Hawkeyes No. 25 in Preseason AP Poll

30 Voters Leave Iowa Off Initial Ballot

Kinnick Stadium press box. (Rob Howe/HN) /

Iowa will open the football season as a nationally-ranked team in both of the major poll.

The Hawkeyes were at No. 25 in the preseason Associated Press poll released on Monday.

Iowa, which went 10-4 last season and won the Big Ten West Division title, had 140 points.

Two voters — Dave Preston of radio station WTOP in Washington, D.C., and Greg Madia of the Daily Progress in Charlottesville, Virginia — had the Hawkeyes at No. 13, their highest spot in the rankings. John Steppe of The Gazette in Cedar Rapids, the lone Iowa voter, had Iowa at No. 21. Thirty voters did not vote for Iowa.

The Hawkeyes were one of six Big Ten teams in the poll. Ohio State was No. 2, followed by conference newcomer Oregon at No. 3. Penn State was eighth and Michigan was ninth. USC, another newcomer to the conference, was 23rd.

Iowa was ranked at No. 25 in the AFCA coaches poll released last week. Coach Kirk Ferentz downplayed that ranking at Friday’s media day.

“I'm pretty sure Ohio State is really good,” Ferentz said. “Pretty sure Georgia is. I haven't seen the Georgia film in how many years. But outside of that, that's what's great about college football (is) nobody really knows.”

Ferentz did show confidence in his team.

“I just know this —  I like the way our team is working,” he said. “I think we have potential. Ultimately what it all boils down to is what's going to happen in the 12 games that we're guaranteed — are we going to show up and are we going to compete and not beat ourselves? Those three things are really important.

“That stuff is under our control. None of us knows who's going to be across the line of scrimmage whenever September, October, November come, and we're not sure who's going to be playing for us, either. It's just how you handle all those variables. Right now it's just worrying about what we can do and hopefully having a good practice tomorrow.”