The Leaders of the Legends

(Please welcome the newest writer to the BHGP fold -- Eric from Fight For Iowa. We're excited to have him onboard the blog to help us continue to deliver even more -- and even better -- content. And now I'll let him take the floor... -- ross)

Hey. I'm Eric. It feels incredibly awkward writing a "hi, I'm new here" type of post, so let me get that introductory type of stuff out of the way quickly. I am a Ferentz apologist, an eternal optimist, and even wrote a post saying good things about Greg Davis last week. And now, after writing on my own blog (and a short stint on High Porch Picnic) I've fallen prey to the dark side, put on some new pants and joined this super Iowa blogging collective.

I would usually be writing a post-game breakdown at this point on a Monday morning, but since Iowa's coming off a bye week, I've got nothing. That makes it a kind of weird time to join a blog, right? So instead, I'm just going to write about how I spent my Saturday instead. That's right, the Earl May Pumpkin Festival.

Just picture it. Horse rides, hay bales, pumpkin painting, cookie decorating, and little kids running around everywhere. It was actually the first time I've ever been on the back of a horse. At 28, I feel like that's something I probably should have done at some point in my life before. The saddle was made for a 6-year-old, and there I was with my 4-year-old son, riding around Earl May super uncomfortable.

Met by a thunderous applause I dismounted the magnificent stallion. Okay. I'm just lying now.

You would have called me crazy if I had said Iowa has a good shot at winning the Legends Division following the horrid Central Michigan game. But after 2 weeks of B1G play, Iowa is sitting tied atop the division with Michigan at 1-0. Not too shabby.

And with Iowa's upcoming schedule, it's not too unrealistic to think that they could maintain their position over the next 4 or 5 weeks (this is my optimism showing). Michigan State looked increasingly beatable barely squeaking by Indiana. Penn State has been playing well lately but still lacks depth and did lose to Ohio and Virginia. Northwestern, Indiana, Purdue...all beatable. Really 3-2 over that stretch is probably enough to keep a share of the lead.

This is possible thanks to the tougher schedules of fellow Legends Division teams and the overall crappiness of the division. Northwestern, sorry--justNorthwestern, and Minnesota are the only two teams that have less than 2 losses and both have a conference loss.

• Michigan State has Iowa, then at Michigan, at Wisconsin, vs. Nebraska, then at Nortwestern. Sparty could easily go 2-3 over that tough stretch, plus they already have a conference loss.
• Nebraska also has a loss and plays Michigan, MSU, Northwestern, and Penn State. That's probably 3-1 at best.
• Minnesota...lol. No.
• Northwestern has a loss, and probably beats Minnesota, but still has Nebraska, Iowa and Michigan coming up.
• That leaves fellow Legends leader Michigan. They go to Illinois, play Michigan State, are on the road at Nebraska and Minnesota, and wrap it up with Northwestern. They probably have the best shot a coming out of this next 5 weeks with less than 2 conference losses. But we'll see.

Is this a sure thing? Of course not. Iowa could easily go 2-3 or even 1-4. Let me remind you again in case it didn't hurt enough the first time I mentioned it: the Hawks did lose to Central Michigan, a team that still only has 2 wins this season. So that would probably mean no bowl game. But hey, I'm being optimistic here. Let's just say Iowa does manage to get bowl eligible in the next 5 weeks and sits at 4-2 in the conference. That would lead to 2 very important games against Michigan and Nebraska. At least Nebraska looks pretty beatable. So let's just predict it now. Iowa finishes 7-5 (5-3) and ties for the Legends title. On a tie-breaker Michigan goes to the B1G title game.

Crazy, right?

So anyway. This post has kind of derailed. Me, pumpkins, horses, legends, leaders, overly confident predictions. The point is, Iowa's atop the Legends Division right now, and as little as that means, it's pretty cool.