Iowa’s season against ranked Big Ten teams has been a lot like playing Chad “Ochocinco” Johnson in the FIFA video game on Xbox.

I was lucky enough to play the former Cincinnati Bengals All-Pro wide receiver three times when he came to my house during the summer of 2018.

As shocked as I was that he actually came to my house, I had a task in front of me: beat the man who proclaimed himself to be the FIFA King.

I failed. Miserably. Johnson smacked me in all three games, 4-0, 3-0, and 2-1.

But in the final game, I had a legitimate chance. I had a lead until he tied it in the 66th minute, then he won it with a goal in the 88th. A real heartbreaker.

That game was like Iowa’s against Wisconsin on Saturday. The Hawkeyes battled back after falling behind by 15 and had a chance to tie it, but they ended up losing in the final minutes.

For the entire third game against Johnson, I knew he was coming, and the idea of losing stayed in the back of my mind.

That’s what happened to the Hawkeyes. Although they were close, it felt like they wouldn’t find a way to pull it off, just as they couldn’t the first two times against Michigan and Penn State.

On the bright side, Iowa has lost its three games this season by a combined 14 points, but in no game have the Hawkeyes found a way to get over the hump.

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Instead, the offense has wallowed for at least part of the game, while the defense gives up a couple plays that are too much to overcome.

Because of that, the Hawkeyes have essentially been eliminated from the Big Ten West title race. While Iowa isn’t mathematically eliminated, three losses will be extremely difficult to overcome, especially with an undefeated top-10 Minnesota squad coming to Kinnick Stadium next week.

The most unsettling part of all this, though, is Iowa had a legitimate chance to make it to Indianapolis. The Big Ten West appeared wide open to start the season, and if the Hawkeyes won one of their biggest games of the season, there would still be a decent chance of a Big Ten Championship appearance.

Iowa’s three Big Ten wins have come against Rutgers, Purdue, and Northwestern. Out of those teams, only Purdue has won a conference game this season.

Instead of competing for a title, the Hawkeyes sit at fourth in the West behind Minnesota, Wisconsin, and — don’t freak out too much — Illinois.

All Iowa can do now is take care of business in its next three games, but if Minnesota doesn’t choke against Northwestern in its penultimate game, the Hawkeyes can only reach a solid bowl game.

It’s hard for this not to feel like a wasted season. Sure, not everything has been bad — Iowa has come out on top in the games it was supposed to win and beat Iowa State in an in-state rivalry that continues to heat up.

But it’s hard to look at the season as a success with everything that could have happened if Iowa found a way to win one big game.