way too early 2024 predictions

[QChawks]

Although a lot can and will change between now and 8/31/24, how are you feeling right now?

Aug. 31	Illinois State*#
Sept. 7	Iowa State%
Sept. 14	Troy
Sept. 21	at Minnesota
Sept. 28	Bye
Oct. 5	at Ohio State
Oct. 12	Washington
Oct. 19	at Michigan State
Oct. 26	Northwestern
Nov. 2	Wisconsin
Nov. 9	at UCLA
Nov. 16	Bye
Nov. 23	at Maryland
Nov. 29	Nebraska

 

[QChawks]

Wins
Aug. 31 Illinois State
Sept. 7 Iowa State
Sept. 14 Troy
Oct. 19 at Michigan State
Oct. 26 Northwestern
Nov. 23 at Maryland

Loses
Sept. 21 at Minnesota
Oct. 5 at Ohio State
Oct. 12 Washington
Nov. 2 Wisconsin
Nov. 9 at UCLA
Nov. 29 Nebraska

 

[Greenway4Prez]

Honestly, that’s about as manageable a schedule we’ll see in the new B1G.

If Barnett is truly back, and Philbin is the OC, I see a 7-5 team.

If Kirk treats this off-season as a way to improve the program and makes good hires, there are 9 or 10 wins there.

 

[millah_22]

Ceiling likely at 10-2, floor prob around 6 wins.

 

[2D_]

Who cares? CFB should no longer be taken seriously, as winning belongs to the highest bidder. 10-15 teams will remain relevant while the remaining 120 teams fight for table scraps.

Sure, we may spank little Debbie, the Clowns, and the Goofers every year, but it doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things. They're even bigger losers than we are. Plus, nothing will change until Kirk hangs it up. The only thing we can do is look at football as a fun little novelty.

 

[HawkOptimist]

I see 7 or 8 wins.

 

[millah_22]

The only thing we can do is look at football as a fun little novelty.

Prob the healthier way to approach CFB.

 

[HawkMachine]

Will be interesting to see what WA brings back.

 

[HawkMachine]

9-3.

 

[Packer54]

6-6 or 7-5 based on I am not confident that the OC hire will be allowed to run the offense they want to run and it tends to be more of the same. Also, while I am HOPING for more of the guys on D to return, I am not banking on it at this point.
Now if the OC is allowed to develop and run the offense and we get more of our guys back on D then 9 or 10 wins is doable.

 

[pistachio1999]

9-3.

That's my guess as well.

 

[HawkeyeGenius]

8-4, see you in Tampa.

 

[hawkjt]

Will be interesting to see what WA brings back.

Wash had 51 5th and 6th year players this year.
They were uniquely positioned to have a huge year.
They will be ok next with this coaching staff but Hawks can take them in Kinnick in Oct.

 

[NevadaHawk]

I'm hoping 9-3. That is the best we can expect.

 

[NevadaHawk]

6-6 or 7-5 based on I am not confident that the OC hire will be allowed to run the offense they want to run and it tends to be more of the same. Also, while I am HOPING for more of the guys on D to return, I am not banking on it at this point.
Now if the OC is allowed to develop and run the offense and we get more of our guys back on D then 9 or 10 wins is doable.

The new OC will have to deal with below average offensive line.

 

[obfuscating]

Wins
Aug. 31 Illinois State
Sept. 14 Troy
Sept. 21 at Minnesota
Oct. 19 at Michigan State
Nov. 23 at Maryland

Loses
Sept. 7 Iowa State
Oct. 5 at Ohio State
Oct. 12 Washington
Oct. 26 Northwestern
Nov. 2 Wisconsin
Nov. 9 at UCLA
Nov. 29 Nebraska

 

[Mountain Man Hawk]

I voted 8 wins, which so far looks like the most common response. We have 7 home games and some of the road games like at Minnesota, at Maryland, at Michigan St don’t look that daunting.

Reasons for optimism:
* we return most of our key players.
* hopefully we finally have a QB that isn’t among the nation’s worst.
* I’ll be surprised if the defense isn’t at least good if not very good.
* The offense almost by definition can’t get worse. Some games this year the offense scored more for the other team than they did for us.

Reasons for pessimism:
* Schedule is a little tougher, although honestly I don’t think the change will be as massive as some think but I can see how it might mean at least one extra loss from what we are used to just from schedule change alone.
* I know he was never healthy and was handicapped by the dysfunction around him but Cade never looked like a world beater this year.
* Breaking in a new OC. Like I said, it almost can’t possibly get worse but I remember the first year of Greg Davis and how James Vandenberg went from a good 2011 to a horrible 2012 as a result.
* Maybe even worse, maybe even with a new OC we change very little and see a continuation of the past few years on offense…
* We have won a lot of games in recent years on turnovers and big special teams plays and maybe even with a good D we just see reversion to the mean there…

 

[ICWestfan]

I'll wait until next August to see who is back and who is starting before I make a prediction.

Off the top of my head it will be somewhere between 0-12 and 12-0. BOLD!

 

[Ronman]

I don't care what mastermind KF might hire for OC. Unless we have a major upgrade on that side of the ball, especially at QB, we are doomed to finish in the middle/lower end of the enlarged pack.

 

[TampaHawkfan]

I went with 7. That offense isn't going to be fixed overnight, IMO. Also, I can't see Iowa walking that razor's edge and winning every single close game like they did this year, sans Minnesota. Eventually, you're going to drop a couple of those close ones. So, more similar to 2022 is how I see it.

 

[Hawk-A-Doodle-Doo]

Pain?

 

[Mountain Man Hawk]

I went with 7. That offense isn't going to be fixed overnight, IMO. Also, I can't see Iowa walking that razor's edge and winning every single close game like they did this year, sans Minnesota. Eventually, you're going to drop a couple of those close ones. So, more similar to 2022 is how I see it.

Hard to disagree with this. We were a fairly similar team in 2022 but the ball didn’t bounce our way in the close games (ISU, Illinois, Nebraska). Over time it evens out obviously.

 

[littlez]

Who cares? CFB should no longer be taken seriously, as winning belongs to the highest bidder. 10-15 teams will remain relevant while the remaining 120 teams fight for table scraps.

Sure, we may spank little Debbie, the Clowns, and the Goofers every year, but it doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things. They're even bigger losers than we are. Plus, nothing will change until Kirk hangs it up. The only thing we can do is look at football as a fun little novelty.

What’s different now that ever before? Bama in the playoffs? Been there since it started. Michigan? Same. Washington not a super high profile or super big NIL team. Got a really good QB in the portal and are well coached. “That’s football.”

 

[Iron Doc]

What if we get shut out by Illinois State or Troy?

 

[Mountain Man Hawk]

What if we get shut out by Illinois State or Troy?

I’ll be surprised if we don’t get at least two safeties and a FG.

 

[hawkdave007]

Assumed Wins (3)
Aug. 31 Illinois State
Sept. 7 Iowa State
Sept. 14 Troy

Assumed Losses
Oct. 5 at Ohio State
Oct. 12 Washington

Win 2 of 3
Sept. 21 at Minnesota
Oct. 19 at Michigan State
Nov. 23 at Maryland

Win 3 of 4
Nov. 9 at UCLA
Oct. 26 Northwestern
Nov. 2 Wisconsin
Nov. 29 Nebraska

8 and 4.

Texas/Florida Bowl!

 

[NI hawk]

8-4, see you in Tampa.

I am ready for a trip back to Tampa🙂

 

[MeetTheFerentzes]

I don’t know anything about Troy and what they have coming back, but they were pretty darn good team this past season, and that game has KF giant September turd written all over it. I think the result of that game will be telling for how the rest of the season will go. As far as my prediction for the season, I have no freaking clue. This team could Mr. Magoo their way to 10 wins again or they could crash and burn to 3-9 if there is not major improvement on offense.

 

[squeezebox]

I am going to make the assumption that Castro and Jackson are back. All/Cooper to the league. I would have liked to have seen Dejong go to the league as well. Iowa needs an OT, at the bare minimum. This should be a 10 win season, but certainly a ton of question marks.

Illinois State should be a 30+ point win, if not we are in for a long season

ISU: going to be better especially giving Rocco a year, but if Iowa can bring Castro and Jackson back there is no doubt at home we are favored

Troy: Win, nothing else much to say

Minnesota: why in the world are people penciling this in as a loss? They will be starting a transfer from New Hampshire that certainly didn't light the world up in FCS.

Ohio State: probably an L, but looking to be starting a true freshman QB, and lost a ton of skill position players

Washington: Will Rodgers is the incoming starter, should be interesting to see how that works out, I'm going toss up for this one at home

MSU: Win, and there should be no question about it. Glad we are getting Smith in his first year because that team is going to be something to deal with in a few years

Northwestern: Win

Wisky: Honestly, going to be extremely questionable, at least it is at home, but Van Dyke could be something special in that offense

UCLA: only reason it is at all questionable is that it's a west coast travel game, otherwise, Iowa by a million, Kelly is going to be canned at some point.

Maryland: No more Tagaviola, they are losing a ton in the transfer portal

Nebby: LMFAO, dominate Iowa performance.

 

[ButtersHawk]

I picked 9-3. If PP continues throwing top 10/20 Defenses out there every year and we get some semblance of offense I think even in the NEW BIG 9/10 wins a year isn't a stretch.

 

[RothMatt]

I would have liked to have seen Dejong go to the league as well.

What league do you see him going to? It's certainly not the NFL. He goes with Richman to join Plumb in a church league if they're lucky.

 

[squeezebox]

I would have liked to have seen Dejong go to the league as well.

What league do you see him going to? It's certainly not the NFL. He goes with Richman to join Plumb in a church league if they're lucky.

Freudian slip on that one, I was putting it nicely

 

[pistachio1999]

We need some security cam footage focused on the football office entrance these next few weeks. Unless they just interview at Kirk's house.

 

[TampaHawkfan]

Assumed Wins (3)
Aug. 31 Illinois State
Sept. 7 Iowa State
Sept. 14 Troy

Assumed Losses
Oct. 5 at Ohio State
Oct. 12 Washington

Win 2 of 3
Sept. 21 at Minnesota
Oct. 19 at Michigan State
Nov. 23 at Maryland

Win 3 of 4
Nov. 9 at UCLA
Oct. 26 Northwestern
Nov. 2 Wisconsin
Nov. 29 Nebraska

8 and 4.

Texas/Florida Bowl!

That's how I saw it, except I'm going with a split in your "Win 3 of 4 group". I'll probably go L at UCLA (Iowa never seems to play well out west) and win 2 out of 3 in the others.

 

[Mountain Man Hawk]

I am going to make the assumption that Castro and Jackson are back. All/Cooper to the league. I would have liked to have seen Dejong go to the league as well. Iowa needs an OT, at the bare minimum. This should be a 10 win season, but certainly a ton of question marks.

Illinois State should be a 30+ point win, if not we are in for a long season

ISU: going to be better especially giving Rocco a year, but if Iowa can bring Castro and Jackson back there is no doubt at home we are favored

Troy: Win, nothing else much to say

Minnesota: why in the world are people penciling this in as a loss? They will be starting a transfer from New Hampshire that certainly didn't light the world up in FCS.

Ohio State: probably an L, but looking to be starting a true freshman QB, and lost a ton of skill position players

Washington: Will Rodgers is the incoming starter, should be interesting to see how that works out, I'm going toss up for this one at home

MSU: Win, and there should be no question about it. Glad we are getting Smith in his first year because that team is going to be something to deal with in a few years

Northwestern: Win

Wisky: Honestly, going to be extremely questionable, at least it is at home, but Van Dyke could be something special in that offense

UCLA: only reason it is at all questionable is that it's a west coast travel game, otherwise, Iowa by a million, Kelly is going to be canned at some point.

Maryland: No more Tagaviola, they are losing a ton in the transfer portal

Nebby: LMFAO, dominate Iowa performance.

I agree with a lot of this.

Until they prove otherwise I’m going to assume our west coast travel games are horrific. We played well in the Holiday Bowl but every other west coast game under KF the team has been unrecognizable out west.

I didn’t realize Washington got Will Rodgers. That makes me feel worse about that game but we are usually pretty tough at home and I’m not sure Washington is at that level yet where they can reload every year after graduating their best players.

I agree about ISU - they were up and down this year but I think their young QB is pretty good. But the game is at home and it looks like we will bring back most of our defense that has played really well against ISU for the past decade.

Also I was just reading that OSU may get the K-State QB in the transfer portal. I’ll hope for the best but I don’t hold out a lot of hope for that one.

 

[jonesy5960]

What’s different now that ever before? Bama in the playoffs? Been there since it started. Michigan? Same. Washington not a super high profile or super big NIL team. Got a really good QB in the portal and are well coached. “That’s football.”

Agree. NIL has become the crutch behind explaining coaching failures. Texas A&M spent more money on players the last few years and accomplished nothing. Other teams spent a fraction and had way more success. I highly doubt that Washington is in the top 10 or even top 20 in NIL dollars and yet they're in the CFP final. College football is still all about the staff and they have a great one. Money is secondary.