Of course it's not "okay"....
So that means its okay to lose to Minnesota 3 of 6 years. Isu 3 of 6 years. 6-7 against NW. ISU is 8-6 vs KF for .57 winning percentage. .32 against other BCS teams.
no one is saying that it is. I would agree that Iowa shouldn't go around saying "we're just little old Iowa." If that's the attitude, then why bother having a program. But neither should fans DEMAND or really even reasonably expect that Iowa should rip off 10+ wins 2 years out of every 3.
There is a reality that Iowa must deal with. The state produces very little top-tier FBS talent. That is not changing, in fact that in reality will only get worse in coming years as demographics in the country continue to change. Basically at this point you draw a line from Tennessee south and to the east, then west going down through Texas and over to California. If you are a school north of that line, you are fighting a huge uphill battle. Schools from those areas have access to substantially more top-level high school talent than do the B1G schools. The evidence is seen this year right in front of us as B1G teams get beat by the likes of Central Michigan, Iowa State, Louisiana Tech, Ball State, Arizona State, Ohio, Virginia, Oregon State. Oh, and when we actually play good teams out of conference the B1G loses to them as well (UCLA, Notre Dame, Alabama). And it could be even worse had Iowa lost to Northern Illinois and the kicker from Utah State made a short FG to beat Wisconsin.
Hell, Michigan has access to the best players in Michigan/Midwest and they didn't even belong on the same field with Alabama. Ohio State, with access to the premier players in Ohio, has looked entirely mediocre to date. Yes, they are undefeated and quite likely the best team in the conference, but they have played 4 games at home and looked thoroughly unconvincing against UCF, Cal and UAB. Cal is 1-3 with a home loss to Nevada. UAB is 0-3 and was way more competitive against the Buckeyes than against either Troy or South Carolina, their other opponents. How would OSU fare against the best teams in the SEC? Not well.
So Iowa is left recruiting the best players in our state (not a whole lot there), and taking leftovers from other schools when the main school in that state doesn't recruit the player. This formula has worked before, but it leaves almost zero margin for error. And as the high-school talent gap continues to widen between the southern states and the nothern/Midwest states, it's going to get harder and harder to win.
Yes, Nebraska was ridiculously successful for a very long time under Osborne, but each additional year goes by and that is more of a memory than a current reality. After seeing Nebraska against a decent Pac-10 team, does anyone really think that the Huskers are close to being a national player? Yes, Nebraska could certainly win the division and the B1G title, but that's a far leap to national relevance in the current state of the B1G.
I have no idea if the Central Michigan game was the beginning of the end of the KF era at Iowa or merely a low point in a rebuilding season that will bear fruit in 2013 and 2014 as Iowa loses only a few starters on both sides of the ball from the 2012 team.
