Iowa football: How the Big Ten West looks through two weeks

IOWA CITY, IOWA- SEPTEMBER 08: Tight end T.J. Hockenson #38 of the Iowa Hawkeyes catches a pass during the second half in front of linebacker Marcel Spears #42 of the Iowa State Cyclones on September 8, 2018 at Kinnick Stadium, in Iowa City, Iowa. (Photo by Matthew Holst/Getty Images)
IOWA CITY, IOWA- SEPTEMBER 08: Tight end T.J. Hockenson #38 of the Iowa Hawkeyes catches a pass during the second half in front of linebacker Marcel Spears #42 of the Iowa State Cyclones on September 8, 2018 at Kinnick Stadium, in Iowa City, Iowa. (Photo by Matthew Holst/Getty Images) /
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LINCOLN, NE – NOVEMBER 24: Quarterback Nathan Stanley
LINCOLN, NE – NOVEMBER 24: Quarterback Nathan Stanley /

Who’s right behind Wisconsin?

The middle of the Big Ten West is filled with teams that have the ability to make a run, but need a little luck on their side. This group includes our beloved Iowa Hawkeyes along with the Scott Frost-led Nebraska Cornhuskers and the Big Ten Ivy League school, Northwestern.

Nebraska Cornhuskers

After finishing with the worst record since 1961, the Cornhuskers have a ton of buzz and hope in 2018. Cornhusker great Scott Frost returns to Lincoln after leading the University of Central Florida Knights to an undefeated record, and this team isn’t devoid of talent by any means.

At times last year, the team just looked lost and hopeless. At the quarterback position, Nebraska potentially has one of the best pure passers in a long time in freshman Adrian Martinez, and they return stud freshman JD Spielman and future NFL prospect Stanley Morgan Jr at the receiver position.

Unfortunately for Nebraska, they have an incredibly tough schedule. They play at Michigan, at Ohio State, at Northwestern, at Wisconsin, and at Iowa. They will not be favored in a single one of those games. If they somehow manage to escape that schedule with three wins, they could be in line depending on the cards shake out to win the Big Ten West. Obviously, one of those three wins would need to be Wisconsin, but crazier things have happened.

Northwestern Wildcats

The Wildcats are that little brother that never goes away. Until they actually win a conference title, I won’t believe they can do it, but they are always a team to be worried about. Pat Fitzgerald always has this team ready to compete.

On offense they return senior quarterback Clayton Thorson who somehow got healed up after tearing his ACL less than a year ago and sophomore running back Jeremy Larkin has been on a tear. He has 264 yards on just 50 carries so far.

Despite being 1-1 after their loss to Duke this weekend, they are currently in first place in the Big Ten West. Oddly enough, Northwestern opened their season with a win over conference foe Purdue, which is pretty unusual.

As far as the rest of their schedule goes, the Wildcats face four currently ranked teams (Michigan, Michigan State, Wisconsin, and Notre Dame), but they host three of those games. Only Michigan State is a game out of Illinois. They are in a prime position to play spoiler to a few of these teams seasons and make some noise in the Big Ten.