Hated Northwestern last week but love them this week

W

westender

Well-Known Member
Pound the Huskers in Lincoln. Don't wait til the last play like past teams they played this year. Take out the frustrations on Nebraska in Lincoln and help out the Hawks to create some distance from them. 2:30pm game on ABC I think. Good to sit back and watch.
 
Nebraska already has 2 B10 losses. I actually think Hawkeye fans should want Nebraska to keep rolling until the Black Friday showdown. Why? Because IF the Hawks manage to make it to that game undefeated then you are talking about a realistic chance of making the College Football Playoffs. They would be two huge wins away from it. You want those wins to be as impressive as possible. A win over an improving Nebraska team and then a win over Michigan State or Ohio State in the B10 Championship would absolutely vault Iowa into the playoff.

Please keep in mind I'm not predicting this to happen. I'm just making the case that we probably want those late season games to be as important as possible. That's what will be on the playoff committees minds when they meet for deliberation.
 
Northwestern winning out would look better than Nebraska winning out because they only have 2 loses.
 
I'm neutral in who I want to win this game. I tried to determine who I want to win based on remaining schedules and while Nebraska still has to play MSU it is a home game for them and Northwestern still has to play @ Wisconsin.

I think the team we all should really be rooting for is Illinois. All the knocks Iowa gets for not playing Ohio State, MSU, or Michigan also apply to Wisconsin. Illinois is hosting Wisconsin this Saturday and I would be more confortable with Iowa's chances to win the West if Illinois was to win that game.
 
So it's a question of what you expect Iowa to do from here on out.
For
B1G championship only, we don't really have a preference as far as who wins Ill. vs. Wiscy. Looking at Illinois' schedule, let's hope they beat Wisconsin because they're unlikely to pull wins against OSU and NW later in the season.

With NW, it doesn't matter if they beat Nebraska or not, since we have 2 games plus on them both. This is where you might have to say we want NW to win out, help the strength of schedule part of our resume.
 
It is very simple. Iowa fans should want Northwestern to win. Iowa has beaten Northwestern & the Pussycats have two conference losses. Therefore, Iowa has a three game lead over Northwestern. Iowa has a two game lead over Nebraska. If Northwestern wins, the Hawks will have a three game lead over both teams. Any questions?
 
tksirius said:
The last thing we want is a 5 or 6 win Nebby team when we play them.
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I agree. I think those late season games are just as important as the SOS because it's the last imprint the committee has of each team. Look at the way OSU finished their season last year. They dominated and earned themselves a spot in the playoffs.

Unless there are a bunch of undefeated teams, one loss teams can sneak into the playoffs if their loss was early on in the season. When a team loses late it typically takes them out of the picture. Impressive wins late in the season can help as well. That's why I believe it's important for the Iowa vs Nebraska game to be as hyped up as possible.

That, and I'm sorry but Northwestern just looks dead in the water right now, and Nebraska looks like they're turning a corner. I don't see any way Northwestern regains momentum, but I could see Nebraska making a nice little run.
 
If the Hawks win out, it won't matter at all what everyone else does bc they WILL be in the playoff. Why? Bc they will have already essentially won a playoff game by beating OSU or MSU in the B1G Championship game. If they lose a game, they have zero chance to make the playoff.

So given that, there are only 2 losses that matter to the Hawks that will help them advance to the B1G championship game should they falter before the Nebbie game. #1) A WI loss to anyone. Hawks have a 2 game advantage over them but if they win out and Iowa loses to anyone BF NE and then lose to NE on the road after NE's bye week, then WI is in. 2) A NE loss to anyone. This is likely with MSU looming. But if Iowa loses 1 game bf NE and NE wins out, they move to the B1G over Iowa. 3) if Iowa wins the next 4, none of this matters.
 
If we are talking about best possibility of play off, I think Pitt and NW are our best friends. If Iowa goes undefeated road wins vs a quality Pitt team and a NW team who's win vs Stanford wasn't a fluke, plus an b10 championship win. To me that is the recipe.
 
HawkInATX said:
So it's a question of what you expect Iowa to do from here on out.
For
B1G championship only, we don't really have a preference as far as who wins Ill. vs. Wiscy. Looking at Illinois' schedule, let's hope they beat Wisconsin because they're unlikely to pull wins against OSU and NW later in the season.

With NW, it doesn't matter if they beat Nebraska or not, since we have 2 games plus on them both. This is where you might have to say we want NW to win out, help the strength of schedule part of our resume.
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Yes we do. Go Illini! They will lose other games Wsiky needs another loss.
 
ColumbusHawk said:
It is very simple. Iowa fans should want Northwestern to win. Iowa has beaten Northwestern & the Pussycats have two conference losses. Therefore, Iowa has a three game lead over Northwestern. Iowa has a two game lead over Nebraska. If Northwestern wins, the Hawks will have a three game lead over both teams. Any questions?
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That is a good point, Northwestern beating Nebraska gives Iowa a little more cushion in the West standings. I know some are thinking playoffs, which is ok, but I'm just hoping Iowa wins the West Division.
 
IATrainMaster101 said:
If we are talking about best possibility of play off, I think Pitt and NW are our best friends. If Iowa goes undefeated road wins vs a quality Pitt team and a NW team who's win vs Stanford wasn't a fluke, plus an b10 championship win. To me that is the recipe.
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I disagree, if you are thinking playoffs then it really doesn't matter who beats who. The only way Iowa gets into the playoffs is if they finish the season undefeated, including the Big Ten Championship. I find it highly unlikely an undefeated team from the Big Ten gets left out.
 
I never get tired of seeing Nebraska lose given how they came into this conference thinking they'd easily win it every year. I do think for the Hawkeyes it's advantageous for them to look as good as possible when they go in there at the end of the year though. I think that's the toughest game (Indiana?) left. Win and you want a quality win. You certainly don't want to end an otherwise successful season by losing to a Big 10 bottom feeder the last game of the season. That could happen more easily than most seem to think right now.
 
sonofjim said:
I never get tired of seeing Nebraska lose given how they came into this conference thinking they'd easily win it every year. I do think for the Hawkeyes it's advantageous for them to look as good as possible when they go in there at the end of the year though. I think that's the toughest game (Indiana?) left. Win and you want a quality win. You certainly don't want to end an otherwise successful season by losing to a Big 10 bottom feeder the last game of the season. That could happen more easily than most seem to think right now.
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I never get tired of seeing them lose either. Soften them up more for Black Friday. Take the air out of the crowd or god forbid have some empty seats or more black and gold in their stadium.

Having Northwestern win now should help their rankings and they have better wins than Nebraska does. I think as long as the Hawks win, go Wisconsin and go Northwestern. Make us look even better. Nebraska has already crapped the bed too much to get too far up in any ranking.
 
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