May 26, 2005
- 2005 National I-Club Spring Banquet Tour
- Follow the Renovation of Kinnick!
- 2005 Capital One Bowl: The Game Story
- 2005 Capital One Bowl: Photos from the Game
- 2005 Capital One Bowl: Notes from the Game
- 2005 Capital One Bowl: Statistics from the game
- 2005 Capital One Bowl: Video Highlights from the Game
- 2005 Capital One Bowl: Listen to the Game
- 2005 Capital One Bowl: Watch Mediacom’s Pre-Game Special
- The Schedule: 2005 and Beyond
- Order your 2004 Iowa Football Instant Replay DVD
- 2005 FanFest: Photo Gallery
The Iowa City Press-Citizen reported in today’s edition of its newspaper that the 2005 Iowa football team will be the nation’s No. 3 team in the pre-season poll of Athlon Sports magazine.
Yep. The experts are high on the Hawkeyes. And rightfully so. Such are the burdens of a program that has finished the last two seasons with January 1 bowl game victories over teams of the powerful Southeastern Conference and is a conference champion in two of the last three years.
Yep. It’s fact. The Hawkeyes have transitioned from being the hunter to being the hunted, as Mike Hlas of the The Gazette noted in last Sunday’s editions of that area newspaper:
“The 31 wins, two Big Ten co-championships and three Top Ten finishes over the last three seasons — big stuff. But University of Iowa football is now entering an entirely different dimension,” wrote Hlas.
“Namely, great expectations.
“Mammoth, actually.
“No one in Hawkdom can play that old, tired “no respect” card. The nation is on to Iowa football, and in a major way. The Hawkeyes are no longer viewed as upstarts, plucky underdogs. They are now supposed to win nine or 10 games, supposed to be in the Top Ten.
“The Sporting News is calling Iowa the No. 10 team in the nation entering the 2005 season. On ESPN.com, Ivan Maisel and Mark May pick the Hawkeyes as the fourth-best team in the land, and Pat Forde has them fifth. A column on Sports Illustrated’s Web site this spring pegged Iowa No. 4.
“You aim to get that kind of recognition. But living up to such projections can be taxing, and not necessarily pleasant.
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The Sporting News is calling Iowa the No. 10 team in the nation entering the 2005 season. On ESPN.com, Ivan Maisel and Mark May pick the Hawkeyes as the fourth-best team in the land, and Pat Forde has them fifth. A column on Sports Illustrated’s Web site this spring pegged Iowa No. 4.
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“Little in sports is more fun than exceeding what people told you that you would do. Iowa wasn’t a preseason Top Ten team or a Big Ten title pick in any of the last three years. Has there been a more fun three-year run in the school’s football history? No way.
“This isn’t to say that the Hawkeyes’ fun will diminish anytime soon, but here’s what Pete Fiutak of Collegefootballnews.com has written:
” `The expectations have been cranked up a few notches, but there are major holes to worry about with no experience on the defensive line, little depth in several places and a few brutal road games early on that could make this a disappointing season before October. It’s a shame that another ten-win season might be seen as a downer, but that’s the monster (Kirk) Ferentz has built.”
Click HERE to read the full story.