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The national media doesn't have the best relationship with Iowa football fans. 

The Hawkeyes were heavily criticized nationally for their handling of then-offensive coordinator Brian Ferentz's "Drive to 325" contract clause and subsequent historically bad offense in 2023, but that was three years ago now. 

Tim Lester has slowly built this offense into a formidable one since he arrived in Iowa City in 2024, and he revealed on Big Ten Network's Iowa fall camp preview show that he feels that his 2026 is very close to where he wants the annual offensive standard to be. 

But despite this improvement, national analysts continue to poke fun at the Hawkeyes' previous struggles. When reporting Iowa's new alcohol partnership with Cedar Ridge Distillery a few weeks, On3 insider Brett McMurphy made this remark that Hawkeye fans didn't like.

"Iowa announces 1847 Bourbon & 1847 Vodka as school’s official bourbon & vodka partners. Each bottle features a co-branded design w/iconic Tigerhawk logo. Fans are required to take a shot after every punt, safety or defensive TD." 

So you get the point. There's no love lost between the national media and the Iowa faithful, but when it comes down to predictions, it's always interesting to see what some of them have to say. 

Local folks like us will always have better insight to give you during the season, but national perception does make a bit of a difference when you're trying to potentially convince a committee to put you into the College Football Playoff. 

So without further adieu, here's what the national analysts are predicting for Iowa football in 2026. 

Stewart Mandel, The Athletic

Record Prediction: (7-5, 4-5) 

The Athletic's college football editor-in-chief has Iowa finishing with a very modest seven victories. Mandel's piece didn't talk about the Hawkeyes, but one would assume that the primary reason for his prediction was the fact that Iowa has no idea who it's starting quarterback is going to be at this point and time. The 7-5 record is fair, but seeing the Hawkeyes with a sub-.500 mark in conference play would be surprising. Iowa hasn't finished with a losing mark in league play since 2017, and it's only happened five times in the Kirk Ferentz era. 

Brad Crawford, CBS Sports

Record Prediction: (9-3, 6-3)

Crawford is definitely more high on the Hawkeyes than Mandel. It's worth mentioning that this prediction was released in June (Mandel's was a few weeks ago), but it seems like Crawford is still high on Ferentz's ability to run a consistent program. He's got Iowa winning two of its three challenging games to open Big Ten play (at Michigan, at Washington), but does have the Hawkeyes losing at Minnesota and Illinois along with a home test against top-ranked Ohio State. 

Losing in Champaign wouldn't be a surprise given the Fighting Illini's consistency under Bret Bielema, but a rare loss to P.J. Fleck's Gophers in Minneapolis would be. Either way, a 9-3 mark for this Iowa team would be really impressive no matter which games fall in the loss column. 

ESPN

Rough Prediction: (8-4, 5-4) 

The reason why this is a "rough" prediction is because ESPN's Aug. 13 article didn't have actual record predictions. The piece instead featured a bunch of numbers from SP+, a college football efficiency metric. This metric had Iowa's record at 8.0-5.2, so we'll say that's an 8-4 overall record and 5-4 Big Ten mark. 

The computers aren't always the most trustworthy metrics in college football, but this metric may end up with a correct prediction. The Hawkeyes figure to be right around an 8-4 squad this year with their quarterback questions and tough schedule.

Iowa Could Be In The CFP Mix, Per NBC

NBC college football insider Nicole Auerbach didn't talk about Iowa in her Big Ten preview, but just below her list of expected Big Ten CFP contenders, she listed the Hawkeyes as one of four teams that "could be in the mix" for a CFP bid. 

Again, there was no explanation for why Iowa was listed there, but Auerbach clearly respects the consistency of the program and the potential for young talent to fill key positions. 

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HawkeyeRoundtable publisher Brad Schultz has covered the Iowa Hawkeyes since 2023. To send him story ideas, scoops, or criticize his writing, reach him at bradschultz@roundtable.io

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