What motivates a football team to play on when its main goals are no longer within reach? While the Iowa Hawkeyes had their sights on a Big Ten West crown and a trip to Indianapolis, a narrow loss to the Wisconsin Badgers has all but put these goals out of reach.
Iowa may not have a conference championship left to play for, but it still has three regular season contests and a bowl game left on its schedule, including two rivalry games with trophies and cross-border bragging rights on the line. The first of the remaining trophy games happens this week, when the Hawkeyes play host to a surprisingly dangerous 9-0 Minnesota squad that shocked both Penn State and the college football world by knocking off the 4th-ranked Nittany Lions one week ago.