Big 12 Football: 3 Big Ten teams to take in for the 2020 season

3) Big Ten teams the Big 12 could add for 2020: Iowa

The Iowa Hawkeyes would form one of the more natural rivalries in the Big 12 for this fall if they were able to be added to the conference. It makes a lot of sense for the Big 12 to add Iowa, out of any of the 14 teams that they could from the Big Ten, for this coming season too. Iowa forms the in-state annual rivalry (on a normal year at least) with the Iowa State Cyclones for the Cy-Hawk Trophy.

But this year won’t see the usual Cy-Hawk Trophy game get played between Iowa and Iowa State.

Last season, Iowa finished up with a record of 10-3 (6-3 Big Ten). After knocking off the USC Trojans in the Holiday Bowl by a dominant final score of 49-24, the Hawkeyes were able to finish in the 15th slot in the AP Poll. Iowa loses a lot of their starters on both sides of the ball this year, but should still have some momentum coming in from that Holiday Bowl win.

Long-time Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz is one of the longest tenured in the entire country. Iowa went through a bit of a tumultuous offseason with their coaching staff, but they could have a shot to turn the page to brighter years ahead with a solid 2020 season on and off the field. Ferentz has the No. 24 ranked team in the preseason AP Poll (including the Big Ten and PAC-12 teams that won’t be playing this fall).

Iowa is a steady hand that would bring a competitive team to the table that would help bolster the depth of the Big 12. Their style of play would completely contradict what the Big 12 usually runs too, which might add a bit of variance and intrigue just for one year at least. They also are relatively close geographically to the Kansas and Oklahoma schools.