Since these have been coming over the course of the last month, let me review what I placed from "honorable mention" all the way to #11. I will post the first of the top 10 shortly.
- HONORABLE MENTIONS - *October 5th, 1985: #1 IOWA 35, Michigan State 31; *September 26th, 1981: IOWA 20, #6 UCLA 7; *September 17th, 1983: IOWA 42, (at) Penn State 34; *December 1st, 1984: IOWA 17, (at) Hawaii 6; *October 30th, 1982: IOWA 14, Illinois 13; *November 9th, 1985: #6 IOWA 59, Illinois 0; **January 1st, 1982, 1986, & 1991: IOWA loses (badly) in the Rose Bowl;
- #25 - December 31st, 1993, ALAMO BOWL. Iowa loses big but begins a legacy coveted by SO many other D1 football teams - having a reputation for traveling so well that you get a bowl bid better than your play and record deserved. This was the first of many;
- #24 (tie) - September 8th, 15th & 22nd, 1979. The Hayden Fry era begins with three excruciating losses, but puts people on notice that Iowa will be a threat to be reckoned with. JHF also got a chance to see just how hard he was going to have to work to remove the culture of losing from Iowa City;
- #23 - September 29th, 1979: IOWA 30, Iowa State 14. The first win by Hayden Fry - and over "that team";
- #22 - October 1st, 15th & November 12th, 1988: Iowa earns ties against both conference champion Michigan as well as defending champion and eventual runner-up Michigan State and also Ohio State in the same season, the only highlights of that year, and showing the need to rid college football of ties;
- #21 - November 22nd, 1997: IOWA 31, Minnesota 0. Tim Dwight punt return sets the all-time B1G record. The last significant victory for Hayden Fry;
- #20 - September 25th/26th (for most of us), 1982: IOWA 17, (at) Arizona 14. The drive to #1 in 1985 began here;
- #19 - November 7th, 1981: IOWA 33, Purdue 7. We break a 20-game losing streak to them and begin a climb (after a 2-game losing streak) that lands Hayden in his first Rose Bowl;
- #18 - October 23rd, 1982: IOWA 21, (at) Minnesota 16. Hayden the farmer in bib overalls and a cowboy hat after the game;
- #17 - November 22nd, 1986: IOWA 30, (at) Minnesota 27. Largest halftime deficit overcome by a Hayden team. Headline in Star-Tribune on Sunday morning: "Dirty Dozen Does In Gophers";
- #16 - November 2nd, 1991: #11 IOWA 16, (at #13) Ohio State 9. Black helmets game #1 after a horrible tragedy in Iowa City the day before;
- #15 - October 20th, 1990: #23 IOWA 24, (at #10) Michigan 23. Only time Iowa ever won at both Michigan and Michigan State when they were both rated. Michigan didn't lose again to a team not rated #1 for almost two years;
- #14 - New Year's Eve, 1982, THE PEACH BOWL: IOWA 28, Tennessee 22. Hayden's first bowl win at Iowa, where both offense and defense made key plays to win a HUGE game over an SEC team;
- #13 - October 19th, 1996: IOWA 21, (at #10) Penn State 20. A superb win in the rain against a REALLY good Nittany Lion team, the first time we had beaten them since they joined the B1G;
- #12 - December 29th, 1996, THE ALAMO BOWL: #21 IOWA 27, Texas Tech 0. Black helmets game #2 after Hawkeye lLB Mark Mitchell's mother killed in a car accident. REALLY GOOD all-around game by the Hawks;
- #11 - November 14th, 1987: IOWA 29, (at) Ohio State 27. The "Marv Cook catch" game, also known as "Earle Bruce's Last Stand" in Columbus.
