Schedule Breakdown: Ranking Iowa's opponents by difficulty

Gone are the days of opposing fanbases knocking Iowa Football for their supposed soft strength of schedule in the Big Ten West. There are a couple of games on the 2025 slate that can be penciled in as near-certain victories even in early July, but many of the matchups can be argued and deliberated for either side. Last season, the Hawkeyes strength of schedule ranked 45th toughest per the great Phil Steele. This year, the difficulty ramps up another notch, with their schedule coming in 26th out of 136 teams, including potential for five ranked teams. Just because it’s a tough schedule doesn’t mean we can’t rank the opponents, it just means it’s a little bit tougher to do.

Let’s break it all down. HawkeyeReport has ranked each Iowa Football opponent from easiest to toughest.

12. vs Albany Great Danes (Aug 30th)

The Great Danes are one year removed from a run to the FCS Playoff Semifinals, but they dropped to 4-8 last season, including a 49-14 loss to West Virginia. Dating back to 2018, Albany is 0-4 against P4 opponents, allowing 53.3 points per game, while Iowa is 12-1 against FCS opponents under Kirk Ferentz. One player to know, linebacker Ron Holmes returns after tallying 88 tackles and 8.0 tackles for loss last season. A good way to ease into the season, the easiest game of the year comes in the opener against Albany.

11. vs UMass Minutemen (Sept 13th)

It’s the first ever meeting between the Hawkeyes and Minutemen, but Iowa is 19-4 under Kirk Ferentz against the MAC, with the last loss coming in 2013. After nine years as an Independent, Massachusetts is back in the MAC, but they aren’t expected to be anything special after posting a 2-10 record last season, including a 59-21 loss to Georgia. One player to know, wide receiver Ty Harding is back after totaling 19 catches for 334 yards and five touchdowns. UMass could come in at 2-0 (vs Temple, vs Bryant), but Iowa should handle them pretty easily.

10. vs Michigan State Spartans (Nov 22nd)

It’s really a testament to the Hawkeyes schedule that a team they lost to last season is this far down the list, despite returning 15 starters. Iowa was a 6.5-point favorite in East Lansing a year ago, but were upset 32-20. Quarterback Aidan Chiles threw for 256 in that game and ran for 51 more yards, while wide receiver Nick Marsh caught eight passes for 113 yards. Both of them are back, but it’s still an MSU that went 3-7 against P4 teams, with one of those coming against 1-11 Purdue. If Chiles takes the next step at QB, the Spartans could be better than they were last season, but this one being at Kinnick keeps it from hopping over a couple of road games.

9. at Rutgers Scarlet Knights (Sept 20th)

It always seems like this matchup gets talked about one that could be a sneaky tough matchup for the Hawkeyes, and it never really pans out that way. Iowa is 4-0 against Rutgers since they joined the Big Ten, outscoring them 93-17, including a 27-10 victory last time they met in Piscataway. The Scarlet Knights have now made back-to-back bowl games, finishing 7-6 last season and this could be the best team that Greg Schiano has had since he returned back in 2020. They’ve got some really solid pass catchers, led by receiver Ian Strong and are 25th in returning starts on the offensive line. While it is on the road and Rutgers blackout game, this matchup hasn’t caused any troubles in the past.

8. at Wisconsin Badgers (Oct 11th)

This used to be one of the top games on the Hawkeyes schedule, with the Badgers coming in ranked in seven straight seasons from 2014-20, but have been unranked in four consecutive meetings. Last season, Wisconsin dropped their final five games, including a 42-10 loss to Iowa, falling to 5-7 and for the first time since 2001, they missed a bowl game. They brought in Maryland quarterback Billy Edwards from the portal, but HC Luke Fickell has gone away from what made previous Wisconsin teams great and that is running the football behind a good offensive line. A healthy QB will certainly help, and the defense should be better, but there are tougher road games than this one.

7. vs Minnesota Golden Gophers (Oct 25th)

The Hawkeyes have won 11 of the last 13 in this series and if weren’t for a blown call on a Cooper DeJean punt return, it would be ten in a row against the Gophers. Last season, Minnesota went 8-5, including a Mayo Bowl win over Virginia Tech, giving them a 6-0 record in bowls under PJ Fleck. The Gophers return Darius Taylor at running back, but redshirt freshman quarterback Drake Lindsey has thrown just five career passes. Their defense was very solid last year and returns three of their top five tacklers, including All-American safety Koi Perich. Iowa has won 13 of the last 15 in Iowa City, but we’re starting to step into the tougher portion of the rankings with this Minnesota game.

6. at Nebraska Cornhuskers (Nov 28th)

It’s been a decade plus since Nebraska was a real threat to anyone on the national stage, despite the yearly offseason talk of them being a top 25 team, and Iowa has absolutely dominated this rivalry during that stretch. The Hawkeyes have won ten of the last 12 meetings, including winning seven of them by one score or less. Last season, the Huskers got back to a bowl game for the first time since 2016, defeating Boston College in the Pinstripe Bowl and that was enough to get the top 25 talk going for this year. They should take a step forward in year two with Dylan Raiola at quarterback, but the Huskers are replacing their entire front seven. I’m not sure they are top 25 worthy, but they will be a bowl team, and this game always seems to go down the wire, plus it’s in Lincoln.

5. at Iowa State Cyclones (Sept 6th)

Another rivalry that has been a bit more strenuous on the Hawkeyes than the record over the last decade would suggest. Iowa has won seven of the last nine meetings, but HC Matt Campbell is 2-1 in his last three after losing his first six against the Hawkeyes. Last season, the Cyclones came within a game of the College Football Playoff, but defeated Miami FL in the Pop-Tarts Bowl to finish with a 11-3 record, marking their best season in school history. They remain pretty strong across the board, keeping their entire backfield intact, led by quarterback Rocco Becht. Defensively, their back eight will be the strength, with a couple back from injury at linebacker and two All-Big 12 selections in the secondary. The glaring question is at wide receiver, with Noel and Higgins gone. This game could have been as high as #3 on the list, but Iowa State hasn’t won in Ames in this rivalry since 2011.

4. vs Indiana Hoosiers (Sept 27th)

One of the biggest surprises, if not the biggest surprise in college football last season was the rise of Indiana from 3-9 to 11-2 and a College Football Playoff appearance under first year head coach Curt Cignetti. The coaching staff has done an incredible job in the transfer portal and have rebuilt this roster, despite losing some key pieces. They return their wide receiver duo led by Elijah Sarratt, while California quarterback Fernando Mendoza and Maryland running back Roman Hemby man the backfield. Defensively, they return five of their top seven tacklers, led by All-Big Ten linebacker Aiden Fisher, while they also added eight transfers that made impacts at their previous stop. This is the first of three ’24 CFP teams that Iowa will host at Kinnick this season.

3. at USC Trojans (Nov 15th)

This game comes in a brutal spot, as it’s right after the Hawkeyes host Oregon at Kinnick and it will be on the road, which means it’s in a location that has not been good to Kirk Ferentz. The West Coast. Iowa is 1-4 in the Pacific Time Zone under Kirk Ferentz and Big Ten teams were 8-21 when traveling two time zones last season. The Hawkeyes lost to UCLA in Los Angeles last season, despite being a 6.5-point favorite.

The Trojans went 7-6 last season, including a comeback win in the Las Vegas Bowl against Texas A&M, but were better than their record, losing their first five games by a combined 19 points. Former UNLV transfer Jayden Maiava will be the full-time starter at quarterback after going 3-1 to end the season as the starter. Joining him in the backfield will be 1,000-yard rusher Eli Sanders from New Mexico, while their wide receiver duo of Ja’Kobi Lane and Makai Lemon is back. They lost six of their top eight tacklers on defense, but brought in some transfer help to keep them from taking a step back. The Trojans have been trending the wrong way under Lincoln Riley (11-3, 8-5, 7-6), but this group should break that trend rather easily.

2. vs Oregon Ducks (Nov 8th)

It’s been 31 years since the Hawkeyes and Ducks last met and it will be just the fourth meeting all-time when Oregon visits Kinnick in November. Although it’s been tough sledding for Iowa against ranked teams in recent years, but they’ve actually won five of six against top ten teams at Kinnick in November under Kirk Ferentz.

Last season, Oregon was 13-0, including wins over Ohio State, Penn State and Boise State, but got a bad draw in the College Football Playoff and lost to the Buckeyes in the Rose Bowl. Offensively, the Ducks are 12th in the country in returning starts on the offensive line, while they added Florida State receiver Malik Benson and have former A&M transfer Evan Stewart back. The questions come in the backfield. Running back should be okay, with Noah Whittington and Tulane transfer Makhi Hughes, but sophomore quarterback Dante Moore is trying to follow up Bo Nix and Dillon Gabriel. Defensively, they’ll be more than alright. They’ll be led up front by edge rushers Matayo Uiagalelei and Teitum Tuioti, while leading tackler Bryce Boettcher is back at linebacker. This game comes off of Iowa’s bye week and it’s November, so it’s worth watching for an upset.

1. vs Penn State Nittany Lions (Oct 18th)

Some people think that the national championship could be headed to State College this season, but even it isn’t, this Penn State squad is a surefire top five team in the country, making it the toughest game on the Hawkeyes schedule. Iowa has won two of the last three meetings, but PSU has won seven of the last nine, including a 31-0 win in State College in 2023. It’s also worth noting that this will very likely be the fourth time in five years that Iowa will play two top ten teams (at the time of the game).

The Nittany Lions went 13-3 last season, defeating SMU and Boise State en route to a spot in the College Football Playoff Semifinals where they fell to Notre Dame. Starting on the offensive side of the ball, the nation’s best running back duo, Nicholas Singleton and Kaytron Allen, will run behind one of the best offensive lines in the country. At quarterback, Drew Allar is back after throwing for 3,300 yards and although his top pass catchers departed, Trebor Pena (Syracuse), Kyron Hudson (USC) and Devonte Ross (Troy) came in from the portal. Defensively, PSU returns just three of their top four tacklers, including DE Abdul Carter, but six of their top nine. They aren’t quite as experienced, but they never lack talent on that side of the ball and Dani Dennis-Sutton, Zane Durant will be a really tough inside-outside duo up front. Depending on how the chips fall, if PSU can get past Oregon at home in late September, the Nittany Lions could possibly be #1 in the country when they visit Kinnick Stadium.