Iowa, the defending Big Ten West Champions, just lost to a North Dakota State team without Carson Wentz and Twitter lost their mind.
Iowa may have won the Big Ten West last year, but that is now a distant memory. Having lost to the North Dakota State Bison before the conference schedule even starts, they’re starting to resemble the team that finished 0-2 rather than the team that started 12-0.
North Dakota State was a trendy upset pick. Having won the National Championship the last five years, and produced the second overall pick in 2016, they’re practically the Alabama of the FCS. They’ve also beaten an FBS opponent the last five times they’ve faced one. But Iowa looked so dominant in their first two wins, and they wanted to prove that last year’s season wasn’t a fluke. But instead, this loss puts them behind in the Big Ten West race big time:
With Michigan State playing Notre Dame and Ohio State playing Oklahoma, Week 3 had the potential to be a really bad one for the Big Ten. But Iowa should’ve taken care of business against North Dakota State, especially now that they don’t have Carson Wentz.
More than anything, this loss proves that the Big Ten West is wide open. Nobody expected Iowa to emerge last year, and even though they were the only ranked team from the West in the preseason, teams like Nebraska and Wisconsin have caught up to them.
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Iowa can still make it back to the conference championship game, especially if they run the table, but their schedule is a lot tougher than it was last year. Wisconsin’s schedule is also among the toughest in the country, so there’s really no telling who’s going to emerge victorious. Iowa could’ve been excused if they suffered a loss during conference play, but there are sure to be tons of questions in the wake of this game.