by a long shot. We've fallen so far behind that program this decade, it's just silly. Their last two seasons would be top 4 seasons at Iowa over the last 20 years.
The West is Wisconsin then everyone else
- Thread starter General Tso
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Unfortunately I agree. But someone will respond with the 2015 season but ignore the others
It's true but Iowa can regain ground each year. Wisconsin is very close to being on the doorstep of the CFP every year. Can't forget about NW now either. They have pulled neck and neck with us. Wish the program hadn't been sleepwalking through the early 2010's. We might have been further along.
Greg Davis and Kaz took some wind out of our sails for sure.
On the positive side all of the NFL success is helping with recruiting, and that’s really what it comes down to. Get good players, keep them around for 4-5 years, and develop them into competitors. We lost too many people in a few classes.
In fairness over the last 4 years probably 3-4 schools can can equal Wisconsin’s win total. I’d also add that other than Ohio State they’ve out preformed everyone in the Big 10 over the last 2 season by a ways.
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Not sure on that... their offense is mostly coming back. They will lose some of the defense but we thought that would matter this year.
If KF & Co have figured out a running scheme to go against LBs crashing the zone (like we are told the Hawks did against Nebraska) maybe we will finally move the ball against their D.
Wisconsin has earned the benefit of the doubt and I would expect they’ll be ranked in the top 5 or so come Sept 22.
That's certainly a fair assessment. Hornibrook played great tonight I must say, but he also made some throws where his receivers bailed him out. Granted, he could develop well during the off season but I don't see him as ever being better than mediocre. I try to be objective and not wear black and gold glasses but I would much rather have Stanley at QB than Hornibrook, and QB is the most important position on the field.
I also think our OL has the potential to be better next year than they were this year unless Daniels goes pro. To echo what you said about our run game if we could consistently do that it would be great, since as we all know our offense is at its best when we field a consistent running game.
I’m in agreement but he never needs to be better than mediocre with all of the talent around him. They, like Iowa play gritty defense. They, much better than Iowa, run the clock-controlling offense. In the B1G west you have to get at least 8 wins to beat them to Indy. Man, they’ve become an elite program, that’s all there is to say.
If Kirk could keep us consistent, I think we'd be close to Wisconsin. But then again, being consistent each year is the hardest thing to do, and why only the blue bloods can do it. Alvarez is one of the best ADs of all time IMO.
Fair enough.
We used to be pretty much equal in this regard. What happened?
Lastly, I am hopeful that with his first year under his belt, BF will show marked improvement with the development of the offense next year. The O was simply abysmal this year in some games, Wisconsin, ironically quickly comes to mind. On the other hand they were great in other games, like of course, Ohio State. Offensive consistency would do wonders to improve our win total, I would think.
While I don’t disagree, their last 2 seasons are top 4 all time for Wisconsin. Not just last 20 years, but all time.
Barry Alvarez has built, and manages, a better program than Iowa with similar resources. I am jealous of them.
Elite programs win conference championships and make the CFP. Please stop calling Wisconsin elite.
It’s one of the main reasons why I hate Wisconsin so much. They shouldn’t have any real advantage over Iowa, but here they are making our program look amateurish and atrocious.
It’s time for a major change in Iowa City.
It’s time for a major change in Iowa City.
They aren’t elite. Clemson, Ohio State, etc......are elite. Clemson destroyed Miami in the ACC title game and Ohio State was about 2 plays away from blowing it wide open against Wisconsin if not for Barrett’s bonehead plays. The talent differential was quite evident in both games of what is elite and what isn’t. Wisconsin is a very good program. It’s gonna take a lot of good fortune for the Iowa’s and Wisconsin’s to punch through to the playoff against the Ohio State’s and Penn State’s because neither will be caught sleepwalking with a Big 10 title on the line on that stage. Iowa had their shot against a very beatable Michigan State team in 2015. Had Iowa had to play Ohio State and the Zeke Elliott show, that would not have been pretty.
I want to see how this BF offense plays out. He gets the consistency to match the D then Iowa will be right there. They've stated in pressers how close they were, as was also stated in 2008 before Orange bowl run. I'm going to trust them again here. KF fails this time, the heat will be on maybe more than in '14.
Thank you. Wisconsin is a better program than Iowa right now, no question. Wisconsin is not elite.
You should count wins over the last decade. Seriously, you’ll be shocked - I was stunned. Wisconsin over the last decade is one of the best teams in all of college football. They’ve averaged something like 10 wins per year for the last decade, which from memory is top 5.
Even if you disagree with that definition of elite, what’s wrong with trying to inflate their expectations a bit
Barry Alvarez is one of those that is not only a talented coach but also a really good AD. I give him full credit for picking the the personnel that has kept program continuity over the years.
But we have 2015
(and I unlike you I didn't ignore the others. We have 2009, 04,03,02 too)
Is Shonn Greene's 2008 squad the last one to beat Wisky at Kinnick? I think so. If so, it is time for us to do it again next year. If we can beat OSU and Michigan at home, no reason we can't beat Wisky. Make it so Hawkeyes.
HOT TAKE.....it would be a top 4 season for 99% of football!!! Find something else to bitch about
IMHO, Wisconsin is consistently a top 10 program. They can be lumped in with OH State, Michigan, Alabama, and so forth. It is a high money program with no competition from any in state rivals for talent, in a fairly high population State. Madison is a nice campus as well.
NW has an incredible new practice facility being built. Thank god they have such high academic requirements.
They have twice the population of Iowa and there is no other P5 school in the state. Whether you’re willing to admit it or not, they have an advantage over us.
$126m a year in revenue for their athletic program also. Iowa is #16 in with $106m Wisconsin is #8.
http://www.businessinsider.com/college-sports-revenue-leaders-2015-9
Iowa is #6 in the B1G. Just behind MN. That said, our cash goes further in IC than it does in Minneapolis, Ann Arbor or Columbus.
http://www.businessinsider.com/college-sports-revenue-leaders-2015-9
Iowa is #6 in the B1G. Just behind MN. That said, our cash goes further in IC than it does in Minneapolis, Ann Arbor or Columbus.
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It's very rare to have the recent success in football and basketball that they've had. Don't know how they do it.
Like others have pointed out WI had nearly double the population and competition from NO other in state programs. It’sno surprise they attract some pretty good walk on talent as WI does not even have an option like UNI or Drake. No JUCO’s that I know of. And to go with a nice campus on a beautiful lake with dorms superior to Iowa Chicago is less than 150 miles down the road. While Iowa has great fan support don’t forget I think it is still the smallest public University in the B1G, Nebraska may be smaller not sure.
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Wisconsin imho is a top 10 program, probably closer to the bottom of those 10 than the top nationally. The single best quality of their program is year to year consistency. Iowa is a top 30ish program. Iowa is more "peak and valley". As far as Iowa is concerned it's nothing to be ashamed of - it's just "that way right now."
And from browsing the web this season, the rest of the conference loathes them as much as we do.
The gulf between programs isn't as wide as it appears, and seems to be mostly a depth difference.
To me, the difference in programs is they're simply deeper than Iowa with the lines. Their o-line, and defensive front 7 - are always good to great and year to year there's very little dropoff. Very few weak links by comparison to Iowa.
But they now seem to have found themselves some WR's and Hornibrook might very well improve. They are going to be really good the next 2-3 years IF their lines stay great.
The good thing to me is, imho Iowa is on the upswing again...and the schedules will turn again soon to our favor and not theirs.
It'll be fun to watch.
And from browsing the web this season, the rest of the conference loathes them as much as we do.
The gulf between programs isn't as wide as it appears, and seems to be mostly a depth difference.
To me, the difference in programs is they're simply deeper than Iowa with the lines. Their o-line, and defensive front 7 - are always good to great and year to year there's very little dropoff. Very few weak links by comparison to Iowa.
But they now seem to have found themselves some WR's and Hornibrook might very well improve. They are going to be really good the next 2-3 years IF their lines stay great.
The good thing to me is, imho Iowa is on the upswing again...and the schedules will turn again soon to our favor and not theirs.
It'll be fun to watch.
I agree. Our only way out is to get rid of Barta. Very poor AD who only does half his job (raise $$).
We’ve gone full insane on this board
Then how did we dominate them in the 80's, 90's? That was also the case then.
In the 90’s, Iowa was a top 10 team in revenue. Everyone else has caught up. The good news is we are one of the haves, not a have not. We still have $26M more in revenue than Iowa State. Year on year on year, that shows up In facility quality. Hell, less than 10 years ago that gap was $50M.
So money was the only reason? Personnel had nothing to do with it? We heard from one of our own players (a ND transfer) that they had crappy facilities back then, yet they were pretty good at that time.
