Iowa and Wisconsin have been playing football games against each other for a long time. 

The two border rivals first met on the gridiron in 1894 (Wisconsin won 44-0) and have been heated foes ever since, meeting nearly annually since the 1920s. 

The Badgers narrowly lead the overall series 49-48-2, but the Hawkeyes have closed the gap in recent years after struggling in the 2010s, winning five of the last six matchups (four in a row). 

An Iowa victory on Halloween this season would tie the overall series, but a win would also give the Hawks the edge in the trophy series, which is currently tied at 10 apiece. 

Yes, that's right. While Iowa has lengthy trophy rivalries with Minnesota and Iowa State, the trophy aspect for the Iowa-Wisconsin game wasn't introduced until the 2004 edition. 

As it turned out, the 2004 game turned out pretty well for the Hawkeyes, so let's take a look back at it. 

Iowa had high expectations again in 2004 after consecutive 10-win seasons in 2002 and 2003, but things were looking pretty dire in September. 

Blowout road losses to Arizona State and Michigan dropped the Hawkeyes to 2-2, and the spoiled Iowa fanbase began to panic. 

The Hawkeyes continued to battle adversity for the rest of the season, most notably the death of Kirk Ferentz's father, but they returned to their winning ways after the brief early-season tumble and entered the regular season finale against the Badgers with an 8-2 record and a No. 17 AP ranking. 

Wisconsin was a BCS championship contender for most of the regular season, but a stunning 49-`14 loss unranked Michigan State in the penultimate game of the year knocked it out of title contention. 

Nevertheless, the Badgers were still 9-1 and ranked No. 9 in the country heading into the Iowa game. Not only would the winner receive the inaugural Heartland Trophy - a 72-pound bronze bull trophy - they would also clinch a share of the Big Ten crown with Michigan, which was upset by Ohio State earlier in the day. 

Considering Wisconsin was still ranked in the top 10, a win over Iowa may have meant a third trip to a BCS bowl game under Barry Alvarez. 

But that didn't come close to happening. 

The Badgers missed two field goals in the first quarter (one was due to a bad snap), and that was all it took for the Hawkeyes to seize control at home.

Drew Tate connected with Clinton Solomon for two first half scores to give Iowa a 14-7 edge at halftime, and further Wisconsin miscues allowed the Hawkeyes to coast to a 30-7 victory. 

Iowa fans rushed the field to celebrate their 11th and most recent Big Ten championship. The Hawks would vault to No. 11 in the polls following this victory and earned a berth in the Capital One Bowl, where they defeated LSU on the final play of the game to finish 10-2 overall and No. 8 in the final polls. 

Wisconsin's season continued to get worse, as it fell by three points to Georgia in the Outback Bowl to finish the year on a three-game losing streak. 

Iowa would go on to win three of the next five Heartland Trophy matchups before the Badgers exacted some revenge by winning all but one meeting in the 2010s. 

The 2026 matchup is set to take place on Halloween afternoon at Kinnick Stadium, with kickoff time and TV destination to be released at a later date.

A Hawkeye win would be their fifth straight in the series and would be their longest winning streak over the Badgers since they won 18 straight from 1977-1996. 

HawkeyeRoundtable is giving away TWO tickets to Iowa's season opener against Northern Illinois on Sept. 5! 

This is easily the biggest giveaway we've ever done on this site, and it's a great opportunity for two lucky fans to experience the joy of attending a Hawkeye football game at Kinnick Stadium. 

Click here to automatically become a member to enter the contest! Additional contest details can be found in our community section, too! 

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]