unbiased(as possible) prediction thread

[Collier11]

UT Chatt- its unfortunate that this game has to be played but this will be a dream come true for one school...til kickoff. Since they did graciously take the game I dont think Stoops will put it on them like we could 63-7

Cincy- Breaking in new qb but they have a really good secondary 38-17

Wash- Young exciting qb who should be forced into lots of turnovers but will make some plays against our young secondary 42-21

TCU- We finally get to check off one of our embarrasing losses 45-13

Baylor- New Coach, same result 54-16

ut- I really think this is a year where they dont match up with us despite the improved D 37-21

Kansas- Good O but lost alot of quality on D 31-21


K.St- our toughest road game IMO and one that could catch us following two straight huge games 24-22

Nebraska- Rivalry renewed but not quite back to normal 34-14

A&M- Another place we have traditionally played average 27-17

Tech- Perhaps the biggest Game in Tech history and a revenge game for us, they never play well in Norman 42-28

osu- we seem to either blow them out or barely win in Stilly but this is a game we should win easily if we are as good as expected 41-28

Big 12 Title Game- Colorado(yes I think they will win the North) in a game much closer than expected but also a revenge game 31-23

Obviously I have us going undefeated but I know we have struggled on the road and I think we do have some potential downfalls, I think our top 3 games as far as struggling to win will be KSt, Tech, A&M in that order

[soonersn20xx]

I am pretty much onboard with your predictions till you said Colorado was gonna win the North. :confused:

[Scoregasm]

I think AtM, K State and OsU will be the toughest games in the regular season in that order. I don't think Colorado will win the north, but I do think we'll be more than ready for booger and the boys if they make it. Then all the hype about 4 straight bowl losses will pick up and we'll kick someone's a$$ in the N.C.

[Collier11]

I am pretty much onboard with your predictions till you said Colorado was gonna win the North. :confused:

yea most people wont agree with me but Mizzou still plays a loaded Illinois team and they play at Nebraska and at Texas as well as CU, OSU, Kstate at home and Ku in KC....I just dont see them living up to expectations, not to mention they lost their rb, one of their te's, and Franklin at WR.

On top of that CU is young, good on D, and have a stud RB now

[Scoregasm]

Sorry, not 4 straight. 4 straight BCS

[VA Sooner]

Colorado over Missouri... do you know something that isn't making it out to the media, Collier? I haven't paid attention to much to Colorado's recruiting last year or their spring game so I'm just asking.

[Collier11]

Colorado over Missouri... do you know something that isn't making it out to the media, Collier? I haven't paid attention to much to Colorado's recruiting last year or their spring game so I'm just asking.

It is more my hunch than anything but they did get a top 15 class this past yr, a top 3 RB which they lacked last yr, and they return 7 defensive starters to a team that could have easily won 10 games last yr...mainly I dont think Mizzou can live up to the hype

[AlabamaMocFan]

You guys must smoke some good stuff up that way, you must be high.

[Widescreen]

I still think Mizzou is going to come out of the North. Don't forget that the north champion frequently has 2-3 conference losses and still makes it to the championship game.

[Collier11]

You guys must smoke some good stuff up that way, you must be high.

How do you figure, we return 8 starters on D, our QB, RB, and our entire O-line...we are #4 preaseason, how would I be inaccurate...if we play as expected and get rid of the ego's we are a serious Natl Title contender. Lets hear it Moc fan :)

[Collier11]

I still think Mizzou is going to come out of the North. Don't forget that the north champion frequently has 2-3 conference losses and still makes it to the championship game.

This is true and you are probably right, I just have one of those often incorrect feelings about CU

[goingoneight]

Colorado winning the North is a wild and fearless pick, but in the end, they made a LOT of improvements in very short time under Hawkins. Dude's turning into a pretty good coach. Reminds me of Capel, but in FB. He is a really likeable guy and gets a lot out of what he has on hand.

Having said that, Colorado will likely be one of those 6-6-ish teams that is VERY good for having been constantly challenged by great teams. ASU, WVU, Texas, Misery, Kansas... it's not Red October, but I can see this team doing something realistically like an Independence Bowl and absolutely shredding whoever is unfortunate enough to land as their opponent. There is enough talent there to do big things IMO. Hawkins looked really good for a stereotypical Redshirt Froshy. Not everyone has the makings of a National Championship-caliber offense like Sam and Colt had.

Having said all of that, it's hard to pick against KU or Missouri in the North... take Missouri if you want to keep your money. However, don't put your money on them being top 10. They'll fall off a little bit.

[JLEW1818]

First off, Kansas has a horrible schedule.

Colorado wise
plays UT
@Kansas
KSU
@misso
@tamu
@Nebraska

Not to mention games against FSU and West Virgina

[goingoneight]

It will definitely make or break them to play a tough schedule.

... and FWIW... all road games will be decided in single digits is my prediction. I'd be more than happy for Stoops to provem me wrong. And no... Baylor doesn't count as a road game IMO.

OU 24 UW 21
OU 28 KSU 24
OU 17 aTm 14
OU 35 OSU 31

... based on what we've seen in the Stoops era, we have no grounds to believe we'll romp anyone but Baylor on the road... unless it's Chase Daniel.

[Collier11]

It will definitely make or break them to play a tough schedule.

... and FWIW... all road games will be decided in single digits is my prediction. I'd be more than happy for Stoops to provem me wrong. And no... Baylor doesn't count as a road game IMO.

OU 24 UW 21
OU 28 KSU 24
OU 17 aTm 14
OU 35 OSU 31

... based on what we've seen in the Stoops era, we have no grounds to believe we'll romp anyone but Baylor on the road... unless it's Chase Daniel.

typically I would agree with you about all the road games being single digits but Stoops did something after the Fiesta Bowl that I dont ever recall him doing, he admitted that our game preperation needs to change and I dont think he just meant bowl game. This team is too good to play a single digit game against A&M, Kstate, UW, and osu all. We will see how hungry we are though

[KantoSooner]

I think you are way underestimating the OU defense.

[Jason White's Third Knee]

UT Chatt- its unfortunate that this game has to be played but this will be a dream come true for one school...til kickoff. Since they did graciously take the game I dont think Stoops will put it on them like we could 63-7

Cincy- Breaking in new qb but they have a really good secondary 38-17

Wash- Young exciting qb who should be forced into lots of turnovers but will make some plays against our young secondary 42-21

TCU- We finally get to check off one of our embarrasing losses 45-13

Baylor- New Coach, same result 54-16

ut- I really think this is a year where they dont match up with us despite the improved D 37-21

Kansas- Good O but lost alot of quality on D 31-21


K.St- our toughest road game IMO and one that could catch us following two straight huge games 24-22

Nebraska- Rivalry renewed but not quite back to normal 34-14

A&M- Another place we have traditionally played average 27-17

Tech- Perhaps the biggest Game in Tech history and a revenge game for us, they never play well in Norman 42-28

osu- we seem to either blow them out or barely win in Stilly but this is a game we should win easily if we are as good as expected 41-28

Big 12 Title Game- Colorado(yes I think they will win the North) in a game much closer than expected but also a revenge game 31-23

Obviously I have us going undefeated but I know we have struggled on the road and I think we do have some potential downfalls, I think our top 3 games as far as struggling to win will be KSt, Tech, A&M in that order


You have our D giving up 19 points a game. I think we'll be better than that.

[Collier11]

You have our D giving up 19 points a game. I think we'll be better than that.

I hope we are, it will depend on how dominate our D-line is because good or not, we are breaking in 2-3 new guys in the secondary depending on who is playing and 2 new LB's

[OUMallen]

UT Chatt- its unfortunate that this game has to be played but this will be a dream come true for one school...til kickoff. Since they did graciously take the game I dont think Stoops will put it on them like we could 63-7

Cincy- Breaking in new qb but they have a really good secondary 38-17

Wash- Young exciting qb who should be forced into lots of turnovers but will make some plays against our young secondary 42-21

TCU- We finally get to check off one of our embarrasing losses 45-13

Baylor- New Coach, same result 54-16

ut- I really think this is a year where they dont match up with us despite the improved D 37-21

Kansas- Good O but lost alot of quality on D 31-21


K.St- our toughest road game IMO and one that could catch us following two straight huge games 24-22

Nebraska- Rivalry renewed but not quite back to normal 34-14

A&M- Another place we have traditionally played average 27-17

Tech- Perhaps the biggest Game in Tech history and a revenge game for us, they never play well in Norman 42-28

osu- we seem to either blow them out or barely win in Stilly but this is a game we should win easily if we are as good as expected 41-28

Big 12 Title Game- Colorado(yes I think they will win the North) in a game much closer than expected but also a revenge game 31-23

Obviously I have us going undefeated but I know we have struggled on the road and I think we do have some potential downfalls, I think our top 3 games as far as struggling to win will be KSt, Tech, A&M in that order

Mizzou out of the north. Otherwise, I like it!

[Jason White's Third Knee]

I hope we are, it will depend on how dominate our D-line is because good or not, we are breaking in 2-3 new guys in the secondary depending on who is playing and 2 new LB's

Our D line is going to be very dominant. Best D-line in a few years. I never worry about the linebackers. We always do well there. I am pretty optimistic about the D-backs.

[soonermix]

i don't know but in this day of high powered offenses spread attacks and such i think 19 pts a game is pretty dominate

especially when we score (whatever the average was i'm too lazy to do the math)

[poke4christ]

The only one in here I'd out right dissagree with is TCU. It think that will be a lot closer (within 2 TDs). Nebraska is hard to get a peg on. As for the washington game I don't think you went far enough. That should be a blowout IMHO. 49-14.

oh yeah... and that game with us.... we'll... um.... kick your butts.. hard. yeah.

[Jason White's Third Knee]

i don't know but in this day of high powered offenses spread attacks and such i think 19 pts a game is pretty dominate

especially when we score (whatever the average was i'm too lazy to do the math)

Given our competition, I still expect them to be lower than 19. You are right though. Here are the stats from last year. That last game screwed us. If we hadn't have gotten torched for 48 points, we would have been as high as 2nd with 14.4 points per game.

Team G (http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/football/ncaa/stats/2007/divia/team/scoring_defense_byGAMES_PLYD.html) Pts (http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/football/ncaa/stats/2007/divia/team/scoring_defense_byDFNS_POINTS.html) Pts/G (http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/football/ncaa/stats/2007/divia/team/scoring_defense_byDFNS_POINTS_PER_GAME.html) 1. Ohio State (http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/football/ncaa/teams/ohiost/) 13 128 10.7 2. Virginia Tech (http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/football/ncaa/teams/vatech/) 14 201 15.5 3. Utah (http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/football/ncaa/teams/utah/) 13 187 15.6 4. USC (http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/football/ncaa/teams/usc/) 13 191 15.9 5. Kansas (http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/football/ncaa/teams/kansas/) 13 192 16.0 6. Auburn (http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/football/ncaa/teams/auburn/) 13 200 16.7 7. West Virginia (http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/football/ncaa/teams/wvu/) 13 207 17.3 8. Penn State (http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/football/ncaa/teams/psu/) 13 211 17.6 9. Oklahoma (http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/football/ncaa/teams/okla/) 14 236 18.2 10. Clemson (http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/football/ncaa/teams/clemso/) 13 220 18.3 11. Cincinnati (http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/football/ncaa/teams/cin/) 13 223 18.6 Connecticut (http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/football/ncaa/teams/uconn/) 13 223 18.6 13. Brigham Young (http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/football/ncaa/teams/byu/) 13 225 18.8 Virginia (http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/football/ncaa/teams/uva/) 13 225 18.8 Iowa (http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/football/ncaa/teams/iowa/) 12 225 18.8 16. TCU (http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/football/ncaa/teams/tcu/) 13 230 19.2 17. Georgia Tech (http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/football/ncaa/teams/gatech/) 13 231 19.3 Air Force (http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/football/ncaa/teams/airfor/) 13 232 19.3 19. Illinois (http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/football/ncaa/teams/illino/) 13 234 19.5 20. LSU (http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/football/ncaa/teams/lsu/) 14 255 19.6 21. Boise State (http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/football/ncaa/teams/boise/) 13 240 20.0 22. Arizona State (http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/football/ncaa/teams/arizst/) 13 241 20.1 23. Boston College (http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/football/ncaa/teams/bc/) 14 264 20.3 Michigan (http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/football/ncaa/teams/mich/) 13 243 20.3 25. New Mexico (http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/football/ncaa/teams/newmex/) 13 247 20.6 26. South Florida (http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/football/ncaa/teams/sofla/) 13 248 20.7 27. Western Kentucky (http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/football/ncaa/teams/westky/) 12 250 20.8 28. Georgia (http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/football/ncaa/teams/georgi/) 13 252 21.0 29. Maryland (http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/football/ncaa/teams/mrylnd/) 13 259 21.6 30. Alabama (http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/football/ncaa/teams/alabam/) 13 262 21.8 Rutgers (http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/football/ncaa/teams/rutger/) 13 262 21.8 32. Florida State (http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/football/ncaa/teams/flast/) 13 263 21.9 33. Vanderbilt (http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/football/ncaa/teams/vandy/) 12 271 22.6 34. UCLA (http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/football/ncaa/teams/ucla/) 13 273 22.8 35. Oregon State (http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/football/ncaa/teams/oregst/) 13 280 23.3 Wake Forest (http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/football/ncaa/teams/wakef/) 13 279 23.3 Wisconsin (http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/football/ncaa/teams/wisc/) 13 280 23.3 38. South Carolina (http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/football/ncaa/teams/soucar/) 12 282 23.5 39. Southern Miss (http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/football/ncaa/teams/soumis/) 13 283 23.6 40. Oregon (http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/football/ncaa/teams/oregon/) 13 286 23.8 41. Florida (http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/football/ncaa/teams/florid/) 13 290 24.2 Hawaii (http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/football/ncaa/teams/hawaii/) 13 290 24.2 43. Pittsburgh (http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/football/ncaa/teams/pitt/) 12 291 24.3 44. Missouri (http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/football/ncaa/teams/missou/) 14 319 24.5 North Carolina (http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/football/ncaa/teams/unc/) 12 294 24.5 46. Texas (http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/football/ncaa/teams/texas/) 13 295 24.6 Troy (http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/football/ncaa/teams/troy/) 12 295 24.6 48. Purdue (http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/football/ncaa/teams/purdue/) 13 297 24.8 Mississippi State (http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/football/ncaa/teams/missst/) 13 298 24.8 50. Miami (OH) (http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/football/ncaa/teams/mia_oh/) 13 333 25.6 Arkansas (http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/football/ncaa/teams/arkans/) 13 307 25.6

[KantoSooner]

For what it's worth,the old saw that 'it all starts at the line' seems right to me. We will have a tremendous rush, with penetration all over the place out of our D line. The line backers should be solid enough to keep up the gut running from restraining the line rush.
So, you have offenses left with trying to dump the ball off very fast or going outside. With the improved speed we have in the secondary and decent-ish size there, I'm optimistic that OU '08 is going to be a difficult defense to score against.
At least that is the logic that makes sense to me right now.

[JLEW1818]

Who has the best Offensive Line, that we will play?

[RedstickSooner]

A&M- Another place we have traditionally played average 27-17


Average? Dude -- it's one of the most dangerous places we play under Stoops.

Here's the scores:

17-16 W
42-35 W
26-30 L
35-31 W

The MOST we have won there is by a single touchdown -- and that was with Jason White in 2004 during his second Senior season.

The combined score those four times we've played in College Station is:

120-112. We hold, averaged over the four games, a two point advantage per game.

I frankly don't understand why so many Sooner fans consistently take a win on the road at aTm for granted. We do NOT do well down there. This game scares me, and it'll continue to scare me 'til we have a few double-digit wins down there.

[JLEW1818]

I'll be at that game, so it's all good. Remember how A&M blew it last time we were there? haha

[OUMallen]

Average? Dude -- it's one of the most dangerous places we play under Stoops.

Here's the scores:

17-16 W
42-35 W
26-30 L
35-31 W

The MOST we have won there is by a single touchdown -- and that was with Jason White in 2004 during his second Senior season.

The combined score those four times we've played in College Station is:

120-112. We hold, averaged over the four games, a two point advantage per game.

I frankly don't understand why so many Sooner fans consistently take a win on the road at aTm for granted. We do NOT do well down there. This game scares me, and it'll continue to scare me 'til we have a few double-digit wins down there.


True true and true....the cupboard is bare this year at aTm, it would seem, with new coach, etc...but maybe I'm just buying into the groupthink.

[Jason White's Third Knee]

Average? Dude -- it's one of the most dangerous places we play under Stoops.

Here's the scores:

17-16 W
42-35 W
26-30 L
35-31 W

The MOST we have won there is by a single touchdown -- and that was with Jason White in 2004 during his second Senior season.

The combined score those four times we've played in College Station is:

120-112. We hold, averaged over the four games, a two point advantage per game.

I frankly don't understand why so many Sooner fans consistently take a win on the road at aTm for granted. We do NOT do well down there. This game scares me, and it'll continue to scare me 'til we have a few double-digit wins down there.


New Coach? I'll be shocked if we sniff a loss there this year.

[RedstickSooner]

True true and true....the cupboard is bare this year at aTm, it would seem, with new coach, etc...but maybe I'm just buying into the groupthink.

New coach, old coach, bare cupboard or full -- I think aTm is a great example of a fundamental weakness we've suffered under Stoops: Our team really craves the home field.

I just respectfully disagree with those of you who write off aTm. Here -- let's look at the aTm teams which gave us such a hard time, by comparing their season record -- which I think is a fairly good assessment of a given team's ability.

2006 17 to 16 W, 9-3 aTm team.
2004 42 to 35 W, 7-5 aTm team.
2002 26 to 30 L, 6-6 aTm team.
2000 35 to 31 W, 7-5 aTm team.

Combined season records of the four aTm juggernauts which have played us so hard:29 and 19

Combined season records of the OU teams which struggled down there: 48 and 12.

The OU squads which had such a hard time at aTm are some superb units. The 11-3 2006 team. The 12-1 2004 team. The 12-2 2002 team. And, of course, our undefeated team of 2000.

In fact, all four of those Sooner squads were Big-12 champions. And aside from that 9-3 squad, the aTm teams had lousy records. Yet they still managed to beat us once, and scare us three times.

I'd love to think that a change of coaches matters -- but we've had this problem with both Slocum and Franchione. I'm just not convinced this is a cakewalk.

[OUMallen]

I do think it will be easier than previous years...KSU makes me more nervous, for some reason.

[Collier11]

josh freeman maybe?

[Collier11]

Average? Dude -- it's one of the most dangerous places we play under Stoops.

.

Not sure what your argument is here, I said that we always play average there

[RedstickSooner]

Not sure what your argument is here, I said that we always play average there

You seemed to be dismissing them as being a real threat -- 'specially since you predicted we'd beat them by more than we ever have under Stoops down there :)

[fadada1]

i don't see k-state doing much. unfortunately, the players we have now only know k-state as a decent team, so their expectations are a little higher. for those of us that remember k-state when they were "k-state", well, i'm unimpressed with this team. i've seen them as low as 10th in the big12 (and behind okstate... and they totally suck.

[Collier11]

You seemed to be dismissing them as being a real threat -- 'specially since you predicted we'd beat them by more than we ever have under Stoops down there :)

that has more to do with the coaching transition and the fact that I dont think they are that talented, im sure the game will be stressful for me

[utex74]

Who has the best Offensive Line, that we will play?

We have all the starters back from the bowl game, but only one senior among them. They will be very good but I am hoping they get there before October. Your OL is supposed to be the best in the country and I think that bodes well for you if they live up to expectaions. The OL wins or loses games.

I am looking forward to Colt behind a good OL again. We'll see.

[Jacie]

True true and true....the cupboard is bare this year at aTm, it would seem, with new coach, etc...but maybe I'm just buying into the groupthink.

Did aTm ever graduate that QB who was supposed to be their version of John Elway? He would be on his sixth or seventh year by now, I think. Seems he served in at least one foreign war, was married with more than one kid, was working towards an advanced degree and also doing research on cancer while working for NASA and collecting food for homeless people . . . But if he's gone then no problem beating em the Dead Dog Stadium. I mean their dead dog stadium . . .

[goingoneight]

I am looking forward to :mack: behind Colt again. We'll see.

I'll bet you are. :eek:

[Collier11]

Did aTm ever graduate that QB who was supposed to be their version of John Elway? He would be on his sixth or seventh year by now, I think. Seems he served in at least one foreign war, was married with more than one kid, was working towards an advanced degree and also doing research on cancer while working for NASA and collecting food for homeless people . . . But if he's gone then no problem beating em the Dead Dog Stadium. I mean their dead dog stadium . . .

He has one more yr believe it or not, they have a young guy behind him who is pretty damn talented though