Well, OSU was by far the best team we faced in the 2nd half, so showing that we stretched with them as far as we did showed a lot. But it's also true any 8 win season has lots of wins against mediocre teams in it. Have to give the team credit for bringing home the easier wins as well. Only have to compare to the first half to see those can't be taken for granted.
What I'm really trying to say, HWM, is that my reasons for predicting 8 wins are way better than your reasons (and Thill's by the way) for predicting 8 wins. I'm going to bookmark this page so when we finish 8-4 I can say, "See, I was right."