The Top 20 Teams in Iowa Football History

ChosenChildren

ChosenChildren

Well-Known Member
I believe the Top 20 teams in Iowa football history are as follows (in chronological order):

1. 1921 - 7 W 0 L Big Ten champs (Howard Jones, Coach)
2. 1922 - 7 W 0 L Big Ten champs (Howard Jones, Coach) National Champions in some polls
3. 1939 - 6-1-1 (Kinnick won Heisman; defeated #2 Notre Dame)
4. 1956 - 9-1-0 (Big Ten and Rose Bowl champions; finished #2 in AP; Evy's first great team)
5. 1957 - 7-1-1 (Finished #5 in AP)
6. 1958 - 8-1-1 (Big Ten and Rose Bowl champions; Football Writers National Champions; coached by Evy; beat Mich 38-12 on road!)
7. 1960 - 8-1-1 (Big Ten champions; #3 in final polls; Evy's last team)
8. 1981 - 8-4-0 (Big Ten champs; Rose Bowl appearance; Hayden's first great team; ended 18 year non-winning streak)
9. 1984 - 8-4-1 (Freedom Bowl champs, defeating Texas 55-17)
10. 1985 - 10-2-0 (Big Ten champs and Rose Bowl appearance; defeated #2 Michigan 12-10)
11. 1987 - 10-3-0 (Holiday Bowl champions; defeated Ohio State 29-27 in the Horseshoe with famous catch by Marv Cook)
12. 1990 - 8-4-0 (Big Ten champs; Rose Bowl; road wins against ranked Michigan and MSU and defeated #4 ILL in Champaign 54-28)
13. 1991 - 10-1-1 (ranked #10 at end of year; defeated Ohio State on the road in famous "black helmet" game)
14. 1995 - 8-4-0 (Sun Bowl Champs, defeated Pac-10 champion Washington 38-18 in a huge upset)
15. 1996 - 9-3-0 (Alamo Bowl Champs; defeated Top 10 Penn State on road, 21-20)
16. 2002 - 11-2-0 (Big Ten champs with perfect 8-0 Big Ten record; first Orange Bowl appearance; annihilated Mich. on road 34-9)
17. 2003 - 10-3-0 (New Year's Day Bowl win in Outback; beat Big Ten champs Michigan at home)
18. 2004 - 10-2-0 (Big Ten and Cap One bowl champions; defeated LSU 30-25 on "The Catch"; beat Ohio St 33-7; finished year #8 in polls)
19. 2008 - 9-4-0 (Outback Bowl champ; defeated #2 Penn State 24-23 on last-second FG)
20. 2009 - 11-2-0 (Orange Bowl champions; defeated ranked Wisky and #5 Penn State on road; 15-13 win over MSU on road; ranked #7 in final polls)

That's my list. The best Iowa team of all time, in my opinion, was the 2009 team that should have gone 13-0 if Stanzi had not been injured in the NW game and went on to capture the Orange Bowl title. Second best team of all time: the 1958 Rose Bowl champions. Third best team: 1985 Big Ten champions.
 
Hawknick said:
Good read it should also include 1896, 1899,1900 all conference championship teams.
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I omitted the 1899 and 1900 teams because they played under a completely different set of rules - it really wasn't football as we know it. There wasn't any forward passing and frankly the game they played was more similar to rugby than it was to football.

I do agree that those teams were fabulous and probably belong on this type of list

You can also argue for the 1983 Iowa team that finished 9-3 under Chuck Long and set all kinds of offensive records at that time and defeated Penn State on the road and a top 5 Ohio State team at home....
 
Wow...Since 1921, half of Iowa's BEST teams have gotten 8 wins or fewer?

I know that schedules did not have as many games way back when, but contrast this to the traditional "Big Two"...

Ohio State has had 6 seasons in the last twenty years with 8 wins or fewer.

Michigan has had 9 seasons in the last twenty years with 8 wins or fewer.

Talk about perspective.
 
ChosenChildren said:
I believe the Top 20 teams in Iowa football history are as follows (in chronological order):

1. 1921 - 7 W 0 L Big Ten champs (Howard Jones, Coach)
2. 1922 - 7 W 0 L Big Ten champs (Howard Jones, Coach) National Champions in some polls
3. 1939 - 6-1-1 (Kinnick won Heisman; defeated #2 Notre Dame)
4. 1956 - 9-1-0 (Big Ten and Rose Bowl champions; finished #2 in AP; Evy's first great team)
5. 1957 - 7-1-1 (Finished #5 in AP)
6. 1958 - 8-1-1 (Big Ten and Rose Bowl champions; Football Writers National Champions; coached by Evy; beat Mich 38-12 on road!)
7. 1960 - 8-1-1 (Big Ten champions; #3 in final polls; Evy's last team)
8. 1981 - 8-4-0 (Big Ten champs; Rose Bowl appearance; Hayden's first great team; ended 18 year non-winning streak)
9. 1984 - 8-4-1 (Freedom Bowl champs, defeating Texas 55-17)
10. 1985 - 10-2-0 (Big Ten champs and Rose Bowl appearance; defeated #2 Michigan 12-10)
11. 1987 - 10-3-0 (Holiday Bowl champions; defeated Ohio State 29-27 in the Horseshoe with famous catch by Marv Cook)
12. 1990 - 8-4-0 (Big Ten champs; Rose Bowl; road wins against ranked Michigan and MSU and defeated #4 ILL in Champaign 54-28)
13. 1991 - 10-1-1 (ranked #10 at end of year; defeated Ohio State on the road in famous "black helmet" game)
14. 1995 - 8-4-0 (Sun Bowl Champs, defeated Pac-10 champion Washington 38-18 in a huge upset)
15. 1996 - 9-3-0 (Alamo Bowl Champs; defeated Top 10 Penn State on road, 21-20)
16. 2002 - 11-2-0 (Big Ten champs with perfect 8-0 Big Ten record; first Orange Bowl appearance; annihilated Mich. on road 34-9)
17. 2003 - 10-3-0 (New Year's Day Bowl win in Outback; beat Big Ten champs Michigan at home)
18. 2004 - 10-2-0 (Big Ten and Cap One bowl champions; defeated LSU 30-25 on "The Catch"; beat Ohio St 33-7; finished year #8 in polls)
19. 2008 - 9-4-0 (Outback Bowl champ; defeated #2 Penn State 24-23 on last-second FG)
20. 2009 - 11-2-0 (Orange Bowl champions; defeated ranked Wisky and #5 Penn State on road; 15-13 win over MSU on road; ranked #7 in final polls)

That's my list. The best Iowa team of all time, in my opinion, was the 2009 team that should have gone 13-0 if Stanzi had not been injured in the NW game and went on to capture the Orange Bowl title. Second best team of all time: the 1958 Rose Bowl champions. Third best team: 1985 Big Ten champions.
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[Going down memory lane a little bit with my post here.] But I don't remember the great 1960 Hawkeyes playing in a tie game. The only loss was against Minnesota and for my money, if the late, great Des Moines native Mark Manders had not been injured against John Hadl and Kansas the week before and could have played, Iowa could very well have won that game. He was an all american and the big man in the Iowa line and would have handled the Gophers' middle nose guard, another all american, Tom Brown. Brown turned the game's momentum around on at least two critical plays and intimidated Iowa's mis-direction offense all game long. The next week the Hawks blasted Ohio State 35 to 12. Purdue played at Bloomington the next week and beat the Gophers, since Iowa softened them up the prior week. And after the 1961 Rose Bowl, some of the sports writers said Iowa may have been a better choice to go than Minnesota because Iowa could run the sweep plays and that may have beaten Washington. Remember reading that Iowa was the only Big Team that "left a vapor trail behind them wherever they went." Perhaps a slight exageration. Also remember reading in the book "75 Years with the Fighting Hawkeyes that Forest Evashevski said that his best team was the 1958 team. He said that 'the 1956 team had better defense, but the 1958 team was better overall, because they had a wonderfully balanced attack and could strike from anywhere on the field.'
 
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HawkeyeFever said:
Wow...Since 1921, half of Iowa's BEST teams have gotten 8 wins or fewer?

I know that schedules did not have as many games way back when, but contrast this to the traditional "Big Two"...

Ohio State has had 6 seasons in the last twenty years with 8 wins or fewer.

Michigan has had 9 seasons in the last twenty years with 8 wins or fewer.

Talk about perspective.
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7 of the 9 best Iowa teams listed since 1990 had nine or more wins. Iowa isn't Michigan or Ohio State. Never has been, never will be. Only fools believe otherwise.
 
I think the best team I've seen (I'm 38) is the 2002 team. Despite the loss to USC (who was probably the best in the country at the time) that was one good hawkeye team. Best decade I've seen easily 2000-2010. I don't know if we will see anything like that for a while. Four top ten finishes
 
ChosenChildren said:
I believe the Top 20 teams in Iowa football history are as follows (in chronological order):

1. 1921 - 7 W 0 L Big Ten champs (Howard Jones, Coach)
2. 1922 - 7 W 0 L Big Ten champs (Howard Jones, Coach) National Champions in some polls
3. 1939 - 6-1-1 (Kinnick won Heisman; defeated #2 Notre Dame)
4. 1956 - 9-1-0 (Big Ten and Rose Bowl champions; finished #2 in AP; Evy's first great team)
5. 1957 - 7-1-1 (Finished #5 in AP)
6. 1958 - 8-1-1 (Big Ten and Rose Bowl champions; Football Writers National Champions; coached by Evy; beat Mich 38-12 on road!)
7. 1960 - 8-1-1 (Big Ten champions; #3 in final polls; Evy's last team)
8. 1981 - 8-4-0 (Big Ten champs; Rose Bowl appearance; Hayden's first great team; ended 18 year non-winning streak)
9. 1984 - 8-4-1 (Freedom Bowl champs, defeating Texas 55-17)
10. 1985 - 10-2-0 (Big Ten champs and Rose Bowl appearance; defeated #2 Michigan 12-10)
11. 1987 - 10-3-0 (Holiday Bowl champions; defeated Ohio State 29-27 in the Horseshoe with famous catch by Marv Cook)
12. 1990 - 8-4-0 (Big Ten champs; Rose Bowl; road wins against ranked Michigan and MSU and defeated #4 ILL in Champaign 54-28)
13. 1991 - 10-1-1 (ranked #10 at end of year; defeated Ohio State on the road in famous "black helmet" game)
14. 1995 - 8-4-0 (Sun Bowl Champs, defeated Pac-10 champion Washington 38-18 in a huge upset)
15. 1996 - 9-3-0 (Alamo Bowl Champs; defeated Top 10 Penn State on road, 21-20)
16. 2002 - 11-2-0 (Big Ten champs with perfect 8-0 Big Ten record; first Orange Bowl appearance; annihilated Mich. on road 34-9)
17. 2003 - 10-3-0 (New Year's Day Bowl win in Outback; beat Big Ten champs Michigan at home)
18. 2004 - 10-2-0 (Big Ten and Cap One bowl champions; defeated LSU 30-25 on "The Catch"; beat Ohio St 33-7; finished year #8 in polls)
19. 2008 - 9-4-0 (Outback Bowl champ; defeated #2 Penn State 24-23 on last-second FG)
20. 2009 - 11-2-0 (Orange Bowl champions; defeated ranked Wisky and #5 Penn State on road; 15-13 win over MSU on road; ranked #7 in final polls)

That's my list. The best Iowa team of all time, in my opinion, was the 2009 team that should have gone 13-0 if Stanzi had not been injured in the NW game and went on to capture the Orange Bowl title. Second best team of all time: the 1958 Rose Bowl champions. Third best team: 1985 Big Ten champions.
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Toss the following:
--1984: That team was inconsistent, underpowered and lacked depth. Might substitute 1986...
--1995: Nice start of a return to relevance, but the 1983 team would have smacked them down hard...
 
The 91 team is the most under appreciated team in the programs history. Leroy Smith had arguably the greatest single seasons ever by a hawkeye. He was a beast coming off the edge. Talent wise the 08 team may be the best ever. A lot of guys on that squad made an NFL roster.
 
Yeah that 91 team, other than taking a **** against Michigan, was an excellent team. They did have to pull one out of the fire against a 4(maybe 5?) win Wisconsin team though. Struggled with Purdue as well in West Lafayette for awhile.
 
If Ihad to choose the top 20 they would be: 1896 1899 1900 1921 1922 1924 1939 1956 1957 1958 1960 1981 1985 1990 1991 1996 2002 2003 2004 and 2009. Honorable mention goes to 1903 1905 1910 1918 1920 1928 1983 1986 and 1987.
 
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eveningnewsteam said:
Yeah that 91 team, other than taking a **** against Michigan, was an excellent team. They did have to pull one out of the fire against a 4(maybe 5?) win Wisconsin team though. Struggled with Purdue as well in West Lafayette for awhile.
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2002, 2004 and 2009 had some very close shaves, too. The good teams find a way to win those games. Which is why we've been losing them lately.
 
I think the 1983 team belongs on the list. I can't include any team prior to 1910; they were playing a form of rugby, not football.

The Mount Rushmore of Iowa football teams (best four all time):

1. 2009 Orange Bowl Champs
2. 1958 Rose Bowl Champs
3. 1985 Big Ten Champs ranked #1 for 6 weeks
4. 2002 Big Ten Champs

Honorable mention: 1956 Rose Bowl Champs
 
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