At least according to the CBS Sports experts, the Iowa Hawkeyes are on the outside of the top 25 looking in. In their Preseason CBS Sports’ 131 college football rankings, Iowa checks in as the nation’s No. 28 team. That’s down 10 spots from where the Hawkeyes were ranked headed into the Vrbo Citrus Bowl versus Kentucky.
Of course, the Wildcats handed Iowa a 20-17 defeat in the bowl game and sent the Hawkeyes into the offseason on a disappointing note. Since then, Iowa has been working to replace a star at center in Tyler Linderbaum, who was drafted No. 25 overall by the Baltimore Ravens.
In addition to Linderbaum offensively, the Hawkeyes will be looking to replace 1,000-yard rusher Tyler Goodson who is with the Green Bay Packers as an undrafted free agent.
Defensively, much of the retooling will come in the secondary. Gone are longtime starters Dane Belton, Matt Hankins and Jack Koerner. Still, there’s plenty of firepower defensively thanks to the return of star linebackers Jack Campbell and Seth Benson. Jestin Jacobs appears set to emerge as the Hawkeyes’ third talented linebacker in 2022.
Beyond that, the cornerback position boasts an All-American in Riley Moss and Iowa has a series of talented defensive linemen it feels great about. Figuring out how to get the most out of the quarterback competition in either Spencer Petras or Alex Padilla is what will set Iowa up to skyrocket up these rankings quickly.
As it stands, Iowa sees five Big Ten teams ranked in front of them in the initial CBS Sports 131 rankings of 2022. The top ten according to CBS looks like this: No. 1 Alabama, No. 2 Ohio State, No. 3 Georgia, No. 4 Utah, No. 5 Clemson, No. 6 Notre Dame, No. 7 Oklahoma, No. 8 Michigan, No. 9 Texas A&M and No. 10 Baylor.
The other Big Ten teams ranked in front of Iowa are No. 15 Wisconsin, No. 18 Penn State and No. 20 Michigan State. The Preseason CBS Sports 131 rankings are compiled from ballots of college football experts across CBS Sports and 247Sports and they will be updated weekly following the conclusion of week one action.
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