Hawkeye fans share predictions for 2024 Iowa football season
Iowa could be in trouble against UCLA if callers are correct
IOWA CITY, Iowa – The Suterman Show on KCJJ radio held its annual Iowa football predictions contest on Saturday, and though it was a small sample size due mostly to time constraints, the were some surprises, including half of the 22 callers picking Iowa to lose to UCLA.
The season predictions for Iowa ranged from 12-0 to 7-5 as two callers predicted 12-0 and one picked 7-5.
Ohio State, not surprisingly, was picked to have the most success against Iowa as 18 of the 22 callers picked the Buckeyes to defeat Iowa on Oct. 5 in Columbus, Ohio.
Next was UCLA as 11 callers picked the Bruins to beat Iowa, followed by Wisconsin as eight callers picked Badgers to beat Iowa and then Iowa State as six callers picked the Cyclones to win on Sept. 7 at Kinnick Stadium.
Iowa will open Big Ten play against Minnesota on Sept. 21 in Minneapolis, and if the callers are correct, the Hawkeyes should prevail as none of them picked Iowa to lose that game.
Minnesota is among four teams on Iowa’s 2024 schedule that all the callers predicted would lose to Iowa. The other three are Illinois State, Troy and Michigan State, while only one caller predicted that Iowa would lose to Northwestern and three predicted that Iowa would lose to Nebraska and Maryland.
The Terrapins, from a scouting standpoint, could have an advantage against Iowa in the Nov. 23 game in College Park, Maryland since former Iowa offensive coordinator Brain Ferentz is now an offensive analyst for Maryland.
Iowa will face Illinois State in the season opener next Saturday at Kinnick Stadium, and without Kirk Ferentz and receiver coach Jon Budmayr, both of whom will serve a one-game suspension for committing a recruiting violation apparently involving Iowa quarterback Cade McNamara.
As for the new-look Bruins, they will host Iowa on Nov. 9 in Los Angeles, and with a new head coach as DeShaun Foster has replaced Chip Kelly, who is now the offensive coordinator for Ohio State.
UCAL also has a new offensive coordinator (Eric Bieniemy) and a new defensive coordinator (Ikaika Malloe).
Iowa has a history of struggling on the West Coast, and several callers pointed to that as why they’re picking UCLA to win.
