Where Iowa football ended its regular season, bowl projections ahead of Selection Sunday

IOWA CITY — The regular season has stayed through its welcome, and Iowa football turns its attention to a bowl game and the offseason.

The Hawkeyes will learn their fate for one final game later this week, after their 40-16 win at Nebraska. Still, coaching changes are already underway across the country, and the transfer portal opens in just one month

Here’s a look at what’s already happened across the Big Ten, and where Iowa can find itself during bowl season.

Where Iowa finished in the Big Ten

Ending the regular season, the Hawkeyes were 8-4 (6-3 Big Ten). It puts Iowa in sixth in the conference, tied with Illinois.

Twelve Big Ten teams reached bowl eligibility, with Penn State securing the final spot with a win over Rutgers. There’s three programs expected to play in the College Football Playoff — No. 1 Ohio State, No. 2 Indiana and No. 4 Oregon. No. 18 Michigan’s loss to the Buckeyes knocked the Wolverines’ chance of securing a fourth Big Ten spot with their third loss of the season.

Ohio State and Indiana face off in the Big Ten Championship on Saturday.

Iowa received 51 votes in the AP poll — good for No. 28 — and 85 votes from the USA Today Coaches’ poll — good for No. 26.

Bowl game selections will be announced following the 12-team playoff reveal Sunday afternoon on ESPN.

Hawkeye bowl game projections

Iowa’s bowl game projections have whittled down to two options by CBS Sports and ESPN: The Las Vegas Bowl and the ReliaQuest Bowl (Tampa, Fla.). Both games take place on New Year’s Eve.

The Hawkeyes would face an SEC program if selected for the ReliaQuest Bowl. The Las Vegas Bowl would be against a former-Pac 12 program, including current Big Ten schools like USC and Washington.

Here’s what this week’s projections say:

Coaching carousel has arrived

The Sunday after Week 15 is filled with breaking news. The Big Ten has already made some football leadership changes across the conference. Here’s what happened.

Michigan State fired Jonathan Smith on Sunday morning, after the Spartans finished the 2025 season 4-8 with just one conference win. Smith was hired in 2023 from Oregon State, and went 9-14 with Sparty in those two seasons.

Michigan State is now expecting to hire former Northwestern head coach Pat Fitzgerald. Fitzgerald coached the Wildcats for 17 seasons, winning 110 games, before his dismissal for hazing allegations in 2023. Northwestern settled a wrongful termination lawsuit with Fitzgerald earlier this year. Fitzgerald is expected to sign a 5-year deal and be formally announced by the school on Tuesday, per ESPN’s Pete Thamel.

UCLA, after firing its head coach DeShaun Foster in September this season, is expected to hire James Madison head coach Bob Chesney. The initial reports from CBS Sports and ESPN broke Monday morning. James Madison is currently in the race for a College Football Playoff position and plays for the Sun Belt Championship on Friday night.

Nebraska fired its defensive coordinator, John Butler, after losing four of its last six games of the season — including a 40-16 loss against Iowa.

Penn State, still with interim head coach Terry Smith at the helm, hasn’t had any public news regarding a new head coach since firing James Franklin on Oct. 12.

The NCAA transfer portal window lasts just two weeks this year, from Jan. 2 to Jan. 16. Players can announce their intention to enter the portal at any time.

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