It isn’t often that a 10-4 year leaves many fan bases downtrodden heading into the offseason, but the way that the Iowa Hawkeyes‘ season went out with a whimper has done that.
The final two games were back-to-back shutout losses versus the Michigan Wolverines in the Big Ten Championship and against the Tennessee Volunteers in the Citrus Bowl. No matter how you cut it, getting blown out twice in a row leaves a sour taste in anyone’s mouth entering the offseason.
In the final CBS Sports 133 rankings of this season, Iowa is just outside the top 25, sitting at No. 27 overall. The Hawkeyes find themselves among the biggest movers in the nation with a nine-spot plummet.
No. 27 Iowa (-9): The other side of Tennessee’s postseason rankings surge is 10-win Iowa taking a tumble after finishing the year with back-to-back shutout losses (26-0 vs. Michigan, 35-0 vs. Tennessee). – Chip Patterson, CBS Sports
This is in line with many of the end-of-the-year rankings for the Hawkeyes. Iowa ended the year ranked No. 24 in the final AP Top 25 poll and slid in the USA TODAY Sports Re-Rank 1-133.
The next task on the horizon for Iowa is to lock down the offensive coordinator position. The Hawkeyes have been embarrassingly anemic on offense the last few seasons, and to avoid continuing as a national laughing stock, they must get better production.
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