Iowa's 30-0 shutout of Wisconsin puts the Hawkeyes in the Citrus Bowl in every projection

The national bowl projections have settled on one game for Iowa. After the Hawkeyes shut out Wisconsin 30-0 on Oct. 31, all five outlets in Hawkeyes Wire's weekly roundup project Iowa to the Citrus Bowl. That game is set for Jan. 2, 2027, at Camping World Stadium in Orlando, with an 11 a.m. CT kickoff on ABC.

The only disagreement is the opponent, and every pick comes from the SEC. USA Today Sports has Iowa playing LSU, and so do both of ESPN's forecasters, Kyle Bonagura and Mark Schlabach. CBS Sports pairs the Hawkeyes with Alabama, On3 picks Tennessee and Sports Illustrated lists Ole Miss. A week earlier the forecasts were spread out. ESPN's two projections at that point split between the Citrus Bowl and the Pinstripe Bowl, so the shutout of Wisconsin appears to have settled the question for now. Hawkeyes Wire also reported that quarterback Hank Brown was named Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week after the win.

Iowa is 6-2 and 3-2 in Big Ten play. Hawkeyes Wire lists Iowa at No. 20. Its two losses came against No. 5 Ohio State (31-14) and at Minnesota (13-10). Its best win was a 20-19 result at Michigan, which was ranked No. 18 at the time. The defense has posted three shutouts, against Northern Illinois, Northern Iowa and Wisconsin, and only Ohio State has scored more than 24 points against it.

What it means at Northwestern

The Citrus Bowl forecasts depend on Iowa winning the games still to come, and Saturday's trip to Evanston looks like a toss-up. No. 23 Northwestern is also 6-2 and 3-2 in the conference. The Wildcats arrive off a loss at Oregon, where Roundtable Sports reported they led 20-6 at halftime before the Ducks pulled away. That ended a four-game winning streak for David Braun's team, which is led by quarterback Aidan Chiles. Kickoff at the new Ryan Field is 6:30 p.m. CT on Fox.

The Wildcats opened as 2.5-point favorites, and the line has not moved. On this site's board, Northwestern is favored by 2.5 points at -108 on Novig, and Iowa is +104 at the same number. On the moneyline, Novig has Northwestern at -127 and Iowa at +120, which means $120 profit on a $100 Iowa win. The total sits at 45.5 on Novig, priced at -104 on both sides. Fanatics posts the best under anywhere at 46 (-110). The 12 venues mostly agree on the numbers, but the sportsbook hold ranges from 3.4% to 6.2% on the moneyline and up to 7.0% on the total.

The matchup is a familiar one for Iowa: a top-10-caliber defense facing an offense that showed it can score early against Oregon but faded late. A win would put Iowa at 7-2 and help keep the Citrus Bowl forecasts in place. A loss would put the Hawkeyes in a tighter group of Big Ten teams with three losses, where projections can change from week to week.