These are the FBS programs Iowa football has never played

Iowa football hasn’t been able to bring its unique rise-and-grind gridiron brand to every school in the country, with a great number of programs yet to make the trip to Iowa City for an old-school showdown in the Hawkeye State. And vice versa.

Today, Dear Old Gold takes a look at one of the Big Ten’s most consistently solid programs and the teams that have avoided the slow-paced firefights the Black and Gold have become famous for over the years.

Here are the FBS programs Iowa football has never played

Iowa football vs AAC

The “American” is not a conference Iowa has much experience with. All but three programs in the conference’s current form have played the Hawkeyes before. The list of teams that haven’t includes UAB, Charlotte, East Carolina, Florida Atlantic, Memphis, Navy, Rice, USF, SMU, UTSA, and Tulane.

Picturing a matchup with any of those teams is hard to do unless the NCAA wants to host a true Sickos matchup between Iowa and Navy. Don’t write that off in a sport that schedules games with profit and fan interest in mind, but don’t expect the AAC to find itself matched opposite the Big Ten in the coming years with the conference expanding and the MAC having the proximity advantage. Remember, public schools are run by the state, and boosting the local economy is often on the mind of ADs and local officials who help book these games.

Perhaps a breakout team like Tulane or UTSA can force a meeting with a highly-ranked Iowa team in a future College Football Playoff. Otherwise, don’t hold your breath for meetings with the “American.”