Times are changing, folks. This isn't your father's world of college football anymore. Things are drastically different, in both good and bad ways. But as they say, change is the only constant, and in a sport that changes day by day, it's inevitable.
One game this weekend, featuring the Iowa Hawkeyes and Northwestern Wildcats, is a perfect example of how things are rapidly changing in the college football world. This game used to be part of a running joke for bad offense and ugly scores. Now? Well, now, this one matters. A whole lot.
This game has legitimate Big Ten and College Football Playoff implications hanging in the balance. Those implications highlight how this game perfectly describes what is happening in college football: parity is everywhere. No one is safe. The sport is more wide open than it has ever been.
For the first time in quite some time, it doesn't feel like there is a far-and-away national title favorite in college football. There is chaos at every turn this year, with top teams falling. There are just three undefeated teams in the AP Top 25 right now: Miami, Utah, and UCLA.
Miami has survived two one-score games and is playing with fire. The same sentiment stands for Utah. And UCLA, the darling of college football, still has to go to Minnesota and Michigan, plus host USC to end the year.
Is there a world where no team makes the College Football Playoff undefeated? Not only does that world exist, but it may also be rather likely. It continues to highlight how wide-open the sport of college football is. This opens the door for Iowa and Northwestern to matter.
I mean, seriously, who would have predicted that this game would have mattered even two or three years ago? It would have been a footnote on a November Saturday headlined by other games. Rather, this game features two teams still alive for the College Football Playoff.
Both have to win out and get to 10-2, which is far from a given, but it starts with this game. We have seen teams put together four-game winning streaks before. It's not unheard of at all.
These teams aren't done in the Big Ten race, either. Both are just two games out. Catching UCLA, or at least climbing into second place for a trip to Indy, is within reach. Ahead of the Hawkeyes and Wildcats sit Indiana, Ohio State, and USC.
USC is 4-2 in Big Ten play. Ohio State is without Julian Sayin and looks to be in emergency mode. Indiana has had to survive back-to-back overtime scares. It feels just as likely we see more stumbles as it is that Iowa or Northwestern win out.
All in all, this game captures how college football is experiencing a changing of the guard. Iowa and Northwestern are playing in November with a whole lot on the line. There is more parity than ever. And these two teams are taking advantage of a level playing field.
This article was originally published on www.si.com/college/iowa as Iowa Football vs. Northwestern Shows College Football's Changing of the Guard .
