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The original was posted on /r/cfb by /u/usffan on 2025-07-24 09:01:44+00:00.
The cumulative link to the preseason rankings can be found here.
As we hit the consensus top 30, the conference countdown sits at 1 independent, 4 ACC teams remaining, 5 Big XII teams, 9 B1G teams and 11 SEC teams. That close to balanced distribution is about to take a hit. Iowa (high = 23, low = 39) at #30 starts a run on B1G teams. Hawkeye fans saw the nightmarish reign of Prince Brian come to an ignominious end to start 2024 and their team score 30 or more points in half of their games for the first time since 2018, but in losing the Cy-Hawk as well as two games to teams who didn’t even qualify for bowls (Michigan State and UCLA), that 8-5 season had to feel pretty unsatisfying. As soon to be 70 year old Kirk Ferentz embarks on his 27th season as the head coach with what appears to be a tougher schedule than last season, it’s fair to ask how many more years he’s going to be the head Hawkeye.
Roster outlook
The Hawkeyes rank 65th in returning production, including 35th on offense, which seems really hard to believe when you realize that their top 2 QBs (Cade McNamara and Brendan Sullivan) left via the portal (East Tennessee State and Tulane, respectively) and they lost their top RB Kaleb Johnson (Steelers) and starting TE Luke Lachey (Texans) to the NFL along with having 2 OL drafted as well (Mason Richman and Connor Colby). When you couple that with 10 defenders also transferring out, it’s a recipe for a rebuild. But Ferentz brought in the 17th rated portal class IN THE B1G to go with the 11th best recruiting class in the conference, meaning they’re largely going to be relying on backups to step up. The only notable newcomers are a pair of QBs, and Ourlads seems to think South Dakota State transfer Mark Gronowski is leading the race to be the new starter over former Auburn QB Hank Brown.
Schedule and outlook
The OOC schedule is again highlighted by the week 2 showdown in Ames for the Cy-Hawk trophy, with the other two being what should be a couple of gimmes (Albany and UMass). B1G conference play opens at Rutgers followed by Curt Cignetti and Indiana coming to town – a game Curt was disappointed to learn he couldn’t buy his way out of. After a bye and a visit to Wisconsin, the Hawkeyes don’t travel again for a solid month, hosting Penn State and Minnesota before another bye followed by Oregon. That last game would look really nice for trapping the Ducks, though they too will be coming off a bye the previous week. The season wraps up with USC in the Coliseum, Michigan State and at Nebraska. These rankings would project Iowa to go 6-6, which I have to figure wouldn’t be warmly received in Iowa City. Something tells me they knock off a couple of teams and manage to finish the regular season 8-4.