I could live with a 9-3 regular season, then win the bowl game to finish with 10 wins for the year. By my measure, given the number of underclassmen we'll play, a 9-10 win season sets us up nicely in the rankings for the next few years.
The caveat is that, in the 3 losses (assuming his prediction comes true), we must be competitive. Last seasons blowouts killed us in the preseason rankings for this year.