I think someone is just being a good cheerleader. RCP has the Safe seats (and not competing) at 46-37, GOP... to get to 62, the GOP would need a virtual sweep, winning 16 of the 17 "in-play" races... 12 of which are current Dem seats.
17 in play (arranged from best-to-worst polling today for the Dem):
OH: Brown (D)
MI: Stabenow (D)
PA: Casey (D)
MN2: Smith (D)
NJ: Menendez (D)
WI: Baldwin (D)
WV: Manchin (D)
AZ: Open (R)
FL: Nelson (D)
IN: Donnelly (D)
MO: McCaskill (D)
MT: Tester (D)
NV: Heller (R)
ND: Heitkamp (D)
TN: Open (R)
TX: Cruz (R)
MS2: Hyde-Smith (R)
The "Safe" races, none of which flip:
DEMOCRATS (14)- CA: Feinstein (D), CT: Murphy (D), DE: Carper (D), HI: Hirono (D), ME: King (I), MD: Cardin (D), MA: Warren (D), MN1: Klobuchar (D), NY: Gillibrand (D), WA: Cantwell (D), VT: Sanders (I), VA: Kaine (D), NM: Heinrich (D), RI: Whitehouse (D)
REPUBLICANS (4) - MS1: Wicker (R), NE: Fischer (R), UT: Romney (R), WY: Barrasso (R)
35 seats up for a vote in NOV, and it is 26-9, current Dem seats. A tall order for the DNC to play defense.
65 seats are not up for a vote in 2018. Those are 42-23, GOP. The RNC gets to play defense for the next 2 cycles.
I was aware they were cheerleading, which is why I asked for specifics. There are a lot of cheerleaders who blindly believe everything is a rose and are shocked on election night. I must have read scores of posts that Stewart will win over Kaine in VA, which of course will not happen. The repubs do need to pick up seats in the Senate since in two years the number of seats the republicans will be defending and democrats defending will flip flop from this year.
If this is a wave election, most all Senate seats go in one direction, but at the moment, it would seem most likely the republicans pick up a handful of seats - perhaps 3 - and that includes a loss in Nevada, but who knows? There is still much campaigning to go.
My guesses as to the 17 seats in play:
These are the ones I think are truly up for grabs:
WI: Baldwin (D)
FL: Nelson (D)
IN: Donnelly (D)
MO: McCaskill (D)
MT: Tester (D)
NV: Heller (R)
ND: Heitkamp (D)
I suspect Baldwin keeps her seat but Nelson loses his as does Tester, Heitkamp, and McCaskill. I’d guess Donnelly and Heller keep theirs. The Republicans end up +4.
Losing the House would be a setback but its more important to keep the Senate. That keeps the power to confirm judges and other appointments, makes it far easier to enact any international agreements we enter into and blocks any Democrat attempts at impeachment. With any luck, President Trump gets to replace at least one of the Gang of Four on the Supreme Court in the next couple years.