Will the Memphis Tigers Bluff? Or Are they Bowl Bound?

Prediction

The offense will definitely be better with so many people back, more experience, great skill players, and vastly improved quarterback play. The defense, which was already decent last year, should be very good. The special teams should be great.

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With the First Pick

Great special teams and good defense should make up for the below-average offense if the offense can simply do enough to win games. There should definitely be some improvement seen on the Memphis Tigers this year as Funete continues to build the program.

With Louisville gone and Central Florida nowhere near as good, this improved team should’ve had the schedule set up to go to a bowl. But road games at the beginning of the season against Ole Miss and UCLA makes it much harder because those are two sure losses.

However, there are still plenty of winnable games on the schedule, so I’m going to go ahead and call it. The Tigers will make it to 6-6 this year and finally validate that Fuente has a program slowly on the rise. He’s got a much improved team, and as I mentioned in the opening, the Tigers were in every game last year until the last two, which were blowout losses to bad teams.

But those blowout losses came right after the Tigers’ 24-17 loss to Louisville, which eliminated them from bowl contention.

Oct 19, 2013; Memphis, TN, USA; Memphis Tigers get ready before the game against Southern Methodist Mustangs at Liberty Bowl Memorial. Mandatory Credit: Justin Ford-USA TODAY Sports

Perhaps the last two losses were so bad because general apathy set in on a young team that probably thought it had a chance to go bowling midway through the year.

This year the Tigers should steal a couple of those close games and win all the games they’re supposed to, which means not losing to MTSU again. If they do that, 6 wins is very plausible because on paper, Memphis appears to be getting much better.

Let’s just hope they don’t bluff.