Coming in hot on the trails of the disaster that FSU vs. Georgia Tech was, Iowa is making a name for itself. This year, the Kirk Ferentz and Hawkeyes are either going to make the playoffs or are going to drown and there is no in-between. The team has a solid offense with a 6th year QB on the lead and a defense that has the power to stop almost anything. If that wasn’t good enough, their schedule is something any other CFB team could only dream of.

So it’s not really a surprise when we found out from Barstool Gambling that everyone is betting their money on Kirk and the Hawkeyes. On August 25th, Barstool took to X to share that around 98% of people have put their bets on Iowa making the college playoffs. Also, 99.8% of the money collected is on the Hawkeyes. Now why is that? Well, for starters, Cade McNamara will be the starting QB for the team.

While the kid did have a rough time last year with a mid-season injury, he still is a solid force on the field. “If we were playing tomorrow, Cade would be one,” Kirk had noted during an interview. The kid moved from the Wolverines to the Hawkeyes after losing his starting QB spot to JJ McCarthy. Cade already made a name for himself when he led Michigan to a 12-2 season back in 2022 as their starting QB.

Also, the cornerback is something one would want to keep an eye on. Jermari Harris is leading the position, and that guy is a veteran through and through. The kid already has the experience of playing 32 games under his belt and has started in 18 of them. Joining him are Deshaun Lee and TJ Hall under the guidance of coordinator Phil Parker. This makes the entire roster really solid and also full of experience. Regardless, for Kirk, things are going to be rough. Despite his team being the crowd’s favorite, he has been hit with something even he thought he could escape.

A suspension for Kirk Ferentz

As we had noted before, Cade is a solid QB, but did you know that his recruitment wasn’t exactly transparent? We got reports on August 22nd that Kirk was going to face a suspension during the season opener for the Hawkeyes. Along with him, his WR coach Jon Budmayr will also be joining in. This is purely because of the recruitment violation that happened when they picked up Cade from Michigan.

While the NCAA has not disclosed any information regarding what the entire investigation is about. People are already speculating that it’s because of the sudden change of team which Cade decided to make after losing his starting QB position at the Wolverines. As per reports, the QB hit the portal on November 28th, and just 3 days later; he announced that he would be joining the Hawkeyes. While the team is in a good spot roster and skill-wise, we still don’t know if Kirk’s not being there would affect the overall morale or not. We are going to find out if the bets are going to be fruitful or not soon enough.