Iowa Hawkeyes Big Ten Home Opener Among Best Games in 2025

The Iowa Hawkeyes have many big-time games on their schedule during the 2025 season.

It begins in Week 2 with the annual in-state rivalry matchup with Iowa State. After a matchup with UMass, Iowa will begin a gauntlet in the Big Ten that features the likes of Penn State, Oregon, and USC.

During ESPN's Big Ten preview, there was one Hawkeye game that stood out above the rest.

Iowa will play its home opener in Big Ten play on Sept. 27 against Indiana. This has a chance to be a ranked matchup between two teams expected to be very competitive in the conference.

"Like I said, there's just way too much going on in Week 5. Goodness," Bill Connelly of ESPN wrote.

Also in Week 5, USC will travel to Champaign to take on Illinois. Other games on the list include Ohio State's matchups with Michigan and Penn State along with the Nittany Lions taking on Indiana and Oregon.

In this preview, Indiana was picked to finish sixth while Iowa was one spot behind at No. 7. This adds even more intrigue to this matchup between two very even teams.

Iowa made moves this offseason to improve on the offensive side of the ball. Mark Gronowski was the biggest addition as he is expected to take the quarterback position to the next level. This would allow Iowa to compete with the likes of the Hoosiers, who are expected to have a high-powered offense once again.

This is a statement spot for Iowa in the first month of the season and one game that you do not want to miss.