Well, Iowa vs. the Lindy's Top 119...
#119. FIU (8th in Sun Belt)... "Ended last year with win over North Texas, erasing 23-game skid." Next Up: @ KU, then @ Iowa.
Would Maine give FIU a game? Maine isn't in Division I (FBS), so they are not rated. FCS team - Maine will open at Iowa on Aug. 30th and are the Hawkeyes 12th opponent fo the 2008 football season.
#82. Northwestern (11th in Big Ten)... "Wildcats try to rally behind senior QB C.J. Bacher." Is Northwestern the 11th team in the Big Ten? 16 returning starters, 7 on both offense and defense. Usually, teams like IU and NW play well when they are lead by senior leadership.
NW is rated ahead of #83 Baylor, #90 San Diego State (HC Chuck Long), #92 Syracuse, #106 Northern Illinois and #107 Western Michigan.
BTW - #101 is UL-Monroe, who beat #20 Alabama last November.
#80 Iowa State (11th in Big 12, last in North)... "Late-season wins over KSU, CU were encouraging."
#75 Minnesota (10th in Big Ten)... "Top 20 recruiting class sign of better things to come." Gophers lost to NW Mildcats in OT. I guess Lindy's sees Gophers revenging last year's loss.
#65 Indiana (9th in Big Ten)... "Still a tough climb despite last season's magic ride to a bowl." Ahead of #66 Stanford (AD Bob Bowlsby's home)...
#47 Purdue (8th in Big Ten)... "Last go-round for coach Joe Tiller could feature more no-huddle." The Boilers are ahead of such teams as #51 Nebraska, #54 Arkansas, #57 Louisville, #59 Notre Dame, #60 Arizona (HC Mike Stoops), and #61 Kansas State.
Iowa came in at #45 (7th in Big Ten)... "Hawkeyes are just one game over .500 in the past three years." So, does MSU really pass Iowa in '08 and does Iowa stay stuck in .500'ville?
#36 Michigan State (6th in Big Ten)... "All seven losses last season came by a touchdown or less." Purdue had a similar stat in 2004 and didn't finish #3 in the Nation as Phil Steele suggested. MSU is rated by Lindy's ahead of #40 Colorado and #41 Oklahoma State.
We don't play Michigan, but they come in at #31 (5th in Big Ten)... "A bumpy stat for the major transition for coach Rich Rodriquez." But, ahead of #32 Cal, #33 Rutgers, and #35 BC.
#26 Penn State (4th in Big Ten)... "Games at Wisconsin, Ohio State could preclude a serious run." Iowa of course could be a spoiler for PSU too. Ahead of #27 South Carolina, #29 Virginia Tech and #30 Texas A&M (who they beat in Alamo Bowl).
#23 Pittsburgh (3rd in Big East)... "Ok, Dave, Show Us What You've Got!"... clearly Lindy's doesn't give Iowa much props, since they state... "No excuses. No excuses for anything less than a 4-0 start." I guess Iowa may have an opportunity to play a spoiler against two teams from the State of PA in '08. Lindy's has Pitt ahead of #24 Tennessee and #25 FSU.
#18 Illinois (3rd in Big Ten)... "Corner turned, Juice and Friends Pour it on." Maybe the road game in Champaign will be a real tough outing for Iowa... I am not sure the Illini will "pour it on" every opponent absent TB Rashard Mendenhall. Lindy's sees the Illini ahead of #19 South Florida, #20 Alabama, #21 Oregon and #22 Fresno State.
#11 Wisconsin (2nd in the Big Ten)... " 'Old School' Style Still Leads to New Year's." There is a lot of love for Coach Bret Bielema and his team, but this will be the year that more Bielema players will have to step forward entering year 3, post Alvarez. QB is "unsettled" and there are some other questions... what does Iowa do at Kinnick vs. Badgers? #11 UW is rated by Lindy's ahead of #12 BYU, #13 Auburn, #14 Arizona State, #15 Kansas, #16 Texas Tech and #17 Wake Forest.
We don't play #3 Ohio State (pegged #1 in Big Ten)... "Big Ten Bullies Want (yet) Another Title Shot.", who Lindy's have behind #1 and #2 Georgia and USC... but, ahead of #4 Oklahoma, #5 Missouri and the past two defending champs, #6 Florida and #7 LSU. #8 Texas, #9 WVU and #10 Clemson round out the Top 10 for Lindy's.
The 2008 Season should be another great year for College Football!
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