Buck(Eyes) On The 2025 Iowa Hawkeyes

Last week I began the series that looks at the 2025 Big Ten schools that Ohio State is not scheduled to play by taking a peek at the 2025 Indiana Hoosiers. This week’s focus will be on the 2025 Iowa Hawkeyes.

2024 Results: Iowa went 8-5, which was good enough for them to finish 5th in The Big Ten. Ohio State struggled in the first half last year before pulling away in the second half when they met on October 5th in Ohio Stadium, as the Buckeyes defeated the Hawkeyes 35-7. Iowa had some head scratching losses on the road to Michigan State (32-20 on October 19th) and at UCLA (20-17 on November 8th), before losing to Missouri 27-24 in the Transperfect Music City Bowl to finish out the season.

Next Scheduled Regular Season Game Versus Ohio State: Ohio State is slated to make a trip to Iowa City in 2026 for the first time since the infamous 55-24 whatthehe!!happened game back in 2017. That painful loss in the Urban Meyer era was a determining factor in Ohio State not making the College Football Playoff after that season. The date and time of the 2026 game has not yet been announced.

Biggest Personnel Losses From 2024: Iowa had 5 players selected in the 2025 NFL Draft. 4 of the losses were on the offensive side of the ball, with RB Kaleb Johnson (3rd round, Pittsburgh), OT Mason Richman (7th round, Seattle), G Connor Colby (7th round, San Francisco), and TE Luke Lachey (7th round, Houston), while DL Yahya Black was another Pittsburgh Steeler selection (5th round).

Biggest Personnel Gains For 2025: Iowa added 9 players during the transfer portal period, with the biggest name being QB Mark Gronowski from FCS South Dakota State. Gronowski had surgery on his right shoulder in January that kept him out of spring practice, but the expectation is Gronowski will be ready to go for summer workouts and for the start of the 2025 season.

Most Challenging Portion Of The 2025 Schedule: Former Ohio State head coach Jim Tressel was fond of saying that “September is for pretenders, November is for contenders.” Looking at Iowa’s November slate, this is where it will be determined if Iowa can truly contend for a Big Ten Championship Game berth, as the Hawkeyes welcome in Oregon on November 8th, travel to USC on November 15th, return home to host Michigan State on November 22nd, then finish up on the road for their traditional Black Friday game at Nebraska on November 28th.

Possibility Of A Big Ten Championship Game Appearance In 2025? Unlikely. Not only does Iowa have that difficult November stretch, but October features road trips to Wisconsin on October 11th, with home games versus Penn State on October 18th and Minnesota October 25th. While hopes among the Hawkeye faithful are high for Mark Gronowski to elevate what has been a stagnant Iowa offense, the likelihood that Iowa will be able to improve on that side of the ball, while navigating a challenging Big Ten schedule, make it difficult to project Iowa as a participant in the Big Ten Championship Game on December 6th in Indianapolis.

Next week, the focus will shift to the 2025 Maryland Terrapins.

As always, let me know what you think.