The Badgers and Hawkeyes have battled 98 times in their history.
When it comes to the culture and tradition of college football, rivalries are the bread and butter of the crop. For the Wisconsin Badgers, that includes matchups against the Iowa Hawkeyes, Minnesota Golden Gophers, and Nebraska Cornhuskers.
Each of the three is a trophy game and always epitomizes the Big Ten with grimy, hard-fought victories over the last century.
While the Nebraska rivalry is fairly recent, given when they entered the Big Ten, the other two have been longstanding rivalries with strong track records from both sides.
Wisconsin owns the overall record over Iowa 49-47-2, but they’ve been on a recent slide, losing the last three games, which included a 42-10 beatdown at Kinnick Stadium last year.
It’s clear that the Badgers take great pride in their rivalries, as the team ended every practice in the spring with 42 pushups to remember the disappointing loss.
“When have you ever heard of Iowa scoring 42 points, ever?” linebacker Darryl Peterson said this spring when pointing out which rivalry loss stung the most in 2024. “For me, obviously, all three of them [are big deals], but 42 points is unacceptable to anybody, but especially those guys.”
With the clear disdain for both sides, where does the Wisconsin-Iowa rivalry rank among the biggest in college football?
The Athletic recently ranked the Top 100 rivalries in college football, and the Wisconsin-Iowa battle came in at No. 22.
“In perhaps the most overlooked great rivalry, these Upper Midwest programs combined for seven division titles and nine 10-win seasons over the Big Ten West’s 10-year existence. They are built with the same tenets of physicality and power, which make for some of college football’s hardest-hitting games.”
Why were they ranked so high? Well, according to The Athletic, these three factors were big:
1. Iowa and Wisconsin are located 175 miles apart and have played 41 games in which at least one team was ranked. That includes nine times they faced off as ranked opponents, with Iowa holding a 5-4 advantage.
2. Big Ten expansion twice sidelined this rivalry (1993-94, 2011-12) but each time the league reconfigured its alignment to allow it to continue. The battle for the Heartland Trophy is one of 12 protected rivalries in the 18-team Big Ten.
3. Either an unranked or lower-ranked team has beaten a top-10 squad six times. One outside of that category was their 2004 season-ending clash. With a share of the Big Ten title at stake, No. 9 Iowa blasted No. 17 Wisconsin 30-7.
What was the biggest game in rivalry history?
“In 2010, top-15 teams collided in Iowa City with 30 draft picks (15 on each side) and battled through eight lead changes. A fake punt, a twisting TD by Wisconsin’s Montee Ball and a blocked PAT from J.J. Watt led to a 31-30 Badgers win. The victory propelled Wisconsin to a share of the Big Ten title.”
At No. 22, the rivalry came just behind Washington-Oregon (No. 21) and Michigan-Michigan (No. 16) as a part of the Big Ten’s top battles.
Both Wisconsin-Iowa and Washington-Oregon were bumped up from their initial spots, thanks to how tight each rivalry has been, as well as the number of ranked matchups.
“Washington-Oregon and Iowa-Wisconsin each finished higher than initially expected. Washington-Oregon has featured 10 ranked matchups and 53 games with at least one team ranked, which was more than Oregon-Oregon State (6, 31) or Washington-Washington State (8, 34). Washington-Oregon also has a robust trajectory as protected Big Ten foes.
“Only two wins separate Wisconsin from Iowa (49-47-2), with nine ranked matchups between them, and they combined for seven of the 10 Big Ten West titles. Their proximity (175 miles) is similar to an in-state battle, and their series is protected by the Big Ten.”
Ultimately, Wisconsin-Iowa is one of the biggest rivalries in the sport, and the Badgers will look to snap their recent losing streak this season when hosting the Hawkeyes on October 11th at Camp Randall Stadium.