The Iowa Hawkeyes will start the season as the No. 19 team in the country thanks to the preseason coaches poll released Thursday.
The Hawkeyes received 343 votes from the panel of coaches chosen at random by the poll, now called the “Amway Coaches Poll powered by USA TODAY Sports.” (That’s quite a mouthful, but if you want Hawkeye Headquarters powered by your company, let me or Adam Rossow know and we’ll put our people in touch with your people.)
The Big Ten has seven teams in the Top 25 — the most of any conference — with No. 5 Ohio State and No. 7 Michigan in the Top 10. Iowa plays at the Big House on October 5, with No. 14 Penn State (October 12), No. 17 Wisconsin (November 9) and No. 25 Northwestern (October 26) also on the schedule. No. 20 Michigan State rounds out the B1G contingent in the poll, but the Hawkeyes won’t play the Spartans unless we get a rematch of the 2015 Big Ten Football Championship Game.
Iowa also travels to No. 24 Iowa State on September 24.
Clemson, the defending national champion, is the preseason No. 1 for the first time, receiving 59 out of 65 first-place votes. The other six went to Alabama.
You can see the entire poll here.
