WKU Football: Bold Prediction Week — Tops To Finish Bowl Eligible, Fail To Make Bowl, in 2018
Welcome to The Towel Rack’s Bold Prediction Week as we officially kickoff our football coverage for 2018. Each week, there’ll be a…
Welcome to The Towel Rack’s Bold Prediction Week as we officially kickoff our football coverage for 2018. Each week, there’ll be a different theme pertaining to WKU football, with this week’s being a smattering of bold predictions our writing staff has about the upcoming season.
I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve handed down this same prediction, but I’m going to say it again; the Hilltoppers will win six games in 2018.
They’ll become bowl eligible for the eighth-straight year, no small feat in and of itself with a still-baby FBS program. But, much like the bowl eligible seasons of 2011 and 2013, the Hilltoppers will not be going bowling this season.
The Tops could get hot late in the year, like they did in 2011. A 1–3 start to the season isn’t entirely out of the question, and neither is being 4–4 entering November, riding a potential three-game winning streak to close October.
If that’s the case, WKU finishes at MTSU and FAU in consecutive weeks, has UTEP at home before closing the year in Rutson against La Tech. Two wins out of that bunch isn’t out of the question. Three wins isn’t impossible either. If the Tops get that sixth win the UTEP game, the second-to-last of the season, it depends on what the rest of the conference looks like; is that early enough to begin to politic their way into a game, or no? If not, they could very well be on the outside looking in.
WKU also could head into the La Tech game needing a win to become bowl eligible, again garnering that sixth win too late in the game to politic into a slot, and let the dominoes fall where they may.
There’s always the (albeit slim) possibility that the Tops have a bowl invitation but for, whatever reason, decide to decline and wait for a better offer to come that doesn’t.
Ultimately, if you’re hoping that the Tops are guaranteed a bowl game, there are two ways for that to happen; win at least seven games or become bowl eligible in October and not, say, on November 18 and have to sweat it out for a month.
Sorry, just had a horrendous flashback.