When subject was Hawkeyes, crystal balls were cracked

Preseason college football predictions are hilarious.

So are bowl projections, whether in Week 1 of the season or Week 13.

Before I mock anything the big boys did, I need to be enough of a stand-up guy to take you back to my own blunders of August. You'll laugh, I promise.

In this Aug. 31 Hlog post, I boldly predicted a five-way tie for the Big Ten West title between Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, Northwestern and Wisconsin at 5-3.

My thinking was twofold: One, I didn't have a good feel for who was going to win. Two, if that 5-way tie came in (at about 11,000-to-1), 'Hlastradamus' would no longer be used for comic effect on this blog. It would become a real thing. I would be the Seer of Seers, the Prophet of the People.

Mostly, it was I didn't have a good feel for who would win.

I had Ohio State taking the East at 8-0, with Michigan State at 7-1. That wasn't bad, since OSU and MSU were both 7-1, though the Spartans got the East title. Of course, everyone and their monkey had the Buckeyes going 8-0.

A Cleveland.com preseason poll of 40 Big Ten media people had all 40 picking Ohio State in the East. In the West, it was 32 for Wisconsin, 5 for Nebraska, 3 for Minnesota.

I was in that poll, and was one of the five who took (gulp) Nebraska. The Huskers finished only five games behind division-champ Iowa.

In August, I had Ohio State and Michigan State both going to the playoffs. That almost happened. Of course, Iowa was between MSU and OSU in the final rankings. That, I didn't foresee.

But what was really boneheaded was me picking Penn State for the Rose Bowl. The Nittany Lions are the poor souls who have to represent the Big Ten in the TaxSlayer Bowl. Hey, Penn State writers, I know two places in downtown Jacksonville where you can get good food before the sidewalks are rolled up at night.

I had Iowa going 9-3 overall and playing in the Citrus Bowl, which was more optimistic than most. So give me that. Please.

Also, I pegged Wisconsin for the Holiday Bowl, and that's just where the Badgers are headed.

But Penn State in the Rose? NG. Not Good.

As for bowl projections, I kept track of those. In the preseason, Zac Ellis of Sports Illustrated had Iowa playing Colorado State in the Armed Forces Bowl. Stewart Mandel of Fox Sports went with an Iowa-North Carolina State clash in the Quick Lane Bowl.

Neither of those games are quite the Rose Bowl.

After each week of games, bowl projections were made by Jerry Palm of CBSsports.com and Mark Schlabach and Brett McMurphy of ESPN.com. After Iowa beat Illinois State in Week 1, Palm had the Hawkeyes in the Holiday Bowl against Arizona. Not as impressed, McMurphy had an Iowa-Louisville Pinstripe Bowl game, and Schlabach went with an Iowa-Arizona State Foster Farms Bowl matchup.

Here is how the threesome saw things in each following week, with the bowl and Iowa's opponent:

Week 2

Palm: Holiday, UCLA

Schlabach: Pinstripe, Virginia Tech

McMurphy: Pinstripe, Louisville

Week 3

Palm: Holiday, Arizona State

Schlabach: Pinstripe, Virginia Tech

McMurphy: Pinstripe, Miami

Week 4

Palm: Holiday, UCLA

Schlabach: Holiday, Stanford

McMurphy: Pinstripe, Miami

Week 5

Palm: Holiday, UCLA

Schlabach: Outback, Mississippi

McMurphy: Holiday, California

Stewart Mandel, Fox Sports: Rose, Stanford (He was on this early.)

Week 6

Palm: Holiday, Arizona State

Schlabach: Outback, Mississippi

McMurphy: Holiday, UCLA

Mandel: Rose, Stanford

Week 7

Palm: Fiesta, Utah

Schlabach: Fiesta, Notre Dame

McMurphy: Outback, Georgia

Mandel: Peach, Memphis

Week 8

Palm: Peach, Houston

Schlabach: Fiesta, Notre Dame

McMurphy: Outback, Mississippi State

Week 9

Palm: Peach, Houston

Schlabach: Fiesta, Notre Dame

McMurphy: Citrus, Mississippi

Mandel: Peach, Memphis

Week 10

Palm: Rose, Utah

Schlabach: Rose, Stanford

McMurphy: Rose, Stanford

Mandel: Rose, Utah

Week 11

Palm: Rose, Stanford

Schlabach: Rose, Stanford

McMurphy: Rose, Stanford

Mandel: Rose, Stanford

Week 12

Palm: Rose, Stanford

Schlabach: Rose, Stanford

McMurphy: Fiesta, Notre Dame

Mandel: Rolse, Stanford

Week 13

Palm: Rose, Stanford

Schlabach: Fiesta, Notre Dame

McMurphy: Peach, Florida State

Mandel: Rose, Stanford

After Saturday's games were over, Palm and Schlabach stayed with Iowa-Stanford in the Rose, while McMurphy again went with Iowa-Florida State in the Peach.