Goodness, I never cease to be amazed by the fans who go berzerk on game day after a loss of any kind and by the following Tuesday, are already becoming almost positive the team will win, win and win again starting with the very next game. Nothing has really changed about the schedule. If anything, the competition is tougher looking today than in mid August crystal balls. The bottom of the big ten is better than people have given it credit for and the top may not be quite so incredibly strong as some have been thinking. This is not surprising as most analysts would say teams are generally more commparable in overall talent than 20 years ago. At this point, there are no more reasons to be optimistic about winning games in the second half of the season than before the season began. Arguably, there are any number of reasons to be more pessimistic.
As a team, we are in grave jeopardy of losing confidence, faith and trust in the coaches, the players, etc. Teams that are doing well are gaining confidence and strength and teams that have struggled almost always continue to struggle.