Damn. While I'm not exactly drinking to Kool aide, apparently I'm much more optimistic than most.
What were our issues last year? Far and away, the number 1 issue was special teams. We have made 3 huge additions in this regard - transfer punter Buschini, place kicker transfer Bleekrode and special teams coordinator Bill Busch. That's plenty of reason for hope in regards to special teams.
What were other issues? Well, the offense as a whole. Hard to argue that the offensive staff isn't better. Sure, Raiola is unproven and a concern, but Austin was proven...and not proven good. Adrian made boneheaded play at the most important moment time and time again. Will Casey be better? He has the skillet. Yes, the OL losses Cam, and that is a big loss. But the rest of the OL should be bringing in much more experience and a more aggressive style.
The defensive isn't perfect and the losses of Daniels and Rogers will be tough on the DL. But Dawson seems to be a pretty solid coach and developer. There are a lot of young DL bodies that can certainly step up.
Lastly, the schedule itself should give us hope. I think the schedule alone should give us 2 more wins. Combined with the rest (mainly special teams and coaching), I'll say 7-5 is a very realistic expectation, with a chance at 8 or 9.
That being said, missing a bowl game again wouldn't shock me either...