The Case for Iowa's College Football Playoff Breakthrough Keeps Getting Stronger

Iowa fans know how close the Hawkeyes have been to the College Football Playoff.

There was 2015, which was inches away against Michigan State. There was last year, which was quite possibly just 12 points and two blown leads away.

The Hawkeyes are knocking on the door of the college football elites, and the buzz about this team finally kicking down the door to the College Football Playoff is only getting louder.

Why Iowa Is Built to Reach the College Football Playoff

On his show, The Joel Klatt Show: A College Football Podcast, Klatt dove into the 10 teams most likely to make their first College Football Playoff appearance and started things off early, with Iowa being the first team named.

"One of those middle-of-the-road Big Ten programs that have had a lot of success under Kirk Ferentz and are now looking for the opportunity to level up.

"So what does it take to level up? You have to improve from a roster standpoint, and that's a question of whether they are able to do this or not. But it's also hitting the right schedule.

"In these big conferences, it is still about when you play teams, where you play them, and who you miss in your schedule. Iowa has had eight-plus wins in the last 10 full seasons. Kirk Ferentz is as consistent as anybody in the sport," Klatt said about what has broken Iowa's way.

What else will it take for Iowa?

It keeps coming back to the stretch of games at Michigan, versus Ohio State, and at Washington. Klatt feels Iowa has to snag one of those to have a shot at the playoff, which would require winning out the rest of the way.

On BetMGM Tonight with Kate Constable and Pete Fiutak, I uttered this same sentiment about the Hawkeyes' chance of surpassing their 7.5-game win total and a chance at sniffing the playoff.

If the Hawkeyes go 0-3 in these three games, it's going to take more than some help to have a chance at the playoff, considering their three losses would be against a group that you figure will have at least two teams flirting with playoff contention.

𝑯𝑶𝑾 𝑭𝑨𝑹 𝑪𝑨𝑵 𝑰𝑶𝑾𝑨 𝑮𝑶 𝑻𝑯𝑰𝑺 𝑺𝑬𝑨𝑺𝑶𝑵? 🏈@RileyDonald7 joins @KateConstable & @PeteFiutak to discuss if Iowa can make a run this season! pic.twitter.com/JKBg0gSFt3
— BetMGM Tonight (@BetMGMTonight) July 25, 2026

Riley Donald's Thoughts on an Iowa College Football Playoff Run

Let's get inside the circle of trust here for a moment. Let's be honest with ourselves about the 2026 Iowa Hawkeyes.

I present one question to you: Can Iowa make the College Football Playoff with their quarterback situation?

The defense is going to do its thing, even if it takes some time to find its footing. Iowa will beat the teams it is supposed to. But at the end of the day, football always comes back to the quarterback.

Iowa is going to need its quarterback, which in itself is a monster storyline to follow at Big Ten Media Days, to make late-game, big-time throws against the best of the best.

Does Iowa have that in 2026?

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