Numbers To Know Ahead Of Iowa Football's Game Against Wisconsin

Iowa and Wisconsin have been playing football for a very long time, but 2026 will mark a special anniversary in the rivalry's storied history. 

You probably know what the monumental date is if you watched Kirk Ferentz's Tuesday press conference, but since it's an important number, we thought we would include it again in this week's numbers to watch. 

So here are those numbers. Read more about the historical marker in the Iowa-Wisconsin rivalry and keep yourself up to date with the most intriguing numbers for Saturday's contest between the Hawkeyes and 25th-ranked Badgers at Kinnick Stadium (11 a.m., FOX). 

1: Any success Wisconsin will have in this football game will probably come down to its defense, but that's just fine for the Badgers. Wisconsin currently ranks as the fourth-best scoring defense in the Big Ten, but if you're talking conference play, the Badgers are at the top.  Wisconsin has yielded just 11.7 points per game in league action, including holding an explosive offense in USC to only seven points in last weekend's 24-7 victory. 

The Badgers are very good against the pass, but considering Iowa has so many questions at the quarterback position, it might opt to try and win this game on the ground. That's an even trickier problem, however, as Wisconsin has held opponents to just 87 rushing yards per game. 

3: Cornerback Deshaun Lee's three interceptions are the third-most in the Big Ten behind Wisconsin's Cairo Skanes and UCLA's Ta'Shawn James.

-3: Committing four turnovers against Minnesota doesn't help this stat, but Iowa is currently negative three in turnover differential right now. That ranks 97th in the entire nation and 

6: The Wisconsin border is about roughly 90 minutes away from Iowa City, so it's no surprise that Iowa boasts a lot of Wisconsin natives on its roster. Six Wisconsinites are currently on the Hawkeye roster, including three starters (TE Addison Ostrenga, OT Jack Dotzler, and LB Jayden Montgomery). 

18: Wisconsin and Iowa are both in very similar situations when it comes to offensive performance in conference play. The Badgers and Hawkeyes are 11th (21.5) and 12th (21.3), in scoring offense through conference play, but Iowa could be in a good spot if it stops Wisconsin's good rushing attack (159.5 yards per game in league action). The Badgers boast the worst passing game in the league at least in conference action, totaling just 126 passing yards per game. Starting quarterback Colton Joseph tallied just 58 passing yards against USC last weekend, but he did go 12-for-14 while doing so. Expect a lot of check downs from Wisconsin in this game to help set up its run game. 

100: Saturday's contest at Kinnick Stadium will mark the 100th all-time meeting between the Hawkeyes and Badgers. Wisconsin owns a slight 49-48-2 lead in the series, but Iowa has won four consecutive meetings by a combined score of 118-26, including a 37-0 shutout victory in Madison last season. The Hawkeyes are 33-12 in their last 45 rivalry trophy games. 

25: Iowa hasn't played a football game inside Kinnick Stadium in almost a month - 25 days to be exact. The Hawkeyes' most recent home game was the showdown against Ohio State on Oct. 3 and they haven't won a home game since defeating Northern Iowa 55-0 on Sept. 19. 

38: It's Homecoming weekend in Iowa City. That's certainly nothing new, but a Homecoming game against Wisconsin hasn't been a very common occurrence for the Hawkeyes. Saturday will mark the first time Iowa has hosted the Badgers in a Homecoming game for the first time in 38 years. The Hawkeyes won that 1988 game by a lopsided score of 31-6. 

44.3: Penalties have been a problem for the Hawkeyes all season long and Ferentz certainly won't enjoy this stat. Iowa has averaged 44.3 penalty yards per game in conference play.