In Jonesboro there is no beer, nor a football team likely to beat Iowa in October

According to our friends at the New York Times' college football blog, The Quad, Arkansas State ranks No. 87 out of the 120 Division I-A teams in college football entering the 2009 season.

No. 87, huh? That's not too good, especially for a team that went 6-6 last season and took out Texas A&M in College Station.

Here's an interesting note from the Quad concerning Jonesboro, Ark., the home of Arkansas State's Red Wolves:

Jonesboro is a dry county, meaning that the sale and on-site consumption of alcohol is allowed only at special private clubs with a liquor license.

Wow. Won't the environs of Kinnick Stadium seem foreign to the Red Wolves when they roll up to the stadium from Cedar Rapids the morning of their Oct. 3 game, and see fans well into their beers and cocktails during the breakfast hour?

I disagree with the Quad about this:

Games at Nebraska and Iowa will be very, very hard to win, but are great for raising the profile of the university.

It seems unlikely. The part about raising the profile, I mean. That part about winning at Nebraska and Iowa being very, very hard seems like an understatement.