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Updated season prediction after Week 1

  • Before the season, I thought Vanderbilt looked like they would be about a 6-6 team once again. Maybe slightly improved over last season but finish with around the same record. After watching the first week of games, I'd put Vandy at 7-5.

    South Carolina - 0-1
    Northwestern - I expect Vandy to win this one 1-1
    Presbyterian - 2-1
    @ Georgia - Would take a heck of an effort to get out of this one with an win 2-2
    @ Missouri - Again, a high-powered offense on the road, I think you give the edge to Mizzou 2-3
    Florida
    Auburn
    - I think both of these games are very winnable for Vanderbilt and look like toss-ups to me right now, pending more information on all three teams. I say Vandy splits on these two and sit at 3-4 following the Auburn game. (when was the last time you can say you expect Vandy to split with Auburn/Florida).
    UMass - 4-4
    @ Kentucky 5-4
    @ Ole Miss I do think there is a chance that Ole Miss is starting to play decent ball by this point in the season but Vanderbilt is a good team this year and wins games like this. 6-4
    Tennessee - This will be an unpopular pick but Tennessee has to be considered the favorite at this point following their week 1 performance against NC State. 6-5
    @ Wake Forest - I think Vandy wins here and that puts them at 7-5.

    It is TBD how good South Carolina really is and truthfully, there are still a lot of unknowns with Vandy. Can another WR step up? Is this backfield anywhere close to as deep as we thought? Can a linebacker or two emerge to make some plays?

    As these questions start to be answered that projection above may change too.

    Thoughts?

    Barton Simmons | 247Sports | National Recruiting Analyst | Twitter: @bartonsimmons

    Barton S

  • I think 6-6.

    What sucks is that we're going to be "pressured" to win the last 3 out of 4. Historically, we haven't had much luck in November. I hate the fact that we don't play Ole Miss early. I don't like playing back-to-back road games with OM and UK.

    IF we beat Florida or Auburn I definitely think we'll be a 7 win team.

    Vanderbilt - "Oderunt dum Metuant"

    Vandy Kyle

  • I said 7-5 before the season and ill stick with that.

    follow me on twitter @country_cookin

    vandyfan84 ●

  • I'm staying at 8-4.

    VU Goggles

  • Like you said, so many variables right now. We have weapons that will come out over the next few weeks and I believe out D is pretty stout. Passing teams may not be able to march down the field on us like they do most teams. So much ball to be played out and always a moving target. Who is healthy each week? How much progression with O, D and special teams? Closing out games? We should see significant progress over next 3 wks or so. The thing that the better coaching staffs do is continue to see progress out of the team over the duration of the season. I believe our staff is that good. That being said I say 7-8 games with possibly one more. It will be a fun and exciting season! Why do I feel guilty saying that like I am short changing the team? Anchordown!

    MarkNWhiteBluff

  • We just need to show improvement over the last year to keep recruiting going. 7-5 sounds good. It would be nice to get a signature win....perhaps UGA....

    Follow me on twitter @vugarry

    vugarry

  • I predicted 8-4 before the season and I'm sticking with it, for now.

    Wins: Northwestern, Pres, UMass, Auburn, Florida, Ole Miss, Kentucky, Wake Forest
    Losses: SC, UGA, Mizzou, UT

    Chicagodore

  • 6-6 has to be the baseline. Then it comes down to figuring out how to close out against a better team.

    One of the amazing things about last year was the way we beat inferior teams (i.e. Ole Miss, Kentucky, Wake Forest). Each of those was a complete game and total domination. That's something that we are not used to--even when we beat Kentucky to qualify for a bowl game in 2008, it was a narrow win and took an incredible two-way performance from DJ Moore.

    So I am confident we can consistently beat teams we "should" beat. I just still don't now how we are going to learn to beat teams we "shouldn't" beat. Already we have a handful of examples of this dilemma (Georgia, Florida, UT, Arkansas, USCe last week).

    If the team figures out how to get over that hump, the record should be 7-5 or 8-4. That requires winning all the games we "should" win--based on the current information we have--which is NW, Pres, UMass, Ole Miss, Kentucky, and Wake. That gets 6 wins. Then we have to go 1-2 or 2-1 against Florida, Auburn, and UT.

    quadradore

  • quadradore said...

    6-6 has to be the baseline. Then it comes down to figuring out how to close out against a better team.

    One of the amazing things about last year was the way we beat inferior teams (i.e. Ole Miss, Kentucky, Wake Forest). Each of those was a complete game and total domination. That's something that we are not used to--even when we beat Kentucky to qualify for a bowl game in 2008, it was a narrow win and took an incredible two-way performance from DJ Moore.

    So I am confident we can consistently beat teams we "should" beat. I just still don't now how we are going to learn to beat teams we "shouldn't" beat. Already we have a handful of examples of this dilemma (Georgia, Florida, UT, Arkansas, USCe last week).

    If the team figures out how to get over that hump, the record should be 7-5 or 8-4. That requires winning all the games we "should" win--based on the current information we have--which is NW, Pres, UMass, Ole Miss, Kentucky, and Wake. That gets 6 wins. Then we have to go 1-2 or 2-1 against Florida, Auburn, and UT.

    We have Florida, Auburn, and UT at home, which is why I think we win 2/3. Our team performs considerably better at home, and the verdict is still out on Florida, Auburn, and UT. UF looked like the worst of the 3, despite being ranked.

    Chicagodore

  • Does our team really play better at home? I'd like to see some numbers. It seems to me we play better on the road in recent history. I know in the past few years we have beaten Arkansas, South Carolina, Tennessee and Georgia on the road. We did beat Auburn at home, but when have we beaten any other team of note at home?

    We also smacked Wake on the road last year and have beaten Ole Miss on the road (and at home too).

    Vandyman74

  • Well today removed any doubt. The Auburn game is very winnable.

    Barton Simmons | 247Sports | National Recruiting Analyst | Twitter: @bartonsimmons

    Barton S

  • I'd like to revise my prediction to 6-6.

    Chicagodore

  • Chicagodore said...

    I'd like to revise my prediction to 6-6.

    Should have stuck with my initial 8-4 prediction...

    Chicagodore

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