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Posts Tagged ‘Iowa’

P.S.R. 1-120: Final Re-Ranking

With the season in the books, here’s a look at how the country ranks — using the original rankings as the starting point, with the year’s results as rationale for any movement. The top 25 teams land a one-sentence breakdown. The rest? Not so much. Part of the perks of being one of the best. Think your team is too low? Feel another team deserves more credit, less credit? Let’s hear it below. It’s a delicate ranking process, but with the year completely in the books, this is as good as it’s going to get.

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    The Stoops Brothers Are Wanted Men

    Mike Stoops will land on his feet. Two months after being jettisoned by Arizona amid a 1-5 start, Stoops has his pick of potential suitors: Iowa’s going to come calling, and Ohio State and Nebraska have already expressed interest. But there’s a catch for Stoops, who worked hard to land the job at Arizona and, it should be said, worked tremendously hard to lead the Wildcats into Pac-12 contention, disappointing 2011 season or no. Stoops is a wanted man, albeit as a defensive coordinator, not as a head coach.

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      As if Picking the Teams Isn’t Hard Enough

      I’ve never tried my hand at projecting the entire F.B.S. bowl slate; I have enough trouble with the five B.C.S. games, in my mind. But it’s worth a shot for one week, even if I mess up the various tie-ins, conference affiliations and so forth. Not to mention choose teams that end up staying home during bowl play. Well, here goes. Remember: those numbers signifying which team slots where in its conference are very arbitrary — to a point. The No. 7 team isn’t vaulting the No. 3 team, but No. 6 could be No. 4, No. 5 could be No. 7 and so on. And not every conference can meet its allotted bowl tie-ins; in that case, a substitute team is selected.

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        P.S.R. 1-120: Week 10 Re-Ranking

        With the weekend in the books, here’s a look at how the country ranks — using the original rankings as the starting point, with the season’s results as rationale for any movement. The top 25 teams land a one-sentence breakdown. The rest? Not so much. Part of the perks of being one of the best. Think your team is too low? Feel another team deserves more credit, less credit? Let’s hear it below. It’s a delicate ranking process, but with nearly two months in the books, things are growing clearer.

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          Ten Themes for Saturday: Week 4

          Ten teams, themes, games and players to watch on Saturday. Pretty straightforward. Here we go:

          Arkansas’ huge opportunity A great challenge comes with the possibility for a great reward, which in Arkansas’ case would be a huge climb into the title picture. That’s what awaits with Alabama — well, that and a nasty defense, a powerful running game and a coaching staff well-versed in everything Bobby Petrino and the Razorbacks want to do offensively. It won’t be easy: the game’s in rowdy Tuscaloosa, and the Crimson Tide seem to be as good as everyone expected. But the chance at something big is there for Arkansas, should it reach out and steal a win, and there’s another chance waiting just around the corner. Texas A&M is up next for the Razorbacks, so imagine if they knock off Alabama on the road and the Aggies on a neutral field. You’ll see the Razorbacks extremely high in each poll, obviously, if not in the top spot. And if Arkansas win both those games, it’s very conceivable to see it head into the season finale with L.S.U. at 11-0. Imagine if both teams are undefeated. That would be something, wouldn’t it?

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            Have A Look at Grandma’s Figurine

            Hey Iowa and Iowa State,

            It’s your grandma. I received your letter. Glad to see you’re both growing up so fast! Your grandfather says hello. He’s out in the fields clearing away the geese. Those whippersnappers just won’t leave us alone! Anyway, your grandpa says he’s so proud of how well both of you are doing under your coaches. Iowa State, we just love Paul Rhoads! He’s so sweet and sensitive, like the time he said he “was so damn proud” to be your coach. I just cried and cried, I was so happy. Iowa, please tell me that young Vandenderg is doing well. Please remind him to write his mother, she misses him so. Anyway, I’ve included this nice figurine out of my figurine chest – remember when you helped me pick that out back in aught-six? – for you to use. Maybe it can be the new Cy-Hawk Trophy? That would make me so happy. Now Iowa State, don’t forget that we’re all hoping you keep things up. Iowa, please kick the ever-loving bananas out of Nebraska.

            XOXOXOXO,

            Grandma

            Above is the new Cy-Hawk Trophy between Iowa and Iowa State. It’s unbelievably bad. Seriously: if I didn’t see it with my own two eyes I wouldn’t believe it. Atrociously awful. Once-in-a-lifetime sort of ridiculous. What was wrong with the old trophy? This does not make sense.

            You can also follow Paul Myerberg and Pre-Snap Read on Twitter.

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              No. 38: Iowa

              Here’s some good news for Iowa: the Hawkeyes have entered the season unranked in The Associated Press poll four times under Kirk Ferentz since 2002. No, that’s not the good news. The good news is this: Iowa ended three of those seasons with a national ranking, coming out of relative obscurity to factor into the national mix. The Hawkeyes did so in 2002 and 2003, starting both years with little acclaim but ending them ranked No. 8 nationally, and entered the 2008 season unranked but ended with a No. 20 ranking. Conversely, Iowa entered 2005, 2006 and 2010 with a national ranking but ended up outside the poll. So there’s something to the general idea that Iowa plays its best football when counted out; there’s some statistical proof. Just so you know, it seems that a fairly long shot that Iowa will be ranked entering the 2011 season.

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                A Grab Bag of Quarterback Depth

                It was never a fair comparison: Iowa and Wisconsin both lost a senior quarterback, but the Hawkeyes have had a succession plan in place since 2009, while Wisconsin — prior to losing Curt Phillips — wanted Jon Budmayr to win the job, not have it handed to him. When Wisconsin revealed late last week that Phillips had suffered a setback in his recovery from a knee injury, it became clear that Budmayr’s time is officially now, even if this is how the quarterback competition might have eventually played out. As noted last week, however, this hurts the Badgers’ depth at the position.

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                  The Countdown

                  A bottom-to-top assessment of the F.B.S. landscape heading into the 2011 season.