By Pat Harty

IOWA CITY, Iowa – Right before the start of the 2024 season, I predicted the Iowa football team would finish 10-2 in the regular season.

Obviously, I was wrong.

Iowa is 4-3 overall and 2-2 in conference play heading into Saturday’s game against Northwestern at Kinnick Stadium.

Iowa is also coming off a very discouraging 32-20 loss at Michigan State this past Saturday.

Other than kick returner Kaden Wetjen, nobody played well for Iowa.

Cade McNamara completed less than 50 percent of his passes and threw a costly interception, while the Iowa defense allowed 468 yards, including 212 rushing yards against a Spartan squad that entered the game averaging just 120.2 rushing yards per game.

The loss in addition to eliminating Iowa from any playoff consideration also showed that Iowa is closer to being average than good right now.

Iowa is like so many other teams in the conference in that it has serious flaws that keep it from being a true contender.

My latest Big Ten power rankings have the 18 conference teams divided into three groups:

1. Good to very good
2. Below average to slightly above average
3. Bad

These groups, of course, are subject to change and will change with each week as the 18 teams move in the right and wrong direction.

Indiana made a statement with its 56-7 beat-down of Nebraska, and until proven otherwise, the Hoosiers, under first-year head coach Curt Cignetti, deserve the benefit of the doubt and deserve to be in Group 1.

 

Good to very good

Oregon, 4-0, 7-0 – The best Big Ten team that NIL money can buy.

Ohio State, 2-1, 5-1 – The second best Big Ten team that NIL money can buy.

Penn State, 3-0, 6-0 – They Nittany Lions are good until they play good teams. The next two games at Wisconsin and at home against Ohio State should tell a lot.

Indiana, 4-0, 7-0 – Curt Cignetti probably thinks he could beat Caitlin Clark in a 3-point shooting contest, Scottie Scheffler in a round of golf and Joey Chestnut in a hot dog eating contest.

Illinois, 3-1, 6-1 – Bret Bielema has made Illinois football the second most popular thing in the area behind the Beef House.

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Below average to slightly above average

Wisconsin, 3-1, 5-2 – Considering how well Wisconsin has played during its current three-game winning streak, one has to wonder if head coach Luke Fickell has stopped wearing socks.

Michigan State, 2-2, 4-3 – The Spartans best player might be their punter, and he didn’t even get play in the win over Iowa because they never punted.

Nebraska, 2-2, 5-2 – Cornhusker fans are reluctantly starting to accept the sobering fact that Nebraska probably won’t win the national title this season.

Iowa, 2-2, 4-3 – Hawkeye fans are struggling to accept the sobering fact that Kirk Ferentz ultimately decides who plays quarterback.

Minnesota, 2-2, 4-3 – Hayden Fry used to call the Minnesota program a sleeping giant. If that’s true, somebody apparently forgot to set the alarm 60 years ago.

Washington, 2-2, 4-3 – If Washington could devise a way to turn frequent flyer miles into NIL money, watch out.

Michigan, 2-2, 4-3 – Jim Harbaugh obviously bailed at the right time.

Maryland, 1-3, 4-3 – The up-and-down Terrapins are harder to predict than the flight pattern of a leaf in the wind.

USC, 1-4, 3-4 – After bolting from Oklahoma to coach the Trojans, Lincoln Riley is now on the verge of wrecking two elite programs.

Rutgers, 1-3, 4-3 – Greg Schiano’s rebuild apparently isn’t as far along as previously thought since the Scarlet Knights have now lost three straight games.

UCLA, 1-4, 2-5 – The Bruins earned a place in this group by flying across the country and defeating Rutgers 35-32 this past Saturday. But they’re hanging on by a thread.

Northwestern, 1-3, 3-4 – The Wildcats are hanging on to this group by an even thinner thread. Lose to Iowa on Saturday and it’s move over Purdue, misery loves company.

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Bad

Purdue, 0-4, 1-6 – The Boilermakers might have to hire Caitlin Clark to make game-day appearances in West Lafayette just to attract fans.