Fighter of the Nightman
- Chicago, IL
How could such a great culture produce the absolute joke and Game of Thrones murderer D.B. Weiss??
Pregame: Illinois at Iowa, Saturday, November 23rd, 11:00am CT, BTN
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How could such a great culture produce the absolute joke and Game of Thrones murderer D.B. Weiss??
This won't be popular and I wouldn't expect anyone to agree but I would. 100% I would.
Deleted member 654622
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I win over Iowa in Iowa means a lot more than a lose at home to Northwestern at this point
kiwanegarris22
- South Carolina
Absolutely! Give me another Top 20 win on the road! An Iowa victory just might get us to Top 30 in the polls, too.
BZuppke
- Plainfield
Channeling Ray Nitschke: I’d rather win both games!
Illwinsagain
- Cary, IL
Depends, does a loss in Iowa City guarantee a victory against the kitty cats? If so, I am going to the NU game and would rather see a victory than a loss.
JFGsCoffeeMug
BU:1 Trash cans:0
- Chicago
I would take the win over Iowa. Five game win streak to build confidence. Loss before the bowl game to bring focus.
Damn. I've been trying to be a good guest and you go and insult me like that...
Nebraska? Really?
There are a lot of good Iowa (and Illinois) fans out there, just too much bad blood in the past to choose to overlook the animosity in many instances. Living in Texas will change your perspective and I pretty much root for any Big Ten team at this point. Texans are really "special" people when it comes to their football.
I think I’d have to take the safe bet. Beat NW at home and lose to Iowa on the road.
Losing to a top 25 team on the road is expected. Losing to a HORRIBLE NW team at home is not.
If we lost to NW, it would make me think that this amazing 5 game streak (the hypothetical Iowa win included) was a fluke and I’d be super anxious about the bowl game and the future.
I just want to meet expectations. Beating our peers (NW, PU, Rut) is expected. Losing to them (especially at home) is not.
Losing to a top 25 team on the road is expected. Losing to a HORRIBLE NW team at home is not.
If we lost to NW, it would make me think that this amazing 5 game streak (the hypothetical Iowa win included) was a fluke and I’d be super anxious about the bowl game and the future.
I just want to meet expectations. Beating our peers (NW, PU, Rut) is expected. Losing to them (especially at home) is not.
Maybe, maybe not.
There's no right answer here but essentially this season is what it is. Now we turn toward where we want this program to go next season and the season after etc. Which game pushes towards that goal? I believe it's clearly Iowa, for a laundry list of reasons.
No...losing to a bad Northwestern team would not be a positive look..could marginally impact future in state recruiting. Would like to beat Northwestern by 4 tds.
Let's stop and think for a minute about who typically recruits higher end talent in our state with the highest degree of success. Is it Northwestern? Or...is it Iowa?
IlliniSaluki
- IL metro east burbs of St. Louis
I know the Iowa win would probably do more for the team.. but the part of me that just can't stand the NW kittens can't let me choose that.. in other words..
lstewart53x3
- Scottsdale, Arizona
The next level for our program is beating who we’re supposed to beat.
Can't drink all day if you don't start early.
Hell YES!!!! But keep in mind that I cross the border and go Iowa everyday to work and work for an Iowa based company. In my 18 years of working in Iowa, I have had many BAD interactions regarding Illinois vs. Iowa sporting discussions. You would think they were national champions every year in every sport. Even though they have zero NC in Football & Basketball (you have to give them wrastling). Even though we still own them head to head in FB & BB all time even given our lack luster programs the last 20 years. I'm old enough to remember when Iowa was the laughing stock of the Big 10 in Football and Basketball.
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I believe, the next level for this program is to change the names on the list of teams you're supposed to beat. We can debate Northwestern's place on that list in a separate forum but frankly, beating the same "x" number of teams doesn't do anything to elevate a program. We can beat Bowling Green, UConn, Rutgers and Maryland all day long, but who will notice? And who will care? Will it be guys like us or will it be the .95 4* composite kid with 40 offers?
I can assure you, it's unlikely to be the latter.
TLDR: A loss to horrible NW at home in the last week of the season does more damage than a win against ranked Iowa, in Iowa, the week before.
A road win at Iowa gets negated by the home loss to terrible NW. Especially because it comes after. (Recency bias and all)
But the real hit to the groin comes from everything surrounding that NW game. We will be on the 5 game streak, possibly ranked, playing in the last home game, it’ll be senior day, AND it would be a HELLUVA good game to bring recruits in as we play for our first 8 win season since 2007. Which means, we could be playing in front of a really good crowd. An almost packed crowd I’d say.
And we lay a huge egg and get beat by one of the worst teams in the league? Our little in-state brother no less?
That will be the taste we have in our mouth going into the bowl game. Now, if we lose that as well, we won’t feel as good about the future coming off the 2 game losing streak to end the season. I’d rather have L-W-L than W-L-L.
Read marginally. We need to regain the top school in the state status
Bold: More damage to who/whom?
Does a 4* kid in-state care more about a loss to Northwestern, a school this type of player will typically not consider or a win over a program like Iowa, a school our kids typically do consider?
Simple question: Why?
Other than perception for our sake, I can't find a reasonable answer to the question.
No. At this point we are expected to beat teams like NW and lose to a top 20 program like Iowa. Losing to this NW team would nearly negate our victories to this point and would be a sign of regression to end the season.
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