Explaining why Iowa is not a team to consider for College Football Playoff

Iowa clocks in at No. 25 in the preseason AP top 25 poll, making them one of six Big Ten Conference teams to crack the list ahead of the new college football season.

For the past few seasons, it’s no secret that the Hawkeyes’ offense has needed an upgrade. Tim Lester has been hired as the new offensive coordinator to spice things up, while Cade McNamara returns for his second season with the program. But could they compete for the College Football Playoff?

Joining On3’s Andy Staples, Dan Rubenstein and Ty Hildenbrandt discussed their expectations for the upcoming season. Upon landing on the topic of the Hawkeyes — despite their preseason ranking, Hildenbrandt explained why he’s not so sure the offense will turn it around in 2024.

“The problem with believing that Iowa could be part of this conversation is that you need to suspend reality and start believing that their offense is going to get better,” Hildenbrandt told Staples and Rubenstein. “And for me, I was drawing the comparison earlier when I was in the shower. I’m like, this is a lot like believing in UFOs because we’ve got old evidence, strong evidence to suggest that, yes, it is real. It can be real. But with the wonders of modern technology, we need better 4k video.

“We also need more, serious people to also believe that this is a real thing until we actually see what Tim Lester does and if Cade McNamara can hopefully do better this season than he did in his own scrimmage, I’m going to remain in a healthy skeptical place and hopefully get to a point by the end of the year where we’re talking about this whole thing in a different light.”

Notably, the Hawkeyes have a rather lighter schedule when it comes to conference opponents. They will have to travel to Ohio State on Oct. 5, but that’s the only game against a ranked opponent on the Hawkeyes’ schedule in 2024. Iowa avoids the other four ranked teams in the conference during the regular season

Other matchups include Iowa State, Washington, Wisconsin and Nebraska, but the Hawkeyes have a legitimate shot to make the Big Ten Championship game with a schedule like that. Give the fact that Iowa strung together two 10-win seasons amid their offensive struggles — if the Hawkeyes can maintain consistency on that side of the football, they sky may be the limit for Iowa this fall.

First up, however, is a homestand against Illinois State on Aug. 31.