Very interested to see the win total come out for Georgia Tech. Collins has quietly pieced together a formidable roster that should be able to hang with the weakened ACC. Lots of transfers and the best recruiting class they've had in decades. 6-6 or 7-5 wouldn't shock me.
Very interested to see the win total come out for Georgia Tech. Collins has quietly pieced together a formidable roster that should be able to hang with the weakened ACC. Lots of transfers and the best recruiting class they've had in decades. 6-6 or 7-5 wouldn't shock me.
A few risers and surprisers on the way too early list...
Likes
Louisville - absolutely killer turnaround with team 2 years together already and almost everyone back next year, quite a few with two more years... Satterfield had it clicking with Cunningham this year and they had it perfect in the bowl game, looking like more dynamic than Lamb or Thomas that they had at L'ville and D went wild ... pass D is kinda the question but almost all Jr's / Sophs back there you have to think the ship will turn ... I'd expect a huge bump with them next year and if ACC stays crappy might be an insane bump .. either way get the tix now because Cards will be a fun ride next couple years at least...
A&M - faded A&M alot this year and should have a whole lot more... looking to see what they RB / OL sitch is next year, clearly mond is not a one man show getting clobbered this year .. so much better with all-world monster back Treyvvvvvone Williams in 2018 and that AA TE to throw to .. RB group so young and will come along ... perfect pickins for any decent RB transfers and maybe a few other spots which shouldn't be hard with their program ... they also got that star Baylor Cupp who got hurt this year as part of the B2B insane recruiting classes.
Watch list..
Houston - will be watching if a team can form around Holgersen and Clayton Tune cuz they're a perfect match ... def one to check back in with them later on ..
Nevada - will be more digging but keep your eye on them, its a could be a solid bump.. Like Norvell to turn the O on big next year..
Forget it...
Utah St - How you have a guy like J-Love and the game plan changes to something that doesn't let him loose.. good luck getting a QB ever again even with the new UNT OC hire...
UVA - I faded this year with Perkins losing alot of his solid O guys around him and they did but not quite as bad as I thought.. Weak ACC really helped them out .. ALOT... Even getting the large bulk of the D back, when you lose 80% of the O with Perkins and 3/top 4 WR's you'll be dropping off like Cuse did this year more often than not... Back in the basement for them...
A few risers and surprisers on the way too early list...
Likes
Louisville - absolutely killer turnaround with team 2 years together already and almost everyone back next year, quite a few with two more years... Satterfield had it clicking with Cunningham this year and they had it perfect in the bowl game, looking like more dynamic than Lamb or Thomas that they had at L'ville and D went wild ... pass D is kinda the question but almost all Jr's / Sophs back there you have to think the ship will turn ... I'd expect a huge bump with them next year and if ACC stays crappy might be an insane bump .. either way get the tix now because Cards will be a fun ride next couple years at least...
A&M - faded A&M alot this year and should have a whole lot more... looking to see what they RB / OL sitch is next year, clearly mond is not a one man show getting clobbered this year .. so much better with all-world monster back Treyvvvvvone Williams in 2018 and that AA TE to throw to .. RB group so young and will come along ... perfect pickins for any decent RB transfers and maybe a few other spots which shouldn't be hard with their program ... they also got that star Baylor Cupp who got hurt this year as part of the B2B insane recruiting classes.
Watch list..
Houston - will be watching if a team can form around Holgersen and Clayton Tune cuz they're a perfect match ... def one to check back in with them later on ..
Nevada - will be more digging but keep your eye on them, its a could be a solid bump.. Like Norvell to turn the O on big next year..
Forget it...
Utah St - How you have a guy like J-Love and the game plan changes to something that doesn't let him loose.. good luck getting a QB ever again even with the new UNT OC hire...
UVA - I faded this year with Perkins losing alot of his solid O guys around him and they did but not quite as bad as I thought.. Weak ACC really helped them out .. ALOT... Even getting the large bulk of the D back, when you lose 80% of the O with Perkins and 3/top 4 WR's you'll be dropping off like Cuse did this year more often than not... Back in the basement for them...
Couple more..
Like...
Indiana - can't wait to see them they'll be ALOT of fun next year... Not sure if an opener at Wisco is the best matchup ... hope they get smashed huge because they could go wild with first half of the schedule.. Hungry team played hard in the bowl came but dropped the ball in a wild one... you know what the goals will be this year with all they got coming back..
Watchlist..
Tulsa - O will be really fun next year... great setup for them even though they covered a bunch because they only won 4 and should stay under the radar and be scrappy as hell in every game again. the OL was such a problem that should get better .. hope new OL coach gets em in line.. Problem is the sneaky decent D got gutted which is too bad because this would be a total gem next year if that came back mostly in tact.. still could be.... def the team you don't want to lay a bunch of points against and they should be a dog in quite a few spots with an AAC schedule ..... all that said they were the scrappy dog ATS moneymakers last year and set up perfect to be so again...
ECU - Flashes of goodness last year but just never got the big pop I thought they might have... But pretty much whole team back again for round 3 and if the D comes around a little bit they'll be a sleeper hit like Tulsa last year... D really really needs to get better... esp in that conf... can't give up 50+++ and be hanging around in too many games..
Def drop off... Maybe a big drop off..
Tulane - Fritz O needs that dynamic QB for the speedy O to work and McMillen gone and backup had like 20 snaps to his name.. he was inaccurate at S.Miss before transferring and if he didn't get alot of snaps this year even in some rotational role then writing might be on the wall.. wrong guy.. D needs to replace a few good performers but even then they weren't great .. some epic comebacks this year might not be so epic in 2020... and AAC will still be far and away the class of the G-5.. gunna be tough..
Navy - can't lose an All-World Ultragamer like Perry, another 80+% of the O guy like UVA and think things are gunna be rockin' n rollin again next year like 'next man up', 'send in the reinforcements', 'the scheme wins the game', etc etc .. D was good and could get really interesting but they won't get you almost a division title ... def not in that division..
Avalanche....
Liberty - totally gutted team after reaching super lofty goals .. guys played together for years, had great upsets together vs Troy and Baylor ... just no way all fresh faces step right in and keep that show going.. QB in particular since Freeze only really played Calvert LY with others injured.. and RB Frankie Hickson was an actual beast stud down the stretch... AGG... forget it you'll never see a trio like that there for quite some time.. fun group!
Couple more..
Like...
Indiana - can't wait to see them they'll be ALOT of fun next year... Not sure if an opener at Wisco is the best matchup ... hope they get smashed huge because they could go wild with first half of the schedule.. Hungry team played hard in the bowl came but dropped the ball in a wild one... you know what the goals will be this year with all they got coming back..
Watchlist..
Tulsa - O will be really fun next year... great setup for them even though they covered a bunch because they only won 4 and should stay under the radar and be scrappy as hell in every game again. the OL was such a problem that should get better .. hope new OL coach gets em in line.. Problem is the sneaky decent D got gutted which is too bad because this would be a total gem next year if that came back mostly in tact.. still could be.... def the team you don't want to lay a bunch of points against and they should be a dog in quite a few spots with an AAC schedule ..... all that said they were the scrappy dog ATS moneymakers last year and set up perfect to be so again...
ECU - Flashes of goodness last year but just never got the big pop I thought they might have... But pretty much whole team back again for round 3 and if the D comes around a little bit they'll be a sleeper hit like Tulsa last year... D really really needs to get better... esp in that conf... can't give up 50+++ and be hanging around in too many games..
Def drop off... Maybe a big drop off..
Tulane - Fritz O needs that dynamic QB for the speedy O to work and McMillen gone and backup had like 20 snaps to his name.. he was inaccurate at S.Miss before transferring and if he didn't get alot of snaps this year even in some rotational role then writing might be on the wall.. wrong guy.. D needs to replace a few good performers but even then they weren't great .. some epic comebacks this year might not be so epic in 2020... and AAC will still be far and away the class of the G-5.. gunna be tough..
Navy - can't lose an All-World Ultragamer like Perry, another 80+% of the O guy like UVA and think things are gunna be rockin' n rollin again next year like 'next man up', 'send in the reinforcements', 'the scheme wins the game', etc etc .. D was good and could get really interesting but they won't get you almost a division title ... def not in that division..
Avalanche....
Liberty - totally gutted team after reaching super lofty goals .. guys played together for years, had great upsets together vs Troy and Baylor ... just no way all fresh faces step right in and keep that show going.. QB in particular since Freeze only really played Calvert LY with others injured.. and RB Frankie Hickson was an actual beast stud down the stretch... AGG... forget it you'll never see a trio like that there for quite some time.. fun group!
One more that I'll draw out in just a little more detail is FIU.....
The 2019 Fade-O-Rama on the Panthers is exactly the kinda opportunities we need to look for .. Team's lead into LY was super hype filled after their huge 9-4 SU win and 10-3 ATS (WOW!!!) rags to riches story in '18 with big bahama bowl win to cap off the scrappy underdog done good story we all like ..... and with TONS of experience coming back in '19... So it makes sense why many had their wallets WIDE open when catching +2 in the opener and even on the road vs a Tulane team which was obviously gunna be MUCH improved ... you can imagine a number of people buying a full point in that one to get +3 and wondering what happened when FIU lost 42-14 ...... Going back to that '18 team you see the actual stats and really the change in stats from '17 to '18 didn't dictate that the HUGE bump in success was from a much improved team but had everything to do with the EPIC decline of CUSA that year and their schedule happened to catch just about every good break ... recall 2018 (usually tough customers) WKY, FAU, Marsh were uncharacteristically HORRID and remainder of the schedule packed with a whose who from the very bottom of the barrel = week in week out 20, 30, 40 point wins and easy shmeezy covers ... Winning the bowl game vs Toledo who recall had been upper crust G-5 bomb offense moneymakers for a few years combined with OFF THE CHARTS top to bottom returning production are more/less all your casual fan needed to love the '19 prospectus on these guys ... that and 'the mags' really love to hype up teams with a lead in like that, you'll notice none of the Mags or the Espn pundits will EVER throw shade on a team after a surprise season, big bowl win, returning QB/RB/WR, etc ... to Phils credit he did pretty much nail it with 1. FAU, 2. MARSH, 3. FIU prediction for their division... but nowhere would you have expected they'd drop down 4 wins overall to 6-7 and 3-5 in conference down from 6-2 unless you really looked hard at the 2018 competition .. Results were an additional 4 losses with 10 point drop in margin of victory and 10 point drop in ATS margin both into the red... and that these were more/less the same drop I think back of the napkin you might say the linesmakers had them lined almost exactly with the prior year perception... anyway 10 point MoV and ATS MoV drops would tend to predict a disaster for panthers backers and instead of covering 75% they hit 33% ATS LY...
FIU 2019 case is not the norm obviously but that's the kinda perfect setup we want to find...
CONT'D....
One more that I'll draw out in just a little more detail is FIU.....
The 2019 Fade-O-Rama on the Panthers is exactly the kinda opportunities we need to look for .. Team's lead into LY was super hype filled after their huge 9-4 SU win and 10-3 ATS (WOW!!!) rags to riches story in '18 with big bahama bowl win to cap off the scrappy underdog done good story we all like ..... and with TONS of experience coming back in '19... So it makes sense why many had their wallets WIDE open when catching +2 in the opener and even on the road vs a Tulane team which was obviously gunna be MUCH improved ... you can imagine a number of people buying a full point in that one to get +3 and wondering what happened when FIU lost 42-14 ...... Going back to that '18 team you see the actual stats and really the change in stats from '17 to '18 didn't dictate that the HUGE bump in success was from a much improved team but had everything to do with the EPIC decline of CUSA that year and their schedule happened to catch just about every good break ... recall 2018 (usually tough customers) WKY, FAU, Marsh were uncharacteristically HORRID and remainder of the schedule packed with a whose who from the very bottom of the barrel = week in week out 20, 30, 40 point wins and easy shmeezy covers ... Winning the bowl game vs Toledo who recall had been upper crust G-5 bomb offense moneymakers for a few years combined with OFF THE CHARTS top to bottom returning production are more/less all your casual fan needed to love the '19 prospectus on these guys ... that and 'the mags' really love to hype up teams with a lead in like that, you'll notice none of the Mags or the Espn pundits will EVER throw shade on a team after a surprise season, big bowl win, returning QB/RB/WR, etc ... to Phils credit he did pretty much nail it with 1. FAU, 2. MARSH, 3. FIU prediction for their division... but nowhere would you have expected they'd drop down 4 wins overall to 6-7 and 3-5 in conference down from 6-2 unless you really looked hard at the 2018 competition .. Results were an additional 4 losses with 10 point drop in margin of victory and 10 point drop in ATS margin both into the red... and that these were more/less the same drop I think back of the napkin you might say the linesmakers had them lined almost exactly with the prior year perception... anyway 10 point MoV and ATS MoV drops would tend to predict a disaster for panthers backers and instead of covering 75% they hit 33% ATS LY...
FIU 2019 case is not the norm obviously but that's the kinda perfect setup we want to find...
CONT'D....
FIU CONT'D...
As for 2020..... It's kinof a gambit when you go into a year trying to fade a team that already bottomed out in the ATS department the year before but with all the 2019 returning prod that's now graduated or portaled out I think we're correct in thinking that '19 was more of a correction rather than a decline of the team... This year we'll have an FIU team that I think did keep a more/less overall good reputation, they had that MONSTER win vs Miami everyone remembers and were a popular bowl pick and hung tough in and Butch Davis onto his 3rd year ... But 2020 there's a crazy all around drop in experience and production especially the key O spots losing Morgan, the 2 RB's and 3/4 top WR's.. the 2nd QB only got 3 pass att's and one run in 44-zip route of UMass and 27 total att's on the year most of which came vs New Hampshire... nobody else got any meaningful QB snaps LY... they do retain some elements from a decent OL/DL and couple DB's from a really good pass D so not totally gutted but portal has already siphoned off their best returning OL, solid kicker and had a highly regarded asst HC/OL coach Mogridge off to USF...
Not saying drink the Faderade with me but FIU feels alot like the NC State of this year who went 2-10 ATS and FIU might even be favored in a few games with UTEP, UMass, Liberty, Charl, and Mid-T on the schedule... Panthers schedule changes up from 5 road LY to 7 away games this year and kickoff with J-Ville-State and it's off to @UCF, @ODU, @Liberty and a Bye before conference play heats up with Mid-T and then 3/4 roadies concludes the easy part of the schedule before closing with FAU, @WKY, L-Tech lol.... feels like another judgement day is coming for them and if you see the RSW come out at 4.5 or 5 you let me know... lol...
Good luck!
FIU CONT'D...
As for 2020..... It's kinof a gambit when you go into a year trying to fade a team that already bottomed out in the ATS department the year before but with all the 2019 returning prod that's now graduated or portaled out I think we're correct in thinking that '19 was more of a correction rather than a decline of the team... This year we'll have an FIU team that I think did keep a more/less overall good reputation, they had that MONSTER win vs Miami everyone remembers and were a popular bowl pick and hung tough in and Butch Davis onto his 3rd year ... But 2020 there's a crazy all around drop in experience and production especially the key O spots losing Morgan, the 2 RB's and 3/4 top WR's.. the 2nd QB only got 3 pass att's and one run in 44-zip route of UMass and 27 total att's on the year most of which came vs New Hampshire... nobody else got any meaningful QB snaps LY... they do retain some elements from a decent OL/DL and couple DB's from a really good pass D so not totally gutted but portal has already siphoned off their best returning OL, solid kicker and had a highly regarded asst HC/OL coach Mogridge off to USF...
Not saying drink the Faderade with me but FIU feels alot like the NC State of this year who went 2-10 ATS and FIU might even be favored in a few games with UTEP, UMass, Liberty, Charl, and Mid-T on the schedule... Panthers schedule changes up from 5 road LY to 7 away games this year and kickoff with J-Ville-State and it's off to @UCF, @ODU, @Liberty and a Bye before conference play heats up with Mid-T and then 3/4 roadies concludes the easy part of the schedule before closing with FAU, @WKY, L-Tech lol.... feels like another judgement day is coming for them and if you see the RSW come out at 4.5 or 5 you let me know... lol...
Good luck!
The reason I included Texas, UF, A&M and USC as legitimate contenders is because they have clear paths to the playoffs. All four are capable of winning their conference, all have above avg starting QB's who are returning... Texas am has an elite coaching staff, consecutive elite recruiting classes, and a much easier schedule
The reason I included Texas, UF, A&M and USC as legitimate contenders is because they have clear paths to the playoffs. All four are capable of winning their conference, all have above avg starting QB's who are returning... Texas am has an elite coaching staff, consecutive elite recruiting classes, and a much easier schedule
Good stuff, though you have more faith in my Longhorns than I do...
Good stuff, though you have more faith in my Longhorns than I do...
Love TAMU this year, though their inability to close out Ok St ATS (let them score a TD) in the bowl to blow the cover for most (O had bought down to 3), concerns me about cover for them...Will they be mature enough to beat down a marginal team and then put them away...
Love TAMU this year, though their inability to close out Ok St ATS (let them score a TD) in the bowl to blow the cover for most (O had bought down to 3), concerns me about cover for them...Will they be mature enough to beat down a marginal team and then put them away...
TAMU gets a big break with scheduling this year, dropping Clemson and Georgia and replacing them with Colorado and Vanderbilt. Should easily be a 9 win team minimum. As always, Auburn, LSU, and Bama will be the tests in the West.
TAMU gets a big break with scheduling this year, dropping Clemson and Georgia and replacing them with Colorado and Vanderbilt. Should easily be a 9 win team minimum. As always, Auburn, LSU, and Bama will be the tests in the West.
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