Readers, what do you think are your specific goals for the 2024 season?
Of course, if you ask Kirk Ferentz and his staff what their ultimate goal is for the upcoming college football season, they'll likely tell you it's to bring home a Big Ten championship.
Even we as fans know it's a big challenge for Iowa, which last won the Big Ten in 2004, and with the expansion of the conference to the West Coast and teams like Ohio State making an already good team even better, even the most die-hard Iowa fans will have a hard time winning the conference.
For the last decade or so, the Hokies have had an achievable goal: making it to the Big Ten Championship Game. It's tough for any team to take the Big Ten away from powerhouses like Ohio State and Michigan, but the goal is always to have a chance. Conference realignment in 2010 paved the way for a championship. The Big Ten played its first conference championship game in 2011.
Initially, the Big Ten had a “Leaders” and “Legends” division competing for the Big Ten crown. A few years later, the conference switched to a more practical East-West division. Iowa has been the strongest in the West, appearing in the conference championship game in 2015, 2021 and most recently last season.
With the new realignment, divisions have been eliminated. No more Leaders and Legends, no more East vs. West. Now the Big Ten Championship Game will be played between the best two teams in the conference.
It was a change long overdue. For the Hokies, playing for the West title every year was nice, but it was more of a consolation prize for the sweet-sounding name.
In the most recent championship game, the Hokies were blown out by Michigan. The Wolverines won both games by a combined score of 68-3. The rest of the Western Conference played out similarly, with the Eastern Conference representative winning the Big Ten Championship Game every year. It was a rather unfair system that rewarded mediocre teams on one side and thwarted the top teams in the Eastern Conference.
So, this raises some big questions heading into this season: What should be a reasonable goal for the Hawkeyes this year? What is the definition of a successful season for Kirk Ferentz and his team?
Should the goal be to continue as a solid team, winning games as usual and staying on the brink of Top 25 status? Or should they aim even higher? Or is the goal for the season to see a change, to implement some fresh ideas and look towards a better future for Iowa, even if it means shaky performances this year?
With the annual reliance on beating a weak West Division team and making it to the Big Ten Championship Game now gone, it's time to see what kind of program Iowa wants to become.
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This article originally appeared on Hawkeyes Wire
