Sports Illustrated senior soccer writer Grant Wahl joked that he was sitting at home in his boxer shorts when he riled up Minnesota United supporters in October.

Wahl, an SI writer since 1996, was asked by a reader to place an over/under projection on how many wins the Loons will have during their inaugural Major League Soccer season, which starts Friday at Portland.

“I gave five, which is probably harsh, and I understand why fans of the team might not be happy with that,” Wahl told the Pioneer Press on Wednesday.

Wahl’s mailbag reply from his home base in New York reverberated inside United’s headquarters in Golden Valley and became a live wire for the Loons’ most ardent supporters.

“I make a lot of calls around MLS, and I can’t tell you how many coaches, GMs and agents there are who are saying Minnesota in its first year might be one of the worst teams in MLS history on the field,” Wahl wrote on Oct. 22.

He concluded with an educated guess: “Over/under for Minnesota in 2017 is five.”

At the time, Minnesota had yet to name Adrian Heath its head coach, or officially announce any player signings. They had signed fullbacks Justin Davis and Kevin Venegas, longtime mainstays since the club’s tenure in the second-tier North American Soccer League, but didn’t announce them until December.

With United’s inclusion in MLS only official since mid-August, United had the shortest expansion build-up process among the 13 clubs the league has added since 1998. United now has a nearly full roster, with Swiss defender Jerome Thiesson soon expected to arrive in the U.S.

Yet even with all that in mind, Wahl has only somewhat revised his prediction.

“I think that Minnesota will win more than five games — probably,” he said. “I don’t know how much more than that. MLS being what it is, I think it’s more likely that they win more than five with the parity in the league. We’ll see.”

Heath said he uses outside expectations as motivation for his side “every single day.” After Tuesday’s practice at Bielenberg Sports Center in Woodbury, the manager added: “I’ve just used it in the last 10 seconds before we finished.”

Five wins in a 34-game season would be bad, but four would tie the worst win-total for expansion clubs in MLS history. Chivas USA, which folded in 2014, set the mark for futility at 4-22-5 in 2005.

“You’ve got to understand that I have no negative feelings toward Minnesota United whatsoever,” he added. “And my predictions, if you look at them over the years, haven’t always been that great. I guess I was tickled about how serious and upset people got about it.”

Wahl did put United supporters first in one category.

“I can’t think of any other fan base that I’ve gotten quite to this level of blowback from,” he said. “Honestly, I think it’s a sign of the growth of MLS. Too often in the regular season, especially over the years, there hasn’t been enough passion from MLS fanbases. It kind of felt like there wasn’t enough at stake.”

Wahl is not alone in his projection for the Loons. Power rankings from mlssoccer.com and goal.com have Minnesota dead last among 22 MLS clubs this week. SI’s Alexander Abnos had the Loons at No. 21, ahead of only the San Jose Earthquakes.

Fellow expansion franchise Atlanta United, the Loons’ foe in their March 12 home opener, is ranked sixth by SI, 13th by goal.com and 14th by mlssoccer.com.

Meanwhile, ESPN had them in a tie: Atlanta at 21A and Minnesota at 21B, adding, “Minnesota United’s cautious building process and late roster additions mean they might sneak up on teams in the West.”

Loons captain Vadim Demidov welcomes the cool response to his new club.

“If they have low expectations,” he said, “that’s perfect for us.”