Bowl bound

Iowa earned its sixth win Saturday with a 24-14 decision over Northern Illinois. The Hawkeye made it interesting at the end, but a win’s a win. Also, freshman quarterback Jake Christensen shows promise as Iowa’s future offense leader. Christensen bounced back to throw two touchdown passes after his first collegiate pass was intercepted. He tried to hit 6-foot-7 Scott Chandler, but the tight end bobbled the pass.

Iowa hosts Northwestern on Nov. 4. One of my friends, who is a Northwestern alum said the Wildcats shouldn’t be a problem for the Hawkeyes, but Northwestern isn’t a pushover. Remember what happened in Evanston last year?

Next in line to go to a bowl in the Big 4 is Drake. Yes, I’m serious. The Bulldogs defeated Dayton 21-7 in Ohio to hang on to second place in the Pioneer Football League. The Bulldogs also moved up to No. 3 in the mid-major poll, and San Diego moved up to No. 16 in the NCAA I-AA poll. Improving the Toredoes chances of being selected to the NCAA playoffs. Drake plays Davidson on Nov. 4 and ends its regular season in Jacksonville, Fla. Both of these games will be challenging for Drake, but the Bulldogs have a good shot at winning both of them.

Northern Iowa dropped to No. 14 in the I-AA poll after losing to unranked Western Illinois 24-13 in the UNI-Dome. The loss is the Panthers’ first in the Gateway Conference and it drops them from first to a tie for second place.

Iowa State looks to be Iowa team least likely to make post-season play after a 31-10 loss to a not-so-impressive Kansas State team. The Cyclones sport the most sacked quarterback in the Big 12 and they were without their best receiver Todd Blythe, who had the flu.

They Cyclones will have to win their remaining three games to earn a trip to a bowl game. And if they want to protect their coach’s job, they should probably win at least one conference game. Dan McCarney has a few years left on his contract and the buyout isn’t cheap, but athletic director Jamie Pollard has already shown the state of Iowa he likes to surround himself with winners.

What does your post-season lineup look like?