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What I am stumbling around trying to say is that Ohio State fans are incredibly spoiled.  If you are say an Iowa fan and you go to a game where Ohio State is top-5 and Iowa is ranked somewhere in the 20s, that game is HUGE in Iowa City but in Columbus it is more-or-less just another Saturday. Even a GameDay game for Ohio State isn't seen as a rare occurence because the Buckeyes have played in so many and Columbus has hosted 26. 

To add to that,  Iowa seems to rarely play Ohio St and hardly ever plays well against OSU,  so I understand why OSU does not get excited about playing a 20th ranked Iowa.  

Although Iowa does sneak a win against OSU in Iowa City every now and then,  including that strange 55-24 Iowa victory in 2017.  Now if Iowa would have played Ohio St in Columbus in 2018,  the OSU fans might have been a little more fired up than normal,  but Iowa and Ohio St did not play from 2018 to 2021.  So by the the time Iowa played OSU again in 2022,  everybody had forgotten about that 2017 beat down.

In contrast,  Iowa seems to sneak victories over Penn St and Michigan more often.  Kirk Ferentz is 11-9 vs PSU and 7-9 vs Michigan.  So they take Iowa a little more seriously, I believe.

To add to that,  Iowa seems to rarely play Ohio St and hardly ever plays well against OSU,  so I understand why OSU does not get excited about playing a 20th ranked Iowa. 

Although Iowa does sneak a win against OSU in Iowa City every now and then,  including that strange 55-24 Iowa victory in 2017.  Now if Iowa would have played Ohio St in Columbus in 2018,  the OSU fans might have been a little more fired up than normal,  but Iowa and Ohio St did not play from 2018 to 2021.  So by the the time Iowa played OSU again in 2022,  everybody had forgotten about that 2017 beat down.

In contrast,  Iowa seems to sneak victories over Penn St and Michigan more often.  Kirk Ferentz is 11-9 vs PSU and 7-9 vs Michigan.  So they take Iowa a little more seriously, I believe.

It is kinda funny that while Iowa only has two wins over Ohio State in the last 30+ years, both were complete blowouts.  

As far as HFA, I don't think it contributed to either one.  In 2004 Iowa was just flat out a better team and beat the crap out of the Buckeyes 33-7 in Iowa City.  The game might have been closer in Columbus but I don't think HFA flips a 26 point MOV.  In 2017 Ohio State *SHOULD* have been the better team but the Hawkeyes just annihilated the Buckeyes in a 55-24 blowout in Iowa City.  Same there, I don't think moving that game to Columbus does anything but maybe make it a little closer.  

The 2017 Iowa / Ohio State and the 2018 Purdue / Ohio State results are two of the most inexplicable results in memory.  Those two Ohio State teams went a combined 25-3 and the only other loss was to a CFP Oklahoma team while those Iowa / Purdue teams went a combined 14-12.