Athlon Countdown: #7 Nebraska

[FromFry2Ferentz]

I guess thats why these are pre season rankings and not the real deal.

 

[jameskalina]

Being in iowa i followed alot of hawkeye football last year. Sometimes you guys kicked ***, some times you guys won buy the scruff of your neck. Same thing happened with nebraska last year but we didnt have so many wins in that catagory. That being said i do believe this ranking is much higher then it needs to be. I dont know if you watched the nebraska games last year but our offence was inept and our defence kept us in the game. Suh being gone will be an impact but Suh was also on the team in 07 when we blew goats. The Pelinis know defence which is why they were hired. Im not saying were BCS bound or NC bound but the team is going in a good direction. I dont know also if you noticed but nebraska doesnt change head coaches very often. So thats why Solich was fired and replaced with Callahan who was fired. Sometimes it takes a while to figure out a good system.

That being said, Iowa has a good team this year with alot of returning players. Ive said it before and ill say it again. Unless Stanzi can wake up and not throw pick 6s and play a full 4quarters of FB then you guys are going to have the same close calls as you did last year. As far as Nebraska well i think our lack of offence speaks for itself. But its spring and we just wont know what will happen until August.

I doubt Stanzi will be throwing many pick 6's this year. He's been working on his decision making in regard to that. Stanzi should be a better QB this fall and I think it will show in Iowa's offensive performance.

 

[tm3308]

Depends on a number of factors. To name a few, strength of schedule, how well a team is doing in November (close wins vs. decisive wins), Key wins and perception by the national media that all help to determine a final BCS rating. It is the final BCS poll that determines who plays for the NC.

That's not the point I'm making. If all those factors were equal, then it would come down to where they started the year. And if you're an unranked team (at the start) and want to jump a team with the same record who started ranked, you don't leapfrog by being better in a couple of those factors you just mentioned. You have to be better in nearly all of them. Preseason rankings create an uneven playing field. There shouldn't be any rankings until AT LEAST mid-October.

 

[EastLosRandy]

That's not the point I'm making. If all those factors were equal, then it would come down to where they started the year. And if you're an unranked team (at the start) and want to jump a team with the same record who started ranked, you don't leapfrog by being better in a couple of those factors you just mentioned. You have to be better in nearly all of them. Preseason rankings create an uneven playing field. There shouldn't be any rankings until AT LEAST mid-October.

This is true.

Why did Boise State have ZERO SHOT at the mNC game last year? Because the experts considered them a second ten team before the season. (#14 AP, #16 Coaches)

Why does Boise State have a GREAT SHOT at the mNC game this year? Because the experts will have them in the preseason top five.

Same damn team. Totally different prospects thanks to preseason PERCEPTION. It is the fatal flaw in the current system.

 

[homerHAWKeye777]

That being said, Iowa has a good team this year with alot of returning players. Ive said it before and ill say it again. Unless Stanzi can wake up and not throw pick 6s and play a full 4quarters of FB then you guys are going to have the same close calls as you did last year. As far as Nebraska well i think our lack of offence speaks for itself. But its spring and we just wont know what will happen until August.

BigRedPowrWagon -

- Stanzi didn't throw nearly as many INTs when Iowa had Greene. Thus, that alone indicates that even if Stanzi weren't working hard on cleaning up his game, an improved Iowa running game could still do wonders with regard to improving his INT to pass attempt ratio. And, as a matter of fact, with a very nice stable of experienced RBs and a HEALTHY group of O-linemen that is comprised heavily of upperclassmen (albeit mostly JRs) ... I genuinely believe that the Iowa running game will be much improved in 2010.

- Stanzi has a record of making marked strides in areas where he works hard to improve. In '08 he fumbled the ball WAY TOO MUCH ... in '09 it was basically rendered a non-issue ... and that was even with him playing behind a juggled OL.

The above factors alone are enough to ensure that Stanzi won't have the same pick-6 issues. That's not to say that he won't throw any ... however, he'll also likely make improvements in the rest of his game ... thereby leading him to throw more TD passes too!

If there is anything that could lead Iowa to struggle, it would most likely come down to the development of the OL or the focus/motivation of the squad. With the expectations as high as they are in 2010, it's not a given that the team will remember that they actually needed the UNI wake-up call in order to pull off the '09 season. Of course, while it's not a given, I'm heartened by what the folks on the Big Ten Network were saying about the Iowa squad coming out of spring camp ... it sounded like the squad has their collective heads screwed on right. That could render my latter concern moot.