First seasons under new coaches are difficult. There's a lot of transition, a lot of learning, a lot of culture change, a lot of figuring things out on the fly.

I expect the defense to be competitive but not overpowering because we lost some key guys and we're low on talent in a couple spots.

I think the offense has more talent than we've had for a while but they are going to be figuring things out all season. And we're going to throw a raw quarterback into the fire.

Injuries and turnovers will determine whether this team wins something closer to 5 games or 8 games.

I feel okay about Liberty and ECU, particularly because the latter is breaking in a new staff also. I feel pretty good about BC because it is a home game early in the season. But if we lost to either ECU or BC, I would not be shocked. I like that we play Syracuse before midseason. So that's four games, at most, that I feel we have a good chance to win.

So how do you get to 7 or 8 wins?

You may need to win two out of three at home against Miami, Georgia Tech and UVa. Possible, but difficult. Miami has more talent, UVa has to beat us someday and who the hell knows what GT will do from year to year.

You probably need to at least split road games with Pitt and Duke, and win both if you don't win two of those three home games noted above. Both are well-coached teams, I think. Duke I can see winning, but until Tech wins at Heinz Field you just can't count on beating Pitt.

I'd love to beat Tennessee and Notre Dame, but you can't realistically expect to win either of those games this season.

That leaves UNC. I hate UNC. I think we could beat UNC if we have good quarterback play. And to get to as many as 8 wins, Tech almost has to beat UNC. But I am not counting on it.

So my prediction is:

Wins: Liberty, BC, ECU, Syracuse, Miami, Duke and UVa

Losses: Tennessee, UNC, Pitt, Georgia Tech and Notre Dame
[Post edited by Tailgate Guru at 02/24/2016 9:06PM]