I’m worried about a little bit of a reality check type…pause in our ascension…or maybe slight step back this season.
But There’d have to be pretty major injuries at key positions for that far of a fall. We’re better and deeper at basically every position than our last 2 teams. If we had played a full season last year, we likely would have been 10-2 or 11-1 in the regular season. And that would have followed an 8-4 season. We are IU, however, and as much as we’ve improved our talent level…we’ll still be less talented, from a star ratings perspective, than over half our opponents. So while that doesn’t solely decide the games…it’s just a reminder that the Big ten east is no joke…and add to that at Iowa, Cincinnati, and the Bucket game…lots of losable games.
i think 6-6 is probably our “floor”. 7-5 would be mildly disappointing…but we could be better overall than the last 2 years, and still only go 7-5. In the end 8-4 seems realistic. At Iowa, Cincinnati, at PSU, OSU, at Michigan, Maryland, at Purdue…3-4 in those games wouldn’t be a disappointment. It would imply a couple pretty awesome wins.