Big Ten Power Rankings: Newcomers Look Decent

Mandatory Credit: Reese Strickland-USA TODAY Sports

9.) Iowa (1-0)

Last Week: 31-23 win over Norther Iowa

You don’t get kudos in my book for not blowing out FCS schools, and Iowa won’t be getting it here either despite winning. The Hawkeyes looked alright at times, particularly Jake Rudock in the second half, but their linebackers looked slow and the defense needs to improve. Mark Weisman is never going to wow you (his 3.4 yards per carry didn’t), but Iowa just had no explosiveness on the offensive side of the football. The game was way more of a struggle than it should have been, and that’s why they get knocked a peg. Vegas thinks they’ll cream Ball State next week, I don’t think they cover.

Next Week: Ball State, 3:30 PM on ESPN2