The Iowa Hawkeyes Are The Big Ten West Champions!

On Saturday, November 21, 2015, the Iowa Hawkeyes clinched the Big Ten West Title by defeating the Purdue Boilermakers on senior day for the Hawks who played their final game of the year at their home field Kinnick Stadium. The Hawkeyes had been the front runner in the Big Ten West after defeating both Northwestern and Wisconsin, their biggest competition in the Western division of the Big Ten. After achieving a 6-0 conference record, the Hawkeyes needed either a win or a Wisconsin loss to clinch the title. The Wisconsin Badgers were 5-1 in conference play, and needed two Iowa losses to win the title due to the Hawkeyes holding the tiebreaker after a win in Madison, Wisconsin. Unfortunately for the Badgers, everything went wrong for them as Iowa won and they were also unable to win in a tough matchup against the Northwestern Wildcats. With just one week remaining in the regular season, the Hawkeyes will travel to Lincoln, Nebraska to take on the Cornhuskers, in what looks to be the toughest challenge for the Hawkeyes since routing the Wildcats in week seven. ESPN experts are still predicting the matchup to be in Iowa's favor, but only by .2%. And yes, the "." is actually there, it's not just some dot on your screen. The experts are currently giving the Hawkeyes a slight 50.2% edge to the Hawkeyes with the Cornhuskers having a 49.8% chance of pulling off the upset. Nebraska is very capable, however, of doing that very feat. Earlier in the season, the Cornhuskers pulled off an albeit controversial win against a then undefeated Michigan State team, and they'll look to do the same to the Hawkeyes in a rival meeting for the Heroes Trophy. Nebraska will be coming off a bye week after two straight wins, so the Hawkeyes would be very wise not to underestimate them. They will need to continue to do what they've done through eleven straight games if they want to end the regular season with a perfect 12-0 record. Speaking of an undefeated record, after a very exciting weekend of football, Iowa is now one of only two remaining teams still with an unblemished record with the only other team being Number One ranked Clemson. Both Ohio State and Oklahoma State lost this weekend, bumping the Hawkeyes to Number Three in both the AP Top 25 rankings and the coaches poll. If Iowa can beat Nebraska next weekend and win a tough Big Ten Championship game against either Ohio State, Michigan State, or Michigan, they are a lock for getting into the College Football Playoffs, regardless of what other fans might say. For the Big Ten East, Michigan State controls their own destiny. If they win next weekend against Penn State, they clinch the title. If they lose, the winner of the Michigan vs. Ohio State game is the Big Ten East Champion. Regardless, it should be a very exciting matchup. Iowa has had a remarkable and historic season. While some continue to argue and dismiss the accomplishments of this tough Hawkeye team, they should be very proud of their achievements. This has been an amazing year, and hopefully for this Hawkeye team, it will end on a high note.