Iowa vs. Indiana Ends Kinnick Stadium Drought

With the Big 10 West no more, Iowa is tasked with facing some of the best teams in the conference. September 27 marks a date with Indiana, the No. 11 ranked team in the nation. It's their second AP Top 25 opponent this season, but the first they get to play at Kinnick Stadium, a venue that hasn't hosted a ranked opponent in the last three seasons.

Iowa Hawkeyes quarterback Hank Brown (9) throws a pass during a football game agains the Massachusetts Minutemen Sept. 13, 2025 at Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City, Iowa. | Julia Hansen/Iowa City Press-Citizen / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

October 1, 2022 was the last time a ranked opponent played at Kinnick Stadium. It's a testiment to how favorable the Hawkeyes home opponents have been, though that hasn't necessarily worked in their favor. On that day nearly three years ago, No. 4 Michigan defeated Iowa, 27-14.

Now, Indiana comes to town after demolishing No. 9 Illinios, 63-10. Their 53-point win was one of the best in the Curt Cignetti era, the same head coach that led them to the College Football Playoffs last season. For Iowa, it's one of three ranked teams they'll host this season. No. 3 Penn State and No. 6 Oregon both head to Iowa in the coming weeks.

Kinnick hasn’t hosted a ranked opponent in 3 years — the longest drought in stadium history.

Since the AP Poll’s inception in 1936, Iowa had never gone more than 1 season without hosting a ranked team.

It’s about time a highly ranked team gets KO’d at Kinnick. pic.twitter.com/Kp5DbkGyli
— Chris Hassel (@Hassel_Chris) September 25, 2025

Heading into each team's second conference game, Iowa faces the harsh reality of no longer getting to play sub-par opponents at home. It'll be a true test for HC Kirk Ferentz, but a massive advantage in terms of it being Indiana's first road game of the season. Never beore has Kinnick Stadium seen a three-year drought of ranked opponents, one of the many reasons Hawkeyes fans will be on the edge of their seat.

CBS Sports Chris Hassel wrote, "Since the AP Poll’s inception in 1936, Iowa had never gone more than 1 season without hosting a ranked team."

The more insane stat here is that Iowa has hosted just ONE team that finished better than 6-6 in the regular season since that Michigan game in 2022. Home slate last 1,092 days:
—1 team with winning record (10-2 ISU)
—5 teams that finished 6-6
—11 teams with losing record or FCS https://t.co/C0eTEHP3KH
— Alex Gookin (@_AlexGookin) September 25, 2025

To even further expand on how easy Iowa's home schedule has been, they've only played one team to finish better than 6-6 since that Michigan game three years ago. In total, they played five teams that finished 6-6. Iowa State is the lone team they've played at home in that stretch to finish with a winning record (10-2). Other than that, they've played 11 teams (FCS included) that finished with a losing record.

Hoosiers QB Fernando Mendoza has set himself apart from the rest this season. With all eyes on the likes of Arch Manning, Garrett Nussmeier, among others, Mendoza has made quite a case of his own to win the Heisman. He'll have to do so against a stingy Iowa defense, and an offense that has begun to put everything together under QB Mark Gronowski.

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