How Iowa Football's Strength of Schedule Ranks Against the Big Ten

It's a phrase uttered throughout conferences across the country: strength of schedule.

It's an imperfect science that is built upon predictive thoughts that can give fans and conferences ammo to brag about how good they are and how bad others are.

At its root, college football's strength of schedule can change rapidly, depending on a team's successes or failures early in the season.

Look at 2025 Penn State. Before the season, the Nittany Lions were a big matchup for every team, but once things imploded, that game lost a lot of its pop.

Nonetheless, the strength of schedule can give some insight into how hard a team's slate may be, and the Iowa Hawkeyes are drawing some luck with a strength of schedule near the bottom of the Big Ten.

How hard is Iowa's 2026 schedule?

To say that a Big Ten schedule isn't hard would be a laughable statement. It's the home of the last three national champions and is a test every week.

Fortunately, Iowa, which is set to enter the season as ESPN's No. 25 team per the FPI, is in luck. The Hawkeyes have the No. 38-ranked strength of schedule heading into 2026.

That puts them with the 15th-hardest schedule in the Big Ten, a place they will gladly take with how loaded the top of the conference is.

Make no mistake about it: Iowa has some real tests in 2026. The Hawkeyes have Michigan, Ohio State, and Washington in a row. That's as hard as it gets. It's the reason Iowa is still in the top quarter of the hardest schedules in college football.

Where Iowa does get some breathing room is in very winnable games against Northern Illinois, Iowa State, Northern Iowa, Wisconsin, Northwestern, and Purdue.

Big Ten Strength of Schedule Rankings

Ohio State - No. 8 (overall)
Michigan - No. 16
Northwestern - No. 17
USC - No. 19
Nebraska - No. 21
Purdue - No. 23
Washington - No. 25
Oregon - No. 26
Michigan State - No. 28
Maryland - No. 31
Indiana - No. 33
Minnesota - No. 34
UCLA - No. 36
Illinois - No. 37
Iowa - No. 38
Rutgers - No. 39
Wisconsin - No. 40
Penn State - No. 62

Riley Donald's Quick Thoughts

For a Big Ten team looking to punch a ticket to its first College Football Playoff, Iowa's schedule is manageable. It's set up with a stretch run in the second half of the season that could see the Hawkeyes run the table.

Iowa's season depends on the three-game run of Michigan, Ohio State, and Washington. Get out of that with at least one, maybe two, wins, and you have liftoff.

What really stands out is the overall national ranking of Big Ten strength of schedules. Seven teams have top-25 strength of schedules, and six of those teams see Iowa on their schedule.

It shows a belief that Iowa is always a tough opponent, while also showing off the Big Ten's depth.

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