From the column:
Purdue (5-7)
With four Big Ten teams ranked in the preseason top 14 (No. 2 Ohio State, No. 10 Iowa, No. 12 Wisconsin and No. 14 Penn State), you're excused if you haven't given a passing thought to the Boilermakers. But perhaps you should reconsider. Remember, this is a team that handed Ohio State its only conference defeat last season, came within a last-minute two-point conversion at Pac-10 champ Oregon and lost three other contests by less than a touchdown.Now in his second season, coach Danny Hope adds a lauded quarterback in Miami transfer Robert Marve to throw to the league's top returning receiver, Keith Smith. Sacks leader Ryan Kerrigan (13) returns as well. Admittedly, Purdue is a long-shot to reach the BCS -- it might not even win its opener at Notre Dame -- but with a friendly conference schedule that avoids both Iowa and Penn State, nine wins and a Jan. 1 bowl aren't out of the question.
(Thanks to reader Jonathan for the heads up)
5 comments:
AhliBobWa has some interesting things to say about Minnesota vs Purdue in the comments of this post….
http://www.offtackleempire.com/2010/8/23/1633164/closing-arguments-minnesota#comments
You make some good points in your rebuttals there, Matt. I'd only say that Minny DID win last year so it's hard for us to blame them for marking Purdue down as a "Win" on their schedule.
In fact, I rather like that they're doing that.
That is a rather pleasant helping of WTF. Then again, he's not the only one seeing a brighter future for Purdue ... Football Outsiders estimates 4-5 conference wins and 7-8 overall (plus a bowl appearance), with a 14% chance of a 9-win season and a 4% chance of a 10-win season. (In contrast, IU should go about 1-7 with 4 or 5 wins overall; ND, about 8-4, with a 10% chance of 10 wins, 2% chance of 11, and a 1% chance of 4 wins ... basically the same predictions as they have for Navy.)
A BCS bowl? That would be awesome, but just as long as Purdue doesn't end up drawing someone like Boise State. Don't give the Boilers an opponent with something to prove ... Notre Dame likes that competition more, I think.
Hell, I'd take Boise. Can you imagine? EVERYONE would be taking the media darling Broncos and absolutely NOBODY would take our Boilers. I'd take that matchup in a heartbeat.
That article was okay until the very end, then it went south in a hurry. Can't give the guy much credit if he is giving UND 9-10 wins.
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