Greetings Hawkize nation.  Sideshow Bob here with the Mailbag making a return in week 3.  Remember that you can email us with your thoughts/comments/rants/ideas/whatever at mailbag@hawkize.com

Nick in Denver: What do the Cyclones do now that their season is over?

Who knows. You have to think that Iowa State fans go into the football season with a mentality similar to that of the weak guy in prison when he goes into the shower room. He knows it’s going to be degrading and hurt like hell, he just hopes it’s over as quickly as possible. So to answer you question Nick, I think the Clones keep grabbing their ankles and say “Thank you sir may I have another”.

Drew in Iowa City: Does God hate Paul Rhoads?

Yes.

Zach in Iowa City: Best prop bet for next year’s Iowa vs. Iowa State game: Over/Under on how many times Austen Arnaud pulls a “Delhomme”

This absolutely needs to happen. I’m going to open the line at 5.

Chris in Kansas City: Great win for Michigan and the Big Ten last week. But part of me wasn’t surprised that Notre Dame blew a big game.

Good point Chris. Notre Dame is turning into the Roger Dorn of college football – 0 for the century in big games, but they do have several “foul tips”… Call me crazy, but is being a Notre Dame fan this last decade and a half any more torture than being an Iowa State fan? Of course not, I wouldn’t insult Notre Dame fans like that. But bear with me just for arguments sake. First, you have to consider expectations, which is a night and day difference. But Notre Dame fans have been just as disappointed more often than not, given where their expectations are at the start of the year and where they end up at the end of the year after they get shelled in another bowl game.  Just a thought.  Of course, one could make the argument that Notre Dame never deserves its high preseason ranking and their fans are delusional.

James in Minneapolis: Thoughts on Arizona?

I’m not a fan of Arizona football, but I am a fan of Arizona women.

Alright that’s it for this week.  Remember to email us at mailbag@hawkize.com

Go Hawks!

Greetings Hawkize readers,

It’s your partner in crime Sideshow Bob here with the first installment of what I hope to make a weekly feature called The Mailbag. It’s where we answer your questions/comments/thoughts/rants we receive via email or Twitter (you can find our address on the “Contact” tab just below the Hawkize banner). We’ll post the one’s we like, have clever responses to, or that will make good discussion. And so, without further ado, it’s The Mailbag.

Nick in Denver: Not sold on Penn State at all. Their #8 preseason ranking is way overrated considering the number of players they lost.

I’m with you Nick. I don’t want to turn this into math class, but let me throw some numbers at you. The Nittany Lions are returning just seven players from both sides of the ball. We all know Daryll Clark at quarterback and Evan Royster at tailback. But other than those two and the defensive tackles their team is very unproven and inexperienced, particularly at receiver and in the secondary. Not one starter returns from either unit. Penn State also loses three first-team All-Big Ten starters on the offensive line. All this considered and one can have legitimate questions about how far the Nittany Lions will go this year and why they deserve such a high preseason ranking. My take is they only got that ranking because of Clark and Royster and the Penn State name. Penn State homers will say they can reload. But going strictly with what you know you got, Royster and Clark are Penn State’s biggest and only guns. Yea, they’re good. But are they #8 in the country good? We’ll find out on September 26 when the Black & Gold combine rolls into town.

Bill in Iowa City:  I’m putting the under/over for number of Panther players the Iowa defense knocks out of the game at 4.

I can speak for the entire Hawkize crew when I say we’re taking the over.

Drew in Iowa City: A nice week 1 Big 10 vs. Big 12 game to start out the year in Missouri &  Illinois in KC. The only day of the year I’ll be an Illini fan.

True, have to go with the lesser of two evils.  Side note on Ron Zook:  The guy gets all sorts of accolades for being a great recruiter.  But you have to wonder how much better his recruiting class would have been if he could send text to recruits while in the shower (third paragraph from the bottom of the article).  Imagine the exchange between the Illinois AD and  Zook when he is pitching why he needs a waterproof cell phone and why he thinks its a good idea.  Que the SNL Weekend Update with Seth and Amy, “Really!?  Really Ron?!”.   BTW, you know if the NCAA hadn’t changed the rules about texting recruits, the headline “Ron Zook inadvertently sends pix message of genitals to Chicago recruit” would have happened sooner or later.

James in Minneapolis: You know the Gophers are 6 point favorites this weekend at Syracuse?

Of course they are. They only ended last year with five straight losses and one of the most humiliating stadium closing performances in the history of sports. I mean serious, 55-0 on your last game in the dome. I’d call it a “fuck you” to the fans but the Gophers don’t have any fans, just people who kill time before the Vikings game. Six points against a team that went 3-9 last year sounds about right. Of course, the big story in this game will be former Duke point guard Greg Paulus staring at quarterback for the Orange. Question: If Syracuse beats the Gophers this week, who feels worse? The Gophers for losing to a point guard playing quarter back, or Greg Paulus because no one will take his first victory in his first start in college football seriously because it was against Minnesota? Better question if Minnesota loses, how bad is the Sid Hartman blowup the next day in the Minneapolis Star Tribune? I’m predicting he calls Tim Brewster a “snake oil salesman” in his column and then goes on a Michael Douglas “Falling Down” style rampage across Minneapolis.

"I want breakfast and Tim Brewster fired!"