What do the fans expect of the team this year? How many wins? If its a losing season, will Bowden hit the road?

I expect us to win at least 8 games with a win over UGA or FSU. I don't think we'll quite be able to challenge for the conference title, as NC State and Maryland are loaded with talent. No doubt we will improve from last year, though.

SamuraiTater Wrote:I expect us to win at least 8 games with a win over UGA or FSU.

:roflol: :roflol: :roflol: :roflol: :roflol: :roflol:

SouthLink02 Wrote:

SamuraiTater Wrote:I expect us to win at least 8 games with a win over UGA or FSU.

:roflol: :roflol: :roflol: :roflol: :roflol: :roflol:

I'll second that...

I see the Tigers going 7-5 again this year.

Drakeman Wrote:I see the Tigers going 7-5 again this year.

Tell me why. And who are the 5 teams you see us losing to ?

SamuraiTater Wrote:

Drakeman Wrote:I see the Tigers going 7-5 again this year.

Tell me why. And who are the 5 teams you see us losing to ?

Tell me the 7 that you see them beating. :laugh:

:lolup: :lolup:

I see several teams that they could beat, & several that they could lose to. Some of them are the same (toss up games).

I really don't like CU's chances vs FSU or UGA, & I think road games at State & Maryland are tall tasks. On the flip side I'm very confident that the Tigers will take care of business vs Furman, Mid Tenn, Duke, & Wake. I also like your chances vs UNC at home, but they may surprise some folks. I think Tech looks like a very winnable road game, but it's pretty much a toss up right now.

Take a split on the UVA/USC games & there you have it.

Like I said at the start. There are a lot of games that could go either way. With some good play, & a couple of breaks you guys could go 8-4. With some poor play & some bad breaks you could wind up as bad as 5-7. One thing's for sure. You should be involved in a lot of tight, tense, exciting games.

Btw, my preseason prediction for the tigers last year was 7-5 with a bid to the Tangerine bowl. :eek:

Drake, I appreciate your insightfull post. You don't seem to see it quite as optimistically as I would, but then again, I didn't expect you to.

For the record I see us beating Georgia at home, but probably losing to FSU again. Georgia has taken a couple of step backwards relative to the talent and experience they had along their offensive and defensive lines, as well as their linebackers from 2002. They're still very talented in all of those areas, but the lack of experience will be a liability when the season starts. On the flip side, Clemson should benefit from the return of nearly every skill player we played last year, to include a polished passer, with good read skills (even as a redshirt freshman) and numerous seasoned recieving threats. We also return a number of guys who logged considerable playing time on the offensive line.

I think the last two years, FSU has been in an extended re-loading zone. I believe we may be at our best in 5 years under Tommy Bowden however, the Seminoles look to be at their best in a long while as well.

The games I think we have no business losing (based upon my perception of talent level and offensive / defensive mis-matches alone) are Furman, MTSU, GT, UNC, WF, Duke and USC.

I think every game on our schedule is winnable. I'm not willing to write any of them off as sure losses, though wins over UGA, FSU, UVa, Maryland and NC State would certainly be classified as upsets.

UGA's definitely doable, but I just don't see it. I do think you are catching them at the best possible time though. I don't know if the Dawgs have taken any steps backwards in the talent dept, but they are green. A few of the OL's that they're counting on are listed as RS freshmen who also missed Spring ball due to injuries. Still, I think they've got too much for the tigs, but that's why they play the games.

I have no real reason to think you'll hang an "L" on F$U, but freely admit that's pretty much based on how this game has gone since they joined the league. For similar reasons I'll never predict a USC win over UF or UT until it actually happens.

I definitely see the USC game as a toss up as opposed to a team you have no business losing to. The closeness of the last 3 or 4 games pretty much tells me these teams are much closer than you think, or are willing to admit, but I don't expect you to give USC or Lou Holtz credit for anything good at anytime, even if they were to go 14-0 w/ an average margin of victory of 20 ppg.

Duke, Wake, Furman & MTSU no doubt fall in the no biz category.

The rest of the games could go either way, but I do like your chances vs UNC, GaT. UVA's doable in DV, but that too will be a tough one. As stated above, road games at State & Maryland will be difficult as well.

I guess time will tell. Seems like it always does.