We've made it to prediction Friday, Hawkeye fans. 

When that clock hits 5:00 this afternoon, you can scurry from your desk to your car and dash to your homes for a well-deserved weekend. A refrigerator filled with delicious food and cold beverages will await you as soon as you swing open the door, followed by the comfortable feeling of your leather couch. 

Another weekend of college football has arrived, and it's safe to say it's a pretty big one for most of the country. We're now on to conference play, which means this chaotic sport we all love is about to take us on a roller coaster ride. 

Ok, let's get to the game all of you came to read about - Saturday's clash in Ann Arbor between No. 17 Iowa (3-0) and No. 18 Michigan (3-0). 

I've spent all week trying to come up with a score prediction for this game, and though it's a very difficult game to get a read on, my final answer is in. 

Here it is.

Matchup: No. 17 Iowa @ No. 18 Michigan 

Scheduled game time: Sept. 26 at 2:30 CT 

Location: Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor, Michigan 

Weather: High of 70 degrees 

TV: CBS 

Announcers: Brad Nessler (play-by-play), Charles Davis (analyst), Jenny Dell (sideline) 

Radio: Hawkeye Radio Network (Gary Dolphin, Pat Angerer) 

Student Radio: KRUI (Collin Carrithers, Ryan Paris) 

As I mentioned in the open, this football game is truly a toss-up. Most Iowa trips to the Big House usually haven't ended well, but it feels like this is the Hawkeyes' best chance (and likely Kirk Ferentz's final opportunity) to leave the iconic stadium with a victory. 

Why? Because both of these teams are very young. Michigan may have the flashier five-star talent at its disposal, but its main cast of skill position players - quarterback Bryce Underwood, wide receivers Andrew Marsh and JJ Buchanan, and running back Savion Hiter - are all underclassmen. While the Hawkeyes aren't necessarily "young" across their key positions, the inexperience (14 new starters) is enough to classify them as such. 

Though we're three weeks into the season, we just don't know much about either of these teams right now. We probably know more about the Wolverines because of their tumultuous first two weeks - a controversial Hail Mary win over Western Michigan and a win over then-No. 11 Oklahoma the following week - and because they always have a microscope placed on them, but this group still has plenty of unanswered questions. 

You're already aware of what's transpired in Iowa City this season, so there's no need to dive in to the Hawkeye side of things. The bottom line here is that Saturday's game is going to be a great measuring stick for both programs. 

But what's going to happen at the Big House? 

As I've said all week, this game is going to be an old-school Big Ten rock fight between two head coaches (Ferentz and Michigan's Kyle Whittingham) that have won a lot of football games playing that way. Protecting the football and winning the field position battle will be very crucial, but I think this game ultimately comes down to home field advantage. 

If this game was at Kinnick Stadium, I would probably pick Iowa to win by 10 points. There's louder venues in the Big Ten than Michigan Stadium, but it might as well be the nation's noisiest stadium for quarterback Hank Brown and Co. It's Brown's first-ever collegiate road start, and he'll have to deal with a stingy Wolverine defense that won't make anything easy for him. 

While I do think Brown is the right quarterback for the 2026 Hawkeyes, I think Michigan forces him to make a crucial mistake that will ultimately swing the tide towards the home team. Running the football is going to be an issue for Iowa, too. 

Iowa's losing streak against ranked teams on the road continues. 

Prediction: Michigan 17, Iowa 13 

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HawkeyeRoundtable publisher Brad Schultz has covered the Iowa Hawkeyes since 2023. To send him story ideas, scoops, or criticize his writing, reach him at [email protected]