Is the Iowa football team capable of making it back to the Big Ten Championship game?

Yes

The Iowa football team suffered a tough loss last weekend to North Dakota State. If the Hawkeyes are able to put this loss behind them and come out stronger, there is no reason they cannot win the Big Ten West.

Iowa has hands-down the best quarterback in the West and the most experienced team. The Hawkeyes have a manageable schedule the rest of the year, but what matters more is coming out ready to play every game. If they do this, they can compete with anyone in the Big Ten.

It is when they come out conservative that other teams are able to hang around, (cough) (cough) North Dakota State. Iowa even has the capacity to lose a couple of Big Ten games this season and still go to Indianapolis.

Iowa’s two main competitors this season for the West crown will be Wisconsin and Nebraska. Nebraska is coming off an impressive win against Oregon, making many people wonder if the Tommy Armstrong they have been hoping for has emerged. Oregon is not exactly a defensive juggernaut. Armstrong will still struggle this Big Ten season facing teams who take pride in defense, such as Iowa, Ohio State, and Wisconsin; the Huskers play all of them on the road.

Wisconsin’s schedule this season looks even more difficult than the Battle of Helm’s Deep with games against Michigan State, Michigan, Ohio State, Iowa, and Nebraska. If the Badgers are able to go 6-3 with this schedule and the Hawkeyes cannot go 7-2 with theirs, than Wisconsin deserves to represent the West in Indianapolis. That will not happen though, the Hawkeyes now have a chip on their shoulder and are looking to prove people wrong, which we all know is when Kirk Ferentz’s teams play their best.

— Michael McCurdy

No

Iowa’s rushing defense is not good. It’s bad. It hasn’t looked worse in a long time. Miami (Ohio) pretty much did what it wanted on the ground, and North Dakota State trampled all over the Hawkeyes.

Give the Bison credit, because they’re a good football team. But their offensive and defensive lines don’t stack up to Wisconsin’s, Nebraska’s, Michigan’s, or even Minnesota’s.

The offensive line hasn’t been much better, though the guys get a pass for now because health has been an issue. If the offensive line is healthy, it can be a strength. But it’s been bad so far.

One game of bad line play can be chalked up to an off week. But it’s a trend after what North Dakota State did to Iowa, and it’s not like help is on its way on the defensive side of the ball.

Iowa’s best teams have been built from the trenches outward, and that’s just not how this team is built.

Desmond King isn’t being allowed to make plays on defense, and C.J. Beathard is constantly getting flushed out of the pocket.

There is a lot of talent on this team, but I haven’t seen what I need to in order to be able to say the Hawkeyes belong in Indianapolis.

— Blake Dowson