Iowa earned a spot this week in ESPN’s Way-Too-Early Top 25, landing at No. 16 as the only representative from the Big Ten West.
Our writers, though, gave the Hawkeyes little attention in discussing the league favorite for next season. As the Big Ten enters its third year with the East-West split -- who still pines for the Legends and Leaders? -- it’s clear that the East will again dominate in the category of offseason hype.
But let’s talk about the West for a moment -- in particular, the Hawkeyes, who rolled to a 12-0 regular season before a stumble in the fourth quarter of the Big Ten title game preceded their Rose Bowl faceplant against Stanford.