Iowa Poised to Capitalize on Nebraska's Recent Struggles

How you view the 2025-26 Iowa Hawkeyes season will depend on the expectations you had for the team going into the year.

Following a B1G Championship appearance just two seasons ago, the Hawkeyes finished at a comparatively underwhelming 8-5 mark in their follow-up campaign. This season, then, was supposed to be the decider between mediocrity and championship-caliber competition; from that perspective, it’d be easy to consider the team’s current state a letdown.

Then again, after a Senior Day win in the electric, comeback fashion that Iowa managed this past weekend against the Michigan State Spartans, the Hawkeyes 7-4 record somehow feels more satisfying than it looks. A win in front of a home crowd that desperately needed one is worth patting backs over, regardless of the two straight, season-altering losses that preceded it.

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— Hawkeye Football (@HawkeyeFootball) November 23, 2025

Sharing Mid-Conference Ranks

And now, seemingly just as quickly as it began, the Hawkeyes’ season is coming to an end. One regular season game remains on their path this coming weekend, and unfortunately for Iowa, they won’t have the home crowd to rely on. Inversely, though, their opponent has hit a snag of their own.

The Nebraska Cornhuskers, who currently hold the 8th spot in the B1G - Iowa is situated just above them, in 7th place - have suffered a downturn similar to the Hawkeyes’ own, only worse and circumstantially exaggerated due to a few limiting miscues.

Counting the Cornhuskers Out?

Among the Cornhuskers’ primary issues is their loss of program-leading quarterback Dylan Raiola. After the signal caller suffered a broken fibula at the beginning of November, Nebraska’s projections in each subsequent game have, as expected, shifted into an unfavorable direction; their incoming matchup with Iowa, even at home, looks to be no different.

Not only that, but the Cornhuskers are fresh off a blowout loss to the same Penn State Nittany Lions team that Iowa defeated earlier this season. (Mostly) healthy headed into their final game of the season, head coach Kirk Ferentz and his Hawkeyes appear primed to add to Nebraska’s recent situational beat down.

Then again, underestimating a conference opponent is exactly the sort of mindset that almost got Iowa beat in their aforementioned duel with the now 3-8 Spartans. At 7-4 themselves, even with their recent skid taken into consideration, the Cornhuskers still offer plenty to worry about.

A Hawkeyes win in the team’s last game of the season appears ripe for the taking, but B1G football promises nothing if not the unexpected.

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