The 2026 college football season is now less than 100 days away.
As another highly-anticipated season creeps closer, CBS took a look at its post-spring top 25 rankings and shared one thing it hates about every team inside its top 25.
It’s a bit of a tale as old as time, but CBS isn’t crazy about the methodology that the Hawkeyes typically employ in order to find the win column.
Hate: The Hawkeyes’ margin for error offensively remains razor-thin without explosive plays – CBS
Again, it’s not a new criticism of Iowa, but it’s not unreasonable either. Here’s a little more of what CBS’ Brad Crawford had to say about the Hawkeyes.
Winning ugly works — until it doesn’t. If Iowa falls behind by multiple scores against the Big Ten’s elite, skepticism remains about whether the Hawkeyes can mount a comeback offensively, even with transfer portal additions at wide receiver.
The defense can only carry so much weight before cracks appear. Iowa hopes Anthony Hawkins and Tyler Brown can complement standout Zach Lutmer in the secondary. – CBS
Iowa is ranked No. 23 in CBS’ post-spring top 25 rankings. Fellow Big Ten squad Ohio State is ranked as the nation’s No. 1 team by CBS.
Other Big Ten teams in the rankings include No. 3 Oregon, No. 6 Indiana, No. 14 USC, No. 16 Michigan, No. 18 Penn State and No. 19 Washington.
Of the Big Ten’s seven other ranked teams by CBS, Iowa will square off against three of them. Iowa will meet Michigan, Ohio State and Washington in succession spanning Weeks 4-6.
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This article originally appeared on Hawkeyes Wire: CBS shares 1 thing it hates about Iowa football entering 2026
Reporting by Zach Hiney, Hawkeyes Wire / Hawkeyes Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
