OK, thinking about times, I will give my shot at predicting adjusted times, but the temperature may still play a big role, and I haven't found any sort of correction factor yet for cold.
So, all other things being equal, here's to sticking my neck out!
Blake 9.77
Bolt 9.79
Gay 9.84
Powell 9.85
Gatlin 9.87
Bledman 9.94
Collins 10.00
Bailey 10.03
These numbers would represent a PB for Blake, .04 off the SB for Bolt, a SB for Gay by .06, a SB by Powell by .03, a SB by Gatlin by .02, an under-performance by Bledman of .01, a SB and near PB by Collins, and a slight letdown by Bailey, .01 off his SB.
Sorry Bailey & Bledman, I know that's harsh. First Olympic final, the moment is huge and may prove difficult to handle. That's why I'm picking both Bledman and Bailey to under-perform, if only slightly.
I don't see anybody improving by much, because I think that everybody is clean except for Blake. I think that Gay will show the most improvement, because his training was late, and he has the greatest Potential:2012 Performance ratio of anybody on that list.
Bolt goes into this with a SB of 9.75, but a trials result of 9.91, which is a huge difference. I think he will have gained back some of that loss, but not all of it. 9.91 adjusted is crap by his standards, while 9.79 adjusted is great by anybody's standards. He will grip, and slightly overstride by trying to run as long as possible, slowing him slightly from his season's potential, which I think we saw in that beautiful 9.75 Clean, his excellent start is gone, and while I don't think we'll see a Lewis/Bailey-caliber start like he had at trials, I don't think we'll see anything worthy of note. His power to the ground is gone during the start, and he's back to looking like a tall guy trying to come out of the blocks. He hasn't changed his mechanic to adjust...who knows, this may be the fastest start of which he is now capable.
The way he ran at trials makes a good case for him switching to the 200/400 combo. He floats well, but nowadays when he tries to apply more power, he grips and slows down, rather than going faster or maintaining...perfect for the 400, OK for the 200, not good for the 100.
Now if that isn't enough rope with which to hang myself, in my fantasy order, my adjusted time predictions are:
Powell 9.77
Gay 9.79
Bledman 9.83
Blake 9.84
Bolt 9.87
Gatlin 9.90
Bailey 9.95
Collins 9.98
Huge PB for Bledman, but I'd like to see somebody else knock out Blake and Bolt from the medals, and I'd rather see Bledman do it, than Gatlin.
Powell would have to return to his Rieti/Lausanne form of years ago. If he keeps that drive phase, and keeps his hands relaxed at speed while lowering his knees a bit and having better recovery to allow a better foot speed upon ground contact, he can absolutely run an adjusted 9.77 He was 9.93 at trials, but 9.88 on the season, and consistent, with no finish.