The 1987 Hawkeyes fell just short of a Rose Bowl berth, but still earned the second 10-win season of Hayden Fry's tenure.
The College Football Playoff landscape continues to change by the day, and it now seems likely that another major alteration will occur in the coming years.
The 12-team format is only entering its third season, but to no one's surprise, Power Four athletic directors (specifically the Big Ten) aren't satisfied. There's too much money involved for a 24-team bracket not to happen in the near future, so knowing this, HawkeyeRoundtable.com got curious.
Iowa has never qualified for the College Football Playoff, but it would've sent a plethora of teams to a 24-team event under both Hayden Fry and Kirk Ferentz.
So for the rest of the summer, we're taking you all on a trip down memory lane and sharing our list of every Fry and Ferentz team that would've qualified for a 24-team bracket.
We're starting with Fry and ending with Ferentz, which means you need to go back and read some of Fry's legendary teams in the mid-1980s.
Next up on the list is the 1987 team, which became the second team under Fry to reach the 10-win plateau.
The Rundown
After finishing 9-3 in 1986, expectations were again high for the Hawkeyes in 1987. Iowa entered the year ranked No. 16 in the preseason AP poll and was one of the favorites for the Big Ten championship.
While the college football regular season was still 11 games back then, the Hawkeyes would play a 12-game slate in 1987 because of their Kickoff Classic clash against No. 17 Tennessee to open the season.
It was a back-and-forth affair at Giants Stadium in New Jersey, but Iowa appeared to seize control and took a five-point advantage into the fourth quarter. The Hawkeyes held that lead late in the period, but the Volunteers used two chip shot field goals to secure a 23-22 triumph.
The loss was disappointing for Iowa, but it still had an entire Big Ten calendar to right the ship. Three straight wins in the non-conference increased that feeling, but a heartbreaking loss to Michigan State in the league opener quickly poured salt into the wounds.
Though the Hawkeyes would lose only one other conference game (at Michigan) the rest of the way, the loss to the Spartans would prove to be the difference between the Rose Bowl. Michigan State would win the Big Ten crown by one game and go on to beat USC in the 1988 Rose Bowl.
Iowa, 9-3 and No. 18 in the AP poll, was sent to San Diego for the 1987 Holiday Bowl, where it would be pitted against Wyoming. The 10-2 Cowboys would give the Hawkeyes all they could handle, but Iowa used interception and punt return touchdowns to eek out a 20-19 victory to finish 10-3.
The Bracket
Remember that the AP only ranked the top 20 teams back in 1987, so our hypothetical bracket will only include 20 teams here. The Hawkeyes entered the Holiday Bowl ranked No. 18 in the AP poll, so they would've qualified for a 20-team playoff in this scenario.
Needless to say, Iowa's path to the title would've been brutal in this bracket. Vince Dooley and Georgia were still a tough out during this time, and a second round clash against Jimmy Johnson, Michael Irvin and eventual national champion Miami would've been a steep mountain to climb.
Though the awarding of the national championship was always a point of controversy, there was no problem in 1987. Miami and Oklahoma both entered the 1988 Orange Bowl undefeated, and the Hurricanes' victory gave them an undisputed national title.
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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]
