By Jordan Hansen
The very first question Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz was asked during his time on the podium at the Big Ten football Media Days on Tuesday dealt with expectations.
For the first time in five years, the Hawkeyes are coming off a double-digit-win season. Of course, last year was special. The 12-0 start. The Rose Bowl appearance.
Those feats will always explode fan expectations, but even forces out of the Iowa football bubble are convinced the Hawkeyes have a chance to repeat some degree of their success. A Cleveland.com media poll has Iowa as the overwhelming favorite to win the West Division, as do Athlon Sports and CBSsports.
With that said, the Hawkeyes have not always managed expectations well. The question to Ferentz referred to this, and his response was honest.
“I think if you look back, there are years where we’ve handled that well. Like ’09 and maybe 2003 and 2004,” Ferentz said. “And then in those two seasons you referred to [2005, 2010], that really gets down to just winning close games, doing little things right, those types of things.”
Perhaps the most apt comparison — and one Ferentz wishes to avoid — is to the 2010 season. Iowa was coming off an Orange Bowl win in 2009 and returned most of its star players, but the spectacular follow-up season never materialized.
Small miscues turned into larger problems as the losses began to pile up toward the latter half of the season.
There is not an insignificant amount of luck involved in having a good football season, and at certain points, the Hawkeyes just didn’t have it. The Wisconsin fake punt comes to mind immediately, though it was a brilliantly timed call by then-Badger coach Bret Bielema.
Speaking of other teams in the division, the Big Ten West is rather unpredictable. Iowa was picked to finish fourth in the division last year yet ended up claiming the title outright.
Wisconsin, Nebraska, and Northwestern all could challenge the Hawkeyes for a spot in Indy, and if nothing else, knock them off when they play head-to-head. Unlike the East Division, now ruled by the three-headed monster that is Ohio State, Michigan, and Michigan State, the West Division does not have a clearly defined top-tier.
Iowa also plays four trophy games, all of which are sought after by both fan bases, and the games always have a little extra flair to them. They are motivation, but they can also get distracting. The Hawkeyes managed to win all four a season ago, something that probably won’t be replicated this season.
It’s not impossible they do, just unlikely. The Hawks came back down to earth during the Big Ten title and Rose Bowl games, so it will be interesting to see how those stinging losses have affected them.
But back, one last time, to the idea of expectations. With the schedule Iowa has (it avoids Michigan State and Ohio State and gets Michigan at home) is pretty ideal.
It’s really not hard to see eight or nine regular season wins, with a double-digit win total well within reach.
The only question, of course, is what type of season Iowa has this year — the 2010 type or the 2004 iteration?
Follow @JordyHansen for Iowa football news, updates, and analysis.