Even arch Scotland critic and former England player Austin Healey is telling the world to prepare for a potential shock in February and March as he has tipped Scotland to spring a surprise.
The Scots, however, are being slightly more cautious, as are the four Borders players included in this weekend's team.
Taking a quick break from training this week, former Gala star Chris Paterson told TheSouthern: "We are aiming to continue the progress we have made. We produced some good work during the Autumn Tests, but unfortunately we didn't get the results.
"The main target is to continue our development and keep on improving.
"We've got three home games in the 6 Nations, so a big target for us is to deliver performances that the fans will be proud of."
On Sunday, Scotland take on champions Wales at Murrayfield (3pm) and the eyes of thousands of expectant fans will be on them.
For Kelso lad Ross Ford this is the biggie and he just can't wait to take up his position in the front row.
He told us: "I'm looking forward to playing against Wales because they are the current champions. During the autumn tests, Wales played some really good rugby – it was exciting and intense – so it will be a tough game, but I cannot wait to play at Murrayfield again.
Scotland has awarded a first cap to 26-year-old Galashiels-born tight-head prop Geoff Cross as they begin their campaign this week, while Melrose back row man Kelly Brown joins Paterson on the bench.
Cross, a qualified doctor, who becomes Scotland's 1,011th internationalist, is one of six changes from the team that started Scotland's last match, the 41-0 victory over Canada.
On the selection of Cross, Scotland coach Frank Hadden said: "Geoff first joined the squad during our tour of Argentina last summer and we have every confidence in him. Having waited patiently through five games, it's great that he now has this opportunity."
Throughout the tournament Border Rugby TV's Stuart Cameron will be keeping an eye on things on behalf of TheSouthern and reporting back in his regular Stuart on Scotland column.
This week, Stuart gave us his thoughts on the national team.
He said: "Scotland have most of their players from the last World Cup at their disposal. Back in 2007 they were mostly inexperienced young players, and while we made the quarter-final stages it wasn't a vintage competition for us.
"The big positive coming out of that tournament was the fact that no-one from the Scottish squad was planning on retiring from rugby, while dozens of star names from other countries were quitting the game at that point.
"The net result is that, two years on, while these other countries are still rebuilding their teams – England and France in particular fall into this category – Scotland's players have had two more years experience in world rugby and have learned so much in that time.
"Many have matured into world-class rugby players and aren't phased by playing on the world stage.
"We may not have got the results we all wanted against New Zealand and South Africa in the autumn, but we did get some quality performances, and the fact that we all had the nerve to be disappointed when we lost to South Africa, the world champions, shows how far we have come since the big tournament two years ago.
"Edinburgh and Glasgow have been pulling off some fine results in the Magners League and Heineken Cup competitions this season – particularly Glasgow's incredible win in France against Toulouse – and while neither qualified for the knockout stages, there were some very encouraging performances and, talking to a number of the Scottish squad, there's a real belief that something special is on the horizon.
"It's 17 years since we won the Grand Slam and 10 years since we won the championship. It's about time we did something very special again, so why not in 2009?"
Read Stuart's column in next week's Southern Sport.
Scotland team to play Wales: Hugo Southwell; Simon Webster, Ben Cairns, Graeme Morrison, Sean Lamont; Phil Godman, Mike Blair; Allan Jacobsen, Ross Ford, Geoff Cross, Jason White, Jim Hamilton, Allister Hogg, Simon Taylor and John Barclay. Subs: Dougie Hall, Alasdair Dickinson, Kelly Brown, Scott Gray, Chris Cusiter, Chris Paterson and Max Evans.