FWIW and that's probably not much he has us at #17 ahead of Washington for the cellar. I find that a bit difficult to believe but I guess it shows at least one "expert" is not very impressed with our chances as of today. Which brings up the question of the portal. I have not seen Iowa connected with anyone in the portal. Anyone seen anything?
Andy Katz Way Too Early Power Rankings
- Thread starter longtimer
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eyekwah
Well-Known Member
Not surprising to be ranked this low in the Big 10. It will be another boys against men season. If Fran can keep this years freshmen class and the incoming class together look for big improvement in 2025/2026. Iowa doesn't have the physical strength or depth needed to play against the physical teams. If Iowa could pull in some sophomore and junior talent from the transfer portal it would be better than going for seniors. Iowa's player needs are related to getting better strength and conditioned player to compete .
BigD
Well-Known Member
I actually expect the defense to carry the torch again this coming season.
The offensive line will once again be a huge question mark, BUT Lester is not stupid and I believe he will design a passing g game that will include quick releases from the Iowa QB and not give the defenses time to crash in on our QB.
I seen this once in an out matched BYU team that went on to win a National Championship. In my opinion it was an unearned national championship as BYU had a weak schedule and they ended up beating Michigan at the end of the year. However, Michigan had finished in third or fourth place in the Big Ten that year and the Big Ten contracts with the WAC that year required they play each other.
My point is that their success that season was their ability to quick release the ball out of the QB’s hands before the over matched offense line let the defense come crashing in on them. This was evidenced in their game against highly ranked Miami in the upset over Miami that propelled them into the spotlight that year.
Lester should have the capacity to know to follow this example, at least this is my hope.
Again, it is my opinion that BYU did t deserves the title because of their overall weak schedule and then playing one of Michigan’s weaker teams to end the year. But the voters chose BYU as champs that year.
The offensive line will once again be a huge question mark, BUT Lester is not stupid and I believe he will design a passing g game that will include quick releases from the Iowa QB and not give the defenses time to crash in on our QB.
I seen this once in an out matched BYU team that went on to win a National Championship. In my opinion it was an unearned national championship as BYU had a weak schedule and they ended up beating Michigan at the end of the year. However, Michigan had finished in third or fourth place in the Big Ten that year and the Big Ten contracts with the WAC that year required they play each other.
My point is that their success that season was their ability to quick release the ball out of the QB’s hands before the over matched offense line let the defense come crashing in on them. This was evidenced in their game against highly ranked Miami in the upset over Miami that propelled them into the spotlight that year.
Lester should have the capacity to know to follow this example, at least this is my hope.
Again, it is my opinion that BYU did t deserves the title because of their overall weak schedule and then playing one of Michigan’s weaker teams to end the year. But the voters chose BYU as champs that year.
Gander Hawk
Well-Known Member
Leistekow (sp?) at the DMR wrote that two portal guards were supposed to be visiting. The two mentioned were from Morehead and Arkansas State.
InGoodCo
Well-Known Member
FWIW - Andy Katz had us 11th last year and Iowa ended up 7th - feel free to continue to place or believe talking heads that Iowa is going to finish in the bottom half of the league when they almost never do. 11 out of 12 seasons, you'd think that someone would pick up on that, yet, the experts haven't caught on....neither have our fans lol. Iowa isn't placing 17th next season with a core of Sandfort, Dix and Freeman - they're just not.
InGoodCo
Well-Known Member
Iowa is always and I mean, always at the top of NCAA in scoring and fast pace of play.
Iowa has a lot of problems, strength and conditioning are near the bottom. They've been outsized quite a bit since Luka left but Iowa is experiencing a lot of attrition in the post with players leaving with eligibility left. They are often times not the most athletic team on the court as well, so you can't really change that through strength and conditioning. Iowa also has not been filling their entire 13 scholarships, so yeah, depth has been somewhat of an issue, especially in the post.
None of those things have to do with strength or conditioning. Iowa's pretty good there, they can run with anyone. Iowa played 4 freshman a ton this year and a sophomore ....so yeah, they haven't been in the program long enough to develop just yet, but that will change. Look at what the Murray's did, look at what Luka did....look at Peyton Sandfort compared to where he started. Iowa has a good strength and conditioning program
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So we should be looking at a 13th place finish instead?
InGoodCo
Well-Known Member
It would be shocking for me to see a Fran team finish that poorly at this point but we also weren't losing guys with eligibility left to other schools who weren't beat out very often in the past. I guess we could finish even worse if ya take that into consideration.
