Ranking the Iowa football schedule
With all the schedule talk taking place the last few days, let’s take a longer look at the Iowa football schedule for this coming season. Last year, Iowa faced a pretty challenging schedule that included hosting Michigan and traveling to Ohio State for the first time since 2013.
The Hawkeyes were able to navigate that challenging schedule and post eight victories, including a bowl win over Kentucky. We will get to our season prediction on July 4th, so stay tuned for that, but today, let’s rank the games from hardest at #1 to easiest at #12.
We will start with #1 and move down the list of games.
#1 – @Penn State – This is always a tough trip, but it should be noted that the last time Iowa headed to Happy Valley they emerged with a victory over the Nittany Lions. In fact, Iowa has won the last two meetings with Penn State. Prior to that, the Hawkeyes had lost their last six meetings with Penn State, including three at Penn State. The will also be a night game and their White Out game, so tough place to win.
#2 – @Wisconsin – It’s a new era in Madison with Luke Fickell taking over the Badgers program. It’s also a new era in terms of the Wisconsin offense. Gone are the days of giant offensive linemen plowing ahead with massive running backs behind them. Ok, that’s probably still going to happen, but they are going to run some version of the Air Raid offense. Start time for this one will be interesting. Will it be a sleepy 11 am kickoff? Night game with a well lathered group of Badgers in the stands?
#3 – @Nebraska – Now I am not saying that I think Nebraska is back or anything like that. I know some in Lincoln probably think that it’s going to be back to the glory days this year, but I think this is going to take a few years. Matt Ruhle is a very good college coach. I think he will do well and at the end of the season, he will be looking for a win to build on, so it’s going to be a tough spot for the Hawkeyes.
#4 – @Iowa State – Again, I really don’t know what to expect from Matt Campbell’s team. Honestly, they have had back to back pretty disappointing seasons based on the preseason hype machine. Campbell finally got over the hump and beat Iowa last year. This time around the game is in Ames and that’s always a tough venue.
#5 – Illinois – Can we please never speak again of the game last year in Champaign? What an ugly game. There’s no question that Bret Bielema has the Fighting Illini moving in the right direction. He’s got some very good talent up front returning on defense and we know he will put together a slug it out offense.
#6 – Minnesota – Opinions will vary on the Gophers this year. Some see them as a sleeper pick in the Big Ten West. Others see them retooling on defense and not all that great on offense. I’m more in the second camp. Their first game of the season hosting Nebraska is really interesting.
#7 – Michigan State – After a really incredible second season in East Lansing, Mel Tucker struggled to a 5-7 record last season. Sparty also saw their starting quarterback and top wide receiver hit the portal this spring, which is never a great sign. Feels like MSU is going in the wrong direction right now.
#8 – @ Northwestern – Actually we should say, at Wrigley Field. Even though the Wildcats might not be great this season, this will be a hot ticket, particularly for Hawkeye fans. Can Northwestern find a decent quarterback? Can they get their offense going again?
#9 – Purdue – I’m guessing that Phil Parker is happy to see Jeff Brohm head home to Louisville. He was a thorn in the side of the Iowa defense. Last year Iowa got them pretty good at Purdue, but it’s a new era this year with Illinois defensive coordinator Ryan Walters taking over the program. He’s a rising star and he’s hired Graham Harrell to run the offense and they brought in Hudson Card to play quarterback.
#10 – Rutgers – The rebuild continues for the second time around with Greg Schiano. Last year they started out 3-0 and then Iowa came to down and beat them and then the lost seven of their last eight games. They have a good amount of starters on defense returning, but their offense just can’t seem to get going on a consistent basis.
#11 – Utah State – I like head coach Blake Anderson. He’s overcome a lot and done a nice job, winning six games last season and making a bowl game. They are probably a .500 team this year and middle of the pack in the Mountain West.
#12 – Western Michigan – New head coach in Kalamazoo in Lance Taylor. That means it’s the start of a rebuild. A lot of new or unproven faces expect to take the field and that means early in the year there are going to be some struggles.
The post Ranking the Iowa football schedule appeared first on On3.
