Hawkeyes Hold Steady

Sept. 18, 2005

The Iowa Hawkeyes will open defense of their 2004 Big Ten Conference championship at Ohio State this Saturday as one of six league teams ranked in the most recent Top 25 poll released by USA Today.

Iowa will enter Ohio Stadium for its 11 a.m. Iowa time date with the Buckeyes as USA Today’s No. 22 team. OSU is USA Today’s No. 9 team. The UI and OSU are joined by Purdue (No. 10), Michigan (No. 12), Michigan State (No. 22) and Wisconsin (No. 24).

USC, Texas and LSU rank 1-2-3 in USA Today’s list of the nation’s top college football teams.

The Hawkeyes’ game at Ohio State Saturday will be televised live by ABC Sports to a regional audience that includes, at a minimum, the geographic footprint of the Big Ten. A map providing the distribution plan for that broadcast will be available later this week.

Iowa defeated OSU, 33-7, last year in Iowa City en route to its second league title in three years.