Iowa opens 2026 fresh off a ranked bowl win, and Northern Illinois shows up as the Week 1 speed bump on the way to bigger tests.
Bush’s Picks
NIUIOWA
NIUIOWA
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Best BetIowa
Iowa's the pick here even with an unresolved quarterback battle, simply because the roster gap is significant. Northern Illinois is breaking in a new coaching staff and still hasn't settled its own QB room after a 3-9 season, which is a tough combination on the road against a program that just won a bowl game.
Northern Illinois
+Telly Johnson Jr. gives them a real workhorse back
+Program has history of fast turnarounds from bad years
−Coming off 3-9 season, offense already struggled
−Lost top tackler Urwiler, interim coach in charge
−QB competition still unresolved entering opener
Iowa
+Coming off 9-4 season, ReliaQuest Bowl win over ranked Vanderbilt
+Ferentz brings 27 years of continuity and stability
+Both top QB options are in year two of the system
−No official depth chart, QB battle unresolved through spring
−Replacing a productive dual-threat starter in Gronowski
Iowa hosts a Northern Illinois team that just got done with a rough 3-9 season and is walking into Kinnick with an interim head coach after Thomas Hammock left for the Seahawks. The Huskies still don't have their quarterback situation settled, with Jalen Macon, Ean Hamric, Brady Davidson and freshman Bryshawn Brown all mixed into the mess this spring. Iowa's got its own version of that question mark under center, but with a lot more talent around it.
The Hawkeyes are replacing Mark Gronowski, who closed out his Iowa career by torching Vanderbilt for 212 yards and 2 touchdowns through the air plus a rushing score in the ReliaQuest Bowl. Kirk Ferentz never released an official spring depth chart, but Hank Brown and Jeremy Hecklinski split reps basically down the middle, and for the first time in the Tim Lester era, neither of Iowa's top options is a first-year guy in the building. That continuity matters against a MAC-turned-Mountain-West team that's still figuring out its own identity.
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NIU Northern Illinois
IOWA Iowa
Northern Illinois isn't walking in with nothing, either. Running back Telly Johnson Jr. gives the Huskies a legitimate power piece to lean on, and this program has a track record of bouncing back fast from bad years — it went from 3-9 in 2022 to 15 wins over the next two seasons. That history is the whole case for NIU showing up competitive instead of overmatched.
Northern Illinois Huskies
Iowa Hawkeyes
Recent form.
The bigger issue for the Huskies is what they're missing. Linebacker Quinn Urwiler racked up 141 tackles last year, the most by an NIU player since 1992, and he's gone. Pair that with an offense that already struggled to move the ball in 2025 and a coaching staff in transition, and it's a tall order to walk into a place like Kinnick and steal one, especially with the QB room still unsettled.
Northern Illinois Huskies
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Fully healthy — no injuries on ESPN's report
Iowa Hawkeyes
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Fully healthy — no injuries on ESPN's report
Injury report — info via ESPN.
For Iowa, this is about establishing whoever wins the quarterback job before Big Ten play gets serious. Ferentz is the longest-tenured active head coach in college football and the winningest in conference history, and a 9-4 season with a bowl win over a ranked Vanderbilt squad has this program feeling good about where it's headed. A clean, low-drama opener against a rebuilding Group of Five team is exactly the kind of setup a new starter wants.
