Iowa football in flux in CBS Sports Big Ten Power Rankings

The Big Ten appears to be the lead dog in the college football arms race of talent, superiority, and winning as of late. With a trio of national championships under its belt, the confernece is looking better than ever as well as deeper than ever. The talent at the top is evident in Oregon, Ohio State, Indiana, and Michigan, but the middle of the conference, which includes the Iowa Hawkeyes , is deep and ripe for a team to make a strong push for a College Football Playoff appearance.

That depth is clear in CBS Sports' Big Ten power rankings, which sees a cluster of teams bunched up in the middle, including Iowa , which sits at No. 8 in the conference's pecking order as of this moment ahead of the 2026 college football season. 8.

Iowa The Hawkeyes had a record seven players selected in the 2026 NFL Draft. While that's a clear testament to the program's development pipeline, it also raises real questions about how quickly they can replace that level of talent. Only six starters return, and an Iowa defense that hasn't finished outside the top 20 in scoring since 2014 enters 2026 with the fewest returning FBS snaps of any Power Four team.

The quarterback battle between Hank Brown and Jeremy Hecklinsky is expected to stretch into fall camp. There are always reasons to doubt Iowa in transition years, but Kirk Ferentz's consistency tends to win out, and more often than not, the Hawkeyes still find a way to scratch out at least eight wins. Odds: +4000 - Cody Nagel, CBS Sports It's the classic Iowa scenario.