Iowa's bye week bowl projections put the Hawkeyes in the Citrus Bowl, with one CFP pick

Iowa goes into its Week 7 bye with national forecasters pointing toward Orlando. A roundup of bowl projections from Hawkeyes Wire found that most major outlets now have the Hawkeyes in the Citrus Bowl. One outlet goes further and puts them in the College Football Playoff.

The projections follow Iowa's 41-24 win at Washington on Oct. 9 at Husky Stadium. Hawkeyes Wire wrote that Iowa has now won two of what were arguably its three toughest games of the season. Running back Kamari Moulton scored more than once in Seattle, and quarterback Jeremy Hecklinski ran the offense.

Four of the six forecasts collected by Hawkeyes Wire send Iowa to the Citrus Bowl at Camping World Stadium. That game is set for Jan. 2, 2027, at 11 a.m. CT on ABC. USA Today Sports and CBS Sports both match Iowa with Missouri there. ESPN's Mark Schlabach also has the Hawkeyes in Orlando but against Tennessee. On3 has Kentucky as the opponent. Every one of those Citrus Bowl opponents comes from the SEC.

ESPN's other forecaster, Kyle Bonagura, has Iowa a little lower. He sends the Hawkeyes to the Music City Bowl at Nissan Stadium in Nashville to play Mississippi State. That game is Dec. 30 at 2 p.m. CT on ESPN.

Sports Illustrated has the highest view of Iowa. It puts the Hawkeyes in the playoff as the No. 9 seed, playing at No. 8 seed UCLA in an on-campus first-round game at the Rose Bowl. That round is scheduled for Dec. 18 or 19, with time and TV still to be announced. If that projection held, an Iowa team expected to finish in a New Year's-window bowl would instead be playing for a national title.

The gap between the projections shows how much is still open. Since Iowa doesn't play this week, other results around the Big Ten and the country will shape the next round of forecasts. One part of the picture is consistent, though. National outlets now see Iowa as one of the conference's better teams, and the main question is whether the Hawkeyes end up in a top non-playoff bowl or in the 12-team field.

The bye gives Kirk Ferentz's staff time to rest players and prepare for the second half of the schedule. Hawkeyes Wire also noted that Ferentz was named to the Dodd Trophy midseason watch list. Since the toughest part of the schedule is now mostly behind Iowa, the rest of the season will test whether it can keep winning and move from Citrus Bowl projections into more playoff forecasts like SI's.

The next set of national projections comes out after Week 7. For Iowa, it will reflect how other teams did more than anything the Hawkeyes did themselves.