With the open spring practice set for Saturday, fans will get their first good look at what the 2023 season might have in store for the Iowa Hawkeyes.
There’s plenty to watch, especially offensively. What does Cade McNamara look like in the black and gold? Beyond Nico Ragaini and Diante Vines, who will be catching footballs from McNamara?
Defensively, how is linebacker coming together post-Butkus Award winner Jack Campbell and fellow mainstay Seth Benson? Has Xavier Nwankpa taken the next steps in his development at safety?
There’s so much to watch for and it all begins at 10:45 a.m. inside Kinnick Stadium.
In the meantime, as rosters begin to solidify, ESPN has released its first set of Football Power Index rankings for the 2023 college football season.
For those that are unfamiliar or have forgotten, here’s a little bit more on ESPN’s FPI.
The Football Power Index (FPI) is a measure of team strength that is meant to be the best predictor of a team’s performance going forward for the rest of the season. FPI represents how many points above or below average a team is. Projected results are based on 20,000 simulations of the rest of the season using FPI, results to date, and the remaining schedule. – ESPN
In other words, it ranks teams by their total team strength and is designed to be the best predictive model for performance.
The Iowa Hawkeyes ended the 2022 season ranked No. 34 in the FPI. Where are they heading into 2023? Let’s take a look at the key numbers for Iowa below as well as the top 25 nationally and every Big Ten team’s ranking.