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By the close of the 2002 season, Kirk Ferentz had things rolling at Iowa. 

The Hawkeyes had just wrapped up a memorable 11-2 campaign that ended with a co-Big Ten championship and Orange Bowl berth, so the national perception of Iowa football was now completely different than it was four years earlier. 

Iowa would have to break in a new starting quarterback in 2003 after Heisman Trophy runner-up Brad Banks graduated, but either way, the needle was ticking north for the Hawkeye program. 

Not surprisingly, the Hawkeyes took advantage of their 2002 momentum and again positioned themself on the Big Ten and national championship picture. 

But as we know, the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) was still in the middle of its controversial run in 2003, which meant only the nation's top two ranked teams would compete in the national championship game. 

Though not as good as they were in 2002, the 2003 Hawkeyes easily could've made some noise in a College Football Playoff field if they were given the chance.

With a 24-team CFP field likely imminent today, we're continuing our summer hypothetical Iowa 24-team playoff squads with the 2003 squad. If you missed previous articles, be sure to find them in HawkeyeRoundtable's "Opinion" section. 

The Rundown 

Ferentz's pick to replace Banks was incoming senior Nathan Chandler. Standing at 6-foot-7 and weighing 225, Chandler went down as one of the tallest quarterbacks in Hawkeye history. 

Though Chandler was way taller than the average quarterback, he proved to be the perfect option, tossing 2,040 yards and 18 touchdowns during the season. 

The Hawkeyes raced out to a 4-0 start, which included a 21-2 victory over then-No. 16 Arizona State, but a disappointing loss to Michigan State in the league opener left a potential spiral with Michigan and Ohio State looming ahead. 

Iowa rallied from a 10-point second quarter to defeat No. 9 Michigan at Kinnick Stadium, but a 19-10 loss at Ohio State essentially ended the Hawkeyes' Big Ten title hopes. 

Iowa continued to win, however, with its lone loss the rest of the way coming at No. 16 Purdue in early November. That left the Hawkeyes at 9-3 overall and No. 13 in the final AP Poll, and they finished off a second consecutive 10-win season with a 37-17 drubbing of Florida in the 2004 Outback Bowl to finish No. 8 in the final polls. 

The Bracket 

Had a 24-team CFP existed back in 2003, here's what Iowa's portion of the bracket would've looked like. Though the BCS had its own poll, it only ranked the top 15 teams in the country, so these rankings came from the pre-bowl game AP rankings. 

The 13th-seeded Hawkeyes would've had a tough first round battle against Rich Rodriguez and his 20th-seeded West Virginia spread offense, but his best years in his first stint in Morgantown were still a few years away. 

An Iowa win gives it a rematch against Michigan. The Wolverines would've been a slight favorite, but considering the Hawks beat them in the regular season it would've been a good football game. 

I'm not sure if Iowa continues to win past this point, but one thing it had going for them in this era (and still does in 2026) was that it played so connected as a team. These Hawkeyes were never going to beat Michigan's talent, but they had plenty of heart, and that would've helped them in this bracket. 

But this is only a hypothetical bracket, though. 2003 is infamous for being the most recent season that ended with a split national championship. USC was named the AP Poll champion, but LSU, which won the BCS National Championship Game over Oklahoma, was named the Coaches' Poll champion. 

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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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