We usually don’t get to the Iowa Hawkeyes before Big Ten Media Day in the preview series, but they keep moving up Big Ten Media Day (which is great) and the Iowa Hawkeyes keep getting worse, which you probably don’t like, if you’re reading this. We usually only have a couple Big Ten teams, with the mid-majors, ACC and basketball schools ranked in the 60s and 70s every year. This is the first time UI is in the 77 in 77 dregs with Syracuse, Kentucky, Boston College, Duke, and Indiana. It’s often b-ball schools and ACC; or both.
The Hawkeyes being down is a perfect example of why the conference is down. As they have weakened, so has the league.
Iowa Hawkeyes reasons to get EXCITED ALL CAPS: Kirk Ferentz is now the dean of Bog Ten coaches, with more tenure than any other. And he obviously has a lot of leverage. The Hawkeyes had a terrible season and yet he’s still not feeling any warmth on his seat. Or is he? Losing six in a row to end the year, and a poor prospectus for this season makes Ferentz not so secure in his position as you might think.
For the first time SINCE FOREVER THEY HAVE A TAILBACK OR TWO. The curse of the Iowa Hawkeyes tailback position will hopefully calm down this year. For once, they enter a college football season with tailbacks that aren’t injured or arrested or transferring or all three. So the run game should be better, much better. Now the passing game…
Iowa Hawkeyes reasons to get worried :( An uncertain WR and unstable QB situation means the passing game will be terrible and boring yet again. And my god the offense was horrendous last year. But hey at least they were balanced, very poor running, very poor passing, very poor in yardage and scoring. The offense needs to learn how to run the ball and manage clock to keep that decent defense off the field.
This isn’t the Iowa Hawkeyes team of recent years with really dominating OL and DL. Herky has produced some some NFL prospects in both lines this decade. What Big Ten teams are actually worse than the Iowa Hawkeyes? Other than the obvious in Illinois Fighting Illini? (ironically tied with Iowa for BCS bowl appearances, 2) Minnesota? Probably. Indiana? Maybe. Maybe Not. Purdue? Definitely not.
Iowa Hawkeyes Key games: Oct 5 versus Michigan State, which is their first real test. Aug and Sept are pretty easy. They could be 4-1 or 3-2 when they tangle with the Spartans, but to quote Outkast “from this point on, it only gets rougher.”
Iowa Hawkeyes bottom line: They could be better than their record indicates, but 5-7 is your best case scenario with 4-8 or 3-9 possible.
Key & Peele East/West College Bowl Roster: Kevonte Martin-Manley, Trev Hadachek, Bo Bower, Josey Jewell, Faith Ekakitie, Daumantas Venckus-Cucchiara
For the 2013 College Football rankings 1-77
#76 Kansas Jayhawks
#70 Minnesota Golden Gophers
Paul M. Banks is the owner of The Sports Bank.net. (“Quasi-endorsed” by Philadelphia Eagles Coach Chip Kelly) He’s also an author who also contributes regularly to MSN, Fox Sports , Chicago Now, Walter Football.com and Yardbarker
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