The Big Ten Conference has expanded to 18 teams with the addition of four former PAC-12 programs, and in Week 6, the Iowa Hokies will get the opportunity to play one of these teams for the first time when they host the Washington Huskies.
Iowa hasn't played Washington since winning the Sun Bowl, 38-18, in 1995. The schools have met only once before, in the Rose Bowl, with Washington winning both games by a combined score of 74-34. However, Iowa and Washington are tied at 3-3 all-time.
So what can Iowa expect from one of the Big Ten's newest members in a more modern era?
Last season, the Huskies enjoyed an incredible run, going undefeated all the way to the College Football Playoff National Championship Finals.
That game was only a few months ago, but it feels like a decade for Husky fans. Other than the Michigan Wolverines, who were in the running for the national championship last year, it seems like no team has seen as many roster changes since the end of the college football season.
Head coach Cullen DeBoer bet on himself and succeeded Nick Saban in Tuscaloosa, with Michael Pennis Jr. and nearly all of his elite players either in the NFL or at another program.
The Huskies had their best season in decades in 2023, but somehow, everything has gone from bad to worse now.
Washington returns just two starters from 2023, the fewest of any FBS program. Those players are linebacker Alfonzo Tuputala and cornerback Elijah Jackson. They're good players, but they're not the two elite players who topped last year's national championship runner-up team. (To Jackson's credit, he intercepted the final pass of the Sugar Bowl.)
Now the Huskies will have to look for new faces.
Jedd Fisch is the new head coach after rebuilding Arizona from one win to 10 wins in three seasons, and he's bringing in 12 former Wildcats players through the transfer portal.
Fisch and the Huskies had to be active in the transfer portal, and they did manage to add 22 players. But Washington lost 29 players to the portal. The Huskies essentially broke even and are ranked 24th in On3's 2024 transfer portal rankings.
But the freshman class (including transfer students) is ranked 49th in the country and 15th in the Big Ten, per On3. Most of the talent DeBoer acquired is gone, and it's not clear if Fisch has what it takes to immediately replicate that success.
Will Rogers, who set records at Mississippi State the past four years, will take over at quarterback, and behind him will be two promising young quarterbacks in Dharmaricus Davis and Demond Williams Jr.
Outside of Rodgers, the Huskies don't have any established stars, and while they have the talent, how well they'll mesh together is a big question mark for the program in 2024.
That being said, it would be unwise to give up on the Huskies entirely.
Iowa is fresh off a trip to Ohio State. Washington will host Michigan before a trip to Iowa City. If both teams are on losing streaks, the result will hurt Iowa more. If Iowa wins and Washington doesn't, overlooking the Huskies could be problematic. If the positions were reversed, Washington would be feeling very confident going into the game.
Washington is the team Iowa should beat, but we're entering a period in the season where it's all about the situation. The biggest benefit for Iowa is playing this game at home and saving the long road trip to face this new conference rival until later in the season.
The match is scheduled for October 12, with kick-off time and television and streaming channel to be announced at a later date.
An early preview of last week's game against Ohio State can be found here.
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