Predictions – Page 2 – Syndication Server

Too-early 2024 Big Ten Conference football game-by-game team predictions

It’s early and a lot can change, but this is how we see things as of right now.

College football is changing dramatically in 2024 with conference realignment and the Big Ten is one of many conferences expanding greatly this upcoming season.

The Big Ten is adding Oregon, UCLA, Washington, and USC to its ranks as it looks to win conference supremacy. Those teams join a collective that boasts reigning national champion Michigan football, an Ohio State team that’s gone all-in to win a national championship in 2024, and a Penn State team that is trying to go from great to elite. And many teams are on the up and coming with Iowa, Wisconsin, and Northwestern both looking to build on 2023, while Indiana and MSU bring in new coaches hoping to find their footing.

Though the games are far away and teams could see big changes before now and fall, here are our too-early predictions for how each team will fare in 2024.

Updated game-by-game predictions for Wisconsin basketball after its loss to Michigan

Wisconsin basketball is in the middle of a lengthy slump.

The team entered February riding high, sitting at 16-4 overall and 8-1 in Big Ten play. Since then, the Badgers are 0-3 with a blown a 19-point lead on the road at Nebraska, a tight loss to No. 2 Purdue and a back-breaking loss on the road to Michigan.

Greg Gard’s team is now 16-7 (8-4 Big Ten), sits two games behind Purdue for first place in the conference and falling to a 3-seed in most bracket projections.

To say a win on the road at Rutgers tomorrow is necessary would be a gigantic understatement.

ESPN Basketball Power Index forecasts that matchup, plus the rest on the Badgers schedule before postseason play begins. Here are the odds for each game, plus Wisconsin’s final projected win total:

10 early Michigan football bold predictions for 2024

How many of these will come to pass? #GoBlue

At the time of this writing, we still don’t know who all will be on new Michigan football head coach Sherrone Moore’s staff. The transfer portal window — which opened with Jim Harbaugh’s departure — remains open for just over two more weeks. Thus, we have no idea what we will see even in spring, let alone fall 2024.

Yet, we’re going to go out on a limb and make some predictions, nonetheless. Bold predictions.

The 2023 season ended a month ago for the maize and blue but we’re starting to look forward. Without further ado, here are our way too early 10 bold predictions for 2024.

Florida an underdog in rematch with Kentucky, per ESPN BPI

Using the Basketball Power Index, ESPN is predicting a loss for Florida on Wednesday when the Gators travel to face the Kentucky Wildcats.

Florida came up short against Kentucky, 87-85, to kick off SEC play, but the Gators have a chance to redeem themselves on the road against the Wildcats on Wednesday.

Unfortunately, ESPN expects Florida to fall to Kentucky by a 6.7-point margin. At least, that’s what the latest Basketball Power Index predictions suggest will happen on Wednesday, giving the Wildcats a 71.1% win probability.

The matchup quality earned an 83.9-point grade, making it the third-best matchup of the games being played on Wednesday.

“BPI is a measure of team strength that is meant to be the best predictor of performance going forward,” the site reads. “BPI represents how many points above or below average a team is… Game predictions account for opponent strength, pace of play, site, travel distance, day’s rest and altitude, and are used to simulate the season 10,000 times to produce season projections.”

This will be a Quadrant 1 game for Florida as Kentucky is ranked No. 22 on the NET rankings. The Gators aren’t too far away, though, at No. 39 on the list.

Florida travels to Lexington, Kentucky on Wedenesday, Jan. 31. Tipoff is slated for a late 8 p.m. ET start and will be broadcast on ESPN.

Follow us @GatorsWire on Twitter and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Florida Gators news, notes and opinions.

AFC and NFC Championship Game Picks and Predictions

Who wins on NFL Championship Sunday?

NFL Championship Sunday is nearly upon us as we’ll soon know which two teams will meet in Super Bowl 58.

The Ravens host the Chiefs on Sunday to start things off before the 49ers look to put an end to the Lions magical season in the NFC slate later in the day.

Notre Dame fans will be happy to know that with 11 players on rosters still this postseason, at least one being on each remaining team ensures a former Golden Domer will win a Super Bowl this February.

But which team will it be?

The Fighting Irish Wire Staff has their picks for one of the best sports days of the year for you here:

Behind Enemy Lines: Can Lions QB Jared Goff beat the 49ers?

We talked Lions-49ers with our buddy and Lions Wire managing editor Jeff Risdon:

It’s been two seasons since the 49ers and Lions last squared off. Since that meeting in Week 1 of the 2021 season Detroit has elevated itself into the NFC’s upper echelon alongside San Francisco, and now the two teams will face each other with a trip to the Super Bowl on the line.

To get some more insight into how the Lions have managed this turnaround, we got in touch with our buddy and Lions Wire managing editor Jeff Risdon. He answered a few questions for us to help grasp what the 49ers are up against Sunday at Levi’s Stadium:

ESPN’s BPI predicts Florida win over Mississippi State on Wednesday

The Florida Gators host the Mississippi State on Wednesday night, and ESPN is predicting a five-point Florida using BPI.

After beating Missouri on the road Saturday, the Florida Gators (12-6, 2-3) return to Gainesville on Wednesday to host the Mississippi State Bulldogs (13-5, 2-3).

Using the College Basketball Power Index, ESPN predicts the winner and margin of every matchup in the country. According to Wednesday’s projections, Florida has a 67.8% chance to win on Wednesday with an expected 5.1-point margin of victory. The game also earned a matchup quality rating of 85.3, good for the sixth-best number on the night.

The Bulldogs are ranked just one spot below the Florida Gators on the Basketball Power Index at No. 34 in the country. Still, there’s about a 0.5 point difference between the two teams, which is significant.

Make no mistake, this is a big game for the Gators. It will be of the Quadrant 2 variety, and Florida hasn’t performed well against Quadrant 1 opponents this year. If Florida is going to make the tournament without winning “the big one,” then it will have to get the job done regularly against other second-tier teams in the conference.

Follow us @GatorsWire on Twitter and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Florida Gators news, notes and opinions.

NFL Playoffs – Divisional Round: Staff Predictions

Any upsets coming in the NFL playoffs this weekend?

The NFL’s version of the Elite Eight takes place this weekend as the Divisional Round takes place on Saturday and Sunday with trips to the conference championship games next Sunday on the line.

We’ve been sure to mention the Notre Dame players still playing for a shot at Super Bowl 58 in Las Vegas later this winter.

Which high-seed is most prone to an upset this weekend?

Will the No. 1 seeded 49ers and Ravens roll to wins after the bye?

Will the Texas and Bills stay hot after impressive wins in the AFC?

And can the Packers or Bucs find some road magic in the NFC?

Here are the Fighting Irish Wire staff picks for the NFL Divisional Playoff Games:

The Athletic predicts Florida, SEC outcomes for 2024 football season

The early outlook for the Gators is not great, according to The Athletic.

The start of the 2024 college football season is still several months away but that is not stopping The Athletic from casting its early predictions for the upcoming Southeastern Conference campaign. Now expanded to 16 teams with the additions of the Texas Longhorns and Oklahoma Sooners, it truly does mean more in the SEC.

The outlook is not great for the Florida Gators in these prognostications as author Seth Emerson foresees a second-straight 5-7 season — and fourth-straight losing season — with a record of just 2-6 in conference play. Woof.

Emerson expects the Orange and Blue to prevail at home over the Miami Hurricanes, Samford Bulldogs, Texas A&M Aggies, Kentucky Wildcats and UCF Knights. However, he predicts them to fall on the road at the Mississippi State Bulldogs, Tennessee Volunteers, Florida State Seminoles and Texas; against the LSU Tigers and Ole Miss Rebels at home; against the Georgia Bulldogs on neutral ground in Jacksonville.

LSU is expected to headline the conference this coming fall with a perfect 12-0 record plus an 8-0 mark in conference play. The ‘Dawgs, ‘Horns and Missouri Tigers are all projected to finish with 11-1 overall marks — all of their losses coming in SEC play.

The South Carolina Gamecocks are also predicted to finish like the Gators at 5-7 with a 2-6 record against SEC competition.

The three schools with worse projections than Florida are the Arkansas Razorbacks (4-8, 1-7 SEC), Mississippi State Bulldogs (4-8, 1-7 SEC) and Vanderbilt Commodores (3-9, 0-8 SEC).

Follow us @GatorsWire on Twitter and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Florida Gators news, notes and opinions.

Too-early Michigan football 2024 starting offense prediction

This still looks really good on-paper. #GoBlue

Michigan football may have just won the national championship and has no idea who the head coach will be in 2024, but it’s never too early to look ahead to see who might take the reins, player-wise, for the upcoming season.

The Wolverines lose a great deal offensively via the NFL draft. J.J. McCarthy, Blake Corum, Cornelius Johnson, Roman Wilson, AJ Barner and six offensive linemen going pro this offseason. Thus, there’s only one bona fide returning starter from 2023 coming back in 2024: tight end Colston Loveland.

That doesn’t mean Michigan is bereft of experience on the offensive side of the ball. Far from it. Donovan Edwards, Giovanni El-Hadi, Myles Hinton and Tyler Morris have quite a bit of starting experience.

With that in mind and considering only players currently on the roster (not accounting for potential incoming or outgoing transfers), here is what our starting lineup on offense would be as of January 2024.