hawkeyecub

EXACT same script as the other 3 losses this year. Awful playcalling and execution in the red zone (9 points on first 4 trips, come on), miss a short field goal, huge turnover that leads to points and end up losing a close game late. The difference was today Stanzi was bad for most of the day and the o-line had perhaps their worst game all season. Such a frustrating season.

Meph can you give the percentile projection for the Iowa/Illinois game? Vegasinsider.com really likes the Hawks: http://www.vegasinsider.com/college-football/matchups/iowa-@-illinois.cfm

I knew the Big East was loaded, but had no idea it would be this loaded: "The Big East retuns 13 of its 18 leading scorers from last season, 10 of its top 11 rebounders and the top nine finishers in assists." http://www.basketballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=429

I've made one trip to an SEC game (Tennessee at Arkansas in '99). The trip was a ton of fun and great experience in all but one aspect. Every time I was introduced to someone or told anyone where I was from and what team I was a fan of, I got the Red Flash treatment. SEC fans believe some really outlandish things.

The Big Ten is kind of tricky to judge. Northwestern, Minnesota and Ohio State aren't in "college towns" although Columbus probably felt the most like it for me. I like the Twin Cities but everything I've ever done there really had nothing to do with the school or that area except for the game (which in football is off-campus). Never been to State College or East Lansing. Wisconsin- Probably the best "college town" in the conference but also the biggest number of absolute idiots. It's extremely fun when your team wins there as long as you don't get too cocky. When you lose they get extremely cocky and it takes every bit of restraint in your body to resist a fight when they throw things, get in your face, etc... Iowa- Personal favorite for obvious reasons. Top-notch atmosphere on gameday's, excellent female population, accessible and affordable, lots of good non-chain spots, anyone can have fun downtown and get around easily. Indiana- Pretty cool place. People cared more about Midnight Madness than the actual football game that day. Atmosphere stinks but people are friendly. Females were outstanding. Probably completely different for basketball. Michigan- Not bad, nothing special. People are pretentious but not hostile. Stadium is bland. Had a good time because Iowa gave them a beating ('02). Purdue- People were friendly, atmosphere was pretty good. Not much else positive to say about it. Illinois- Only been to one football game there and didn't really spend much time checking stuff out. In fact it ended up just being an extended tailgate and then back to the hotel bar so we didn't have to worry about transportation. Have heard mixed things.

It's not THAT bad, it just has no redeemable qualities. There's nothing to it. Yeah the Big 12 really has some bad college towns.

How about Iowa at Illinois?

Yeah, that's how I feel about Illinois and the rest of the year. Just finish this terrible season already. I hope Illinois feels the same way this weekend. If Iowa wins out they still have a very, very outside chance of getting a share of the Big Ten Title (However that would require beating Penn State, having MSU or Indiana beat PSU and then having someone beat OSU). Very, very outside is about right. I'm just hoping we can go 3-1 and get to a New Year's Day bowl game.

our defense was great against the run but pretty lousy on the pass rush. you aren't going to be able to run a whole lot; wells and the osu o-line are probably better than their iowa counterparts, and we pretty much ate them up. I don't know Truffle. Wells hasn't looked the same to me the last few games. I honestly think Greene is better right now, though Wells is the better talent. As far as the o-line it's tougher to say. This may be our best o-line since '02 and OSU didn't impress last night. Like I said though PSU was swarming up front tonight and getting off blocks. If they play that well we have little chance. Does Emmit Smith think Tim Tebow is a senior? They were talking to him on SportsCenter about how Tebow tied his record and he kept saying "remember he did it in 4, I did it in 3". He is just absolutely horrendous.

Iowa is the only team that stands between PSU and an appearance in the championship. I think they'll handle MSU fairly easily at home. I think Iowa's defense will keep them in the game. It will depend on whether we can get the running game going or not. If PSU plays like they did tonight up front they'll probably win by two scores. I do think our o-line is better than OSU's though. Let's just beat Illinois next week and make it a big game. The bye will help out PSU, but then again they may not want a week off the way they're rolling. Either way I'm so glad it will be PSU representing the Big Ten rather than OSU. About time someone stepped up and knocked them off their throne. I can respect Penn State.

Tell me about it, this sucks. Who outside of Michigan would rather watch Michigan/Michigan State? unfortunately if you live in big ten country, abc/espn think you don't care about any other conference. My problem is that if you live outside the Big Ten region you get Texas/Oklahoma State on ABC and the Michigan/MSU game on ESPN2. So why can't they give us Mich/MSU on ABC and Texas/OSU on ESPN2.

Tell me about it, this sucks. Who outside of Michigan would rather watch Michigan/Michigan State?

I can't figure out if Illinois has the most perfectly designed route combinations or if they've just played some really bad pass defenses. Every time I see them it seems like Juice is throwing to WIDE open receivers. It needs to be repeated 1,000 more times, no one in the Big 12 can play defense. Good to see Minnesota and Northwestern getting exposed against bad teams.

Agreed. And the whole 'Charlie was winning with Ty's players' ridiculousness, which looks even more hypocritical since Charlie is now winning with his own players while Ty is getting absolutely destroyed with his at UW. Yes Charlie is really winning big with his own players. 3-9 last year while Ty went 4-9. 4-2 this year with the wins coming against teams with a combined 9-20 record, every one of them at home. Oh and that SDSU team they beat by 8 has been outscored in MWC play 146-24. Meanwhile, the worst team Washington has played is Stanford whom they lost to by 7. The same Stanford that ND beat by 7. They were hosed out of a chance to beat BYU who may be better than anyone ND has played. Yes Charlie is proving he can beat up on nobodies at home while Ty is getting beaten up by a very tough schedule and by far his best player missing the last two games.

That could be, although he does recruit better than people think. The big ten hasn't really had too many great teams lately. I would say since he has been in the conference the only great teams were the '05 Illini and '05 MSU. We beat him three times that year and I think MSU split with him. So even then he went 1-4 against teams with a lot better talent than him. please tell me you just forgot about the '07 Ohio State team gulty as charged. How did Bo do against them? Lost by 3 at Wisconsin early in conference season, won by 1 at home in second to last conference game, won by 17 in BT Tournament title game. Wisconsin as you might recall was damn good that year too. They were No. 4 in the first game, No. 2 in the last regular season matchup and No. 4 in BT tournament title game. They lost 4 games in the regular season that year but got beat in tournament title and got upset in second round of NCAA tournament. I was at the Big Ten Tournament in Chicago that year. They started out slow against Michigan and had a close game that Friday in the first half. Then they just turned it on for the last 50 minutes of the tournament. I thought the Championship would be an outstanding game but it was never close. Then Wisconsin lost to UNLV in the second round of the NCAA's.

The recruiting shortcomings are a bit overblown. '03 he brought in a 5-star. '04 a 4-star, '05 another 5 star, '06 he had two 4-star's and another top 150, '07 was two more 4-star's and '08 he had another 4 star and a top 150. He has two top 150's for '09 and two 4-star's for '10. So over 8 years that's 2 5*'s, 8 4*'s and 4 between 100-150. He's not bringing a top 5 class every year but he almost always lands at least one stud and surrounds them with other guys who have multiple Big Ten offers and fit his system well. He's the best coach in the league but he isn't winning with a bunch of nobodies like some think.

I've never seen 5-10 so up in the air before the year. No one in that group is very good but no one is as awful as the bottom has been at times either. Is IU the consensus bottom of the barrel? Michigan looks pretty bad but I'm hesitant to really pick against Beilein. Northwestern will be better but not good. Who knows with Penn State. I agree that Minnesota will take a step back. I love McCamey but I don't know about Illinois inside. Smith is obviously a major loss and Legion will have to be a stud which he could be. I've already said what I think of Iowa.

Let me clarify that I don't think Iowa will be a good team and don't expect them to win 20. But I do think (and could definitely be wrong here also) they're a fairly safe bet to win at least 15-16. With that as a baseline expectation, all it takes is some favorable luck in close games to get there. I expect about 17 wins.

Oh come on. This team will win 15+ games and I would put quite a bit on that. Now 20 is higher than I would go but I don't think it's impossible. They won 13 overall and 6 in the Big Ten with a terrible team that had 9 players (not even enough to scrimmage with), no players that he recruited and the best player ended up killing the team at the end of the year and creating problems. They'll win 9 games in the non-conference and that's counting every decent game as a loss (West Virginia, K State/Kentucky, at Boston College, at Drake). I would predict an 8-10 or so Big Ten season. At that point you're at 17 and it's not outrageous to add a win like Drake or go 9-9 in the Big Ten. I'm excited for the year and hoping they can get in the NIT. They have a full roster and much more talent, at least talent that fits what he wants. Inside game will be solid with Tate and Cole back healthy. Kelly had a solid year as a freshman and will be with Gatens on the wing. PG is the biggest weakness and we'll see how that's resolved.

Friend of a friend is pretty close to the situation and it would be a pretty big surprise if he doesn't go to Illinois. Iowa got in on him very soon after arriving and he's been down to visit but he's a heavy Illinois lean.

Chasson Randle is a stud. He's a good kid too from what I've heard.

I guess I spoke too soon about Greene not getting much attention because of the close losses. Here's Mel Kiper's take CNNSI also has him at #5 on their Heisman watch and one of the bloggers has him as Big Ten MVP as does Mike Hall from the BTN. Chris Martin said Ringer and Wells aren't on his level and thinks he's definitely the best back in the country.

I can't see them going any better than 2-2. As of now they'd only be favored against Purdue. Minnesota is not a very good team. The dome is not a difficult place to play. Illinois is on the road but I think overall they're fairly equal teams. Zook is 0-3 against Ferentz despite having more talent in two of the three games. They should beat Purdue at home. Penn State is obviously damn good and they'll be an underdog at home. I'd say Minnesota right now has the better resume. Their only loss is better than any of Iowa's losses. I'd put the teams' best wins as even. (Illinois is probably a little better than Wisky and the game was in Champaign, but Iowa dominated Wisconsin, and Minnesota won a close one) Beyond that, every win is filler. Their resume may be better, I'm just making a subjective judgment on who I think is better. Minnesota had no business winning that Illinois game. They were in a dogfight the whole way with Indiana at home. They scored with 20 seconds left to beat NIU at home. They had a tight game with Montana State at home. I just don't think they're a very good team. Much improved from last year, but not as good as their record indicates.

I can't see them going any better than 2-2. As of now they'd only be favored against Purdue. Minnesota is not a very good team. The dome is not a difficult place to play. Illinois is on the road but I think overall they're fairly equal teams. Zook is 0-3 against Ferentz despite having more talent in two of the three games. They should beat Purdue at home. Penn State is obviously damn good and they'll be an underdog at home.

Over/under was 38