Football season prediction thread

[OZZIE4DUKE]

15-0 baby! I agree with Ben Humphries and one of the few times I disagree with Jim Sumner!

[OldPhiKap]

I’m thinking 8-4, but going to say 9-3 because I am optimistic despite the tough schedule.

Finish in top 25, go to a moderately nice bowl, and win that too.

I hope I am eating crow in favor of Ozzie’s prediction though!

[fuse]

6-6, and hoping to be very wrong. I will say I hope to be bowl bound and another bowl win.

[arnie]

6-6, and hoping to be very wrong. I will say I hope to be bowl bound and another bowl win.

Much better D than in years past. 9-4 after bowl win. Shutout win over the Holes.

[devildeac]

15-0 baby! I agree with Ben Humphries and one of the few times I disagree with Jim Sumner!

Pie bet anyone?

[devildeac]

Much better D than in years past. 9-4 after bowl win. Shutout win over the Holes.

Pie bet anyone?

[HereBeforeCoachK]

Much better D than in years past. 9-4 after bowl win.

That's about my guess...but it's my optimistic guess.8-5 is my actual prediction.

The margin for error here is paper thin....a couple of good bounces early could launch a 9 win season....a couple of bad bounces could launch a 3 win season.

[Bob Green]

8 wins.

[CameronBornAndBred]

I'll start with the losses.

Clemson and Miami. Of course I'd love to win both of those, but unless the Tigers come down with food poisoning, that one ain't happening. Miami is doable, but it's an away game and they are going to be very good this year.

Wins will be
Army, Baylor, NCCU, GT, Virginia, unc, Wake

That leaves a few tossups. I can see Northwestern, VT, and Pitt going either way. I'm going to say we take 2 of 3 of them.

So I'm predicting 9-3, and a win in a respectable bowl.

I also think how we are looking after the Baylor game will set the tone for the season. If we don't have at least 2 wins by then, we're in trouble.

[fisheyes]

I love the optimism of those that know the team best, but I would be happy with 6 wins and a bowl bid.
It's a much tougher schedule this year for sure.
Loving Ozzie's optimism but...

[chrishoke]

6-6. I'm not convinced that our QB and WRs can stretch the field enough to be a top team. Against our schedule 6-6 would be very respectable. I'm afraid that we are at our best when Daniel is mixing in the
QB run - can he stay healthy - our backup options are not ACC caliber at this point, so our margin of error is slim. Go Duke. This team has lots of potential. Other than Clemson, there is not a team on our schedule.we can't beat.

[sagegrouse]

Nine and four, including a bowl win.

[duke2x]

I look at games as probability. Please do NOT quote this post without editing it.

Army. 80%. New QB + 4 new OL = not good for Army.

NW. The big question here is how effective their QB will be returning from an ACL and at RB. They struggle early, get an extra day of rest, and school is out (empty big stadium). FYI, the ACC has to staff 3-5 new ref crews for this week only, but these are two top 30 teams preseason. 50%.

Baylor. This is one we could overlook. They will be better than last year and will still have a little of the Briles talent left. It's also going to be 100 degrees in the Texas sun. 55%.

NCCU. 99.9%. The last game in the series unless we need renovations again.

VT. The huge losses on defense through graduation and attrition might be too much for Foster to repair in 5 games. It's also a trap game for them as they host ND the next week. We always lose close ones to them at home under Cutcliffe even if we struggle in Blacksburg the previous year. I'll parrot the preseason computers. 50%.

GT. GT is much better at home, and we never play well in Atlanta. We get the lone ACC bye week to prepare for them. Instead of my usual 20-30%, I'll go 40% in a high scoring game.

UVA. New QB with some graduation losses. We've had the better team for the vast majority of this decade, and we're due here after the games in 2015 and 2016. 60%.

Pitt. We owe them as well, and it is unlikely to be a snowy 30 degrees before Halloween. They should be better, but I'm not sold on them. Everyone forgets they lost to UNC two weeks before beating Miami. They could have 6+ losses when we play them with a brutal schedule. Playing at Pitt reminds me of Wally Wade under Roof and Franks. 45%.

Miami. Richt has avoided most of the inconsistency that plagued his predecessors. We don't play well in Miami, and the talent differential is noticeable. The road to a Coastal championship goes through Fort Lauderdale for Duke. 10%.

UNC. Like Baylor, they will be better and will score points regardless of QB. We should score more than 27 on them. 50%.

Clemson. Duke can do what State, Syracuse, and Pitt have done. The talent differential is huge. I'll go with a blowout instead of a trap game with South Carolina the next week. 5%.

Wake. They won't fall off the map with Hinton. Wolford carried their team at the end of the year due to their defense. Depth is always a factor by game 12. 55%.

Final result: 6.0 wins.

[HereBeforeCoachK]

8 wins.

Reg season, or reg and bowl...?

[Bob Green]

Reg season, or reg and bowl...?

Eight wins total: 7-5 regular season plus a bowl game victory.

[CameronBlue]

I predict that Duke will play Clemson 3 times.

[OldPhiKap]

I predict that Duke will play Clemson 3 times.

After we beat Clemson twice, we will be facing Alabama or Georgia for the third game.

[ChapelHillDevil]

12-2. With the two loses to Clemson. Clemson wins national championship and our final ranking is #8 in the country. We parlay that into a #10 ranking going into next year with our showdown with Bama.

[jafarr1]

8-5. I really like our running game and our defense, but we need our passing game to become significantly better than last year's to get to 9-4, and I have trouble seeing that happen. We *might* get better at passing in the red zone with our TEs plus Young (and hopefully Bobo).

[Reilly]

Eight wins total: 7-5 regular season plus a bowl game victory.

My thoughts exactly. And i love Cut in any bowl with our defense and a month to get healthy and prepare.

IF Bobo channels some CV2 competiveness, Bracey (or someone) breaks out, and we have unusually good health and Daniel has no bad games ... then up it to an 8 reg/9+bowl-win year.