How do well you expect Leach to do?

[WinoMcCougarstein3rd]

33 days! I cannot freakin' wait! I went to WSU from 01 an graduated in 06. I picked a great time to go as we had 30 wins from 01-03, went to the Rose Bowl and won the Holiday Bowl! I would expect anywhere from 6-8 wins this year(6 being the more realistic) and a bowl game. I'm going to 4 games in a 5 week span as well, this season is going to be awesome!

[mbl33]

Leach will win 7 games at most in Pac 12
Agreed?

[nofx94]

As a Trojan fan, I'm happy to see the Pac-12 as a whole isn't being left behind in the advancement of the FBS. I'm glad to see RichRod surfacing at UA and I'm glad to see Leach surfacing at Wazzu. Sarkisian's building a strong program at UW, Chip's got things going well at Oregon, Shaw hasn't - and won't - let Stanford miss a beat after Harbaugh moving on to Frisco. I honestly hope Mora does something special at fUCLA. Rivalries are more fun when they're competitive. 50-0 is a scrimmage.

It's a good thing for the Pac-12 to become a deeper conference top-to-bottom, get on that Big12/Big Ten level. The days of "USC and the little 9" or "USC, UO, and the little 8" are better off gone. Dominance is only impressive when the defeated are impressive.

I don't think Wazzu's going to be 10-2 immediately, but I think such seasons are in the program's future. I'd say the Pac is a half-step up from the Big 12 defensively, and maybe not even a half-step down offensively, what with the aforementioned added depth. I honestly think it's the most diverse conference offensively in the nation.

I think Leach could go anywhere between 4-8 and 7-5. They can start 2-2 or they could start 4-0. I feel like EW and UNLV are near-guaranteed wins, depending on how well UNLV can recover from their run of constant failure. If they can get BYU and beat Colorado on Homecoming, they're in business.

Oregon's going to be tough - maybe not unwinnable, but very, very tough. We have to remember this is a team coming off of three straight BCS trips - two Rose Bowls (a close loss and a close win), split by a National Championship appearance where they could have had the win if they could have wrapped up Michael Dyer instead of letting him get up and run to set up the game winning kick.

They can beat Oregon State, depending on how well that young squad has learned from last year's mistakes. I think that's going to be one of the better, more underrated conference games of the season. If they beat Ore St, they'll face a Cal team that should be 4-2 coming off of two conference wins.

Cal isn't unwinnable, but Stanford and Utah might be, the jury is completely out on UCLA, what with the new coach and the run of mediocrity they've gone through, but if they can win that game and Cal they could be 6-4 and bowl eligible going into Tempe. They'll probably lose that game and the Apple Cup, but being that the final is at home, depending on how the team grows or does not grow over the season, with huge question marks all over the defense and Leach's trademark offense in its first year, we could be looking at a 7-5 team in Leach's first season.

He never had a losing season at TTU, but he inherited a 6-5 team. What determines his first year record, I think, is the affects of so many teams in transition. This season, half of the Pac-12 have a head coach in either his first (UoA, ASU, UCLA, Wazzu) or second (CU, Stan) year. His main problem is that most of those are in the south, with Oregon and Stanford's transitions coming mostly in their backfields, rather than in the head man on the sideline and his system on the field.

The most definite wins in my mind are EW, UNLV, and CU, the most definite losses being USC, Stanford, and Oregon. They'll probably beat Oregon State and probably lose to Cal, Utah, and Washington but any of those could go either way in my mind and the three other games on the schedule are a complete push.

[CougarMVP]

Quote: Originally Posted by WinoMcCougarstein3rd

33 days! I cannot freakin' wait! I went to WSU from 01 an graduated in 06. I picked a great time to go as we had 30 wins from 01-03, went to the Rose Bowl and won the Holiday Bowl! I would expect anywhere from 6-8 wins this year(6 being the more realistic) and a bowl game. I'm going to 4 games in a 5 week span as well, this season is going to be awesome!

We were on campus at the same time dude....I was 00-05 and we did see the best years in WSU football history. It would be nice to see more and then some under Leach. Did you get football season tickets? I plan to be at lot of games this fall.

I expect anywhere from 6-8 wins too, but a lot will depend on the OL/DL lines. Tuel will need time to pass and our DL has to get a better pass run than the previous years under Wulff.

[Dr Death]

Don't know how I missed this thread, but I have some thoughts... some of you may disagree, some may love it... but whilst Leach was exiled from coaching thanks to CJK5H and the stupid "Old Boys Club" at Tech, he spent quite a bit of time visiting w/ the likes of Rex Ryan and even stated in his book - Swing Your Sword - that defense will be of far greater importance to him the next time around.

He's also added some wrinkles to his offense, so just when you think you know what he'll do, he'll surprise you.

My feeling this year is 8-9 wins. He was at Tech 10 years and they went to 10 straight bowl games. They'd only been to 23 in their entire history prior to Leach.

Those of you predicting 2 wins... I'm assuming you mean by week two, right? LOL 2 wins for the season? For a Mike Leach team? See you in January gentlemen...

[Cusefan]

Quote: Originally Posted by Dr Death

Don't know how I missed this thread, but I have some thoughts... some of you may disagree, some may love it... but whilst Leach was exiled from coaching thanks to CJK5H and the stupid "Old Boys Club" at Tech, he spent quite a bit of time visiting w/ the likes of Rex Ryan and even stated in his book - Swing Your Sword - that defense will be of far greater importance to him the next time around. He's also added some wrinkles to his offense, so just when you think you know what he'll do, he'll surprise you. My feeling this year is 8-9 wins. He was at Tech 10 years and they went to 10 straight bowl games. They'd only been to 23 in their entire history prior to Leach. Those of you predicting 2 wins... I'm assuming you mean by week two, right? LOL 2 wins for the season? For a Mike Leach team? See you in January gentlemen...

I am not doubting Mike Leach but I would not have very high hopes this season as it does take time for players to learn the System. This will be a very well coached team as long as he is there.

[xcrushx]

I see anywhere from 2-8 wins. Mike Leach is a hell of a coach but you really never know how a first year coach is going to do. His offense should move the ball but is that going to be enough? They seem to have a good QB and solid WRs. I just don't know much else about the team. They've been so horrendous the past few years that it's hard to tell what Leach has to work with. As a Leach fan, I'm very curious and excited to seem him in action at Washington State. I wish them the best of luck and I look forward to watching some of their games this year.

[JHooe44]

Quote: Originally Posted by DerkontheOS

Leach was a great pick up for WSU. I loved watching Texas Tech with him there. They'll probably win around 6 games.

For this year, I have no idea. But I absolutely expect him to build a legit conference championship contender there. It won't happen overnight, but with the way his offense functions I expect that he can build something within 5-6 years. And Pullman will be patient enough to let him do it.

I always enjoyed watching his teams, so I'm excited to see what he can do.