Playoffs are within Hawkeyes’ 2025 reach if their many areas of strength stay strong

With a 12-team College Football Playoff now established in the fabric of our existences, the only preseason question that matters for any fan base is this:

Can we make it to the playoff?

Winning a conference championship is nice and all, but Ohio State finished fourth in the Big Ten standings last year before winning the CFP. Oregon’s Big Ten championship was hollow after the 41-21 beating it took from the Buckeyes in a playoff semifinal.

So here we are at the kickoff of another season for Iowa. Can the Hawkeyes go from the off-key twang of last year’s Music City Bowl to the sweet sounds of the 2025 CFP?

Sure. The operative word, of course, is “can.”

There are barriers galore, as always. One is you never know if, to whom, and how severely injuries will mess up things. As a coach once famously said, that’s football.

Another is the opposition. There are days, believe it or not, when the foe puts things together and plays well above its norm.

We know the Hawkeyes have Indiana, Penn State and Oregon at home this season, and we know each of those teams were in last year’s CFP and have plenty of firepower this year.

Then, there are four road games that appear to be in coin-flip territory, against Iowa State, Wisconsin, USC and Nebraska.

Then, there are three games Iowa would be favored to win now, but are far from shoo-ins. They are Rutgers on the road and Minnesota and Michigan State at home.

Before all that, however, is Saturday’s foregone conclusion against UAlbany. The Great Danes were picked to finish 12th in the 14-team Coastal Athletic Association. We can’t all be Rhode Island.

Iowa’s over/under wins number at sportsbooks again was 7.5. That isn’t encouraging for those hoping for a first-round playoff game in Kinnick Stadium on Dec. 19 or 20. Bundle up, by the way.

Nonetheless, here are four reasons Iowa should pose problems for everyone, including Penn State and Oregon:

1. The Hawkeyes have a quarterback of quality in Mark Gronowski.

His college won-lost record as a starter is 49-6 with more than 10,000 passing yards. Winners win.

It will be interesting to see a quarterback drop back in the pocket for Iowa and have the opponent more nervous than Hawkeye fans.

2. Iowa’s offensive line should be better than it’s been in quite some time.

The Hawkeyes have two of the 16 players on the Big Ten’s preseason honors list, and the only two offensive linemen. They are seniors, tackle Gennings Dunker and center Logan Jones.

Sophomore guard Kade Pieper may have more potential than either. Guard Beau Stephens is another senior with the right stuff.

3. Nothing suggests Iowa won’t have yet another salty defense.

Sure, the linebackers will be new starters. Each is a senior, though. The defensive line is veteran and good. Aaron Graves and Ethan Hurkett in particular are proven handfuls.

The secondary? Stop me if you’ve heard this before. Phil Parker has talent all over his defensive backfield.

4. The Hawkeyes may have the best special teams in college football.

Kicker Drew Stevens has made eight field goals of 50-plus yards in his career. Punter Rhys Dakin is coming off a terrific freshman season. Kaden Wetjen was the Big Ten’s Return Specialist of the Year in 2024.

Weapons like those can separate 10-2 from 7-5. Take away Iowa’s sterling special teams play of the last five years, and Kirk Ferentz would still be quite a few wins from the Big Ten’s career record he will soon hold.

Which is like saying if you take Patrick Mahomes from the Chiefs, they’d be just another team. But they do have Mahomes, and Iowa has had outstanding special teams.

So is a playoff a fantasy for the Hawkeyes at the season’s start? No more than Iowa going 12-0 in the regular-season was at the start of the 2015 season, which it went on to do.

That year, none of the 40 members of a Big Ten preseason media poll picked Iowa to win the West division. This year, the same poll slotted the Hawkeyes as the league’s seventh-place team.

Take the overs on 7.5 wins and seventh-place. If you can pass, block, defend, kick and return kicks with success, you should go to the playoffs instead of a Duke’s Mayo Bowl.

Comments: (319) 398-8440; mike.hlas@thegazette.com