FanPost

The most dangerous time of the year

It's about to start happening.

Do you know what I'm talking about?

On college football message boards across the land, I'm starting to see threads on

-- the fall two-deep roster

-- opponents breakdowns

-- position breakdowns.

-- schedule of August practices

-- etc.

What does that mean? It means we are just a few weeks from practice starting and just 2 MONTHS from the season opener.

And that's going to get people -- me included -- excited. The thought of Renegade planting that first spear of the fight song, the warchant and all the trappings of another Florida State football season will get me an lots of other Seminoles pumped.

And that's great -- if we didn't get excited, it wouldn't matter.

But before you really catch that fever -- do yourself a favor. Set your expectations for the upcoming season NOW and don't change them.

We'll have the same 4 or so weeks of practice that everybody else has this August. The chances that we will improve at a much faster rate than our opponents is slim. We'll have the same personnel (actually, depending on injuries, the same or worse personnel). We'll have the same coaches. Our schedule will be just as hard then as it is now.

Don't fall for the pre-season hype.

Korey Mangum was bad last year and will be bad this year and nothing you read on a message board or in an SID report will change that.

Our O-line will be better, but this is not going to be Russ Grim and Joe Jacoby -- it might not be a liability but I don't see us running the ball like Nebraska in the 70s.

Our WR corps is suspect, we are -- as has been researched so thoroughly on this site -- too small in the defensive front 7. We have a freshman kicker and a dysfunctional coaching staff.

I'll be screaming my head off for 11 wins, but given the schedule and our personnel, I'd set the over/under at 7.5.

Wherever you set yours, don't let ANYTHING (shy of major injuries) that happens in August cause you to adjust that number.

Not trying to be a Debbie Downer here, but I've allowed myself too many times to be caught up in pre-season wishcasting. Not going to do it this year.

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