Iowa Hawkeyes
2007 record: 2-2 (0-1)
2007 Sagarin: 43 (IU is 71)
2006 record: 6-7 (2-6) (lost to Texas in Alamo Bowl)
2006 Sagarin: 51
Series: Iowa leads, 26-38-4
Last IU win: 2006 (31-28 in Bloomington)
Last Iowa win: 2005 (38-21 in Iowa City)
Last IU win in Iowa City: 1999 (38-31)
For the first time this season, IU plays a team with a blog, Black Heart Gold Pants. I haven't had much of a chance to look at Iowa's results in detail. I know that they looked OK against NIU, spanked Syracuse, inexplicably lost to an awful Iowa State team, and played pretty well in a loss at Wisconsin. I'll take a look as the week transpires. Certainly, the Hawks seem likely to be revenge-minded, given IU's come-from-behind win last season, but beyond that, with a trip to Penn State next week, Iowa just needs a win. So do we.
This is, believe it or not, one of IU's most competitive series against a Big Ten opponent. IU is within 11 games of .500 against Minnesota, but Iowa leads the series by only 12 games. This has been a series of streaks recently. IU had lost three in a row before last year's upset. IU previously enjoyed a modest three-game winning streak against the late Fry/early Ferentz teams of 1998-2000. Iowa had won three in a row before that (1995-97) following a two year IU winning streak (1993-94). In the current "dark age" of IU football, the 13 plus seasons since IU's last bowl bid, IU has won more games against Iowa (5) than any other Big Ten school. So, the IU-Iowa series has been surprisingly competitive, but IU is a clear underdog (+12 this morning). More as the week continues.