JonDMiller
Publisher/Founder
Back in December, I wrote an article talking about how favorable Iowa's 2014 football schedule was going to be. But I didn't know then how it would stack up to the rest of the league.
Jesse Temple of Fox Sports-Wisconsin took a look at every Big Ten team's schedule for the upcoming year and applied a ranking measure to it. He took the combined Big Ten record of last year's league foes and added them up related to this year's schedule.
Wisconsin's slate was the easiest with their 2014 Big Ten foes going 22-42 last year. Iowa was next in line with their 2014 opponents adding up to 23-41 from one year ago.
Here was the entire list that Temple came up with:
Wisconsin: 22-42 (.343 winning percentage)
Iowa: 23-41 (.359)
Nebraska: 28-36 (.437)
Northwestern: 28-36 (.437)
Michigan State: 29-35 (.453)
Minnesota: 29-35 (.453)
Ohio State: 29-35 (.453)
Penn State: 31-33 (.484)
Illinois: 33-31 (.515)
Purdue: 33-31 (.515)
Michigan: 34-30 (.531)
Indiana: 35-29 (.546)
Maryland: 40-24 (.625)
Rutgers: 41-23 (.640)
You'll note that the first four in this ranking are Big Ten West foes, as are four of the first five. You should also be reminded that Iowa nor Wisconsin plays Michigan, Michigan State, Penn State or Ohio State next season.
Here is Iowa's schedule in 2014
Aug 30 Northern Iowa
Sep 06 Ball State
Sep 13 Iowa State
Sep 20 at Pittsburgh
Sep 27 at Purdue
Oct 4 Bye
Oct 11 Indiana
Oct 18 at Maryland
Oct 25 Bye
Nov 1 Northwestern
Nov 8 at Minnesota
Nov 15 at Illinois
Nov 22 Wisconsin
Nov 28 Nebraska
Iowa's non-conference slate is hardly a murderer's row, while Wisconsin plays LSU and Nebraska hosts Miami of Florida as well as playing Fresno State at Fresno. Yes, Derek Carr is gone but still, I give the Huskers credit for playing there.
Iowa plays two 'BCS' league opponents in Iowa State and Pitt, but the Cyclones will struggle to match last year's win total (3) and Pittsburgh is not LSU.
So does Iowa have the easiest overall schedule in the Big Ten in 2014?
You've seen the winning percentage numbers from last year listed above. Here are the schools listed 1 through 5 on that list and their out of conference opponents.
Northwestern
08/30 - California
09/06 - Northern Illinois
09/20 - Western Illinois
11/15 - at Notre Dame
Nebraska
08/30 - Florida Atlantic
09/06 - McNeese State
09/13 - at Fresno State
09/20 - Miami (FL)
Minnesota
08/28 - Eastern Illinois
09/06 - Middle Tennessee
09/13 - at TCU
09/20 - San Jose State
Michigan State
08/30 - Jacksonville State
09/06 - at Oregon
09/20 - Eastern Michigan
09/27 - Wyoming
Wisconsin
08/30 - LSU (at Houston, TX)
09/06 - Western Illinois
09/20 - Bowling Green
09/27 - USF
Considering the fact that Minnesota plays at TCU and Michigan in back to back weeks and also hosts Ohio State, they trump Iowa.
It's tough to come to any other conclusion other than this one; Iowa has the MOST FAVORABLE schedule of any Big Ten team
Jesse Temple of Fox Sports-Wisconsin took a look at every Big Ten team's schedule for the upcoming year and applied a ranking measure to it. He took the combined Big Ten record of last year's league foes and added them up related to this year's schedule.
Wisconsin's slate was the easiest with their 2014 Big Ten foes going 22-42 last year. Iowa was next in line with their 2014 opponents adding up to 23-41 from one year ago.
Here was the entire list that Temple came up with:
Wisconsin: 22-42 (.343 winning percentage)
Iowa: 23-41 (.359)
Nebraska: 28-36 (.437)
Northwestern: 28-36 (.437)
Michigan State: 29-35 (.453)
Minnesota: 29-35 (.453)
Ohio State: 29-35 (.453)
Penn State: 31-33 (.484)
Illinois: 33-31 (.515)
Purdue: 33-31 (.515)
Michigan: 34-30 (.531)
Indiana: 35-29 (.546)
Maryland: 40-24 (.625)
Rutgers: 41-23 (.640)
You'll note that the first four in this ranking are Big Ten West foes, as are four of the first five. You should also be reminded that Iowa nor Wisconsin plays Michigan, Michigan State, Penn State or Ohio State next season.
Here is Iowa's schedule in 2014
Aug 30 Northern Iowa
Sep 06 Ball State
Sep 13 Iowa State
Sep 20 at Pittsburgh
Sep 27 at Purdue
Oct 4 Bye
Oct 11 Indiana
Oct 18 at Maryland
Oct 25 Bye
Nov 1 Northwestern
Nov 8 at Minnesota
Nov 15 at Illinois
Nov 22 Wisconsin
Nov 28 Nebraska
Iowa's non-conference slate is hardly a murderer's row, while Wisconsin plays LSU and Nebraska hosts Miami of Florida as well as playing Fresno State at Fresno. Yes, Derek Carr is gone but still, I give the Huskers credit for playing there.
Iowa plays two 'BCS' league opponents in Iowa State and Pitt, but the Cyclones will struggle to match last year's win total (3) and Pittsburgh is not LSU.
So does Iowa have the easiest overall schedule in the Big Ten in 2014?
You've seen the winning percentage numbers from last year listed above. Here are the schools listed 1 through 5 on that list and their out of conference opponents.
Northwestern
08/30 - California
09/06 - Northern Illinois
09/20 - Western Illinois
11/15 - at Notre Dame
Nebraska
08/30 - Florida Atlantic
09/06 - McNeese State
09/13 - at Fresno State
09/20 - Miami (FL)
Minnesota
08/28 - Eastern Illinois
09/06 - Middle Tennessee
09/13 - at TCU
09/20 - San Jose State
Michigan State
08/30 - Jacksonville State
09/06 - at Oregon
09/20 - Eastern Michigan
09/27 - Wyoming
Wisconsin
08/30 - LSU (at Houston, TX)
09/06 - Western Illinois
09/20 - Bowling Green
09/27 - USF
Considering the fact that Minnesota plays at TCU and Michigan in back to back weeks and also hosts Ohio State, they trump Iowa.
It's tough to come to any other conclusion other than this one; Iowa has the MOST FAVORABLE schedule of any Big Ten team