bamahawkeye
Well-Known Member
I started a thread back in December stating the difference between Iowa and Wisconsin football right now is attitude. Seeing Wisky in their second straight Rose Bowl and Garmon commit tonight made me start thinking about this again. I started wondering if there was something more to it, but I really don't think there is and here's why:
I looked back to 2009 and compared classes. I just used Rivals, so this isn't a science, but in '09, Iowa's class was not in the top 50, and Wisky's came in at 43. In 2010, Iowa's class ranked 42 and Wisky's was not in the top 50. Last year's Iowa class was #30 and Wisky's was #40. So far this year, Wisky is #30 and Iowa has moved to #37 with Garmon committing. Now, Iowa's classes lost 8 players (out of 20) from the '09 class, 3 players (out of 22) from the 2010 class and 5 players (out of 25 and I included Coe even though he may come back) from last year's class. These numbers may not be exact, but to my knowledge we have lost 16 players over the last 3 years. I don't know the attrition rates at Wisky over that time, but I doubt it is that high.
I say all that to say I don't see any significant difference between Iowa and Wisky other than attitude. Don't get me wrong, Russell Wilson was a HUGE difference maker on this team this year. I really didn't think he would make that type of impact. But he was very, very impressive. But I still think without him this team wins 8 or 9 games (maybe more). Now, I don't know much about Wisky, but injuries have played a part (a small part IMO) in Iowa's struggles, as has graduation and players leaving early. But I don't think these things have affected Iowa drastically more than Wisky (I know the argument will be made about last year's graduating class, and how that was a HUGE blow to this year's team, but this thread is long enough already, so I'll wait for someone to bring it up before I counter). Attrition along the defensive front has definitely hurt Iowa. But I believe there is a connection between attrition and attitude, so I lump that into my argument....(yes, I know, I'm driving all this info to my side).
With all that being said, if recruiting classes, injuries, graduation, and players leaving for the draft are equal, these 2 programs shouldn't be dramatically different. But if you compare the last 3 years in each program, Wisky's looks so much healthier than Iowa's it's really not even close. Listen to the group of lineman that were interviewed before the game yesterday. Listen to Bielema talk on the Gameday set yesterday with Chip Kelly. You may not be able to "see" a difference in attitude on the field, but you can "hear" a difference in attitude when each of these programs "talk".
Does this theory hold water?
I looked back to 2009 and compared classes. I just used Rivals, so this isn't a science, but in '09, Iowa's class was not in the top 50, and Wisky's came in at 43. In 2010, Iowa's class ranked 42 and Wisky's was not in the top 50. Last year's Iowa class was #30 and Wisky's was #40. So far this year, Wisky is #30 and Iowa has moved to #37 with Garmon committing. Now, Iowa's classes lost 8 players (out of 20) from the '09 class, 3 players (out of 22) from the 2010 class and 5 players (out of 25 and I included Coe even though he may come back) from last year's class. These numbers may not be exact, but to my knowledge we have lost 16 players over the last 3 years. I don't know the attrition rates at Wisky over that time, but I doubt it is that high.
I say all that to say I don't see any significant difference between Iowa and Wisky other than attitude. Don't get me wrong, Russell Wilson was a HUGE difference maker on this team this year. I really didn't think he would make that type of impact. But he was very, very impressive. But I still think without him this team wins 8 or 9 games (maybe more). Now, I don't know much about Wisky, but injuries have played a part (a small part IMO) in Iowa's struggles, as has graduation and players leaving early. But I don't think these things have affected Iowa drastically more than Wisky (I know the argument will be made about last year's graduating class, and how that was a HUGE blow to this year's team, but this thread is long enough already, so I'll wait for someone to bring it up before I counter). Attrition along the defensive front has definitely hurt Iowa. But I believe there is a connection between attrition and attitude, so I lump that into my argument....(yes, I know, I'm driving all this info to my side).
With all that being said, if recruiting classes, injuries, graduation, and players leaving for the draft are equal, these 2 programs shouldn't be dramatically different. But if you compare the last 3 years in each program, Wisky's looks so much healthier than Iowa's it's really not even close. Listen to the group of lineman that were interviewed before the game yesterday. Listen to Bielema talk on the Gameday set yesterday with Chip Kelly. You may not be able to "see" a difference in attitude on the field, but you can "hear" a difference in attitude when each of these programs "talk".
Does this theory hold water?
