Path to a bowl goes thru both Big 10 teams this year

[SUalldway]

May need to win both of these games to even get to bowl eligibility. I think it's do-able, as long as Pugh is in the lineup for the opener. Both would be mild upsets. Phil Steele has Northwestern (home) & Minn. (away) 5th & 6th in the BiG Legends division. Athlon has NWestern, Minn. & SU 49th, 62nd, & 67th respectively in their preseason rankings.

 

[omniorange]

Hate to say it, but so far under Marrone from the last weekend in October through the end of the regular season we are 3-13, so we basically finish the regular season 1-4. With 4 of our last 5 games on the road, it wouldn't surprise me to see that trend repeated, as much as it pains me to say that. Let's assume minor improvement to 2-3.

So not only will we likely need both BiG games, but at least 2 of Pitt, Rutgers, and UConn to have a shot at a bowl game.

Cheers,
Neil

 

[orangenauburn]

Hate to say it, but so far under Marrone from the last weekend in October through the end of the regular season we are 3-13, so we basically finish the regular season 1-4. With 4 of our last 5 games on the road, it wouldn't surprise me to see that trend repeated, as much as it pains me to say that. Let's assume minor improvement to 2-3.

So not only will we likely need both BiG games, but at least 2 of Pitt, Rutgers, and UConn to have a shot at a bowl game.

Cheers,
Neil

we win at Rutgers and vs UConn this year - book it

 

[Chip]

Hate to say it, but so far under Marrone from the last weekend in October through the end of the regular season we are 3-13, so we basically finish the regular season 1-4. With 4 of our last 5 games on the road, it wouldn't surprise me to see that trend repeated, as much as it pains me to say that. Let's assume minor improvement to 2-3.

So not only will we likely need both BiG games, but at least 2 of Pitt, Rutgers, and UConn to have a shot at a bowl game.

Cheers,
Neil

Winning 2 of 3 from that group shouldn't be that daunting. Not saying we'll do it, but if we're moving forward, time to lock that in.

 

[kcsu]

A bowl is going to be very hard this year unless Doug can turn around the late season collapse that we are used to. Maybe more depth will help this year also i think the fact that we are going to be less predicable will make it harder for teams to dial it in against us. We need both NW and Minnesota like Oxygen . I think that Rutgers and Uconn are winnable. LV is going to be very tough USC would be a huge upset but given it is the second game of the year we might just have a very slim chance. Pitt could be win, South florida is going to be very hard, Missu on the road is a killer all in all it will be a huge feat to pull off 6 wins

 

[orangenauburn]

I say we split the B10, lose to USC, beat Stony, lose to Missou putting us at 2-3 OOC; in conference we beat Rutgers and UConn, lose to Ville, USF, and Cincy. Pitt and Temple are toss-ups.

A bowl game is manageable: need to go 3-2 OOC to make the path more manageable ...barring history, we need to hope for a 4-3 conference record (Pitt, Temple, UConn, Rutgers)

 

[All4SU]

I say it every season, but no season goes the way we expect it to. I've never seen one play out according to the summer predictions. A team or two that we think will be strong, struggle due to injury or something. A team or two that we expect to be weak, develop some chemistry and make a run.

That said, I agree with you that both Northwestern and Minny seem to fall in that 50/50 category. We don't have a great deal of margin for error, and need to win as many of those as possible. So I agree with you that they may be the "swing" games.

 

[All4SU]

Hate to say it, but so far under Marrone from the last weekend in October through the end of the regular season we are 3-13, so we basically finish the regular season 1-4. With 4 of our last 5 games on the road, it wouldn't surprise me to see that trend repeated, as much as it pains me to say that. Let's assume minor improvement to 2-3.

So not only will we likely need both BiG games, but at least 2 of Pitt, Rutgers, and UConn to have a shot at a bowl game.

Cheers,
Neil

I think end of season games are so reliant on team depth. We just haven't had it. And that makes it difficult to sustain performance to the final bell. This year, I think our depth is better than it has been, so I don't think those past end of year performances are all that relative. Hopefully we win or lose based on being the best team on the field.