Iowa Hawkeyes Fans Must Come to Grips With Brutal Reality

Iowa Hawkeyes fans most understand this sobering fact about their beloved team.

Iowa Head Coach Kirk Ferentz stands on the sidelines during the team’s practice at Ensworth School in Nashville, Tenn., Friday, Dec. 27, 2024. / Nicole Hester / The Tennessean / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

If you have been watching the College Football Playoff, you have surely seen some terrific football.

Look no further than the Ohio State Buckeyes, who put on a clinic in a 41-21 drubbing of the Oregon Ducks in the Rose Bowl.

Ohio State is a shining example of what a football program should be in 2025, and it serves as a brutal reminder of just how far away the Iowa Hawkeyes are from reaching that mark.

Now, to be fair, Iowa will likely never be Ohio State. The Buckeyes are one of the most storied programs in all of college football, and the Hawkeyes have more of a cult following.

But Iowa is a Big Ten school, and it isn't exactly Northwestern or Purdue. The Hawkeyes are generally respected as one of the better teams in the conference, but they certainly didn't live up to those expectations this season.

Whether it was Iowa's disastrous Music City Bowl loss to the Missouri Tigers or its head-scratching regular-season defeats at the hands of Michigan State and UCLA (not exactly Big Ten stalwarts), the Hawkeyes left feeling fans underwhelmed.

Watching Ohio State and Penn State dominate in the CFP only drives that point home even more.

It's not that Iowa is a bad program. Far from it. Say what you want about Kirk Ferentz, but he has done a great job building things since grabbing the reins at the end of the 20th century.

That being said, the Hawkeyes still feel a step behind in spite of all of the major progress they have made in recent years.

Remember: before losing by three points to No. 19 Missouri, Iowa had been thumped in its previous four meetings against ranked opponents, getting outscored 127-7.

It's games like that that demonstrate the Hawkeyes simply aren't ready for the big stage, and barring a massive change in recruiting and/or NIL funding, it's hard to envision them ever truly reaching that level.

Iowa gets bowl games every year. It is typically always a solid team. Albeit, a boring one most of the time, but still decent enough.

Unfortunately, "decent" isn't good enough to get you into the College Football Playoff, nor is it enough to seriously challenge the Ohio States and Michigans of the world.

Maybe the Hawkeyes really do need a coaching change, or maybe fans just need to come to terms with the understanding that their beloved squad will always be on the outskirts rather than actually in the middle of the scrum.