Lebowski

OU, MSU, Wake and even Cincy can blow this whole thing up to force an expansion of the CFP. Assuming all those schools go undefeated I don't see how the committee would pass up 3 P5 schools over one loss schools like Oregon and/or Bama and Georgia. But then again, I also thought they'd have Cincy in the top 4 right now. Having said all that, I do think the top two schools in the country are indeed Georgia and Bama. Still a lot of football to be played though.

Insert foot in mouth.

I mean one can argue this year is a total fluke. I'm not arguing that but it's plausible. The circumstances last year certainly provided an element of last year's success. But I don't think it was a total fluke. Keep in mind Penix wasn't coming off an ACL injury last year, the running game was much better (see player personnel difference here), a completely different DC calling the games, injuries weren't as bad as they are this year, strength of schedule difference, not a full season and so on. And some have already pointed out that the teams IU lined up against were playing in an empty stadium as well. It's not like they played games against the wind. I'm not making excuses here, I'm just pointing out the circumstances. Every year has a set of circumstances and this year is no different. I think the biggest issue IUFB has is lack of depth (see injuries). The second biggest issue is no production on offense (see player personnel difference). I will be surprised if CTA doesn't make some coaching changes on the that side of the ball during the off season. CTA's record against unranked teams is 18-3 (He had a 13 game win streak prior to this past Saturday). Kevin Wilson was 24-30 against unranked teams (5 of 6 seasons one win was against an FCS school). This tells me things are going in the right direction. We're talking about IUFB here.

If Cincy runs the table they're in the CFP. Even with the SoS argument. They're a good football team and the coaches and AP know this. They're currently ranked 2 in the country in both polls. Even if a team in the SEC, Big Ten, ACC and Big 12 go undefeated Cincy is still in just so long as they stay unbeaten. They still have currently ranked #19 SMU on the schedule, so we'll see what happens there. They also have to win their conference championship. A lot of football to be played for all of this to play out.

Updated post.

I've been a fan of creating a North-South division alignment looking like this. North: Minnesota, Wisconsin, Nebraska, Iowa, Northwestern, Michigan and Michigan St. South: Indiana, Illinois, Ohio St., Penn St., Rutgers, Maryland and that other school remaining. While IUFB would still be facing OSU and PSU they'd eliminate Michigan and MSU. Also this type of divisional alignment is a little more aligned full of parity within each division. The current alignment isn't, in my opinion. Regardless, it doesn't appear any kind of realignment is coming in the future, unfortunately. It is what it is. IUFB is just going to have to get better and I think they're on the right track of doing just that. It just takes time.

That's going to be tough hill to climb. I'd be happy if they win 6 games at this rate. But I don't think they'll get that. Maybe 5 wins. That front 5 is the Achilles' heel of this football team. I really hope to eat crow on my season wins thought here.

That's cool man. The only way IUFB is going to make you think otherwise is win football games. Which should be the case. Personally, I like where this program is going and how not only the players are buying into the culture but after only one successful season of beating two of those schools on your list (with zero 5 star and a handful of 4 star recruits) above they've landed some recruits that will add depth. Adding depth is key to the success and being able to compete with the big three year after year. Iowa isn't landing 5 5-star kids year after year either. But they're somehow ranked 2nd the nation. Depth and development. CTA has proven he's been able to develop. Now he just needs the depth. This takes time. Or not, now that there's free agency aka the transfer portal and NIL. And if CTA sticks around just like Iowa's coach has I'm really optimistic for the future of IUFB. But that's just me.

If CTA keeps up with the recruiting and builds depth, 8-4 isn't the ceiling. It would be the norm and the consistent ceiling would be 10 wins or more, in my opinion. IUFB is lacking depth at the moment. But CTA is building something special that takes time and depth. IUFB will be much like Iowa just so long as the recruiting is consistent and CTA stays.

That's cool man. To each his own. But just to give you a little perspective of a 16 team playoff in college football this season. If a 16 team playoff starts tomorrow the #14ish ranked teams are Notre Dame (AP) and Kentucky (Coaches). I would argue that one of these #14 seed teams might end up in the final four. #14 Notre Dame vs #3 Iowa in the first round. Winner of the #11 Michigan State v #6 Oklahoma (AP)/Cincinnati (Coaches) plays the Irish. All doable wins for the Irish. And I'm sure the Irish would love to get another crack at Cincinnati. Sign me up to watch this playoff! If it were up to me I'd make it a 24 team playoff!

You're not wrong. Personally, I don't think it really matters who's the QB. Tuttle might help but that front 5 is the biggest issue. They're unable to run block effectively. They're unable to pass block effectively. They're committing penalties, whether that be a false start or holding, at the most inopportune times. It's the main reason IUFB is losing games, in my opinion. I don't know what kind of depth there is with the big fellas but if there's any at all I think it might be time to shake some things up. Or the staff has to fix it in hurry. I guess the silver lining to all of IUFBs losses is that the losses are to legitimate CFP contenders. Three of the next four games are also against legitimate CFP contenders. So if the trend is correct, which I don't see why it would change, they're looking at 2-5 going into Halloween weekend. And 2-6 or 3-5 traveling up the Ann Arbor the following weekend. I guess my point here is, the coaching staff has to fix the front 5 in order for the bonus checks to come in at the end of the season. This off/bye week couldn't come a better time. Hopefully things get fixed.

A much needed weekend off to heal up injuries and address major issues with the front 5.

Bama and Georgia are the clear top 2 in the country. And 10 schools below them that can legitimately claim the 3 and 4 spot. The CFP needs to be expanded to at least 16.

The Dude abides. And I have yet seen a targeting called on a offensive player. I'm not saying it hasn't occurred, it's just I have not witnessed it. I think subjectively you can call targeting on almost every single play on both sides of the ball. It's a lot like holding.

Sitting at 2-2 I hope I'm wrong and will gladly eat crow if I am. But at this point, they finish the season with 4 wins. What say you. UPDATED after PSU game: Sitting at 2-3 I said on this board the current record isn't a surprise to me. 1-4 wouldn't have been a surprise to me as well. Having said that all losses are to legitimate CFP contenders. The Iowa-Maryland game gives me hope that they might win an extra game I wasn't counting. So that puts them at 5 wins. UPDATED after MSU game: Sitting at 2-4 Same issues. All of it being front 5 related. Going back to predicting 4 wins this season. But that's being generous. All of IUFBs losses are to legitimate CFP contenders. Another top 5 school this Saturday. UPDATED after OSU game: Sitting at 2-5 No real update here. Still predicting 4 wins total. UPDATED after Maryland game: Sitting at 2-6 No real update here. Still predicting 4 wins total. UPDATED after Michigan game: Sitting at 2-7 I'm not sure they win another game. This weekend against Rutgers is probably their best chance to get a W. UPDATED after Rutgers game: Sitting at 2-8 They're not winning another game. UPDATED after Minnesota game: Sitting at 2-9 Losing the bucket game.

Unless they fix the front 5 and front 7, in a hurry, they're not going bowling. They're not winning five games at this point. They've got to fix some serious core foundational problems, like yesterday.

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In my opinion, it doesn't matter how much guessing happens because the front 5 just isn't cutting it out there. And it has a lot of issues to fix. Like in a hurry.

In my opinion the biggest issue is the front 5. I don't think it really matters who's the QB at this point.

Don't joke about that, man. ;-)

OV this weekend. He was at OSU's loss against the Ducks this past Saturday. Both schools are on his short list.

TOP 20 EDGE/DE out of Pittsburgh, PA. 247 Rivals

My biggest worry is that Iowa just gave the country a blueprint on handling IUFBs blitz packages.

A lot of credit has to be given to Urban Meyer for leaving such a silver platter (aka Fields). After watching last night's game, OSU is in big trouble this year. They may lose multiple games in the conference. And I really really like IUFBs chances now, especially being a home game. CTA had to be giddy watching that game last night. Now that all may change if Stroud can somehow turn into the QB prior to him but I just don't see that happening. I've been wrong more times than not so I fully understand I might be eating crow with this post. But I'm feeling pretty good about it.

Maybe. OSU will have their hands full against the Ducks next week.