An excellent win for the Hawks, even if an ugly one. #6 Michigan St. is the highest ranked team that Coach Lickliter has defeated in his good coaching career. Tony Freeman was 5-9 from behind the 3pt line.

The video highlights:

I'm not so concerned with what happens to Michigan now, but what is an Iowa Hawkeyes fan to do with Appalachian St.'s shocking 34-32 win at Michigan today, the first time ever that a I-AA team has defeated a ranked I-A team? And not just any ranked I-A team, but the favored Big Ten champions and would-be national title contenders, the storied Wolverines.

As a Hawkeyes fan since I knew what a football was, there is no team that I despise more in sports than Michigan. I also enjoy rooting for the underdog and, as good as a I-AA team as Appalachian State is, they were still a huge underdog.

Interesting times around the Iowa basketball program. "New Mexico and Iowa coach Steve Alford have agreed to the final details of a contract and Alford will be introduced as the Lobos' new coach at a news conference Friday, multiple sources in both camps said Thursday morning," reports ESPN.com's Andy Katz. Alford had four years left on his contract at a Big Ten school he had been at for eight years. Clearly, he wanted out; there is a signifant contingent of Iowa fans who do not like Alford personnally or as a coach or both. (I can't comment on him as a person. As a coach, he wasn't bad, but he wasn't Lute Olson or Tom Davis either.)

An excruciating waiting game (Wayne Drehs, ESPN.com, 12/13/2006)

There are five minutes until kickoff, but Chad Greenway, the first-round NFL draft pick, the multimillion-dollar future of the Minnesota Vikings defense, sits in a cushy suite behind the Metrodome's north end zone. By himself.

On the field, Greenway's purple-clad teammates, beckoned by the roar of 65,000 screaming fans, charge onto the field through an inflatable Viking ship. Watching from above, his head resting in his hands, Greenway describes his emotions in two words: "This sucks."

Seven months ago, the Vikings made the big-time dreams of the small-town Greenway come true, selecting the native of Mount Vernon, S.D., with the 17th overall pick in the 2006 NFL draft. Despite playing nine-man football in high school and receiving just one offer for a college scholarship, Greenway had overcome long odds to become just the third active NFL player from South Dakota.

Everything wrong with this year's Iowa team showed up today: a mediocre defense, the lack of big plays on offense, turnovers, and a Drew Tate that couldn't make up the difference. This has been a disappointing senior season for Drew Tate, who really doesn't have the receivers he's had the past two seasons.

In retrospect, we could have expected that Iowa would struggle at Indiana today, given their struggle earlier this season at Syracuse. In any event, it's a bad loss for a team that wants to be considered at least near-elite, and has been from 2002 on.

Written on September 30, 2006 during the game.

UPDATE (10:20pm): Final score--Ohio State 38, Iowa 17. Ohio State is really, really good.

UPDATE (10:08pm): The third big mistake. Drew Tate tries to throw it through an Ohio State linebacker's hands. He tipped it up to himself. 6 minutes to go and Ohio State has the ball on Iowa's 13. Iowa could have won this game. But they couldn't win it giving away the ball three times.

UPDATE (10:00pm): The second big mistake. Iowa's defense holds. But then Iowa's senior TE Scott Chandler fumbled the ball after a catch on the Ohio State 47. 9 minutes to go.

UPDATE (9:48pm): Touchdown Iowa puts the game within reach at 31-17. Now the defense needs to step up. Iowa's offense has foregone in this game a couple of staples: the naked bootlet rollout and the wide receiver screen. Interesting.

#1 (4-0)  v.  #13 (4-0)

A #1 ranked team enters Kinnick Stadium tonight for the first time since 1992 (Miami). Before that, the last time was Iowa itself, for several weeks during 1985. Iowa has never beaten a #1 ranked team. They are 0-9-1 in their history against such teams (though #1 ranked Iowa did beat #2 ranked Michigan in an instant classic in 1985). Add in the fact that Iowa is also undefeated, has won two of the past four Big Ten Championships, the game is being broadcast nationally on ABC during primetime, and ESPN College Gameday is here, and this is the most hyped game in Iowa City in twenty years. AM radio in Iowa, it seems, has not stopped talking about the game all week. The turnout for ESPN College Gameday's broadcasting in Hubbard Park has been unbelievable.

Some bad news for the Hawkeyes, just announced: QB Drew Tate will sit out today's game with an abdominal strain, reports the Iowa City Press-Citizen. Jason Manson will get the start. Syracuse has not won a game in a year, but Iowa's offense is not near as good with Tate. The defense and the offensive line are going to have a great game.