By Pat Harty

IOWA CITY, Iowa – With the Iowa’s football team’s 2025 season barely one month from starting, here are 27 predictions to mark Kirk Ferentz entering his 27th season as the Iowa head coach.

I would like to thank my crystal ball for assisting with the predictions, which are more aligned with Mr. Optimist than Mr. Pessimist.

1. With a lopsided win over Albany in the 2025 season opener, Kirk Ferentz will tie Woody Hayes as the Big Ten’s all-time winningest football coach with 205 career wins.

2. With a lopsided win over Massachusetts in the third game, Kirk Ferentz will move past Woody Hayes to become the Big Ten’s all-time winningest football coach with 206 career wins.

3. Kirk Ferentz will try to down play becoming the Big Ten’s all-time winningest coach by deflecting the praise to his players, assistant coaches and support staff. He will also thanks his wife, Mary, for allowing him to focus so much of his time and energy on coaching.

4. The Iowa football team will defeat either Penn State or Oregon at home, but will also lose on the road at USC.

5. Graduate quarterback Mark Gronowski will start every game for Iowa during the 2025 season and will pass for at least 2,000 yards.

6. Iowa senior safety Xavier Nwankpa will make at least third-team All-Big Ten.

7. Barring injuries, Iowa running backs Kamari Moulton and Jaziun Patterson will both surpass 600 rushing yards on the season.

8. Curt Cignetti, Indiana’s outspoken head football coach, will say something to provide bulletin board material in the days leading up to its game against Iowa on Sept. 27 at Kinnick Stadium.

9. Iowa will have three wide receivers finish the 2025 season with at least 25 catches.

10. Senior linebacker Jaden Harrell, in his first season as a starter, will lead Iowa with at least 90 tackles.

11. Iowa sophomore Rhys Dakin will lead the Big Ten in punting average, but the Melbourne, Australia native will also punt fewer than 60 times this season. Dakin averaged 44.1 yards on 64 punts last season.

12. The floor inside the men’s bathroom in the Kinnick Stadium press box will be drenched with urine by halftime of the season opener against Albany.

13. Iowa senior Kaden Wetjen, a former walk-on from Williamsburg, will return at least one kick or punt for a touchdown despite opponents going out of their way to kick away from him.

14. Iowa will win a game it probably shouldn’t win on paper and will lose a game it probably shouldn’t lose on paper.

15. Iowa’s three married players – graduate center Logan Jones, graduate defensive end Ethan Hurkett and senior defensive tackle Aaron Graves – will all make either first, second or third-team All-Big Ten.

16. Television timeouts will continue to be insufferable as some of Iowa’s games will spend at least 48 minutes in commercial breaks.

17. Preseason favorite Penn State will not win the Big Ten championship.

18. Ohio State will fail to win back-to-back national titles, thus putting head coach Ryan Day back on the hot seat.

19. Iowa senior kicker Drew Stevens will make a 59-yard field goal this season to break Tim Douglas’ school record of 58 yards, which was set in 1998.

20. Iowa redshirt freshman Derek Weisskopf will ultimately earn one of the starting linebacker positions at some point during the 2025 season.

21. Senior defensive end Max Llewellyn will lead Iowa in tackles for loss and sacks in his first season as a full-time starter.

22. The Big Ten Conference held its annual media day event for the first time ever in Las Vegas earlier this week, but this will also be the last time the event is held in Las Vegas.

23. Illinois will continue to ascend under head coach and former Hawkeye Bret Bielema, winning at least 10 games.

24. Nebraska will win more than seven games for the first time since 2016.

25. Iowa will defeat Nebraska on a game-winning field goal by Drew Stevens in the closing seconds.

26. Senior cornerback TJ Hall will lead Iowa with at least four interceptions this season.

27. The Wave at Kinnick Stadium will continue to be the best tradition in all of college sports.