Iowa football: Ranking Hawkeyes rivalaries from worst to first

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WEST LAFAYETTE, IN – NOVEMBER 03: T.J. Hockenson #38 of the Iowa Hawkeyes catches a touchdown pass in the end zone as Kenneth Major #2 of the Purdue Boilermakers defends at Ross-Ade Stadium on November 3, 2018 in West Lafayette, Indiana. (Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images) /

#5 – Iowa versus Purdue

This isn’t actually a trophy game, but I felt it was important to call this out because it was flabbergasting that the Big Ten thought this should be the protected rivalry for the Iowa football team when the Big Ten conference was split.

Thankfully, the Legends and Leaders conference split up went to the wayside once Maryland and Rutgers joined the Big Ten. Not only did is disband this protected rivalry crap, but it moved Purdue over to the Big Ten West so they play the Iowa football team regardless.

It’s not that there isn’t history here. These two teams have played 91 times in the history of the two programs and Purdue dominated the Hawks early on building them a nice little lead that the Hawks have had to chip away for the past three decades.

Although Purdue holds a 48-38-3 advantage over the Iowa football team, the Hawks are 22-8-1 since 1981.

Regardless though, there just isn’t the same level of passion or excitement for this game as an actual rivalry game, which brings me back to my first point, what in the heck was the Big Ten thinking?