Cornfields and pig farms cover much of the landscape of perhaps the most quintessentially “Midwest” midwestern state: Iowa. Across more than a century of sports history, football players and wrestlers have emerged from those fields with regularity.
Basketball players, too. Ask reigning national player of the year and leading scorer in NCAA history Caitlin Clark. But what is there to know about Iowa beyond Clark’s unstoppable jumper, the sweetest corn you’ve ever tasted, and their first-in-the-nation caucuses come presidential election season?
As the Oregon Ducks prepare for a move to the Big Ten in 2024, The Oregonian/OregonLive is taking a look at all of their newest conference rivals. While Ducks fans might be deeply familiar with fellow Pac-12 departees Washington, USC and UCLA, they have 14 new teams to get to know this year.
Next up is the Iowa Hawkeyes.
UNIVERSITY OF IOWA
Nickname: Hawkeyes
Location: Iowa City, Iowa
School founded: 1847
Joined Big Ten: 1899
Type: Public
Enrollment: 31,452
Endowment: $3.054 billion
Athletic department spending (2021-22): $151.1 million
Athletic department revenue (2021-22): $151.5 million
Football spending (2021-22): $49.4 million
Football revenue (2021-22): $86.4 million
Football stadium: Kinnick Stadium
Capacity: 69,250
Varsity sports: 22 (8 men’s, 14 women’s)
Mascot: Herky the Hawk
Fight song: “Iowa Fight Song”
Notable alumni: Tom Brokaw, “Downtown” Freddie Brown, George Kittle, Kris Murray, Jean Seberg, Bob Stoops, Gene Wilder, Tennessee Williams
Famous coaches: Kirk Ferentz (football), Hayden Fry (football), Lute Olson (men’s basketball), Lisa Bluder (women’s basketball)
Biggest rivals: Iowa State, Minnesota
Essential movie: Field of Dreams (1989)
Team national titles: Wrestling (24), gymnastics (1), field hockey (1)
Did you know? Iowa was the first state university in the country to admit men and women on an equal basis in 1855. The student body at the time included 83 men and 41 women.
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