2014-15 Football Previews – (Big 12) – Red Raiders
Last year the Red Raiders wilted big time, losing their final 5 regular season games against the better teams in the league before a surprising win against Arizona State.
Author: The Wiesguy
The Wiesguy is a newcomer to the handicapping scene. Hailing from Toronto, Canada he is always sweet on the underdogs and you can often find his thoughts, musings and picks at moneydogs.blogspot.com.
2014-15 Football Previews – (Big 12) – Longhorns
It is time for a reset down in Austin. There were definitely some good times for Mack Brown but is seems like things got a little stale so in come Charlie Strong to rattle some cages.
2014-15 Football Previews – (Big 12) – Wildcats
The Wildcats fell a notch or two last season but still finished at 8-5, pretty impressive given they lost the best player in program history in Collin Klein at QB.
2014-15 Football Previews – (Big 12) – Sooners
Oklahoma is thinking big this season and they should be. Last year finished on a high note, Trevor Knight is looking like the answer at QB and a top 25 defense should finish in the top 10 this season. Most important of all they have a great schedule to go a perfect 12-0 and grab a spot in the playoffs this season.
2014-15 Football Previews – (Big 12) – Bears
The fans in and Waco have to be wondering just how long the Bears can keep up this level of success. Fueled by an awesome offense they have been on a real good run the last few seasons and it should continue for at least one more. QB Bryce Petty is back and he has more than enough weapons to put up more Nintendo numbers.
Baylor Bears
Head Coach: Art Briles
2013 Record: 11-2
Gambling Odds to win National Championship: 28/1
Gambling Odds to win (B12): 5/2
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The defense won’t keep them from winning 10 or more games so they will be in the hunt.
Strengths:
There are only 6 returning starters but there is little reason to think the Bears will not be as explosive as they have been the past few seasons. Bryce Petty is back and so are three receivers, led by Antwan Goodley who burst on the scene as a junior with more than 1300 yards and 13 TDs.
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This year it will be Shock Linwood’s turn to tote the rock. Like Lache Seastrunk before him Linwood is strong and fast and as a freshman he averaged almost 7 yards per carry.
The Bears are committed to running the ball and he could easily double his 800+ yards from a year ago. He is on the preseason All B12 team.
The Bears may not use him as much as other teams but senior punter Spencer Roth is considered the best in the conference. Their defense may not be as strong as it was the season before so they are going to need him to pin down opponents in those rare occurrences when the offense stalls.
Weaknesses:
The Bears gave up just 24ppg last season outscoring opponents by nearly 30 points per game. This season only three starters return on defense, testing the depth of the program big time. Linebacker Bryce Hager is going to have to inspire a very young defense to back the offense up to win.
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This is going to be an awfully young team this season. 9 sophomores are expected to start including 4 in the back seven of the defense. As good as coach Art Briles is if he can keep the Bears on their lofty perch he may have done his best coaching job yet with this group.
The key will be using the early part of the season to build confidence.
Their schedule is not very kind this season and could be their undoing. They have to travel to both Norman and Austin this year and their lone regular season loss a year ago was on the road.
They have good leadership but beating both of those teams to capture a title is probably too much to expect from this group.
Gambling Prediction: 10-2
2014 Baylor Schedule
- Aug 31 – SMU
- Sep 6 – Northwestern State
- Sep 12 – @Buffalo
- Sep 27 – @Iowa State
- Oct 4 – @Texas
- Oct 11 – TCU
- Oct 18 – @West Virginia
- Nov 1 – Kansas
- Nov 8 – @Oklahoma
- Nov 22 – Oklahoma State
- Nov 29 – Texas Tech (Arlington)
- Dec 6 – Kansas State
The Bears are not going to fade away just yet.
They should be 4-0 when they venture into Austin but as the third road game in a row I think they will fall just short – which might be a spot to play the Longhorns if they are not the favourite. Look for a massive rebound performance in their shiny new digs against TCU who they play well against.
Against Oklahoma they will likely lose again but it will be close thanks to their offense and some conservative play calling by Big Game Bob.
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2014-15 Football Previews – (ACC) – Cavaliers
Virginia coach Mike London is in big trouble. Despite early promise the program is going backwards and with the league getting more difficult yet again this season there is little hope for an immediate turnaround.
2014-15 Football Previews – (ACC) – Yellow Jackets
The natives are getting a little restless in Atlanta. Georgia Tech has used its schematic advantage to have some success since Paul Johnson took over but it seems like they are not competing very well with the upper echelon teams in the league now that the offense is more familiar.
2014-15 Football – (ACC) – Blue Devils Preview
Last season was quite the memorable one for the Blue Devils on the gridiron. They wound up winning the Coastal division before taking on Florida State in the ACC Championship game.
2014-15 Football – (ACC) – Hokies Preview
There are whispers that coach Frank Beamer is losing his touch because after 8 seasons with 10 or more wins they have won 7 and 8 the last two seasons.
Angels vs Rays Baseball Picks
The Angels finally nipped the Orioles in the series finale. It was the third one run ballgame of the series and for once the Angels had the answer.
2014-15 Football Previews – (ACC) – Tar Heels
This seems like the perfect season for North Carolina to take the Coastal Division in the ACC. They finished last year strong, have a number of key returning players and their strongest competition are down.
2014-15 Football Previews – (ACC) – Panthers
At various times in their history Pitt has been among the top teams in the country…but it has been a long time since Marino and Dorsett have been on campus.
2014-15 Football Previews – (ACC) – Eagles
Boston College used to be one of those consistently good but not great programs and with coach Steve Addazio on board it looks like they can probably get back to that level.
2014-15 Football Previews – (ACC) – Demon Deacons
It is hard to picture how they did it but Wake Forest won the ACC and played in the Orange Bowl back in 2006. It turned out to be a serious outlier as the program slowly but surely fell back to earth, ultimately costing coach Jim Grobe his job.
Reds vs Marlins Baseball Picks
The Reds dipped back below .500 with their loss to Arizona yesterday, continuing their struggles. That home series was a lost opportunity but another one is on its way at Miami.
2014-15 Football Previews – (ACC) – Hurricanes
Given their fertile recruiting grounds it seems like only a matter of time before the Hurricanes have a Florida State like renaissance.
