If there is one thing the Iowa Hawkeyes do each fall, it is play a consistent and strong brand of football under coach Kirk Ferentz. Coming off a 9-4 year, Iowa is replenishing quite a few positions in the wake of departures to the NFL draft or the exhaustion of eligibility.
Fortunately, Iowa is a program built from within and has many players with multiple years in the program who are getting their turn to shine. They often hit the ground running. Entering 2026, the Hawkeyes will need that to happen once again if they are to hit their projected win total, which FanDuel set at 7 1/2 wins.
CBS Sports looked into every Big Ten team’s win total and dissected which ones each team will win and lose. For Iowa, CBS sees Iowa once again hitting at least the eight-win mark.
Iowa
Over/Under 7 1/2 wins
Wins: Northern Illinois, Iowa State, Northern Iowa, at Minnesota, Wisconsin, at Northwestern, Purdue, Nebraska
Losses: at Michigan, Ohio State, at Washington, at Illinois
Analysis: Iowa remains one of the most stable programs in the country under Kirk Ferentz, consistently punching above projections. The Hawkeyes have finished with at least eight regular-season wins in eight of the past 10 full campaigns. They do replace three starters from a Joe Moore Award-winning offensive line, but face five Big Ten opponents with lower projected win totals. Pick: Over 7.5 (-152) – Cody Nagel, CBS Sports
Coming in below eight wins would be out of the norm for the Hawkeyes. Excluding the COVID-19 shortened 2020, in which Iowa went 6-2, the Hawkeyes have not had fewer than eight wins since 2014. That is a string of 10 consecutive seasons in which the Iowa Hawkeyes won at least eight games.
In six of those years, Iowa won at least nine games, and in four seasons the Hawkeyes produced at least 10 wins.
Contact/Follow us @HawkeyesWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Iowa news, notes and opinions. Follow Riley on X: @rileydonald7
This article originally appeared on Hawkeyes Wire : CBS Sports dissects Iowa football’s 2026 win total, makes prediction
Reporting by Riley Donald, Hawkeyes Wire / Hawkeyes Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
