Early Odds

[Grady]

I'm giving the Hawks a better shot than most. We played them two years ago in the same situation. We're going to be ready for their bag of tricks this time around, and it's possible their QB will be playing at less than 100%.

Unfortunately, their 'bag of tricks' involves simply shoving the ball down your throat, until you can't stop it any more. Pretty much exactly what Penn St. did to us in Happy Valley to win 31-0 earlier this year. One thing about this year's Iowa defense which has gone largely unnoted by folks is how undersized they are as a group. Most games they can survive that with supreme effort, but against Penn St., they simply couldn't hold up. Hell, Sparty was running the ball well vs the Hawks the beginning of that game, then simply stopped going to it -- which is the pattern of most teams Iowa plays...they get impatient. Michigan will not.

 

[InGoodCo]

Iowa playing in a game with a virtual monopoly on viewership in prime time losing by 70 is not good under any circumstance. Did losing 42-3 in this game in 2021 help us? No, our offense got even shittier in 2022 and then found a new low in 2023. Did losing this game last year help Purdue? Nope, they went on to lose their bowl game 63-7 and then wound up 4-8 this year. Nebraska hasn't won double digit games since having their manhood stolen at the hands of Wisconsin in this game over a decade ago. These sorts of games break the spirit of our defensive players.

Hell, our side has lost this game every single year it has been in existence. The appearance in these games has done nothing to change the balance of power, which has only gotten worse. It's such a farce, in fact, that the Big Ten had to change the rules in the hopes of finding a game that will draw interest like the SEC gets for its title game.

This game should be a rematch of Ohio and Michigan. They are the two best teams in the conference, with a decent gap over PSU and a light years' gap over everyone else. This is a consolation prize for Iowa being the tallest midget in the West. I hope we come out and win it, but if we lose it by some score like, oh I don't know, say 42-3, there's no upside whatsoever to the program. It's like an NIT berth.

It's hard to quantify especially for somone who looks at things through such a small lense, but the fact that Iowa made it in 21, likely helped them in 22 get within a game of it and in 23 winning it handidly. Being in the game helps a lot. More eyeballs on our program. More people talking about Iowa. It helps with fan interests, it helps with brand and keeps things kind of churning the right direction for the program. Probably is a huge help in recruiting, being able to fall back on the success this program has had. Having it to sell helps more than it hurts and it's a week where the spotlight gets put on our program. Another week of Iowa football while everyone else sits it out? NOT BAD. Would a blow out hurt? It could I guess, but like, not as bad NOT making it to that game. That hurts way way way worse. Keeping Nebraska down and playing in December = good for Iowa football.

Ohio and Michigan would make way more sense, but that's not what it is now is it OK4P? I also didn't say that it was better for the B1G, I said it was good for Iowa cause it is. It's as important as anything to Iowa. It's the ultimate goal. Win your division. Moving forward, we can worry about that, but live in the now my guy!

 

[nilekinnick]

There is no rational way to make an argument for Iowa being competitive in this one, so I will make an irrational argument. I gotta think the entire B1G footprint will be cheering for us (minus Michigan, and maybe Nebraska). Also, Michigan is going to have awful karma with Harbaugh back on the sideline. That's all I got.

Unfortunately, I see the Big 10 wanting Michigan to dominate and justify a #1 playoff ranking and possibly pulling OSU into the #4 playoff spot. Conf wants to see a Big 10 team win it all. The cards are stacked against us in my opinion.

 

[SCHawkeye2]

It's hard to quantify especially for somone who looks at things through such a small lense, but the fact that Iowa made it in 21, likely helped them in 22 get within a game of it and in 23 winning it handidly. Being in the game helps a lot. More eyeballs on our program. More people talking about Iowa. It helps with fan interests, it helps with brand and keeps things kind of churning the right direction for the program. Probably is a huge help in recruiting, being able to fall back on the success this program has had. Having it to sell helps more than it hurts and it's a week where the spotlight gets put on our program. Another week of Iowa football while everyone else sits it out? NOT BAD. Would a blow out hurt? It could I guess, but like, not as bad NOT making it to that game. That hurts way way way worse. Keeping Nebraska down and playing in December = good for Iowa football.

Ohio and Michigan would make way more sense, but that's not what it is now is it OK4P? I also didn't say that it was better for the B1G, I said it was good for Iowa cause it is. It's as important as anything to Iowa. It's the ultimate goal. Win your division. Moving forward, we can worry about that, but live in the now my guy!

More people talking about Iowa.

You do realize these people are not talking about Iowa in a positive way?

 

[InGoodCo]

More people talking about Iowa.

You do realize these people are not talking about Iowa in a positive way.

If it wasn't drenched and soaked of jealousy I might take some of that stuff to heart but even then, that's a small vocal minority. Plus, grow some skin. You can't take some superficial jokes fat boy?

Overwhelmingly, and I do mean overwhelmingly, positive to VERY postive takes so far about Iowa football is what I've heard, read and witnessed and I follow this sport as closely as anyone. I read the Saturday Omaha World Herald sports section front to back. It was basically an infomercial for how good Iowa is at football. 18-1 in their last 19 November games. That seems positive. Iowa wins the west in 2 of the last 3 seasons. Seems positive. I live in a market of one of our biggest rivals. They made fun of Iowa all season long but weird vibe on my drive in this morning was "winners win, losers lose"

Iowa fans think their losing even when their winning at clips the school has rarely ever seen. If that's not being a terrible fan, I don't know what is. It's the worse and those fans suck and when I say suck, I mean, F all of them and I hope they die in a car accident.

 

[Hawkboys]

If it wasn't drenched and soaked of jealousy I might take some of that stuff to heart but even then, that's a small vocal minority. Plus, grow some skin. You can't take some superficial jokes fat boy?

Overwhelmingly, and I do mean overwhelmingly, positive to VERY postive takes so far about Iowa football is what I've heard, read and witnessed and I follow this sport as closely as anyone. I read the Saturday Omaha World Herald sports section front to back. It was basically an infomercial for how good Iowa is at football. 18-1 in their last 19 November games. That seems positive. Iowa wins the west in 2 of the last 3 seasons. Seems positive. I live in a market of one of our biggest rivals. They made fun of Iowa all season long but weird vibe on my drive in this morning was "winners win, losers lose"

Iowa fans think their losing even when their winning at clips the school has rarely ever seen. If that's not being a terrible fan, I don't know what is. It's the worse and those fans suck and when I say suck, I mean, F all of them and I hope they die in a car accident.

The country loves IA Football and Kirk's tenure and program overall. They don't love Brian and the nepotism that kept him in role for '23. The good greatly outweighs the bad nationally. Not so much on social media locally.

 

[InGoodCo]

The country loves IA Football and Kirk's tenure and program overall. They don't love Brian and the nepotism that kept him in role for '23. The good greatly outweighs the bad nationally. Not so much on social media locally.

That's amplified by our OWN fan base and then perpetuated by our rivals on social media. That's fine and happens everywhere but don't put a whole lot of stock into it because it's a joke, being said by people who have no clue that are also a joke.

It's why I said I hope shitty hawk fans die in a car crash.... it's not true, I don't want that, but I'll just go ahead and say it anyways because what's it matter? You're all going to believe whatever you want but I can assure you that this is overwhelmingly a huge positive for Iowa football.

I think a lot of the nepotism was sqaushed when Beth dropped the hammer. In fact, I think emotions have swung the other way now with making Brian a pretty sympathetic story. Either way, Iowa fans should be happy as shit. They won the West and get a new OC, best of both worlds. Like, what's to complain about now? I guess it's losing by 30

 

[Hawkboys]

That's amplified by our OWN fan base and then perpetuated by our rivals on social media. That's fine and happens everywhere but don't put a whole lot of stock into it because it's a joke, being said by people who have no clue that are also a joke.

It's why I said I hope shitty hawk fans die in a car crash.... it's not true, I don't want that, but I'll just go ahead and say it anyways because what's it matter? You're all going to believe whatever you want but I can assure you that this is overwhelmingly a huge positive for Iowa football.

I think a lot of the nepotism was sqaushed when Beth dropped the hammer. In fact, I think emotions have swung the other way now with making Brian a pretty sympathetic story. Either way, Iowa fans should be happy as shit. They won the West and get a new OC, best of both worlds. Like, what's to complain about now? I guess it's losing by 30

There's at least 12 other teams and their fan bases jealous of IA in the B1G Championship game.

 

[HuckFinn]

Frankly, I am getting a big kick out of the media, our opponents, likely many others, who are disrespecting Iowa. They do tend to shut up when presented with one simple fact: Iowa is 10-2 and playing for a BT Championship, in addition to being solidly into the top 20 of the only poll that matters. Love to hear them whine...

 

[thedukeofearl]

Hoping for a miracle.

 

[InGoodCo]

The country loves IA Football and Kirk's tenure and program overall. They don't love Brian and the nepotism that kept him in role for '23. The good greatly outweighs the bad nationally. Not so much on social media locally.

Everyone loves Iowa right now. They are the underdog and they are taking on a team marred in controversy that literally EVERYONE fucking hates right now.

Enjoy it. Relish in it. These are the good ole days you'll tell the kids about Iowa football back when. This isn't a spot to clinch up, this isn't a spot to brace for impact, it's a spot of envy and if you can't take some jokes about our offense you are fragile (must be Italian) beyond repair and should have your football fandom revoked. I'm not saying they (people who can't enjoy this season) are giant pussies, but they definitely aren't any Iowa fans I would be proud to know.

 

[thedukeofearl]

That's amplified by our OWN fan base and then perpetuated by our rivals on social media. That's fine and happens everywhere but don't put a whole lot of stock into it because it's a joke, being said by people who have no clue that are also a joke.

It's why I said I hope shitty hawk fans die in a car crash.... it's not true, I don't want that, but I'll just go ahead and say it anyways because what's it matter? You're all going to believe whatever you want but I can assure you that this is overwhelmingly a huge positive for Iowa football.

I think a lot of the nepotism was sqaushed when Beth dropped the hammer. In fact, I think emotions have swung the other way now with making Brian a pretty sympathetic story. Either way, Iowa fans should be happy as shit. They won the West and get a new OC, best of both worlds. Like, what's to complain about now? I guess it's losing by 30

Quite a few Hawkeye fans attract the worst Hawkfans and those who have bitter hatred of anything

HAWKEYE

F Them All

 

[CP87]

If it wasn't drenched and soaked of jealousy I might take some of that stuff to heart but even then, that's a small vocal minority. Plus, grow some skin. You can't take some superficial jokes fat boy?

Overwhelmingly, and I do mean overwhelmingly, positive to VERY postive takes so far about Iowa football is what I've heard, read and witnessed and I follow this sport as closely as anyone. I read the Saturday Omaha World Herald sports section front to back. It was basically an infomercial for how good Iowa is at football. 18-1 in their last 19 November games. That seems positive. Iowa wins the west in 2 of the last 3 seasons. Seems positive. I live in a market of one of our biggest rivals. They made fun of Iowa all season long but weird vibe on my drive in this morning was "winners win, losers lose"

Iowa fans think their losing even when their winning at clips the school has rarely ever seen. If that's not being a terrible fan, I don't know what is. It's the worse and those fans suck and when I say suck, I mean, F all of them and I hope they die in a car accident.

Iowa's offense has been the butt of the joke for 3 years running, and that is not good publicity.

However, seeing the special atmosphere that has been created at Iowa, seeing a coaching staff that truly cares about their players (and vice versa), and seeing a tough-as-nails team that just gets the job done over and over...great publicity.

 

[CP87]

In most of our big wins over top-ranked opponents recently, we have had at least 2 difference-making offensive players to lean on, and we have had Kinnick.

In 2016 over Michigan, leaning heavily on CJB and Wadley.

In 2017 over OSU, leaning heavily on Wadley, Hockenson, and Fant.

In 2017 near upset of PSU, Wadley almost single-handedly kept us in that game.

The 2021 victory over PSU was a bit different in that offense was a struggle, but we still had Goodson and LaPorta making plays, and freshman Keagan Johnson made a huge play. And BF dialed up the perfect trick play at the perfect time to get us in the endzone. Also, the 2021 D and ST (like this year's) were absolutely elite.

I think L. Williams and K. Johnson are big play guys, but they are never on the field at the same time to stress a defense. We don't have Kinnick. We do have elite D and ST. An upset feels inconceivable, and if it going to happen, it is going to involve some Warren Holloway level "where the Hell did that come from?" type of plays.

 

[InGoodCo]

Iowa's offense has been the butt of the joke for 3 years running, and that is not good publicity.

However, seeing the special atmosphere that has been created at Iowa, seeing a coaching staff that truly cares about their players (and vice versa), and seeing a tough-as-nails team that just gets the job done over and over...great publicity.

Right, I don't care about those jokes because they are typically coming from something that has very little substance attached to it. Like, this coming from Nebraska media? Take it with a grain of salt. Like this coming from ESPN who contractually loses rights to the B1G next season, take it with a GIANT grain of salt. Iowa State fans and media sure do like to stir up Hok fans right? Scoreboard.

All that matters in the end are W's and L's. Iowa is on the right side of history there, so rest easy that you don't really have to hear the trolls. There are about 15-16 programs in the country that can talk down to Iowa and honestly, I don't hear them chirping much, but I do HEAR a lot of terrible team's fans talk an awful lot of trash about our terrible offense all while not being able to hold our jock winning wise. Who cares what they say and even then, know that's being done from a spot of envy.

 

[InGoodCo]

Oh no Stewart Mandel made fun of our offense on Twitter! How will Iowa football ever recover? Pat McAfee made fun of our offense today, should we even bother lining up a team to play next weekend?

Pat Mcafee's a fucking pro wrestler and Stewart Mandel ranked Scott Frost ahead of Kirk Ferentz as far as being a better coach in the B1G 4 straight years - like, I'm pretty positive our recruits aren't this dumb and shallow, some jokes about our offense aint so bad.

 

[HaydenHawk56]

But we get a chance to do that, that's good, not bad. This week, regardless of the outcome or final score, this is GREAT for Iowa football. The extra game, the focus it will put on our program. It's great for recruiting. Iowa not only won the West with this enimic offense, they won it by a couple of games. You have to tip your hat to the staff, they learned from last year and improved on it. This is ONLY GOOD for Iowa, I don't care if they lose by 70. You won't convince me otherwise. Extra football for a team that only get's 12 games a year is what I want every single season....now that we have it, F all of you who think that isn't a good thing.

I would have to agree.....you can't be scared to make the title game. All that you can ask for it put yourself into the position to have a chance. And, they did, like you said. Does getting routed suck. Yes. But, what sucks worse is not making the title game at all....especially in the West....and the last year of the West.


And, we never know 100% for sure what will happen. What if JJ goes down with an injury in the game and their back-up gets swallowed up by our D. You just never know.

 

[HaydenHawk56]

Also Iowa has absolutely nothing to lose here. Really, all the pressure should on be on Michigan.

I think they will try to kill us quick.....but if we survive this first couple of quarters and it is a dogfight...anything can happen.

 

[eyekwah]

Football is a fickle sport. You witnessed that on Friday. This coming Saturday night Michigan's success depends on McCarthy's arm and legs. A unexpected injury could derail Michigan's plans. Iowa's season was somewhat derailed by injuries. Michigan and Iowa played bruising games this past weekend. Michigan intensity was on display. The week before they were challenged by Maryland and caught some breaks. I don't expect Iowa to overcome its obstacle, which is its offense. I do expect the Iowa team will give its best.

 

[HuckFinn]

Everyone loves Iowa right now. They are the underdog and they are taking on a team marred in controversy that literally EVERYONE fucking hates right now.

Enjoy it. Relish in it. These are the good ole days you'll tell the kids about Iowa football back when. This isn't a spot to clinch up, this isn't a spot to brace for impact, it's a spot of envy and if you can't take some jokes about our offense you are fragile (must be Italian) beyond repair and should have your football fandom revoked. I'm not saying they (people who can't enjoy this season) are giant pussies, but they definitely aren't any Iowa fans I would be proud to know.

Yup