2011 Would Disappoint Me As A Cougar Fan If...

BYU went 8-4.  I will be honest.  BYU should destroy 5 teams.  They are not playing a single top 10 team this season, and I don't believe they have any true top 20 teams on the schedule, unless Texas surprises us all.  TCU is not a top 20 team.  If BYU is truly a top 25, or even a top 35 team, there isn't a team on the schedule they shouldn't at least compete with, or even beat.  Given that BYU should go 5-0 against the obviously inferior competition, to get to 8-4, BYU would only have to manage a losing record (3-4) against good competition.

I have higher expectations than that for this BYU team.  Now I'm certainly not asking for a 12-0 season.  However, if BYU is as good and talented and deep and experienced as the coaches say they are, and if the coaching staff Bronco has put together is as good as he says it is, the Cougars should be able to go at least 4-3 against the tougher part of their schedule.  They play two fringe top 25 teams in TCU and Texas (both in the state of Texas).  They play three teams expected to go bowling but not to win their BCS conference divisions in Ole Miss, Utah, and Oregon State (two of them on the road).  They play two conference title contenders from non-BCS leagues in UCF and Hawaii (one of them on the road).

If BYU wants to play with the big boys, they can't have a losing record against those 7 teams, even if 5 of those 7 games are away from home.  If they were "good enough" as a program to go Independent, they should be good enough to win the two home games, and good enough to go 2-3 in the road games.  Again, that shouldn't be difficult if BYU is a top 25-ish team to beat non-top 25 teams on the road 40% of the time.

BYU has some big name games, but they are not playing anybody completely out of their league.  They should be competitive in each of those 7 games, and they should be able to win more than they lose.  I will be disappointed with the Cougars if they can't do that, given the expectations they themselves proclaimed this offseason.  I know my "realistic expectations" post had BYU at around 9-3.  But the Cougar fan in me says they should be at least that good, record-wise.  I will be disappointed with anything less than that.