Breaking down Iowa's chances in the Big Ten West amid offensive struggles

Iowa, improbably, has a path to winning the Big Ten West and appearing in the conference title game. With games against Purdue and Wisconsin the next two weeks, a pair of wins could have the offensively listless Hawkeyes in the driver’s seat to win the division.

Hawkeye Report’s Tom Kakert spoke with On3’s Andy Staples about the possibility that Iowa, with the worst offense among FBS teams, could make it to a conference title game. And this all with a backup quarterback now that Cade McNamara is confirmed to be out for the season.

“They could, if they win the next two games, they’re the odds-on favorite to go to Indianapolis and face Ohio State, Michigan or maybe they get Penn State again. And that’s just, it’s wild. But that’s the reality — is if they win this week and then go to Madison, I mean the schedule is not daunting. It’s Minnesota and Illinois is not very good. They’ve got Rutgers coming to Iowa City, they go to Nebraska. There’s nothing in that schedule that says ‘Boy they’re in trouble here, they’re going to drop another game,'” Kakert said.

If Iowa can hold off Purdue this weekend, the path to a conference title game appearance might hinge on a trip to Madison in mid-October that would be for the inside track to win the Big Ten West.

And while Luke Fickell’s team is a bit of a wild card, Kakert thinks a classic rock fight might be in store — a style that suits Iowa just fine.

“So — and Wisconsin has not been overwhelming, either. And you could see it. And every time Iowa and Wisconsin play, it’s usually just a street fight, a rock fight. But just 16-13. Though it might be different this year with Luke Fickell. We’ll see. But Paul Chryst, Barry Alvarez, Bret Bielema Eras were more of those sloggy games, 10-6 or whatever,” Kakert said.

But the end result, should Iowa win the next two games, would have the unlikely close to becoming reality: A team that boasts one of the worst offenses in the entire country could be 60 minutes away from hoisting a Big Ten Championship trophy.

“So we’ll see but it’s conceivable that the team with the worst offense in all of college football is going to be in the drivers seat to go to Indianapolis and play for a Big Ten Championship,” Kakert said.