State of Sports: 2016 Preview

I'm all in on sports. A huge part of this is the outlook of my teams. Let's go deeper, chronologically.

Illinois Football

For me, sports start on September 3rd. Illinois is hosting Murray State before facing off against North Carolina a week later. Someone got paid to predict that Illinois will go 2-10 this year. 

We went 5-7 last year with Cubit. We can't get 5 wins this year with Lovie? SBNation has us on par with Rutgers and Purdue as the only worse team. That seems a bit harsh.

I think we either get 5 or 6 wins most likely. 7+ would be holy shit! 4- would be shit. But it seems like we're going to get better and it should be exciting. For the record, @alioneye has penciled in October 12, 2019 as a key date for Illinois football, as in possibly undefeated and hosting ESPN Gameday in Champaign vs Michigan.

Kansas City Chiefs

Last year I was optimistic before the season started. I predicted 10-6. The won their first game. Then lost 5 in a row. I called them garbage. They would then win their next 11, including a playoff game, ending a terrible streak.

This year, people are split evenly whether the Chiefs or Broncos will win the division. Teams being predicted for the AFC Championship include Patriots, Steelers, Bengals and Colts. But I've got $160 that says the Chiefs will win the AFC Championship and go to the Super Bowl.

There are two kinds of playoff teams. One is a team like the R-E-L-A-X Packers. They're really good and capable of reeling off 8 out of 10 games, so they can overcome a fumble or penalty or whatever. The other kind of playoff team isn't as good. They can get to 10 even 11 wins, but they need some bounces to go their way. Even if they have two games left and only need to win one to secure the playoffs, you're not fully confident it's going to happen. Except for 2003, I've felt like the Chiefs have always been in the second camp. This year, I think they have a good shot of making the playoffs. The question will be are they a R-E-L-A-X team or not.

Illinois Basketball

In 2014, I predicted that Illinois would make it to the Final Four by 2019.
Since I made that prediction, Illinois has lost in the first round of the NIT and then didn't even get invited to the NIT.

So things are generally...not great. Most people would look at that paragraph and think that Illinois stinks and I'm crazy.

But wait...top talent has been committing to Illinois. 5-star Tillmon, 4-star Frazier, 4-star Williams (son of Frank). Take a look at the 2018-9 roster.

I know it's a ways away, but that team looks really good. 2019 Final Four. Let's do it.

Colorado Avalanche

Is it a good thing to not have a coach less than two months before the season starts? At this point, you'd have to assume they'll miss the playoffs, maybe finish 11th or 12th in the conference. Disappointing, considering they have talented players.