CBS: College football teams poised to take a step back in 2016 (#4. Iowa, #1. wisco)

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BleedGopher

BleedGopher

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per CBS:

I'll be ranking them in order of how drastic I think the step back may be, from least to most.

4. Iowa: Iowa is in a similar situation as North Carolina, in that it plays in the weaker division of its conference, and it's expected to repeat as champion. The Hawkeyes claiming another West Division crown is certainly in play, but there's simply no way they're going to be as successful in the regular season as they were last year.

The Hawkeyes went 12-0 during the regular season before losing a close game to Michigan State in the Big Ten Championship, and then being blasted by Stanford in the Rose Bowl.

The reasons I'm skeptical about 2016 is that the schedule won't be as forgiving in 2016, as the Hawkeyes now must play nine Big Ten games, and they get a road trip to Penn State as well as a home game against Michigan as part of their cross-divisional draw. Also, even though Iowa went 8-0 in Big Ten play last season, five of those eight wins were by less than 10 points, and Iowa had one of the best turnover margins in the conference.

History suggests that turnovers are more a product of luck than anything, and that luck balances out, so I expect that to happen here, and if it does, some of those close games could go the other way.
So, yes, Iowa could win the West, but it's not winning 12 games. I'm going to say 8-4 is far more likely.

1. Wisconsin: Wisconsin was a team that really wasn't as good as its record last season. The Badgers finished 10-3, but anybody who looked closely realized that there were plenty of flaws, and that they were taking advantage of a thin schedule.

Wisconsin played only three teams that won at least seven games during the 2015 regular season (Alabama, Iowa, Northwestern) and it went 0-3 against them. The only other bowl teams the Badgers played were Nebraska and Minnesota, and they got to bowl games despite having 5-7 records simply because there weren't enough six-win teams.

This season the schedule is a lot tougher.

Wisconsin will play five teams that won at least 10 games last season (Michigan State, Michigan, Ohio State, Iowa and Northwestern), and four of those games will be on the road. It will also open the season against an LSU team that won nine games last year and has a Heisman favorite at running back in Leonard Fournette.

As a result, we're looking at an instance where this year's Wisconsin team might actually be better than last year's team, yet finish with three or four fewer wins.

Football is funny that way sometimes.

http://www.cbssports.com/college-fo...all-teams-poised-to-take-a-step-back-in-2016/

Go Gophers!!
 

It seems like every year, we're always hearing about the Badgers taking a step back, both in football & basketball....and it seems that it never happens.

I do think it will be interesting to see how they go forward now with out Aranda running the D this year though.....IMO, his departure was the best news for Gopher fans over the offseason.
 

Wisc could be better, and still lose more games.

But as FireDaveLee said, you could predict Wisc's downfall every year it seems, doesn't happen. I'll believe it when I see it.
 

With that schedule Wisconsin's depth will likely be tested. All it takes is one or two weak links (and a coach to take advantage of that). I have all the confidence that Claeys and Johnson will have better answers this year. As mentioned we will see if the new coordinator puts his own spin on things or is able to continue with and teach their version of the 3-4 under Aranda. It will be interesting to see if Clement makes it all the way back from his hernia issues. Their QB situation is a big question mark IMO. The Wisky homers here will tell us every replacement is an upgrade but I'm not sure about that.
 

BleedGopher said:
per CBS:

I'll be ranking them in order of how drastic I think the step back may be, from least to most.

4. Iowa: Iowa is in a similar situation as North Carolina, in that it plays in the weaker division of its conference, and it's expected to repeat as champion. The Hawkeyes claiming another West Division crown is certainly in play, but there's simply no way they're going to be as successful in the regular season as they were last year.

The Hawkeyes went 12-0 during the regular season before losing a close game to Michigan State in the Big Ten Championship, and then being blasted by Stanford in the Rose Bowl.

The reasons I'm skeptical about 2016 is that the schedule won't be as forgiving in 2016, as the Hawkeyes now must play nine Big Ten games, and they get a road trip to Penn State as well as a home game against Michigan as part of their cross-divisional draw. Also, even though Iowa went 8-0 in Big Ten play last season, five of those eight wins were by less than 10 points, and Iowa had one of the best turnover margins in the conference.

History suggests that turnovers are more a product of luck than anything, and that luck balances out, so I expect that to happen here, and if it does, some of those close games could go the other way.
So, yes, Iowa could win the West, but it's not winning 12 games. I'm going to say 8-4 is far more likely.

1. Wisconsin: Wisconsin was a team that really wasn't as good as its record last season. The Badgers finished 10-3, but anybody who looked closely realized that there were plenty of flaws, and that they were taking advantage of a thin schedule.

Wisconsin played only three teams that won at least seven games during the 2015 regular season (Alabama, Iowa, Northwestern) and it went 0-3 against them. The only other bowl teams the Badgers played were Nebraska and Minnesota, and they got to bowl games despite having 5-7 records simply because there weren't enough six-win teams.

This season the schedule is a lot tougher.

Wisconsin will play five teams that won at least 10 games last season (Michigan State, Michigan, Ohio State, Iowa and Northwestern), and four of those games will be on the road. It will also open the season against an LSU team that won nine games last year and has a Heisman favorite at running back in Leonard Fournette.

As a result, we're looking at an instance where this year's Wisconsin team might actually be better than last year's team, yet finish with three or four fewer wins.

Football is funny that way sometimes.

http://www.cbssports.com/college-fo...all-teams-poised-to-take-a-step-back-in-2016/

Go Gophers!!
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Really can't argue with either of these. Believe Wisc fans are in for a very tough year. Iowa could easily go .500.
 


The Hawkeyes have a solid returning group with a good QB. Don't think they will go 12-0, but it will be our toughest game of the year. Becky's problem is under center. They're either going with a little used senior or a RS freshman. Brutal schedule that could only produce 7 wins. Still, they've a solid defense, good kicking game and a horse in the RB Clements. It will be very tough to beat them in Madison.
 

Whisky has to stay healthy to have any shot at all. LSU could tear them up and they could be struggling with injuries the rest of the year. :clap:

Iowa seems to sound like they could be better than last year, but they got all the breaks last year and could fizzle.
 

ruppertflywheel said:
The Hawkeyes have a solid returning group with a good QB. Don't think they will go 12-0, but it will be our toughest game of the year. Becky's problem is under center. They're either going with a little used senior or a RS freshman. Brutal schedule that could only produce 7 wins. Still, they've a solid defense, good kicking game and a horse in the RB Clements. It will be very tough to beat them in Madison.
Click to expand...

There are 6 potential losses on both schedules...7 on Wisc. I think Iowa/NDSU is the table setter...plus they put the B1G Championship game on their schedule as their 13th game.
 

With Wisconsin figureing out how to attack Dave Aranda's defense has been a bit of a problem, in the LSU game, you'll have two offensive coordinators that practice against it reguarly, scheming against it. I suspect that the book on how to effectively attack it will be written in that game.
 



ruppertflywheel said:
The Hawkeyes have a solid returning group with a good QB. Don't think they will go 12-0, but it will be our toughest game of the year. Becky's problem is under center. They're either going with a little used senior or a RS freshman. Brutal schedule that could only produce 7 wins. Still, they've a solid defense, good kicking game and a horse in the RB Clements. It will be very tough to beat them in Madison.
Click to expand...

Wisconsin on the road is our toughest game of the year.
 

Instead of hoping their opponents get weaker, I'm going to hope the Gophers get stronger. We talk a lot on this board about getting respect, building the fan base and selling tickets. Ultimately, to accomplish those goals, the Gophers need to win - and they need to win big games - trophy games and rivalry games.

Not putting anyone down, but the notion of "oh, Iowa may not be as good this year, so maybe the Gophers can beat them" is not the most stellar endorsement of the Gophers program.

Someday, I hope to see Iowa and Wisconsin fans writing articles like this, where they say "The Gophers are going to be down this year, so maybe we have a chance to beat them." And then the Gophers go out and bury those hopes by kicking some Hawkeye and Bucky butt.
 

Good Points Norskie! It all begins with the battle up front, we need dominate offensive and defensive lines consistently so we can impose our will on the opponent.
 

short ornery norwegian said:
Instead of hoping their opponents get weaker, I'm going to hope the Gophers get stronger. We talk a lot on this board about getting respect, building the fan base and selling tickets. Ultimately, to accomplish those goals, the Gophers need to win - and they need to win big games - trophy games and rivalry games.
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I'll email Claeys.
 




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