Monday morning Hawkeyes reading room - Iowa '09 is like Alabama '08, and more

College football magazine/Web site entrepreneur Phil Steele is comparing the 2009 Iowa team to the Alabama squad of 2008.

Steele wrote this on Sunday: Iowa trailed Wisconsin 10-0 but rallied to win that game and outgained the Badgers by 53 yards. I continue to compare them to last year's Alabama squad as the similarities are strong.

Here was a blog item he penned in early June, predicting the Hawkeyes would do similar things to what last year's Crimson Tide did a year ago in going 12-0 in the regular-season.

An excerpt: Iowa is a team that could come out of nowhere like last year's Tide team. Just like Bama they have FOUR tough road games having to face Big Ten favorites Penn St and Ohio St on the road as well as Mich St and Wisconsin. They have my #6 rated O-line and while the D-line just missed out on the ratings, they do have my #8 rated defense overall. Ole Miss will be a preseason Top 10 team so Iowa has the best shot to be the team with no losses the previous year by more than 7, that won't be ranked in the Top 20 that has a seemingly too tough schedule that could surprise.

Steele recently published his midseason all-conference teams. His first-team All-Big Ten Hawkeyes are offensive guard Dace Richardson, offensive tackle Kyle Calloway, linebacker Pat Angerer, cornerback Amari Spievey and safety Tyler Sash.

Tony Moeaki was his second-team tight end, but he made these picks after six weeks, not Week 7, so Steele might have adjusted that selection after Moeaki helped Iowa take apart Wisconsin. Especially since Badger tight end Garrett Graham was his first-team choice.

He had six other Hawkeyes on his second-team.

To see the entire list, click here.

Jack Ebling is a friend of the Hlog. He was a longtime sportswriter at the Lansing State Journal, and has moved on to WILS-AM in Lansing as a talk show host. Jack has covered Michigan State sports for about 30 years and know of where he speaks.

Jack has a column at spartantailgate.com praising Kirk Ferentz and his Iowa team to the hilt and warning Michigan State to be at its best Saturday night when the two teams meet.

An excerpt:

No team in the conference is better-coached than Iowa. If I were voting for National Coach of the Year today, I'm sorry, Nick. I'm voting for Kirk Ferentz. And if I'm looking for the best job any assistant has done, I'm stopping with Hawkeyes defensive coordinator Norm Parker, the longest-serving aide to George Perles.

Don't expect Ferentz (and it's FAIR-ents, not fer-ENCE) or his players to be intimidated by anything MSU will do. Iowans have dealt with the devastation of a horrific flood. More recently, the Hawkeyes have ruined revenge parties at Penn State and made the beer flat and the brats cold at Wisconsin.

The Spartans can stamp themselves as legit with their best 60-minute showing this season. If they jump on top, it won't prove anything. Ask the Nittany Lions and the Badgers about that. And if they play in flurries, they're liable to be home shoveling snow on Jan. 1.

Michigan State Football, players, coaches and fans, will have to show up early and stay late. The program, in all its aspects, will have to make statements.

For Jack's full column, which also gives you a good rundown of MSU's 24-14 win over Northwestern Saturday, click here.

Drew Sharp of the Detroit Free Press calls Saturday's game the biggest in the three years Mark Dantonio has been Michigan State's coach. Click here for Sharp's comments.

Here's Sharp's column crediting the Spartans' 3-game winning streak after a 1-3 start to Dantonio's even-keel approach. Sound familiar, Iowa fans?