It's no different around the college football world, but the Big Ten will be a new-loof conference that will be difficult to predict. Last year Iowa had one of the worst offenses in the nation statistically and still won 10 games and had an appearance in the Big Ten Championship and the Cheez-It Citrus Bowl. But will the unpredictability of an altered college football landscape benefit the Hawkeyes?
There is plenty of reason to feel optimism in Iowa City for the 2024 season. Quarterback Cade McNamara returns healthy with a new offensive coordinator in Tim Lester. Around the quarterback will be some returning talents, namely running backs Leshon Williams, Kaleb Johnson and Jaziun Patterson, and tight ends Luke Lachey and Addison Ostrenga.
On the defensive side, 2023 Broyles Award Phil Parker returns a defense that will have to reload a bit of star power, but eight starters return as well as key rotational pieces. A unit that played nearly 1,000 plays and allowed just over four yards per play has littel reason not to be one of the best in the nation once again.
With so much going right for Kirk Ferentz's program, it would be easy to expect the team to have lofty expectations put in front of them. However, that isn't entirely the case.
FanDuel has already begun to roll out its win/loss totals for the 2024 college football season and their outlook for Iowa isn't too kind. The sportsbook as of this writing has the Hawkeyes at -162 to win 7.5 games.
The win/loss totals in the Big Ten are rather conservative, though it's clear who the favorites are.
- Illinois: 5.5 wins
- Indiana: 5.5
- Maryland: 7.5
- Michigan: 9.5
- Michigan State: 5.5
- Minnesota: 4.5
- Nebraska: 7.5
- Northwestern: 5.5
- Ohio State: 10.5
- Oregon: 10.5
- Penn State: 9.5
- Purdue: 4.5
- Rutgers: 4.5
- UCLA: 5.5
- USC: 7.5
- Washington: 7.5
- Wisconsin: 6.5
As for the conference championship outlook, Iowa currently has the sixth-best odds of winning the Big Ten at +3500. Ahead of the Hawkeyes is USC (+2300), Penn State (+600), Michigan (+460), Oregon (+250) and the favorite, Ohio State, at +155.
Up Next: