Iowa football sneaks into first AP Top 25 rankings along with most of the Big Ten

The first AP Top 25 rankings of the season have dropped and the Big Ten made its presence known, even rivaling the SEC for most teams in the rankings.

The Iowa Hawkeyes were the final Big Ten to show up in the rankings and were the last team to show up in the rankings. The Hawkeyes came in ranked No. 25 in the top 25 rankings after losing to Michigan in the Big Ten title game in 2023 and falling to Tennessee int he Cheez-It Bowl.

After a season where their offense was the worst in the Big Ten and one of the worst in college football, clearly, there is something still intriguing about this Hawkeye team in order to earn them a ranking.

As mentioned before, the Hawkeye offense was so bad last year that they ranked worst in the Big Ten, but luckily their defense was so dominant that it helped carry the offense to the Big Ten Championship, Unfortunately, the Hawkeyes faced the buzzsaw that was the Michigan Wolverines last season and it didn't matter how good the defense was, nothing was stopping them.

This year, Iowa has the return of Cade McNamara to the field after he tore his ACL in October of the 2023 season. McNamara is first in line to be the starter, but he has Northwestern transfer Brendan Sullivan right on his heels and ready to take over at the sign of McNamara's first fold.

However, the shining stars of the offense probably won't be the quarterbacks, and they definitely won't be the wide receivers, but it looks like the running backs. The running back room at Iowa is stacked with the return of Leshon Williams and Kaleb Johnson, who could make a great duo that scares defenses.

The Hawkeyes are projected to finish fifth in the Big Ten this year, which will feature four new teams in the conference, Oregon, USC, UCLA, and Washington. Even a somewhat improved offense will help the Hawkeyes tremendously this season if their defense performs how it has in the past.