Iowa – Page 27 – Syndication Server

Notre Dame creeps up in latest USA TODAY Sports AFCA Coaches Poll

The Irish head north in the Coaches Poll’s newest rankings

The Irish outlasted the Tar Heels of North Carolina and were rewarded by moving up in the latest USA TODAY Sports AFCA Coaches Poll. Previously just outside the Top-10 at No. 11, Notre Dame moved up three spots to No. 8 after some shake-up inside the poll.

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Michigan State’s comeback over rival Michigan didn’t do them much good in the eyes of the coaches, moving up just one spot to No. 6, still behind one loss Ohio State. The Buckeyes defeated Penn State and remained No. 5 while the Wolverines managed to drop just four spots to No. 10.

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Ole Mis and Iowa tumbled out of the Top-10 with their second loss, while other teams like Baylor, Auburn, and Wake Forest took advantage of teams losing ahead of them and moved up.

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Take a look at the updated Coaches Poll with last weeks ranking in parenthesis.

1 – Georgia (1)

2 – Cincinnati (2)

3 – Alabama (3)

4 – Oklahoma (4)

5 – Ohio State (5)

6 – Michigan State (7)

7 – Oregon (8)

8 – Notre Dame (11)

9 – Wake Forest (13)

10 – Michigan (6)

11 – Oklahoma St. (15)

12 – Texas A&M (14)

13 – Baylor (18)

14 – Auburn (21)

15 – Ole Miss (9)

16 – Iowa (10)

17 – Kentucky (12)

18 – UTSA (22)

19 – Houston (NR)

20 – BYU (NR)

21 – Coastal Carolina (24)

22 – NC State (25)

23 – Penn State (17)

24 – SMU (16)

25 – Pittsburgh (19)

ESPN’s College Game Day make their Notre Dame / UNC pick and more

Game Day makes their selections

ESPN’s College Game Day was in the mitten state, for the Top-10 matchup between rivals Michigan and host Michigan State. For their guest celebrity, they brought in actor, comedian and surprisingly doctor Ken Jeong to make picks along with Desmond Howard, Lee Corso and Kirk Herbstreit. Find out below who they selected to win today’s games.

Wisconsin vs. Iowa: Staff predictions

The stage is set for Wisconsin and No. 9 Iowa to battle in a game that will define both teams’ seasons, also known as the Big Ten West Bowl.

The Badgers enter the contest coming off a solid 30-13 victory Purdue where the team dominated on the ground, finally forced turnovers and played its best second half of the season.

Iowa, on the other hand, is fresh off a bye week after losing 24-7 to the same Purdue team two weeks ago. After a 6-0 start, the Hawkeyes need a win on Saturday to get back on track and nearly lock up the Big Ten West.

Here are our official predictions for Saturday’s game:

Why Wisconsin wins, why Wisconsin loses Saturday vs. Iowa

Wisconsin and Iowa will take the field Saturday and battle for control of the Heartland Trophy.

Iowa currently holds the trophy thanks to its 28-7 victory last season. The Badgers enter the contest having won 7 of the last 9 meetings, though, including 2019’s 24-22 triumph.

It’s safe to say Iowa’s control of the trophy has not been the norm over the last decade.

The game on Saturday will likely boil down to a few key areas: turnovers, rushing success and time of possession. These two teams are near mirror images of each other, so Wisconsin fans should expect the game to look like what we know as classic, Big Ten football.

After running through where each team has advantages, five keys to victory. one area that may decide the contest and a complete Iowa team preview, here is Why Wisconsin wins, or Why Wisconsin loses tomorrow:

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Wisconsin has an advantage in all but two categories vs. Iowa

Wisconsin and No. 9 Iowa are set for a classic Big Ten battle on Saturday morning.

The total for the game sits at 36.5, a lower number than Wisconsin had in contests against Army and Purdue.

It makes sense, though. The teams are mirror images of each other: stout defenses, inefficient offenses and team mentalities that the defense will be the thing to win the football game.

There’s obviously a few glaring differences in the two teams’ records (Iowa: 6-1, Wisconsin: 4-3) and each team’s ability to hold on to the football (more on that below).

So, to handicap this contest and see where the game will be won or lost, I looked at which team has the advantage in each critical area of the game.

All Betting Lines are Courtesy of Tipico Sportsbook

Visit our free to play game lobby at Daily Ticket, Powered by Tipico Sportsbook

One area of the game that may decide Wisconsin vs. Iowa

When the Wisconsin Badgers take the field against the No. 9 Iowa Hawkeyes on Saturday, whichever team wins the turnover battle will likely come out on top.

Iowa has played its way to a ridiculous +12 turnover differential (it was even better before Spencer Petras’ 4-interception day against Purdue) while Wisconsin is near the bottom of the nation with a -8 margin (which was even worse before it forced 5 turnovers against Purdue).

Of all areas of this contest, turnovers is undoubtedly the most important.

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But there’s another area to watch entering Saturday, one which has been a strength of one team while being a weakness of the other: Special teams.

Yes, Wisconsin kicker Collin Larsh has been lights-out this season, connecting on 10 of 12 field goals, and punter Andy Vujnovich has done a fine job. But it’s been a special teams mistake in all of Wisconsin’s losses that ended up turning the tide.

Against Penn State a short field goal was blocked, against Notre Dame a kick return touchdown changed the game and against Michigan a muffed punt gave the Wolverines control of the contest. And that’s not even thinking back to previous seasons, where dropped punts and timely mistakes have cost the Badgers in nearly every important contest.

Iowa, on the other hand, prides itself on one of the strongest special teams cores in the nation. Kicker Caleb Shudank is 11/13 on field goals, Australian punter Tory Taylor averages 46.1 yards per punt including 12 punts of 50+ yards and the coverage teams have been masterful.

In a game with a total as low as 37 and both teams boasting similar levels of defensive dominance and offensive struggles, one or two significant plays can flip field position, hand points to the other team and change the game.

Unfortunately for Wisconsin, the matchup on special teams is a scary one entering the contest.

Contact/Follow us @TheBadgersWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Wisconsin news, notes, opinion and analysis.

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Five keys to a Wisconsin victory over Iowa on Saturday

The Wisconsin Badgers and Iowa Hawkeyes are set for an old-fashioned Big Ten slugfest on Saturday.

Each offense ranks near the bottom of the nation in offensive efficiency (Wisconsin No. 113, Iowa No. 119), and each defense ranks near the top (Wisconsin No. 3, Iowa No. 4). What does that set up for? A game where crossing the 50 yard-line may feel like scoring a touchdown.

Yes, turnovers will likely decide the winner with Iowa boasting a ridiculous +12 turnover differential and Wisconsin sitting at -8. But aside from that statistic, there are several areas of the game where the Badgers must dominate.

Here are five keys to a Wisconsin victory:

Three ruled out, six listed as questionable for Wisconsin’s contest vs. Iowa

Wisconsin has released its preliminary injury report for this weekend’s showdown with Iowa.

The team defeated Purdue 30-13 on Saturday without the services of TEs Hayden Rucci, Clay Cundiff and Jack Eschenbach, OLBs Spencer Lytle and Aaron Witt, ILBs Mike Maskalunas and Jordan Turner and CB Alexander Smith. Tight end Cam Large then left the game early with an injury.

This week’s injury report looks pretty similar.

Players listed as OUT: TE Cam Large, TE Hayden Rucci, OLB Aaron Witt
Players listed as questionable: TE Clay Cundiff, TE Jack Eschenbach, OLB Spencer Lytle, ILB Mike Maskalunas, CB Alexander Smith, ILB Jordan Turner

#Badgers preliminary status report. TE room will be without Cam Large and Hayden Rucci. pic.twitter.com/oyhsEbKxzd

— Jake Kocorowski (@JakeKoco) October 25, 2021

Contact/Follow us @TheBadgersWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Wisconsin news, notes, opinion and analysis.

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ESPN releases Power Rankings through Week 8

Notre Dame is not back there yet.

No, Notre Dame has not cracked the top 10 of ESPN’s Power Rankings just yet. It certainly made the case to do that with Saturday’s win over USC. It will have to settle for the No. 11 ranking for now with the hopes of improving that really soon. In the meantime, here are the top 10 teams that made ESPN’s Power Rankings through Week 8:

ESPN FPI sees a tight race to the finish for Wisconsin in the Big Ten West

The tides have begun to turn for the 2021 Wisconsin Badgers. The team has won three straight games, finally was able to beat a ranked opponent and now enters next weekend’s game with a chance at taking control of the Big Ten West.

While Wisconsin’s win over Purdue lined the Badgers up for a race to finish with first-place Iowa, the Minnesota Golden Gophers have also re-entered the picture with another Big Ten win.

All three teams are yet to play each other, so we’re in for quite a finish to the Big Ten regular season.

ESPN FPI projected a 6-6 final record for the Badgers entering Saturday’s contest. Those projections have now been updated in a positive direction for Wisconsin.

Here is FPI’s updated game-by-game prediction for the Wisconsin Badgers:

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