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ESPN - way early Top 25 for 2012 football

Deac2010 said:
I really do not know what more South Carolina has to do to get ranked (even) better. 11-2 - they lost to Arkansas and Auburn this year - WITHOUT Lattimore and a novice QB. They have QB, Lattimore, Clowney all coming back but have a really tough schedule - looking forward to them making moves next year.
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Don't they lose a ton though? That combined with the schedule they play I can sort of see why. They will be really good once again i'd think.
 
JGDeac said:
I'll go on the record saying I think FSU will be legit next year. I thought Clemson would be too but I didn't know they were losing 4 OL. Really doubt NC State will finish in the top 25 - we need to find a way to win @ NC State.

South Carolina loses a ton on D next year and their offense will be one dimensional. Georgia should walk away with the SEC East especially with their schedule.
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If Clemson doesn't lose anyone to the NFL they will be legit and FSU has to be able to put all that talent to a competent team sometime right? NCSU will be good next season, Glennon will have a huge season, and all the injuries they had this season will lead to having a ton of depth on the DL next season. Losing Manning to the NFL is a big blow for them but really if they find find a WR to step up they will be much improved. Having a healthy Mustafa Green back will be huge, most forgot how well he played down the stretch as a true freshman since he didn't play this season. ACC is going to be TOUGH next season.
 
South Carolina's road SEC games next year are Vandy, Kentucky, Florida, and OK, LSU. Still, other three aren't awful. Sure there will be a lot of hype in Columbia going into the year, and deservedly so
 
What are our expectations for next year? That's an honest question. If this group could get to 6-7, then where are we next season?
 
8-4 (5-3) should be baseline expectations for next year. It sucks going into a season with so many questions on both lines. Play from OL and DL should determine whether we are scrapping to be bowl eligible or competing for a Division championship. I'm assuming someone can step up and be a deep threat WR.
 
JGDeac said:
8-4 (5-3) should be baseline expectations for next year. It sucks going into a season with so many questions on both lines. Play from OL and DL should determine whether we are scrapping to be bowl eligible or competing for a Division championship. I'm assuming someone can step up and be a deep threat WR.
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Am I being unreasonable or is it too much if I expect another 2006? Lots of questions around the ACC next year and we have a pretty favorable schedule, all things considered.
 
Strickland33 said:
Am I being unreasonable or is it too much if I expect another 2006? Lots of questions around the ACC next year and we have a pretty favorable schedule, all things considered.
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You're not 'overly unreasonable'. We were very close to winning 9 games this year, when many expected 3-4 wins. While we're definitely losing some talent, I feel we'll replace most of it and our depth should actually be better next year. If the team can hang together and win the close ones, it could be a really good season.
 
I think we can get 7-8 wins next year if we show up to play each game. I am going to wait and see how we round out our coaching staffs and what changes (if any) the exit of Billings will mean for the D.
 
tau06 said:
Don't they lose a ton though? That combined with the schedule they play I can sort of see why. They will be really good once again i'd think.
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SC loses 4 starters on offense and 5 starters on defense. And both K and P. With the right coaching, 2012 defense (on paper) looks to be just as good as last year's top 5 defense. More experienced depth for 2012 but will be hard to replace hybrid players in Allen and Ingram. Once again the defense will be the straw that stirs the drink. Offense needs for a playmaker to step up at WR.
 
I'm really excited about next year. Offensive line can't get worse, and I'm hopeful about the newcomers -- Chase and especially Summers played well at times this year, and I expect big things out of Preble, Heartsill and Goodwin. And you've got a bunch of other big boys too in Ford, Bolling and Blitch. Losing Givens is a big loss, but we know what Camp can do and Sherman Ragland is possibly the most hyped redshirt freshman of the Grobe era aside from maybe Ben Mauk.

The return of Kevin Johnson (and hopefully Dominique Tate, plus Allen Ramsey) should solve our biggest weakness on defense. I expect Justin Jackson and Zach Allen to be huge next year. D-Line is the biggest question mark for me. Hopefully Desmond Floyd is ready to contribute and Souza can bounce back.
 
Re: the defensive line, hopefully a) Sheldon Lewinson is as good as some say he is, and b) we can snag a commit from Sheldon Rankins. I know Rankins is listed as a DE, but a 6'3" 270lb DE sounds more like the DE we need in a 3-4.
 
I really hope Clemson doesn't finish better than 6 wins. I would love it if Dabo got <35 wins in his first 5 years.

probs not goign to happen. but still - as a south carolina fan it would be awesome. dabo can go DIAF
 
JGDeac said:
8-4 (5-3) should be baseline expectations for next year. It sucks going into a season with so many questions on both lines AGAIN. Play from OL and DL should determine whether we are scrapping to be bowl eligible or competing for a Division championship. I'm assuming someone can step up and be a deep threat WR.
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This. Plus a small addition.
 
IAppreciateIt said:
I'm really excited about next year. Offensive line can't get worse, and I'm hopeful about the newcomers -- Chase and especially Summers played well at times this year, and I expect big things out of Preble, Heartsill and Goodwin. And you've got a bunch of other big boys too in Ford, Bolling and Blitch. Losing Givens is a big loss, but we know what Camp can do and Sherman Ragland is possibly the most hyped redshirt freshman of the Grobe era aside from maybe Ben Mauk.

The return of Kevin Johnson (and hopefully Dominique Tate, plus Allen Ramsey) should solve our biggest weakness on defense. I expect Justin Jackson and Zach Allen to be huge next year. D-Line is the biggest question mark for me. Hopefully Desmond Floyd is ready to contribute and Souza can bounce back.
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Our OL can get worse - see 2010.

I think it will take a best case scenario to compete for an ACC championship. That means getting 2,500+ yards out of Camp/Ragland/Davis/James?, having an average OL comparable to last year, and Harris being healthy and productive. We need a TE to step-up to help on 3rd and mid yardage and in the red zone.

Then on D we need to stop giving up the long runs which means solid D-line play which means we need production from Floyd and Souza/Booi. Would love if we could run a 4-3 with Thompson-Nikita-Souza-Floyd. Then we need all the young LBs and DBs to take a step forward.

This doesn't include injuries and/or suspensions.
 
Deac2010 said:
I really hope Clemson doesn't finish better than 6 wins. I would love it if Dabo got <35 wins in his first 5 years.

probs not goign to happen. but still - as a south carolina fan it would be awesome. dabo can go DIAF
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The hate SC fans have for Clemson is hilarious. Guess 80 years of domination will do that.
 
JGDeac said:
Our OL can get worse - see 2010.

I think it will take a best case scenario to compete for an ACC championship. That means getting 2,500+ yards out of Camp/Ragland/Davis/James?, having an average OL comparable to last year, and Harris being healthy and productive. We need a TE to step-up to help on 3rd and mid yardage and in the red zone.

Then on D we need to stop giving up the long runs which means solid D-line play which means we need production from Floyd and Souza/Booi. Would love if we could run a 4-3 with Thompson-Nikita-Souza-Floyd. Then we need all the young LBs and DBs to take a step forward.

This doesn't include injuries and/or suspensions.
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I thought our line in 2010 was at least as good as it was in 2009, and possibly a bit better. And we lose a similar amount of talent after 2009 (DeGeare, Griffin, Birdsong, Looney). The transition after losing those guys is part of the reason why I think we'll be fine losing a similar group this year.

We competed for an ACC title this year despite having all those flaws. We should certainly be better than this year, even without all those best case scenarios coming to fruition.
 
I think losing Givens is going to cost us a game a game or two. I think our D is going to be really good. I would have said 9 or 10 wins with Givens back now I think 7 or 8 with Tanner's senior year being the big year.
 
No doubt we should be better than last year. But I think every team in our division will be better than last year.
 
As long as we make a bowl I'll be satisfied. Hopefully we can build on from there. Beating Clemson would be a nice plus.

Far as the Tigers, they've had success the last three odd-numbered years but then took major steps back in '08 and '10. With their D falling apart down the stretch, Boyd tailing off toward the end of the year, teams having more familiarity with Morris' offense, and a good bit of personnel loss, 2012 could easily be a similar story.
 
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