Perhaps the BEST B1G Forum anywhere, here at College Football Fan Site, CFB51!!!

as far as breaking through to the top 4 or top 2, yes

Kirk is best at what he does, consistently winning 8-10 games per year

I don't think Kirk is chasing the recruiting star rankings that it takes to compete in the top 4

He's also not bringing fresh offensive and defensive coaches and overhauling the schemes to try to get to that level

plenty of Great hall of fame coaches don't win a national title - Kirk is a great hall of fame coach, but he doesn't think he can be Ohio St. in Iowa City.

It would be interesting to see what Kirk could do in Columbus, or Tuscaloosa, or Baton Rouge, or Austin, or Norman

I don’t think you would find a lot of people who think Iowa is just a coaching change away from making the playoffs.

This is weird to say, but one could easily argue the two best QBs at their best Urbs ever had combined to throw 51 passes for his teams in four seasons.

The best he ever had who started would be ... (In order)
Tebow
Haskins
Alex Smith
Barrett or Miller
Leak
Josh Harris

Not sure I follow.

Joe Burrow and Cam Newton were backups for Urban teams earlier in their careers.

Ok.  I gotcha now.

I don’t think you would find a lot of people who think Iowa is just a coaching change away from making the playoffs.

I'm simply saying that Kirk is a longshot to get it done.  It will tke the right coach after Kirk.
I'm not saying it will be easy to find that guy
Clemson was a heckuva longshot until Dabo showed up

I think Iowa's ceiling is about the same as Wisconsin's. And Wisconsin is about at that ceiling, right now. Maybe they can sneak in, someday, when OSU (and PSU, but mostly OSU) are down. MSU seems to be in a state of flux right now.

Michigan is no longer a threat. Wisconsin is the better program right now, and has been for some time. 

Can Michigan beat Wisconsin? Of course, but not in Madison. OSU and PSU can, and have. In the 9 games since UM last won a conference title, they are 4-5 against UW - 4-1 in Ann Arbor (mostly close games) and 0-4 in Madison (mostly blowouts).

Wisconsin has won 3 conference titles since Michigan last has, and has played for 4 more in Indy. Michigan has never been to Indy - even when they were in an opposite division from OSU.

Iowa could replace Wisconsin as the team to beat in the West, for sure. The jury is out on the rest of the division doing that.

Many Iowa fans thought Stoops was coming to Iowa City

Michigan is no longer a threat. Wisconsin is the better program right now, and has been for some time.

Can Michigan beat Wisconsin? Of course, but not in Madison. OSU and PSU can, and have. In the 9 games since UM last won a conference title, they are 4-5 against UW - 4-1 in Ann Arbor (mostly close games) and 0-4 in Madison (mostly blowouts).

Wisconsin has won 3 conference titles since Michigan last has, and has played for 4 more in Indy. Michigan has never been to Indy - even when they were in an opposite division from OSU.

I disagree that Michigan is no longer a threat. They have enough talent to be a threat, but unfortunately they have a big buzzsaw in late November that's hard to get around. 

That said, all it takes is catching OSU on one bad day, or in a down year, or even just having a good day themselves, and Michigan is in the B1GCCG. In there, I'd put them as even odds at worst against the bulk of the B1G West, with MAYBE Wisconsin a SLIGHT favorite on a neutral field.