Many positives came out of the victory over Minnesota. Iowa was able to shake off the overtime defeat at the hands of Northwestern to keep the ‘Floyd of Rosedale’. Moving forward, Iowa must face two top five ranked opponents in the course of two weeks in the Buckeyes and Badgers.
In both the AP and Coaches Polls, the next two teams that Iowa faces off with are among the top spots in the country. Ohio State coming off a thriller against Penn State comes to Iowa City ranked #3 in both polls. After that, Iowa will be heading to Madison to take on #4 Wisconsin who is undefeated in 2017. Iowa doesn’t have a single vote in the AP Poll, and only has 1 vote in the Coaches Poll.
With a win against either team, Iowa can put themselves in a good position to get in a mid-tier bowl game, with a chance at an 8 win season, which is more than most expected. But, letting us day-dream about beating two top five teams, Iowa would no doubt be shot into the Top 25, and cause utter anarchy for the College Playoff.
Not only can the Hawkeyes throw a wrench into the Big Ten, and derail two teams poised to face off in Indianapolis, but can impact the playoff rankings in the process.
Kirk Ferentz’ team has played well in the spotlight against the top five foes, going back to last season around this time of year when they knocked off unbeaten Michigan. They were a fingertip away from doing it again this year against #2 Penn State as well.
Iowa’s conference title aspirations more or less went out the door after the OT loss in Evanston. But, the team can still play spoiler for the Buckeyes and Badgers. The Badgers would admittedly have to have a complete meltdown to avoid going to the Big Ten Championship.
The matchup with the Badgers is usually a close contest, as Wisconsin nearly ruined Iowa’s perfect season in a 10-6 game. Iowa will be looking to go 3 for 3 so far this season in trophy games in the Badgers matchup.
No trophy will be on the line this coming weekend with Urban Meyer’s Buckeyes returning to Iowa City for the first time since 2010, when Terrelle Pryor’s 14 yard scramble on a 4th and 10, would launch the Buckeyes to a win (which was later vacated).
The two teams last met in the ‘Horseshoe’ in Meyer’s second year in Columbus with the Buckeyes winning by 10. Kirk Ferentz’ lone win against Ohio State came in 2004 when Iowa won by 26.
Iowa’s track record against the Buckeyes overall is, not great, but at their best (Penn State game) this Iowa team showed that they can play against anyone. And, though JT Barrett has pulled up his seat at the Heisman contender table, he will have to deal with Josey Jewell all evening.