Iowa Hawkeyes’ 2022 Big Ten schedule ranked ninth-most difficult among league’s teams
The Iowa Hawkeyes drew a manageable slate going into the 2022 season. As always, the Big Ten can be a treacherous road to navigate week in and week out, but sometimes a few breaks are nice to catch.
It is always daunting to take on the Big Ten with its hard-nosed mentality, the bad weather, intense fan atmospheres on the road, and “no weeks off” mantra. It gets a little harder for the Hawkeyes as they have a new target on their backs as defending Big Ten West champs.
All of that said, their schedule allows them the opportunity to handle some of the big games at home in Kinnick. CBS Sports’ Tom Fornelli has ranked the Hawkeyes with just the ninth-hardest schedule out of 14 in the Big Ten conference.
Iowa’s nonconference schedule isn’t a bear, but it’s not to be ignored, either. South Dakota State is one of the better FCS programs, and there’s the annual rivalry game with Iowa State. However, Nevada shouldn’t be too difficult. The Big Ten schedule starts with Rutgers, which is the conference’s way of saying, “we’re sorry we’re making you play both Michigan and Ohio State this season,” because that’s what it’s done. The good news for Iowa is that it gets Wisconsin at Kinnick Stadium late in the year, but road games against Purdue and Minnesota will be tricky. – Fornelli, CBS Sports.
The Hawkeyes open up with a nice slate. There is no reason to believe they can’t start 4-0 against South Dakota State, Iowa State (wonder boy Matt Campbell couldn’t even beat Iowa with NFL talent and lost all of that), Nevada, and Rutgers.
Like Fornelli said, the draws of Michigan and Ohio State are arguably the two toughest teams in the conference to play. It just happens Iowa gets both this season in their cross-division games in a matter of three weeks. While Michigan has to come to Kinnick, Iowa has a road trip to Ohio State which is about as tough as a road game gets. Illinois sandwiched between these two is a little tougher than one may think, but Iowa head football coach Kirk Ferentz doesn’t overlook teams.
The rest of the road includes road tests against Minnesota and Purdue, which both look to be anything but automatic. Luckily, home games against Wisconsin, Northwestern, and Nebraska await the Hawkeyes.
While each week carries a new mountain to climb, the Hawkeyes have landed a reasonable schedule of hosting some key matchups. As always, tough road trips loom in the Big Ten. It is just a matter of being able to steal one they may not be expected to. If any team can win anywhere, why not Iowa?
List
A look at the Iowa Hawkeyes' future nonconference football schedules through 2029
Contact/Follow us @HawkeyesWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Iowa news, notes, and opinions.
Follow Riley on Twitter: @rileydonald7
Let us know your thoughts, comment on this story below. Join the conversation today.
