It’s that weird time of year for Iowa fans: Basketball season is over and football season is still 3 months away. With no hometown professional basketball team to root for down the stretch in the NBA (GO BUCKS! #FearTheDeer) or hometown MLB team as Spring & Opening Day arrive (ESPN Des Moines is your home for EVERY Chicago Cubs game), Iowa and ISU fans often look to Iowa City & Ames this time of year for SOMETHING to latch onto. And that something is SPRING FOOTBALL PRACTICE.
It’s a strange offseason in this state because for the 1st time in a long time, expectations are high for BOTH the Hawkeyes AND Cyclones. Iowa won 6 games at the end of last season after starting 0-2. They lost the chance to play Michigan and Missouri due to Covid-19. Now they lose a LOT on defense but the expectations for Kirk Ferentz are always to play for a Big Ten Title. Meanwhile, Iowa State had perhaps the best season in school history: Nearly winning the Big Twelve Championship Game and then HANDLING Oregon in the Fiesta Bowl. Oh…and nearly EVERYONE is back. So naturally the expectations for what is likely a preseason top 10 team are at an all time high.
I’ve had 2 conversations to preview both Iowa & ISU in the spring. Both are below!
Here’s my conversation with HawkeyeNation.com’s Rob Howe:
Here’s my Iowa State chat with 247Sports.com’s Michael Swain:
And don’t forget you can catch the latest stuff from ESPN Des Moines HERE!
Cheers!
~Wickett
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