IU in the 10th spot. I can't say that it is unreasonable:
http://www.espn.com/blog/bigten/pos...t-spring-power-rankings-buckeyes-loaded-again
http://www.espn.com/blog/bigten/pos...t-spring-power-rankings-buckeyes-loaded-again
Way too early Big 10 ranking...
- Thread starter 82hoosier
- Start date
Its hard to argue with. Man, our schedule is brutal, and not about to get any easier in the foreseeable future. IU can be a solid club and still never climb out of the doghouse. I dont know the answer...but 6 wins might be as many as IU can get...in a good year. Guess we will see...
IU has to win one they're not supposed to (and not give one away either) year in and year out until that game becomes one they're supposed to win. Then we'll know we've arrived.
I'll go just a bit further by saying that the day we consistently win 7 games or more, the balance of power in tbe B10 will have shifted dramatically. It can happen...just not overnight. But I can dream...vbg
As CTA says, we need a breakthrough season. It could be this year. It is a tough schedule but we will be competitive in every game. We need to finish strong with wins @UI, Rutgers, @PU.
I agree that this could be the breakthrough season. We'll have a veteran team and a really good defense. The schedule is tough but not brutal - - middle of the pack nationally in terms of strength of schedule, based on some data I've seen. Virginia is no pushover but they are coming off a 2-10 season and we will be favored in that game. We should beat Georgia Southern and FIU. The four teams ranked below us in the ESPN B1G power rankings are all on our schedule. Michigan lost a boatload to the NFL and I think we've got a shot at them in Bloomington. Can't wait for the season to begin!
Wow...another might say we have an untested team replacing several key contributors, an entirerly new offensive staff and HC, and a brutal schedule but hey....you see what ya wanna see, and well, you know...vbg.
I am not a fan of the ways the East and the West divisions were set up. I think most are in agreement that IU could be a substantially improved team and not have a winning record.
Hands down I still prefer this over the cupcake model that had been embraced by both the football and basketball program at various times over the years.
Thankfully the pro-cupcake moderators moved over to the Scout site
Hands down I still prefer this over the cupcake model that had been embraced by both the football and basketball program at various times over the years.
Thankfully the pro-cupcake moderators moved over to the Scout site
OK, Mr. Sunshine. Are you taking up where bobsnotbucks aka kern county, the spa, helen dell, fredricka james, etc. left off and simply baiting people who genuinely believe that 2017 could be a really good year for IU football? I'll take the bait this time, but you're becoming increasingly difficult to take seriously.
Disagree all you want, but the only thing in my post that is close to a stretch is the comment about the Michigan game. And if you truly believe we have a "brutal" schedule in 2017, you simply don't know what you're talking about. Vbg.
Proof is in the pudding Rosie...wait and see...vbg.
Oh, and apparently your blind opinion is better than mine. We are both guessing. Chill out child.
I'll buy the staff change thing, but we return most of our starters, and what team in the country isn't going to have to replace key contributors? We didn't lose that many people at all. What does untested even mean in this context? We played in the Big Ten last year too, and we played a ranked team in our bowl. Literally every team in the country is untested heading into a new season. And the only thing "brutal" about the schedule is that it is front loaded.
Agreed. We kept our best LB. We kept our best secondary player. We return most everyone on D aside from Green and Oliver. We're not turning ANYTHING over on that side of the ball when it comes to coaching or schematic differences due to the coaching change.
Offensively we weren't very efficient last year and didn't protect the ball because we didn't realize just how good of a defense we had. This year you will get a great defense and an offense setup to work in conjunction with this defense as opposed to slinging it around and giving the opposition more opportunities (through turnovers). I don't see us losing much with Redding being gone. Obviously the OL took a little hit with Feeney but I still think there was a lot of guys who got solid playing time in placement of him and Camiel during injuries. At WR we actually improve with the addition of Simmie Cobbs (just ask Gruden) along with Smith and the return of Westbrook and gang.
With all of this said, I prefer the tame expectations. It makes the shock all that much better.
