The weekly recap goes year-end mode.

Like anyone else out there running a blog or any kind of news-site, you feel obligated to go out and make predictions at the start of the season. We thought now would be a good time to go back and take a look at what we predicted and compare those predictions to what came to be.

We're pretty new at this whole thing so we didn't really venture out on any limbs, but we're willing to take the beating if we were far off and trust us, if one of us really screwed up on something, the other is going to never let them forget about it.

We're going to start things off with Michigan, since they were easy.

Basically, we feel that while defense is the foundation of everything in the Big11Ten, when you’ve lost so many key pieces and have only one returning starter on your o-line, it’s bad times ahead. Throw in a new coach and a new system, and things probably aren’t going your way.

Our prediction for Michigan this season: 5-7 (3-5 Big11Ten).

So we gave them more credit than they deserved. They ended up 3-9 (2-6 Big Ten) and at or near the bottom of the conference in a whole heck of a lot meaningful statistic. Eleventh in scoring offense. Tenth in scoring defense. Eleventh in pass offense. Ninth in pass defense. You get the picture.

There was one statistic, however, where they stood supreme. The Wolverines led the conference with a sparkling 40.1 net yards per punt.

The Wolverines were about as bad as we had hoped but worse than we expected. We loved seeing them lose to teams like Toledo, hearing how this was the first time in a while they lost to all three of their big rivals and we really liked all the "since 1967" stats.

However, the Big11Ten needs Michigan to come back strong soon, if not next year. As much as we hate to admit it, the conference teams are all in it together when it comes to getting the big bowl bids. Why do you think there's 7 one-loss teams and probably a couple 2-loss teams ahead of PSU in the "trip to the championship game" queue?

The sooner Michigan comes back and does something meaningful, the better off the entire conference will be. Just so they don't beat Penn State anymore.


Moving on to Minnesota.

For as much positive potential the offense has, the defense seems to have as much negative potential. It would be a great story to see that terrible defense return with a couple junior college guys and turn into a competitor, but it's still a long shot for Minnesota to turn into anything resembling a contendor quite yet. Hopefully for the Gopher faithful, the 2009 team will put something special together for that new stadium they're building -- but 2008 looks like another year full of L's.

Our Prediction for 2008: 3-9 (0-8)

We were off by four games, but we were way off in predicting 0-8 in the conference. The Gophers ended up 7-5 (3-5) and to a team that was coming off a 1-11 (0-8) season, that's a huge turnaround. Sure, they had the benefit of playing Northern Illinois, Montana State, Bowling Green and Florida Atlantic, but hey, they lost to two of those teams the year before.

We noted that while the Gophers have the potential on offense to do something special, defense will ultimately bring them down. That suspect defense ended up allowing 378.4 yards per game, good for 10th in the conference. Pair that with an inability to run the ball (dead last in the conference with 105.8 ypg) and it was a recipe for disaster when you got against a solid opponent.

Had the Gophers finished a bit stronger and not lost their last four games of the season, including a beatdown of epic proportions by Iowa (55-0), this really could have been a special season. For Gopher fans it was probably a great surprise but moving forward the Gophers won't be sneaking up on anyone. Again, we hope they continue to improve because the more good teams in the conference, the better.

Next up: Wisconsin.

The chances of the Badgers to make an appearance in a BCS bowl this season probably rest entirely on the shoulders of PJ Hill. Make no mistake about it, he can run. It will be no surprise when Bielema starts calling for the ball to get to Hill early and often. As PJ Hill goes this season, so go the Badgers.

Also, PJ Hill has his own website We couldn't believe it when we saw it either. Hope you like the third person.

"Visit PJ Hill's website." - PJ Hill

Our Prediction for this season: 10-2 (6-2)

Yeah, we were pretty far off on this one. The Badgers actually ended up being 7-5 (3-5). PJ Hill did get his carries and put up 1000 yards (4.8 ypc average), but he also split time with John Clay who put up 845 yards of his own (5.9 ypc average!).

Wisconsin started off well enough as they won their first three games, but that brings us to the next part of our preview:

After that game (Fresno State), they get a week off to prep for a road trip to Michigan. Despite it being a down year for Michigan (potentially), it's never a good thing when you have to travel to Ann Arbor.

Following Michigan the Badgers play at home against Ohio State, Penn State, then travel to Iowa before returning home for a game against Illinois. If Wisconsin can get through that stretch, perhaps even with just one loss, they should be at the top of the running for Big11Ten Champs as they close with Michigan State, Indiana, Minnesota and a team that really strikes fear into everyone -- Cal Poly.

If you didn't know by now, The Badgers didn't get through that stretch. They lost to Michigan (somehow), Ohio State, Penn State and Iowa before breaking the slide with a win against the Illini. They would lose one more to Michigan State before closing out the season with three wins, BUT BARELY.

If not for a disastrous day kicking extra points (or not kicking extra points, that is), the Badgers would have lost to Cal-Poly. The Cal-Poly kicker missed three of those extra point attempts, including one in overtime that allowed Wisconsin to lock up the win.

Wisconsin's demise may have been one of the biggest surprises of the season, but there's no reason to believe they won't come back swinging next year. They were middle of the pack in a lot of categories this year, so it might just take a little fine tuning to get things rolling again. Unfortunately for Badger fans, Brett Bielema doesn't look like the kind of guy who could fine tune anything.

We'll continue this tomorrow....

2008 Preview: Minnesota

2007 Record: 1-11 (0-8)

Last year, something terrible happened in Minnesota. The team had been steadily declining from a series of average-at-best seasons (5 straight Bowl Games) and ended up with an abysmal 1-11 record. It feels weird typing that, as it's almost impossible to imagine a Big11Ten team being that bad, other than Indiana.

How often do you hear about a Big11Ten team looking to avenge a previous season loss against Bowling Green or Florida Atlantic? Not often we'd bet, but Minnesota will be looking to get some payback against both teams this season.

That's Bowling Green, celebrating on your turf. Bowling Green.

Not much positive can be said about last years team, except that a lot of young players got some quality minutes later in the season. That will benefit the team in the future, even if those minutes came in losses. It's worth mentioning, however, that 2 of those late season losses (and 6 of the 11 losses) came by a touchdown or less, perhaps a sign of improvement by the young Golden Gophers.

On a more positive note, the Gophers return what could be an outstanding quarterback in Adam Weber. Weber accounted for 29 touchdowns last season. He threw for 24 (2895 yards) and ran for another 5 (617 rushing yards). With another year of experience under his belt, and hopefully a solid running game to help him out, there's no reason Weber can't be able to duplicate those touchdown numbers and reduce his interception total from 19.

Also returning is standout wide-receiver Eric Decker. He caught 67 passes for 909 yards and 9 touchdowns. The Weber to Decker combo should create a solid backbone for the offense, but the running game will be a big wild card. Sophomore Duane Bennet is the starter for the first time this season after rushing for 442 yards last season. If all three of these young guys can grow in this system together, the Minnesota offense may one day develop some serious punch, if not this year.

Defensively, the Gophers really have nowhere to go but up. Minnesota allowed an average of 519 yards per game (the worst in the division formerly known as D-1A).

Two members of the Gophers' 2007 defensive squad.

The defense returns three solid defensive ends in Lee Campbell, Willie VanDeSteeg and Derrick Onwuachi. The rest of the defense is all question marks. All three lineback spots are open and and a secondary that was ripped apart last season allowing 289 ypg passing is likely to be filled with a few junior college standouts. Will those junior college guys be able to step right in and keep up? Will whatever guys who end up filling the linebacker spots be able to help the d-line prevent 229 ypg rushing? Will the team get more than 11 sacks? Will there still be more purple than maroon and gold at HHH-Dome?

Like we said, a lot of questions.

For as much positive potential the offense has, the defense seems to have as much negative potential. It would be a great story to see that terrible defense return with a couple junior college guys and turn into a competitor, but it's still a long shot for Minnesota to turn into anything resembling a contendor quite yet. Hopefully for the Gopher faithful, the 2009 team will put something special together for that new stadium they're building -- but 2008 looks like another year full of L's.


Our Prediction for 2008: 3-9 (0-8)