Iowa Football: Picking apart the post-game hot takes after Hate Week

Iowa State is a lose-lose game for Iowa

Take: The Iowa football team’s win over Iowa State did not boost the Hawkeyes in the polls. Therefore, the Iowa football team does not gain anything from playing even a good Iowa State team.

I will be honest with you. I’m not the biggest supporter of the Cy-Hawk Series. I went to and graduated from the University of Iowa, but I did not grow up in the state of Iowa.

In fact, I went to Iowa during arguably the one year that the Iowa State game truly curtailed the Iowa football team’s farfetched national objectives, so my bias is further in the direction of being against the series.

Still, I don’t buy this argument. I won’t focus too much on the subjective, though I encourage you to pay specific attention from 45 seconds to the end for Nate Stanley and Ihmir Smith-Marsette’s post-game interview.

Compare Iowa’s poll movement, or lack thereof, to #6 LSU playing #9 Texas in Week 3. LSU moved up two spots while beating a top 10 team. #16 Auburn moved up 6 spots for plating #11 Oregon. Beyond that, there has been almost no poll movement unless a team ranked higher loses.

What’s the point here? Simply, that quality opponents help you when polls matter, not in the moment. The only type of opponent that changes your place in the polls the next week is a team that is ranked higher than you.

Let’s look at our non-conference schedule from the perspective that fans want the Iowa football team to play teams that help them in the eyes of the playoff committee.

In most seasons, Iowa State probably doesn’t help. This year it does. Let’s revisit this argument when Iowa State beats Texas.

Take Temperature: McDonald’s coffee. This take is just a little too hot for consumption right now and needs some time to cool.