It’s good to be back after our usual Final Four to college football hiatus. *yawn* What’d we miss? Damn, it felt like the Brohm era would never get here and yet here we are, about to embark upon it. Remember when we were all excited at the start of the Hope and Hazell eras? Hope started with a 52-31 thumping of Toledo and then they went up to Oregon and damn near beat that Chip Kelly squad, losing 38-36. Dang, that looked like it was gonna be FUN!

But then it wasn’t so much.

For Hazell, we were excited for about five minutes. The pep rally in downtown Indy before they headed out for Cincinnati. Then it was really never fun again.

So here we are on the eve of Jeff Brohm’s tenure getting officially started. What do the BS boys think will happen?

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SEASON PREDICTO

What will Purdue’s record be this season?

Bdowd: 3-9

Michael: 3-9 optimistically, but most likely 2-10. Look, I think Brohm is great...long term. But there's a dearth of both talent and depth on this team. And I ain't no smarty pants football ex-pert but I'm pretty sure that you need both to be good. It's hard to look at any position group, on either side of the ball and feel really confident. I think Brohm is two years away from putting a good team out there. When your roster is as thin as it is, it takes time for talent to matriculate through your program. Sorry :-/

Aneesh: 4-8, because Aneesh is back in Kool-Aid Drinking Mode babayyyyy.

Dave: Purdue's going to be 2-10 this season. Sorry folks, but as a well-known philosopher once said, a man's got to know his limitations, and Jeff Brohm is well aware of his current ones. The Boilers will likely not be favored in any game this season, which is unfortunate since they play Ohio U, Rutgers, and Illinois (btw, I told you so about Lovie). However, enough of those games are coin flips that Brohm's offense, even with a bunch of players not yet accustomed to it, will steal one or two of them.

J: 4-8. (Man, do I want to say 7-5 just to rattle the rest of these guys.)

Who will their wins be against?

Bdowd:  Ohio, Rutgers, Illinois

Michael:  Rutgers and Illinois. Man, the basement of the B1G really blows.

Aneesh:  Illinois and Rutgers, plus two of Ohio/Minnesota/Indiana. If I had to bet, it would be Ohio and Indiana.

Dave: Wins this season will be at Rutgers and at home against Illinois. (Can we talk about the decision to select Michigan as the homecoming game?) Chris Ash may well build Rutgers into a 4- or 5-win team, but the depth of the Big Tenteen East will likely keep the ceiling pretty low for the Scarlet Knights unless an inadequate coach is hired ... oh, who's the offensive coordinator at IU now? Anyway, it's nice to win a trophy game even if it is just the Cannon. fireloviesmith.com is probably still in the hands of an Illinois resident, so I'm sure you'll see it up shortly after the Boilers get that W.

J: Ohio, Rutgers, Illinois, Indiana. Don’t @ me, as the kids say. Actually, I don’t think it will wind up being those four – but it will be four the hard way, like we’re playing craps.
 

If you have to pick one, what’s your upset special?

Bdowd: Minnesota

Michael: Minny. New coaches on both sides, some times weird things happen.

Aneesh:  Give me that Minnesota game, por favor. Obviously we all want Indiana, as the Hoosiers are on their longest Bucket winning streak in 70 years and that's plain nonsense. But let's dive a little deeper, shall we? Minnesota's new head coach is boat-rowin PJ Fleck, who we were all-in on when he was on Purdue's possible list to succeed Hazell...but now that he's officially the enemy we can all admit he's only got one oar in the water. Two first-year B10 head coaches squaring off, the first winnable conference game in Ross Ade, Purdue coming off a four-game gauntlet while the Gophers play four cupcakes?  Gimme Minny.

Dave: Is a rivalry game that doesn't involve Notre Dame ever really an upset? If so, I'm picking Indiana. Massey has the Hoosiers as a 2-to-1 favorite right now, but give Purdue's offense 11 games to get the lead out and wrap Indiana's offense in plastic for 11 games, and you never know what might happen. Sure would be nice to have two trophies at once ... and the Boilers haven't taken all three since 2004. (They took the Shillelagh from the Irish 9/29/2007, and had the Cannon and Bucket from 2006, so the span between that win and the November loss to IU is the last time they held all three.)

J: Louisville. I said upset, you pansies. Minnesota won’t be all that good this year, no matter what their record tells you. They could be really strong the first half of the season but look at that schedule. The staff of Boiled Sports could go 5-1 against that. Louisville is heavily favored and could very easily not be as up for this game as Brohm will have Purdue. Plus, is there anyone on the schedule that Brohm would like to beat more than the ville?

How soon does Brohm take this team bowling?

Bdowd: Year 2 (2018) 

Michael: Year 3 (2019)

Aneesh: Woah there nelly, slow yer horses. After the 2019 season is probably the goal, right? But that seems so far away so let's be a little nuts and say Brohm leads Purdue to 2018 wins over Eastern Michigan, Boston College, Nebraska, Illinois, Minnesota, and Indiana and goes bowling after two seasons. ALL IN KOOL-AID LET'S GO PUT ME IN COACH I'M READY.

Dave: Brohm will need three years to get Purdue to a bowl. In 2019, Michigan and Ohio State drop off the schedule, and the non-conference schedule is pretty favorable (at Nevada, home to Vanderbilt and TCU). Indiana, Illinois and Maryland at home, and if they can take one from Nebraska/at Northwestern/Minnesota, that could even be a 7-win season.

J: Year 2 (2018). Fair or not, it’s gotta get going quick or people won’t be patient.

What would have to happen this year for Brohm to be hired away from Purdue?

Bdowd: Brohm might be pulled away from W. La La IF Purdue wins 10 games and Petrino gets in big trouble (with an intern/staffer or the NCAA).

Michael: This year? It would take a lot, probably 7 wins, which, shut up, it isn't going to happen. After this season? Like barely anything. If he makes this team respectable and the right job opens, his name will be thrown around for sure. He seems like the type of guy who wants to stick around the general Midwest region, so that's nice. But Purdue is not a destination job for him.

Aneesh: I was on-record on the latest Handsome Hour podcast saying 7 wins gets him turning down offers...if one of those wins is somehow Louisville. Hell, if Purdue beats Louisville, the Cardinals might fire Petrino on the spot and bring their favorite son Brohm home for week 2. In reality, though, I do think he'd be getting ridiculous offers if Purdue somehow pulls off 8 wins with this tough schedule and minimal talent. You're telling me Notre Dame or Tennessee (or, hell, even Louisville if their season burns down) wouldn't fire their coaches right away, dive into their boatloads of money, and hire away a young offensive genius with professional QB pedigree who somehow coached *this* Purdue team to 8 wins?

Dave: Football Outsiders says that Purdue has a 1-in-100 chance of going 6-6 this season, which would probably be 6-7 since that'd be a bowl season. They also say Northwestern has a 1-in-100 chance of heading to Indianapolis 12-0. If Brohm can pull off that kind of season, he's going to draw interest, but even so, it doesn't take much to earn a job-hopper title, and those guys generally don't work out so well. For him to actually be hired away? No chance. Brohm's buyout is $5.75M before December 5, when all good coaches are nabbed. That's contender money, and it's hard to imagine a contender taking Brohm based on a single season that will almost certainly not include a bowl game.

J: I think it’s almost impossible. He’d probably have to win ten games. So, like I said, impossible.