A Look ahead at the Iowa Hawkeyes 2018 Schedule: Part I

With the Iowa Hawkeyes bowl game come and gone the end of the 2017 season is upon us. The team will soon go into a peaceful rest for several months while they retool and rebuild for another run at the Big Ten title in 2018.

LINCOLN, NE – NOVEMBER 24: Quarterback Nathan Stanley

The Iowa Hawkeyes 2018 schedule has been out but not that many people are taking a hard look at it yet. The Hawks will start out the season playing four straight games at Kinnick Stadium. The fourth game will be their first against a Big Ten opponent that year. Then they will move deeper into their Big Ten after that playing teams like Northwestern, Maryland, and Illinois.

Hopefully, Iowa will be up to the challenge of not only playing better but doing something positive in 2018. Can they make a run at the Big Ten Title? Will they win a majority of their games? How could the Hawks do in a new year full of fresh faces on both sides of the ball? Will they play well, or will they struggle and end up disappointing fans?

Just how do we think the Hawks will do in 2018? We will find out as we take a quick look at the 12 games that the Hawks will play next season. We will see how their opponent did this year and perhaps give a little bit of an outlook on how they will do next season. No guess will be accurate because things will change drastically between now and the time they play next year.

We will break this into three sets of four games apiece.

Games One through Four

Northern Illinois Huskies @ Iowa-September 1-The Iowa Hawkeyes better be wary of the Huskies. Northern Illinois has not been playing that bad in recent years so Iowa needs to watch. NIU had a record of 8-4 in 2017 and always seem to be a thorn in the side of bigger and better teams. In fact, these teams played each other back in 2013 and the Huskies beat the Hawks 30-27.

Iowa needs to be careful as they can’t afford a loss right out of the gate.

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They Hawkeyes leads the series 8-1. Expect Iowa to win this one but be on guard to not fall into a trap and start out slow. Starting out slow could give NIU the advantage and make this a much closer game than it should be.

Iowa State Cyclones @Iowa-September 8th-The annual Cy-Hawk Series comes to Iowa City in early September as Iowa State travels east to take on the Hawkeyes in the 66th meeting of this longtime rivalry. Heading into this game, the Hawkeyes hold a 43-22 edge over the Cyclones and have won the last three games including this year’s 44-41 overtime win in Ames. Iowa State could be better next season so the Hawks will need to be wary of them.

Iowa should be able to win this game and start the season 2-0. They need a good start to get some momentum going before they play the Wisconsin Badgers two weeks from this game.

Northern Iowa @Iowa-September 15th-The Hawks will face their second in-state rival in a row as they will take on the Northern Iowa Panthers at Kinnick Stadium in mid-September. The last time these two teams met, the Hawkeyes beat the Panthers 31-23. Iowa holds a 16-1 advantage in the series and the only game the Panthers have won was the first game back in 1898.

Like NIU, the Hawkeyes need to take UNI seriously. In their last meeting, the Panthers were able to keep up with the Hawkeyes and were no pushover. This might be one of those games. Iowa needs to dominate to gain some additional momentum and prepare themselves for what will be a difficult contest coming the next week against Wisconsin. Should Iowa lose or play poorly, it’s likely they will come into their game against the Badgers flat and may get blown out.

Look for Iowa to win this game and end the non-conference schedule undefeated.

Wisconsin @Iowa September 22nd-The high-powered Wisconsin Badgers will come into Kinnick Stadium hoping to continue what was a near-great 2017 season. The Badgers and the Hawks met this season and the Badgers won, soundly, 38-14. Wisconsin should be one of the better teams in the Big Ten, again, next season. Iowa is going to need to play their best football against them. But will they be able to keep up with high flying Badgers?

Right now, I would say probably not.

But let’s see what transpires during the next few months as both of these teams prepare for the 2018 season. Right now, let’s say that the Badgers will win this game. However, it will be a much closer contest than it was this year. Hopefully, Iowa will be able to keep up with Wisconsin and at least make it interesting.