson (I keep wanting to call him Dash Riley, for some unknown reason) planning a redshirt, Westry out for injury, and Hima with his issues.
So call it 10. We then had two season ending issues, with McLeod and Williams. We finished with 8 and a bunch of guys playing or of position and couldn't defend anybody in the post. And that was starting with 4 centers and a combo 4/5 on the roster. I suppose if you have the right 10, you could get by... But starting the season with only 9 or 10 is a recipe for having a 6 man rotation halfway through the season if you suffer bad enough luck.