Iowa football: Ranking Hawkeyes rivalaries from worst to first

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MINNEAPOLIS, MN – OCTOBER 06: Kiondre Thomas #31 of the Minnesota Golden Gophers tackles Nick Easley #84 of the Iowa Hawkeyes during the fourth quarter of the game on October 6, 2018 at TCF Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Iowa defeated Minnesota 48-31. (Photo by Hannah Foslien/Getty Images) /

#2 – Iowa versus Minnesota (The Floyd of Rosedale)

This is the longest, most historic rivalry in the Iowa football team’s history. The Iowa football team has played Minnesota a program-record 111 times, and in the history of the rivalry, the Hawkeyes have more often than not come out on the losing end going 48-61-2.

Lately, the Hawks have been closing the gap on victories, but not quite at the pace expected given the trajectories of these two schools.

In the past 21 years, the Hawkeyes have mostly reigned supreme over the Golden Gophers, but they’ve gone just 14-7 in the past 21 matchups. Personally, I think that makes this game fun. You never know what’s going to happen, just like the Iowa State game.

Another factor adding to the intensity of this game is the number of recruits the Iowa football team has been taking from the Gopher country as of recent. First, it was Big Ten Defensive Back of the Year Amani Hooker. Now, it’s Yahya Black and Aaron Witt, the latter who use actually de-committed from the Gophers before signing with Iowa.