Was Iowa State ranked to start the season??
I honestly can't remember.
I know they crawled up to 9 because they earned it and then collapsed in the brutal part of their schedule.
First coaches poll is out
- Thread starter JD720
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Was Iowa State ranked to start the season??
I honestly can't remember.
I know they crawled up to 9 because they earned it and then collapsed in the brutal part of their schedule.
No, we were not ranked that season. Beating a highly overrated Nebraska team and punching in the face an overhyped TTech team that year really bolstered ISU's credentials up to that point. Then yes, the collapse. I agree with what you are saying here 100% It's a lot different to move your way up because of wins as opposed to just getting a top 10 nod right off the bat. I think because of Suh and their defense last year, everyone is forgetting how awful their Offense really was. It wasn't just Lee who was the issue. I remember watching multiple games of Nebraska's where their receivers could not hold on to the ball. They have more than just their QB to worry about this year.
That being said, rank all of our opponents up there imo. It just makes us look better when we play them close or pull off a big victory. Nebby is probably being considered a Big 10 team now, that gives them an automatic 5 spot jump in the pre-season rankings every year. It's a lot easier to hold onto that top 10 spot with a close victory against a crappy opponent than it is to get into the rankings by just beating a crappy opponent.
And I don't ever remember, in my lifetime, seeing ISU ever come out ranked in the pre-season rankings. I'd love to know if we were.
I guess 5 National Championships with the most recent being over a decade ago gets you more street cred with the so called experts then a BCS Bowl win last season.
If Iowa and Nebraska played this season the hoks would hammer them. Just saying....
I wouldn't be too excited about 10 returning starters on an offense that absolutely stunk last season. If it wasn't for the D shutting people down all year that was a 6-6 or worse team last year. :yes:
This. They dropped out of the rankings after Texas Tech went into Lincoln and dropped the hammer on them. What is it with Nebraska and those Texas schools anyway? No wonder they wanted out of the Big XII so bad. :biglaugh:
Are you serious? ISU wasn't anywhere close to the top 10 that year in the preseason. Nice try
This. Nebraska and Iowa are both going to have stout defenses but Iowa has much better talent returning on offense. How Nebraska is ranked ahead of an Iowa team coming off a convincing BCS bowl win is beyond me
Totally different. That team started unranked (i.e. no pre-season hype) and climbed in to the Top 10. Then we completely self-destructed.
Iowa's offense was about as abysmal as Nebraska's a year ago. Stanzi is an asset for one quarter and a liability for three. I agree that Iowa should be ranked ahead of Nebraska to start the year, but the two teams will be pretty equal in 2010.
Of if the offense simply improves only slightly from being ranked 99th a year ago, Nebraska wins the Big 12 and goes to a BCS game. Nebraska won ten games and lost several nail-biters, where just the slightest improvement on offense would have equaled wins.
There is just as good if not a better chance that the defense will get slightly worse to go along with that slightly better offense.
The Nebraska offense owes virtually every win last season to the defensive unit. Had Nebraska's D not allowed such a small number of points they would have been a .500 team at best. Nebraska's offense wasn't going to outscore anyone if they got into a shootout.
The Nebraska offense seemed to be clicking pretty well against Arizona to end the year.
The difference between Iowa and Nebraska offensively was the fact that Iowa had only TWO starters start every game on offense last year due to injury. Iowa's offense never got to practice together, and thus never really hit their stride. That is why Iowa's offense was so inconsistent last season....it could look really good one week and really bad the next. Nebbie had relatively good luck with regard to injuries, but still managed to have a very poor offense.
In terms of returning offensive talent...well, it really isn't even close IMO. Stanzi is a better QB than Lee (and who isn't?), Iowa has 3 WR's who would start over the best NU WR, and I'll take Iowa's top 3 RB's over Nebbie's top 3 RB's every day. The only place where Nebbie may have a little more stability is the OL...but we'll have to see how Iowa's OL develops before we can say that definitively.
Further, I have absolutely no doubt Iowa will have a more complete defense than NU.
The reason NU gets the nod over Iowa in the polls is name brand....the old guys in the polls have a sentimental place in their heart for seeing NU in the top 10, so they put them up there.
The USA TODAY Board of Coaches is made up of 59 head coaches at Division I-A institutions. All are members of the American Football Coaches Association. The board for the 2010 season: Robb Akey, Idaho; ...... Jerry Kill, Northern Illinois.....
