Iowa 16, ISU 24 in first CFP Poll

[uihawk82]

Face it, it is hard to go undefeated in the regular season. Even Clemson and Bama have not been able to stay unblemished over the last few years. USC is down, UCLA is a huge school with a great number of athletes close to home to recruit from and they are really struggling, Texas crept up to #7 then got spanked by a team in Okie St that is way overrated and ISU beat.

Iowa is not going to win every game, this years team could be undefeated but they arent because of the mistakes, they are not a well oiled machine and some of that is on the coaches.

Yet even with all that here they are ranked #16 in the CFP poll and they are an exciting team to watch and they are our hawks. Go Hawks,

 

[cincyhawk]

I feel pretty good. I expected 8 - 4 and to beat 0 ranked teams. Now we'll have beaten at least one ranked team and will end up 10 - 2. Second in Big 10 west, and everybody should be back next year.

We need to focus on the passing game and need a center.

 

[NoBeer]

It's so sad the way some of you want to jump up and down about such small accomplishments.

#16 is more about parity than it is about how good Iowa is. Woohoo, only one spot below blueblood powerhouse Utah! One spot ahead of lost-to-Maryland Texas. Two spots ahead of 3-loss Mississippi St.

In the AP poll we are #19, one spot below Utah State and just ahead of Fresno State.

It's been great the last couple weeks to have the Hawks in the Top-25, and actually see their scores & highlights covered with the rest of the big boys, but it doesn't change the fact that they missed their only 2 chances for "statement" wins.

Exactly. So far we have one pretty OK win, ISU. Other than that we've lost every game of import and every game against a better than mediocre opponent. We could easily go 2-2 on the way out here. Hell if we can't get out of our own way, we could go 1-3.

Be realistic. You can talk about how good the best MAC teams are and that every conference game is always tough, etc. but come on. Other than ISU, we've beaten Northern Illinois, UNI, Minnesota, Indiana, Maryland. Those teams are really not good.

 

[Xerxes]

I don't know what JKC means...

But, I didn't say anybody sucked or was shitty. I said there's a lot of parity this year, and being in the Top-25 right now is not a huge accomplishment.

Also, if you look at the list, you'll see 3 teams w/ 3 losses. Mississippi State is #18, at 5-3? Like I said, parity (there were no 3-loss teams in the first CFP rankings last year).

For Iowa it is. They've barely been there for since mid 2010.

 

[hawkeyes87]

For Iowa it is. They've barely been there for since mid 2010.

I know. Everything's relative, right?

As I said in my first post (#23) it's been nice the last few weeks having their scores mentioned w/out having to wait for an "other games" segment.

 

[4thngoal]

As I said top 20 teams can pretty much win any game amongst themselves.
Look our 2 losses were not because we were out matched.
There isn't much difference between #5 and #20
As we said in another thread all signs point to that we could give Clemson a heck of a game.
It's like the difference between a #5 ranked class and a #15 ranked class. 10 spots sounds like a lot, but it's really not.
It's like a funnel. The closer to the #1 spot the less the gap is.
That's why we need to clean up the details.
It's why our ol needs to be on fire.

 

[hawkeyes87]

As we said in another thread all signs point to that we could give Clemson a heck of a game.

I haven't seen this other thread, and I realize "could" is not the same as "would", but what signs would lead anybody to that conclusion?

Clemson's dl would shred our ol, and we know how NS responds to pressure...

 

[4thngoal]

I haven't seen this other thread, and I realize "could" is not the same as "would", but what signs would lead anybody to that conclusion?

Clemson's dl would shred our ol, and we know how NS responds to pressure...

Sorry this thread a page ago.
A&M and Syracuse both gave them a game.

 

[hawkeyes87]

Sorry this thread a page ago.
A&M and Syracuse both gave them a game.

Okay...

A&M and Syracuse are both currently rated, unlike the Wisconsin team that beat Iowa.

That Wisconsin team lost to BYU, right? So BYU > Iowa?

But wait! BYU just lost to Northern Illinois, and we know Iowa > Northern Illinois! Chaos!

 

[4thngoal]

Okay...

A&M and Syracuse are both currently rated, unlike the Wisconsin team that beat Iowa.

That Wisconsin team lost to BYU, right? So BYU > Iowa?

But wait! BYU just lost to Northern Illinois, and we know Iowa > Northern Illinois! Chaos!

Our pf and pa are better than Wisconsin's.
Our sos is 21 and theirs is 32.
We lost, but the better team did not win.

Oh and just for fun, Nebraska for all this "OMG we have a hard schedule this year" bs. They have a sos of 42nd.
Minnesota has a harder schedule!!
Like 10 big ten teams have a harder schedule than Nebraska.

 

[hawkeyes87]

A&M and Syracuse both gave them a game.

Wisconsin...We lost, but the better team did not win.

So...?

Say the Hawks pulled out a W against Wisconsin.

Iowa "could" beat Clemson because Top-25 teams Syracuse and TAMU gave Clemson a game. Meanwhile, 4-4 Wisconsin gave Iowa a game...

?? Do you see any flaws in your logic ??

Clemson's starting DL might all be 1st round draftees this year. I don't think that bodes well for a matchup w/ Iowa.

 

[4thngoal]

So...?

Say the Hawks pulled out a W against Wisconsin.

Iowa "could" beat Clemson because Top-25 teams Syracuse and TAMU gave Clemson a game. Meanwhile, 4-4 Wisconsin gave Iowa a game...

?? Do you see any flaws in your logic ??

Clemson's starting DL might all be 1st round draftees this year. I don't think that bodes well for a matchup w/ Iowa.

And Iowa gave PSU (who is ranked) a game and beat a very good ISU (who is #1 in sos).

I'm just saying on a good day the distance you see between Iowa and Clemson is not as big of gap as some pretend it to be.

 

[hawkeyes87]

beat a very good ISU (who is #1 in sos).

Seriously? Very good ISU??

You understand that SOS is just a measure of your opponents, right? #1 SOS doesn't mean squat about how good a team is.

Very good ISU lost to 3-5 TCU (who just lost to Kansas)…


Anyway, I'm tired of going back and forth on this- let's cut to the chase, eh?

If Iowa and Clemson played on a neutral field Saturday, how confident would you be dropping a bet on Iowa, straight-up?

On a scale of 1 ( not at all ) to 10 ( no doubts )

 

[4thngoal]

For one thing, when you play the toughest schedule in the league you are going to be beaten and beaten up.
As per your question, a 5.
When Iowa plays well, that game could go either way.

 

[deanvogs]

Exactly. So far we have one pretty OK win, ISU. Other than that we've lost every game of import and every game against a better than mediocre opponent. We could easily go 2-2 on the way out here. Hell if we can't get out of our own way, we could go 1-3.

Be realistic. You can talk about how good the best MAC teams are and that every conference game is always tough, etc. but come on. Other than ISU, we've beaten Northern Illinois, UNI, Minnesota, Indiana, Maryland. Those teams are really not good.

The simple fact is Iowa is the #16 team right now based on what they have done to date compared to all other D1 teams. You might think they suck, but people who actually know football, and know the rest of the football landscape realize that what Iowa has done to date is the 16th best in all of D1 football.

 

[4thngoal]

The simple fact is Iowa is the #16 team right now based on what they have done to date compared to all other D1 teams. You might think they suck, but people who actually know football, and know the rest of the football landscape realize that what Iowa has done to date is the 16th best in all of D1 football.

Look, say what you will, but Iowa is closer to winning a game against a top 10 team (which is pretty close to the playoffs) then much of the conference is to beating OSU or Michigan.
Is this good enough? Absolutely not. Winning the national championship is the goal.
Is it something to be proud of? Absolutely.

Look in any race (of 120 cars) being in the top 20 means you are not far behind 1st place. After a certain point, you could finish 70th and never even finish three quarters of the race.

We need to finish strong! We haven't won a statement game, so every game left this year becomes one. Each one becomes an opportunity for each individual and the team as a whole to puu their stamp on the season.

 

[NoBeer]

We need to finish strong! We haven't won a statement game, so every game left this year becomes one. Each one becomes an opportunity for each individual and the team as a whole to puu their stamp on the season.

That's more my take to be honest. Win out and its a good season. Go 2-2 over the next 4 and its another ho hum Iowa season where we can't really win any big games.