Iowa Football: Hawkeyes Expected to Outperform in 2026
· Yahoo Sports
Welcome to SB Nation Reacts, a survey of fans across the NCAA. Throughout the year we ask questions of the most plugged-in Iowa fans and fans across the country.
Big Ten Media Days wrapped up last week and with the annual trek to Chicago came the media projections for each and every team in the conference.
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We noted in our rundown last week that Iowa had three pre-season All-Big Ten nominees in offensive linemen Kade Pieper and Trevor Lauck, as well as defensive back Zach Lutmer, who also garnered votes for defensive player of the year in the conference. They were joined by TE DJ Vonnahme, who earned Honorable Mention All-Big Ten.
As for the team overall, they were picked to finish 8th in the conference according to the media.
But the media doesn’t always know what they’re talking about (unless, of course, they’re fan media on ablog, then they are always right about everything) and when it comes to perception of the Iowa Hawkeyes, that can be especially true. So last week we asked the fanbase where they expect to see the Hawkeyes finish in the conference standings in 2026.
Not surprisingly, we’re a bit more optimistic here in Hawkeye Nation with Iowa fans on average calling for a finish in the range of 4-6 in the conference.
The math isn’t always intuitive with the new-ish 18-member Big Ten conference, but a top-6 finish is good for top-third in the league. That’s right in line with where the Hawkeyes have finished each of the last two years since we torn down the Indiana wall and abandoned the East-West split. Iowa finished sixth in both 2024 and 2025 after winning the Big Ten West in its final year back in 2023.
Getting back into the top-6 in the conference this season would mean Iowa has had a pretty solid season. The USA Today released the pre-season Coaches Poll on Tuesday and while the Hawkeyes come into the year a very respectable #22 in the nation, it’s worth calling out that they are the 8th team in the national ranks – right on par with where the media picked them to finish in conference.
The Big Ten is very well represented in the polls with three teams inside the top ten. That includes reigning national champion Indiana at #6, while both the #1 and #2 spots belong to the conference with OSU and Oregon, respectively. USC is also inside the top-15 at #14 in the nation, while Michigan and PSU are both just behind at #16 and #17.
Here’s a look at the full poll:
- Ohio State (38 first-place votes)
- Oregon (6)
- Georgia (7)
- Texas (2)
- Notre Dame (5)
- Indiana (14)
- Miami
- Texas A&M
- Oklahoma
- Mississippi
- Alabama
- Texas Tech
- LSU
- Southern California
- Brigham Young
- Michigan
- Penn State
- Tennessee
- Washington
- SMU
- Utah
- Iowa
- Clemson
- Houston
- Missouri
Others receiving votes: Louisville; Florida; TCU; Illinois; Arizona; South Carolina; Virginia; Vanderbilt; Auburn; Georgia Tech; Boise State; Oklahoma State; UNLV; Florida State; North Carolina State; Nebraska; Virginia Tech; Memphis; Arizona State; Duke; James Madison; New Mexico; Pittsburgh; Navy; Western Michigan; San Diego State; California; Hawaii; Jacksonville State; Kansas State.
While the Hawkeyes have been ranked in the final Coaches Poll five of the last seven seasons, they finished the year unranked following that 2024 and 2022 seasons. As noted, that 2024 year was one where Iowa indeed finished top-6 in the Big Ten. However, a Music City Bowl loss to Mizzou bumped Iowa out of the final ranks.
Should Iowa manage to finish top-8 in the Big Ten as the media have predicted, and certainly if they finish top-6 with the way the conference is setting up, they would almost certainly finish the 2026 season ranked inside the top-25 nationally.
As a reminder, the folks at FanDuel Sportsbook have set Iowa’s over/under at 7.5 total wins this year. The media (and the fanbase) are clearly saying it’s a good idea to hammer the over.