By Pat Harty

IOWA CITY, Iowa – Athlon Sports’ 2025 College Football Preview magazine was waiting at my doorstep Friday afternoon, another sign that the football season is approaching.

The long-standing magazine picks Iowa to finish seventh in the 18-team Big Ten standings.

Penn State is picked to finish first, followed by Ohio State, Oregon, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, USC, Washington, Minnesota, Rutgers, Wisconsin, Michigan State, UCALA, Northwestern, Maryland and Purdue.

Iowa senior center Logan Jones and senior tackle Gennings Dunker both were named to the Big Ten first team offense, while sophomore punter Rhys Dakin and senior punt/kick returner Kaden Wetjen were both named first team specialists.

Jones, Dakin and Wetjen as a punt returner were also named preseason second-team All Americans by Athlon, while Dunker and Wetjen as a kick returner were third-team selections.

Iowa, which has to replace eight starters on defense, doesn’t have any defensive players named to Athlon’s Big Ten first-team defense.

The magazine also ranks the top 10 transfers in the Big Ten with Iowa quarterback Mark Gronowski seventh on the list.

Gronowski was a four-year starter for South Dakota State and he led the Jackrabbits to two FCS national titles.

“Gronowski has the talent to elevate the Hawkeyes’ long-suffering offense,” Athlon says.

Iowa’s 2025 recruiting class is ranked 11th in Athlon’s preseason magazine.

Michigan five-star quarterback recruit Bryce Underwood is ranked as the top recruit to watch in the conference.

As for Big Ten position rankings, Iowa is ranked seventh at quarterback and running back, 15th at wide receiver, third at offensive line, fourth at defensive line, eighth at linebacker and fourth at defensive back.

Iowa’s offensive line is also ranked 10th nationally by Athlon.

No other position for Iowa is ranked in the top 10 nationally.

Athlon also lists Iowa games at Iowa State on Sept. 6 as one of the top 12 games to watch.

Kirk Ferentz is entering his 27th season as the Iowa head coach.

He has a 204-124 record with Iowa and ranks second all-time in wins among Big Ten coaches. He trails only Woody Hayden, who compiled a 205-61-10 record with Ohio State.

Iowa will face Albany in the 2025 season opener on Aug. 30 at Kinnick Stadium.

An opposing Big Ten assistant coach also says this about Iowa’s 2025 squad:

“You can look at them two different ways. The first is, this is the kind of roster where (Kirk) Ferentz surprises opponents, and they come out more cohesive and physical than you expect because that’s Iowa football, especially on defense. We’ve seen rosters like these where you look up and Iowa’s winning 10 games, and that didn’t seem possible.

“The second is that they’re still really struggling on offense to the point where (Tim) Lester and that staff have everything riding on a FCS transfer quarterback (Mark Gronowski), who didn’t play in the spring at all. We’ve seen this work before at a lot of different schools, but it could also fall apart. They have questions all over the offense, too, especially at receiver. If Gronowski is good, though, they’ll be fine.”

Gronowski had shoulder surgery this past winter and he hopes to be fully recovered by June.

Athlon predicts that Iowa will face South Carolina in the Realiaquest Bowl.

It also has Penn State facing Texas in the national championship game.