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07' Predictions - Sun Sentinel/Ted Hutton

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07' Predictions - Sun Sentinel/Ted Hutton

Fearless 2007 Predictions

"OK, we?ll take a look at the big picture and send all the FAU football fans into the holiday season on a positive note?

Overall Defensive outlook: Excellent

Overall Offensive outlook: Good

What kind of season does that translate into?

Probable non-conference losses to Oklahoma State, Minnesota and Florida.

Potential non-conference WINS over Kentucky and South Florida.

Best potential Sun Belt record of 7-0. Worst 5-2.

Glass half full prediction: 8-4, Sun Belt champs, New Orleans Bowl bound by winning one non-conference game and sweeping the Belt.

Glass half empty prediction: 5-7. Lose all non-conference games and two in the Belt. Unlikely, but within the realm of possibility given the rough non-conference schedule, inability to beat Troy so far, and being upset by one other Belt team.

FAU could run the table in the conference, as they had a legitimate chance of winning every one this season. I think Troy and Middle will still be the teams to worry about. Troy has its main weapons back, and Middle has a good coach in Stockstill. Both also will benefit from bowl trips, which means more than two extra weeks of practice, which is invaluable. Monroe was surprisingly strong late in the season, and they are young, so they could be the sleeper. I think Arkansas State and Lafayette will both be about the same or slip some, and FIU will be adjusting to new coach and replacing QB, top LB and other skill positions, and North Texas will also have new coach.

I am going with the glass half full. I know this sounds optimistic, especially come from someone Burrowing Birds fans have accused of being pessimistic. But if one goes back, my season predictions have not been too far off. I even dared to mention playoffs in 2003 season preview.

You just have to like what FAU has coming back. The defense will be dominant, the offense remains the question, but they should have enough to score enough points to win in the Belt and scare some non-conference foes.

There is no Southern Utah on the schedule, and Kentucky and South Florida both had good seasons, but I think FAU will have moved to within striking range of those two teams.

I really like that late-season matchup with Florida, which will probably be fighting for another chance to play for the national title, or be defending national champs. I don?t expect the BBs to have much of a chance, but they will get great exposure and I expect they will put on a solid performance.

On recruiting:

I am not going to get too much into that. I think way, way too much time and energy is spent (and wasted) on trying to figure out what kind of recruiting class teams have. One forgets these are 17 and 18-year-old kids who have a lot of growing up to do. Some will surprise, some disappoint, but it takes a couple years to really figure out if they were worth giving a scholarship to.

I like The Voice?s philosophy on this, garnered from years and years of recruiting:. Forget about the players you don?t get, and focus on those that choose to play for you.

FAU will do fine, as they have every year. Don?t fret about the stars beside their name, or what the recruiting gurus say. The Voice is right when he says there are plenty of quality players left over after Florida, FSU and Miami have grabbed the big-name recruits.

Each recruiting class has more talent than the previous one, and that trend should continue as the program becomes more established and continues to move forward. Some who sign won?t show up in the fall, and then there will be those surprises, like Randy Hunter and Frantz Joseph this season. Those two had a huge impact, and who had ever heard of them?

So don?t expect a lot of posts during recruiting season or assessing the class after signing day. You just don?t know. Kris Bartels was a walk-on, as was Cergile Sincere. Hunter and Joseph were transfers. We?ll judge the players once they are on the field."

Sun Sentinel - Ted Hutton
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07' Predictions - Sun Sentinel/Ted Hutton

It will be a very interesting year, the way I see it, there will be three teams competing for the SBC next year: Troy, MSTU & FAU and possibly a sleeper - this is the Sun Belt the conference where the unexpected can and will happen, just look at what happen to the favorite at the beginning of the year.

The defense showed what they MIGHT be capable of and just might become a dominant type of defense that could do one thing it was not able to do this year - win games for the Owls and doing so steal a game here and there and yes, the possibility of pulling an upset is very possible. We shall see.

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