By Pat Harty

IOWA CITY, Iowa – With the much-anticipated 2021 college football season about to start, with a historic alliance now part of the college landscape, and with the Southeastern Conference showing signs of wanting to rule the world, it probably should come as no surprise that the two guys that love to argue were at it again recently.

Mr. Optimist and Mr. Pessimist staged yet another debate, and as usual, they disagreed about everything.

One’s glass is always half full, while the other’s is always half empty and that makes for some lively discussion filled with snark, cynicism and hope on one side.

Iowa is preparing to face Indiana in the Sept. 4 season opener at Kinnick Stadium in what is arguably the most anticipated season opener in years. Both teams are ranked and it’ll be the first time that fans will be allowed in the stands since the 2019 season.

The Big Ten, ACC and Pac-12 also announced their “historic” alliance on Tuesday, and even though Big Ten Commissioner Kevin Warren won’t admit it publicly, the forming of the alliance is a hasty response to Oklahoma and Texas bolting from the Big 12 to join the SEC.

So there is plenty open for debate, and that’s what Mr. Optimist and Mr. Pessimist do best.

Mr. Optimist: Iowa’s football schedule, thanks to the alliance, will be greatly enhanced by getting to play one opponent from the ACC and one from the Pac-12 every season.

Mr. Pessimist: Yeah, okay. Nothing says owning the SEC or living the dream better than the Iowa football team having to travel to Pullman, Washington to face Washington State at 10 p.m. on a Friday in late October.

Mr. Optimist: The creation of an alliance gives the Big Ten, ACC and Pac-12 more leverage and influence to help with playoff expansion negotiations.

Mr. Pessimist: That same alliance could ultimately lead to Iowa playing 11 Power Five opponents, or having its series with Iowa State discontinued in order to play just 10 Power Five opponents.

Mr. Optimist: The alliance consists of three highly respected conferences that share a similar passion and vision about how college athletics should fit into an academic landscape.

Mr. Pessimist: And meanwhile, Alabama is favored to win another national title in football, and has a quarterback with no starting experience who is could make up to $1 million annually through Name, Image and Likeness.

Mr. Optimist: Proof of vaccination against the coronavirus, or a recent negative test, will be required to attend LSU football games this season.

Mr. Pessimist: That should go over like a turd in a punch bowl with probably about 75 percent of the LSU fans.

Mr. Optimist: The Big Ten, ACC and Pac-12 have been very transparent in their handling of the alliance as evidenced by the conference’s three commissioners answering questions from the media for about an hour on Tuesday.

Mr. Pessimist: A mind-numbingly boring press conference in which all three commissioners basically just rambled on about nothing for an hour while providing no details or specifics hardly seems transparent.

Mr. Optimist: This alliance could ultimately move Iowa and Notre Dame a step closer to facing each other in football again.

Mr. Pessimist: By when, the year 2044?

Mr. Optimist: The alliance could ultimately make it easier for Iowa to play in the Rose Bowl.

Mr. Pessimist: Buddy Holly still was alive the last time Iowa won in the Rose Bowl.

Mr. Optimist: College football would benefit significantly by expanding the college playoff to eight teams, or maybe even 12 teams, because the more the merrier.

Mr. Pessimist: Unless the college playoff decides to follow March Madness by having a 68-team field, Nebraska still will probably be on the outside looking in.

Mr. Optimist: The Iowa football team has momentum from having won its final six games last season after a 0-2 start.

Mr. Pessimist: The six opponents that Iowa defeated last season had a combined record of 18-28, and Wisconsin was the only one among the six to finish with a winning record at 4-3.

Mr. Optimist: Wisconsin should benefit from having head coach Paul Chryst coaching the quarterbacks and calling the plays this season.

Mr. Pessimist: My concern if I’m a Badger fan is that the starting quarterback might fall asleep while Chryst calls the plays.

Mr. Optimist: The Big Ten was wise to hire Barry Alvarez as a special advisor for football, considering his track record, the respect he has earned as a coach, and as an administrator, and his unwavering loyalty to the conference.

Mr. Pessimist: Barry Alvarez hardly ever wears socks, or so it seems, and he once raided Hayden Fry’s staff at Iowa for two key assistants who would go on to play a significant role in turning the Badgers into a Big Ten power, and that was after Fry had given Alvarez his big break in coaching by hiring him to join his staff at Iowa in the late 1970s.

Mr. Optimist: The Big Ten Network crew attended practice at Iowa this past week and spoke very highly about what they saw from a talent and execution standpoint.

Mr. Pessimist: The Big Ten Network crew would’ve spoken very highly about the 1973 Iowa football team.

Mr. Optimist: The Iowa Athletic Department deserves praise for honoring Duke Slater by naming the field at Kinnick Stadium after him.

Mr. Pessimist: It wouldn’t have happened without the racial unrest from last season, and let’s be serious, he played at Iowa a century ago. So what took so long?

Mr. Optimist: The vaccines have made it possible for fans to be back in the stands again for college sporting events.

Mr. Pessimist: The vaccines also have been rejected by a large segment of the population, and it’s fair to assume that some of those people will be in the stands at Kinnick Stadium this season, and probably not wearing mask, and some probably drunk.

Mr. Optimist: Ohio State isn’t on the Iowa football team’s 2021 regular-season schedule.

Mr. Pessimist: Northwestern is on the Iowa football team’s 2021 regular-season schedule.

Mr. Optimist: Junior center Tyler Linderbaum represents Iowa on the Associated Press preseason All-America team.

Mr. Pessimist: Iowa State has three players on the AP preseason All-America team.