let me start by saying I appreciate all your donations to discussion here and you and other visitors are what make this site run I just watched the college gameday preview and I noticed that no one gives iowa any credit and they just dont seem to give them any love what-so-ever. NO ONE picked iowa to win the big ten, when they're easily as good as the other teams in the conference. I personally like tOSU this year but why doesnt iowa get any love?
I think not picking Iowa had more to do with schedule than anything else. Purdue isn't the best team in the conference, but they do have the nicest schedule. Those non-championship game conferences are at risk of having a substandard team "slip in" as conf. champ, due to a nice schedule. Add Notre Dame and have a title game in, say, Indianapolis each year, already!
I'm not sure I know the exact answer, but the "no love" thing is pretty much our fate every year. Honestly, you have to hand it to Michigan and tOSU for the tradition of winning that they have. I believe Michigan's last losing season was 1966. We think Michigan is over-rated most every year (and they are)... but they generally get themselves in a position to be in a good bowl each year. My guess is the "no love" has to do with Iowa being the smallest of the state universities in the Big Ten (Northwestern is private) and where the population base is. As a writer, you make a lot more people happy when you pich Michigan or OSU versus little ol' Iowa... and based on recruiting, it's always safer to pick those two. Having said all that, most Iowa fans are happy with the level of love we've been getting lately. Personally, I think Ohio State should be the top pick in the conference this year, then Iowa, then Michigan.... OSU has less question marks... plus Iowa is the only one of the four contenders (adding Purdue) that plays each of the other three... and plays two of the three on the road. When you look at the schedules and who plays who on the road, you wouldn't pick Iowa to win the Big Ten any more than you would pick Tennessee to win the SEC. Iowa has been to 18 bowl games in the past 25 years... so except for some "slippage" in the late 90's, we've done O.K. Hopefully, Ferentz will stay around and keep winning... and writers will quit waiting for our bubble to burst... and finally say, "you know what, I think Iowa will beat Michigan this year"... without slurring.
Most Big Ten fans would agree completely... or at least have a rule that says if two teams finish tied... and didn't play each other due to rotation... a league title game would be played. And I doubt if the Big Ten is pursuing Notre Dame any more... the talk (what little there is of it) seems to be about Syracuse, Pitt or Rutgers... to make Penn State happy and attract more of the Seaboard TV population.
Purdue's catching some love because of their schedule. I'm just wondering if anyone noticed who their coach was? Joe Tiller could take the Patriots and lose 7 games. His defenses are an after thought.
I was very impressed with Iowa's team last year. Whoever won the bowl, it was a great game by two physical football teams, and both were well coached. At least Iowa still has their coach. I'm surprised the Hawkeyes are not rated higher. Could it be population, lack of press in the state, OSU/Michigan tradition, yada yada. It ain't fair, but it is what it is. They'll just have to go out and beat everyone and earn it, nobody is gonna give em anything, just like LSU. Hawker has been an asset to our board, it's good to have some outside opinions so we don't choke on our own exhaust exclusively.
welllll in a five man panel, I assumed someone would pick them or at least mention them. I mean, they're ranked in the top ten and no one thinks they'll win the conference. I mean saying purdue wont choke at year's end is more ridiculous than saying that iowa will win.
I have Iowa as one of my favorites to win the Big 10, and I will also be pulling for them. The lack of respect may be a good thing for their motivation. Sometimes you have to step right up and smack people in the face for them to respect you and if they still don't, you smack them again. :shock:
I don't know if we'll be good enough early enough. Historically, we start slow... how we handle ourselves at OSU in our Big Ten opener is obviously vital. But... few teams are better prepared than us, few teams have better special teams than us and few team can come up with more than 3 point in the red zone against us... We'll give OSU all they can handle.
