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Iowa

Hawkeyes · Big Ten

Head coach Kirk Ferentz

Season Projection · 2026 W0

10,000 sims
8.5
Expected wins
8-4
Proj record
6 to 11
Win range (90%)
#14 (5–27)
Final rank (90%)
45%
Make playoff
6%
Win conference

Path to Glory

Tap a win or a loss on each pivotal game to see how the playoff probability shifts. Leave any game unset to average across both outcomes.

Make the playoff

45%

Baseline projection.

  • at Northwestern
    Away · Nov 7
  • at Minnesota
    Away · Oct 24
  • at Illinois
    Away · Nov 21
  • at Washington
    Away · Oct 10
  • vs Ohio State
    Home · Oct 3

Pivotal games are the 5 with the largest playoff-probability swing, ranked by the model. Math: chained Bayesian log-odds update from the conditional simulation set; gets the directionally right answer but won't perfectly capture cross-game correlations until the full Monte Carlo pipeline lands.

Returning production · 2025

47 PCI
  • Quarterback 20% (1/5 players)
  • Offensive line 64% (14/22 players)
  • Skill (RB/WR/TE) 50% (18/36 players)
  • Front 7 (DL/LB) 64% (25/39 players)
  • Secondary 55% (12/22 players)
  • Special teams 67% (4/6 players)

PCI weights returning production by position group (QB/OL heaviest). 70%+ is healthy continuity; 45-70% is a normal rebuild; below 45% is a meaningful turnover.

Situational efficiency · 2025

FBS percentile rank
  • 3rd-down conversion 40.1% 70th — strong
  • Red-zone TD rate 18.7% 83th — strong
  • 4th-down aggression 27.4% 14th — bottom tier
  • Late & close 5.5 yds/play 61th — average

Percentile is across all FBS teams with play-by-play data for the season. "Late & close" is yards per play in Q4+ with a one-score margin — a proxy for clutch offensive performance.

Schedule

Full 2026 slate. Tap a row for the matchup breakdown.

Latest Stories

  • Recap

    Iowa: 2025 Week 16 recap

    Iowa sits at No. 12 in GIE's ratings after a dominant 40–16 road win over Nebraska in Week 14, a performance that underscored the Hawkeyes' defensive identity and offensive efficiency. The 9–4 record reflects a team that's navigated Big…

More coming

Per-team pages get the full treatment in Phase 3: current rating, season projection histogram, schedule with win probabilities, and live overlays on Pylon stream days. For now, this page exists so stories and news have a permanent home as content rolls in.