The 2005 Iowa Hawkeye season starts on Saturday. I’m going and I’m hoping I can find my seats in the newly renovated south end zone. I’ll take my camera and get some shots of the changes and the sites.
The weather should be great. Time for the Hawks to start living up to all the hype from the offseason and Ball St is a good way to start.
SI.com has Stewart Mandel’s Bowl Projections today and it is pretty good. I agree with most of them:
USC vs. Ohio St. in the Rose Bowl
Texas vs. Iowa in the Fiesta Bowl
When you get to the earlier bowls, some of the predictions are questionable:
Penn St vs. Nebraska in the Alamo Bowl
Virginia vs. Missouri in the Champs Sports Bowl
So. Miss vs. Kansas State in the Fort Worth Bowl
I don’t think that Penn St, Missouri or Kansas State will be good enough to go to any bowls.
Also, the Daily Iowan has an article about the defensive line and how good they looked in the scrimages. Considering the D line is the biggest question mark, it is good to see some encouraging press about them.
I saw this post analyzing the upcoming Iowa football schedule. I like the way this guy thinks. We both picked Iowa to go 10-1 losing only to Ohio St.
I was looking at the preseason rankings over the past few weeks and I am surprised that Michigan is the highest Big 10 team. Stewart Mandel has a good article on Michigan being overrated. Best quote:
“What would possibly possess someone to look at a team that finished last season 12th in the same poll, gave up 37 points or more in three of its last four games, lost its all-everything playmaker (Braylon Edwards) and top two defenders (Ernest Shazor and Marlin Jackson) and move them all the way up to fourth? If Michigan does finish the season No. 4, it would most likely mean that Lloyd Carr’s team lost just one game all season. The Wolverines haven’t lost fewer than three since 1999.”
Mandel has another article today about the Big 10 race. He picks Iowa as having the toughest schedule. He says Ohio St is the team to beat (I agree) and picks Iowa to finish 9-2 and end up 2nd in the Big 10. I can live with that.
