hoocat
11-30-2005, 11:07 AM
No doubt that Mickie and her young women are off to a great start --- 4-0 with a couple of nice wins out at Pepperdine! We've seen that the freshmen, especially Ormerod, are ready to contribute immediately. We've seen that the sophomores remain focused in their new leadership roles. We've seen that the return of Jenny Pfeiffer and a balanced scoring attack will help absorb the loss of Sara Potts. And we've seen that the return of Eleia Roddy will provide tremendous depth and strength inside. We're definitely moving up!
So the question now seems obvious --- how far up can we expect to move this year?
Can we win all the games we're "supposed" to win? Can we steal a few games we're expected to lose? Can we run the table in the non-conference schedule? Can we reach .500 or betterin the SEC? Can we win 20 games in the regular season? I don't know about you, but I think we could possibly finish the season 20-7.
I haven't done much research on our non-conference foes, but I would expect Louisville, Tennessee State, Wake Forest and Georgia Tech to be tough games. If we play well, we might take 3 out of 4. That could leave us 12-1 in non-conference play, although 11-2 would also be a tremendous outcome.
The results of conference play are more difficult to foresee. The SEC is just so @#%* tough! Nevertheless, I think 7-7 is a realistic goal this year. That alone would be a huge step beyond last year's 4-10 conference record. But I don't see why we can't do even better --- 8-6 at least! The way I look at it, there are 10 "winnable" games on the schedule (everyone but Tennessee, LSU, Georgia and Vandy). If the staff can keep the players focused through the heart of the season and avoid last year's six-game losing streak, we might pick up 7 wins. Then "all" we have to do is steal one game we're expected to lose to reach 8 wins!
Okay, okay, maybe these projections are a year too early. I know we'll have some injuries. I know there will be some "off" nights. But why can't we reach 7-7 in the SEC and at least 17-10 in the regular season? That little sock hop was sure fun last year, but what about the "Big Dance" this year?
Any thoughts?
So the question now seems obvious --- how far up can we expect to move this year?
Can we win all the games we're "supposed" to win? Can we steal a few games we're expected to lose? Can we run the table in the non-conference schedule? Can we reach .500 or betterin the SEC? Can we win 20 games in the regular season? I don't know about you, but I think we could possibly finish the season 20-7.
I haven't done much research on our non-conference foes, but I would expect Louisville, Tennessee State, Wake Forest and Georgia Tech to be tough games. If we play well, we might take 3 out of 4. That could leave us 12-1 in non-conference play, although 11-2 would also be a tremendous outcome.
The results of conference play are more difficult to foresee. The SEC is just so @#%* tough! Nevertheless, I think 7-7 is a realistic goal this year. That alone would be a huge step beyond last year's 4-10 conference record. But I don't see why we can't do even better --- 8-6 at least! The way I look at it, there are 10 "winnable" games on the schedule (everyone but Tennessee, LSU, Georgia and Vandy). If the staff can keep the players focused through the heart of the season and avoid last year's six-game losing streak, we might pick up 7 wins. Then "all" we have to do is steal one game we're expected to lose to reach 8 wins!
Okay, okay, maybe these projections are a year too early. I know we'll have some injuries. I know there will be some "off" nights. But why can't we reach 7-7 in the SEC and at least 17-10 in the regular season? That little sock hop was sure fun last year, but what about the "Big Dance" this year?
Any thoughts?
