[Goose]

I think expectations are low for a couple reasons:

1) We disappointed last year, so now our baseline is low. This ignores that the team was a MASH unit last year.

2) The schedule is legitimately brutal. We could be an 11-win team against an average schedule, but because the schedule is so difficult we might only win 8 or so.

We'll see what happens, I'm optimistic but don't really expect to win the north.

I think you a correct about the low baseline. I also think that the MASH unit status of the OL last year creates a real problem estimating what we will see this year. One the one hand, we tend to see it as the same guys, so we don't really expect them to be any better. OTOH, they were all hurt. So, what does that say about how they will play when they aren't hurt? We don't really know at all. Are they all the way back or still suffering injury effects? Will they play at the level they were recruited, or some other level? We really know nothing at all. because their injury status may cancel out any data we gathered about them before they were injured. I think this fact alone creates so much uncertainty that few people have any confidence that the OL will be significantly better this year. However, they could be. That is the real conundrum.

[Goose]

I think expectations are low for a couple reasons:

1) We disappointed last year, so now our baseline is low. This ignores that the team was a MASH unit last year.

2) The schedule is legitimately brutal. We could be an 11-win team against an average schedule, but because the schedule is so difficult we might only win 8 or so.

We'll see what happens, I'm optimistic but don't really expect to win the north.

I think you a correct about the low baseline. I also think that the MASH unit status of the OL last year creates a real problem estimating what we will see this year. One the one hand, we tend to see it as the same guys, so we don't really expect them to be any better. OTOH, they were all hurt. So, what does that say about how they will play when they aren't hurt? We don't really know at all. Are they all the way back or still suffering injury effects? Will they play at the level they were recruited, or some other level? We really know nothing at all. because their injury status may cancel out any data we gathered about them before they were injured. I think this fact alone creates so much uncertainty that few people have any confidence that the OL will be significantly better this year. However, they could be. That is the real conundrum.