ESPN picks Iowa 10th in Big Ten
Not sure if you’ve all seen this, but ESPN.com came out with its Big Ten Spring Power Rankings, and they’ve picked Iowa to finish 10th in the conference in 2008, ahead of only Minnesota.
From ESPN’s rankings:
What we know: The entire offensive line is back, and Mitch King anchors the defensive front.
What we don’t know:Who steps in at running back and how Kirk Ferentz’s staff shuffle will play out.
How the Hawkeyes can win the league title:Kidnap Terrelle Pryor.
Pryor, of course, is the heralded high school senior still deciding between Ohio State, Michigan, Penn State and Oregon. And he won’t be coming to the Hawkeyes’ rescue.
So, with what they’ve got, where do they finish? Seriously, is this a 10th-place team? ESPN certainly has been wrong before — Les Miles to Michigan — but they know something about college football. Let’s take a look at Iowa’s schedule and see what we think:
| Date | Opponent | My pick |
| 8/30 | Maine | W |
| 9/6 | Florida International | W |
| 9/13 | Iowa State | W |
| 9/20 | at Pittsburgh | – |
| 9/27 | Northwestern | W |
| 10/4 | at Michigan State | L |
| 10/11 | at Indiana | – |
| 10/18 | Wisconsin | L |
| 11/1 | at Illinois | L |
| 11/8 | Penn State | L |
| 11/15 | Purdue | W |
| 11/22 | at Minnesota | – |
So, I guess I’ve got them going anywhere from 5-7, 2-6 in the Big Ten to 8-4, 4-4. The former potentially could land the Hawkeyes in 10th place in the conference standings. The latter would be a great improvement from what they’ve don’t the past two seasons (6-7 in 2006 and 6-6 in 2007).
ESPN also has a more detailed look the Big Ten. Here’s what they had to say about Iowa:
What to watch
Quarterback Jake Christensenneeds to re-establish himself after a subpar sophomore season. Christensen will compete this spring with Arvell Nelson, Ricky Stanzi and Marvin McNutt.
Take the two most productive players (Albert Young and Damian Sims) out of the Big Ten’s worst offense and you have a problem. Hawkeyes coach Kirk Ferentz tries to solve it this spring as he searches for a running back. Shonn Greene, who played as a sophomore before transferring to a community college because of academic troubles, is back and will compete with junior college transfer Nate Guillory and sophomore Jevon Pugh.
Linebacker and defensive end will be priorities after Iowa loses leading tackler Mike Humpal and top pass rusher Bryan Mattison.
Spring practice starts March 26, and the Hawkeyes will hold their open practice April 19 at Kinnick Stadium. Where do you think the team is headed?
February 21st, 2008 at 8:46 pm
I am really not in a position to evaluate how Iowa will do against each and every opponent on their schedule. At best, I can only try to evaluate their
overall success this coming season by “gut feel.” Yes, I know this is highly suspect, but it is what it is. As I noted in an earlier comment, Iowa may now “potentially” have enough depth at key positions that some expected/unexpected cream will rise to the occasion. I have a sneaking hunch Ferentz will be increasingly open to employing playmakers regardless of which class he can get them from. Couple that with a number of experienced sophomores, some solid junior and senior players, a growing sense of frustration with everyone else’s perceived sense of where Iowa sits at the Big Ten table, and we may be in for some fun football.
February 22nd, 2008 at 10:09 pm
I couldn’t disagree more. I think this Hawkeye team will be another dissapointment. There are way too many question marks, gaping holes, and unproven players to hope for an 8-4 record. Remember, we lost the last game of the ‘07 season to Western Michigan at home, and we loose our two best offensive weapons, return most of our starting offensive line (who gave up a record number of sacks last year), we loose our best defensive rusher who wasn’t that good to begin with, we have no idea if Jake Christenson will be able to hit the broad side of an Iowa barn, who know’s what mixed bag we’ll have in our sub par receivers, we’ll return an inept special teams, and oh, I almost forgot, we may very likely return our same ‘ol predictable offensive and defensive play calling. Add two embarrasing division two games at the beginning of the season, a potentialy disasterous away game at Pittsburgh (did anyone see what they did to West Virginia’s title hopes?), and we don’t have to play either Ohio State or Michigan. Now maybe you can see why I’m not very excited.
February 23rd, 2008 at 9:20 am
This is an absolutely embarrasing schedule. This should be a season in which we should be talking about the Rose Bowl, instead we are left with “optimistic” hopes of 8-4. I like many naive hawk fans think this is readily obtainable. Truth be told if that happens many people will applaud the effort and be happy we go to a bowl game. This is clearly not good enough for the Iowa program in my opinion this year.
February 23rd, 2008 at 9:31 am
I could not disagree more with KC Hawk. In fact, I am beginning to wonder if he is a fan or not! The Iowa team will field a better team this upcoming season! There were no other NCAA Division 1 teams that played 29 true or redshirt freshman last year! When 3/4 of your team is either freshman, redshirt freshman and sophomores, you are going to struggle with consistency. I think the biggest emphasis for this team has to be the development of the offensive line. We have 4 and 5 star recruits on the offensive line that must begin to produce. Everyone can complain about Jake, but it is hard to run an offense from your back. I don’t blame the kid for having happy feet when he was hit more than any Iowa quarterback I can remember. If the offensive line develops, this team will surprise a number of people.
February 24th, 2008 at 12:50 pm
I came across some information that I thought all of you that have trashed Jack Christensen would love, including Eric Page! Do you realize that Jake Christensen had a similar completion percentage than Chuck Long, Chuck Hartlieb, and Drew Tate during their first full season of starting! Which one of the quarterbacks listed above had the best touchdown to interception ratio their first year of starting? That’s right - Jake Christensen! I am glad the great Iowa fans did not boo Long, Hartlieb or Tate off the field during their first year. By the way, which quarterback had better and more consistent play from their offensive line and receivers? I guarantee it wasn’t Christensen! It saddens me to be an Iowa fan and read some of the crap that has been written about this young man that is representing our university with the utmost respect! You don’t see him in trouble! You also have to respect someone that took the heat from the media and fans last year and came across as a very humble person!