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Strength of schedules

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HawksRule73 said:
The only good thing Barta ever did was guaranteeing us 3 games against Wisc, Minn, and Neb every year.
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Depends on what you mean by "good thing," I guess. I'd LOVE to play OSU, Mich, PSU, Oregon and USC every year or almost every year. I've said it many times, our program was stronger when they regularly had a tough schedule.
 
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Four rivalry games is always tough. You get those teams' best shot every time.

Iowa's recent record in those games is actually unbelievable. Makes you damn proud to be a Hawkeye.

Five out of nine league games on the road is never easy either, including three of the first four league games
 
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MeetTheFerentzes said:
Depends on what you mean by "good thing," I guess. I'd LOVE to play OSU, Mich, PSU, Oregon and USC every year or almost every year. I've said it many times, our program was stronger when they regularly had a tough schedule.
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That's a very debatable topic...........one I'd rather not feed Husker lurkers' egos on.


Fact is, Iowa's schedule remains steadfast in maintaining some semblance of tradition rather than throwing it all away for the sake of big market TV games pandering to the most casual f***-faced viewers possible.............

They weren't going to get all that closer to playing Michigan and Ohio State more often anyway (even if they didn't get to keep their 3 rivalry games) because of conference expansion, and that will only further become an "issue" if they add any more teams, say from the ACC.

Iowa's schedule was NEVER going to be some variation of:

Noncon
ISU At Alabama/Notre Dame/Florida State/Texas
Noncon
USC
Penn State
Michigan State
Wisconsin
Ohio State
Washington
Michigan
UCLA
Nebraska


And obviously it will never look even remotely close to this, but the point is that it never would have either, even if we didn't get to keep Minnesota, Nebraska and Wisconsin as "annual" games.

Nor will Ohio State, Michigan, and Penn State's schedules.

It's just not possible with the number of teams, unless the conference intentionally pairs their perceived top teams together more often to boost the conference's viewership, notoriety, and CFP resume strength in terms of being perceived as maintaining that P2 status that people want to shout from under the table.................


Hope that helps! :D
 
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BurgHawk87 said:
Like when? I'd like to know what people consider the "strong" period for Iowa.
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Not going to review Iowa's schedule history in detail, but 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2009 were KF's 4 best seasons and all were very tough schedules. 3 of those had MI, OSU and PSU in the same season. They also played a total of nine OTHER 9-win teams in those 4 seasons. Most Iowa fans nowadays would crawl into the fetal position if they saw a schedule like that.
 
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MeetTheFerentzes said:
B1G just so unfair to Nebraska again...
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Looking at the two schedules I'd honestly say the Nebraska schedule is tougher.

fbschedules.com

2024 Iowa Football Schedule | FBSchedules.com

View the 2024 Iowa Football Schedule at FBSchedules.com. The Hawkeyes football schedule includes opponents, date, time, and TV.
fbschedules.com

fbschedules.com

2024 Nebraska Football Schedule | FBSchedules.com

View the 2024 Nebraska Football Schedule at FBSchedules.com. The Cornhuskers football schedule includes opponents, date, time, and TV.
fbschedules.com
 
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wkato said:
Looking at the two schedules I'd honestly say the Nebraska schedule is tougher.

fbschedules.com

2024 Iowa Football Schedule | FBSchedules.com

View the 2024 Iowa Football Schedule at FBSchedules.com. The Hawkeyes football schedule includes opponents, date, time, and TV.
fbschedules.com

fbschedules.com

2024 Nebraska Football Schedule | FBSchedules.com

View the 2024 Nebraska Football Schedule at FBSchedules.com. The Cornhuskers football schedule includes opponents, date, time, and TV.
fbschedules.com
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cookie?

I'd take Iowa State over Colorado in a matchup of those two.

And the only other real difference is you play USC and we don't.
 
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MeetTheFerentzes said:
Not going to review Iowa's schedule history in detail, but 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2009 were KF's 4 best seasons and all were very tough schedules. 3 of those had MI, OSU and PSU in the same season. They also played a total of nine OTHER 9-win teams in those 4 seasons. Most Iowa fans nowadays would crawl into the fetal position if they saw a schedule like that.
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Huh.........................
 
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wkato said:
Looking at the two schedules I'd honestly say the Nebraska schedule is tougher.

fbschedules.com

2024 Iowa Football Schedule | FBSchedules.com

View the 2024 Iowa Football Schedule at FBSchedules.com. The Hawkeyes football schedule includes opponents, date, time, and TV.
fbschedules.com

fbschedules.com

2024 Nebraska Football Schedule | FBSchedules.com

View the 2024 Nebraska Football Schedule at FBSchedules.com. The Cornhuskers football schedule includes opponents, date, time, and TV.
fbschedules.com
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I agree. When the majority of teams you play are better than you. Pretty much the definition of a tougher schedule.
 
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MeetTheFerentzes said:
Not going to review Iowa's schedule history in detail, but 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2009 were KF's 4 best seasons and all were very tough schedules. 3 of those had MI, OSU and PSU in the same season. They also played a total of nine OTHER 9-win teams in those 4 seasons. Most Iowa fans nowadays would crawl into the fetal position if they saw a schedule like that.
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Penn State won 3 and 4 games in 2003/2004. 2004 OSU was no world beater (8-4). 2009 Michigan won 5 games. 2003 was objectively the hardest schedule with 5 opponents finishing with 9 or more wins. If Iowa was so strong during this time frame then what happened in 05/06/07? Or 11/12/13? I don't think Iowa is in any worse or better shape than they've historically been under Kirk. Perennial 8-4 with the outlier 10/11 win season sprinkled in. What does all of this mean? I have no idea.
 
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MeetTheFerentzes said:
Depends on what you mean by "good thing," I guess. I'd LOVE to play OSU, Mich, PSU, Oregon and USC every year or almost every year. I've said it many times, our program was stronger when they regularly had a tough schedule.
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Why make that claim if you are not going to review the schedule history? I did review the schedule history using sports resources and in 2002 we had the #41 toughest schedule as there are around 65 power 5 schools this is a below average strength of schedule. In 2003 we were #30 in SOS or average in 2004 we had #16 SOS so above average. In 2009 we were #50 in SOS or again below average.

We got to play PSU in 2003 and 2004 here is their records in those years 2003 3-9 and 1-7 in conference 2004 4-7 and 2-6 in conference. Additionally in 2009 we got to play Michigan whose record was 5-7 and 1-7 in conference. So PSU and Michigan had a conference record of 4-20 in those three years. They sure did not make our schedule difficult.

2017 was the most difficult schedule during the Ferentz era and we were 8-5. We played #5 OSU, #7 Wisc, #8 PSU, #15 MSU and #17 NW. No surprise when you play 3 top 10 teams and 5 top 20 teams you will have difficulty winning 10 games.

Our best winning season was 2015 when we won 12 games and our schedule was #55 well below average as a bottom 10 SOS for power 5 schools.
 
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MeetTheFerentzes said:
Huh............
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Well, first off I figured you were referring to the first half of the Hayden Fry era and not the beginning of the Ferentz era.

You didn't even include the season with their toughest non-conference schedule, which was 2000.

That schedule, minus Iowa State (who went 9-3 in 2000), is what a lot of Iowa fans have been clamoring for and "think" they really want, and is what's best for business for Iowa..........

Vs Kansas State (neutral site)
Western Michigan (went 9-3, division champ....so essentially a high level mid major home game filler)
At #1 Nebraska
 
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bradaf said:
Why make that claim if you are not going to review the schedule history? I did review the schedule history using sports resources and in 2002 we had the #41 toughest schedule as there are around 65 power 5 schools this is a below average strength of schedule. In 2003 we were #30 in SOS or average in 2004 we had #16 SOS so above average. In 2009 we were #50 in SOS or again below average.

We got to play PSU in 2003 and 2004 here is their records in those years 2003 3-9 and 1-7 in conference 2004 4-7 and 2-6 in conference. Additionally in 2009 we got to play Michigan whose record was 5-7 and 1-7 in conference. So PSU and Michigan had a conference record of 4-20 in those three years. They sure did not make our schedule difficult.

2017 was the most difficult schedule during the Ferentz era and we were 8-5. We played #5 OSU, #7 Wisc, #8 PSU, #15 MSU and #17 NW. No surprise when you play 3 top 10 teams and 5 top 20 teams you will have difficulty winning 10 games.

Our best winning season was 2015 when we won 12 games and our schedule was #55 well below average as a bottom 10 SOS for power 5 schools.
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Cool. Thanks for doing the work.

I guess I long for the days when we would actually win games of significance; ya know, like against good teams and good programs. In KF's pre-B1G West days (15 seasons), Iowa won 14 games against MI/OSU/PSU and 12 other wins against 9+ win teams. In the 10 seasons of the B1G West, Iowa won 4 games against MI/OSU/PSU (2 seasons we had none of them on the schedule) and 8 other wins against 9+ win teams. If Iowa fans want more seasons like '15, '21 and '23 in which we had deceivingly good-looking records but essentially zero impact wins and were clearly outmatched against superior competition, that's their prerogative. Excuse me for wanting to see the Hawks in more games like '02-'03 Michigan, '02-'08-'09 Penn St and '04-'09 OSU and not wanting to watch them get their asses kicked against every team with a pulse, while not getting pumped-up about the idea of seasons packed with MIN NW, IL, Purd, IN, MD and Rutgers, which is what most Iowa fans seem to want.
 
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