The Iowa Hawkeyes are the athletic teams that represent the University of Iowa, located in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. The Hawkeyes have varsity teams in 20 sports, 7 for men and 13 for women; The teams participate in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and are members of the Big Ten Conference (since 1899). Currently, the school's athletic director is Beth Goetz.
Historically, Iowa has been very successful in men's wrestling, with 37 team Big Ten championships and 24 team national championships. The Hawkeyes have also won national championships in five other sports: men's gymnastics, football, field hockey, rifle and women's track and field. In basketball, Iowa has reached the NCAA Final Four on six occasions. The men's team has done this three times, most recently in 1980, and the women's team has also done it three times, in 1993, 2023 and 2024. The baseball team has reached the Men's College World Series once, in 1972. Iowa's softball team has played in the Women's College World Series on four occasions, most recently in 2001.
Football home games are played at Kinnick Stadium, while basketball, gymnastics, volleyball, and wrestling events are held at Carver–Hawkeye Arena. The school's baseball team plays at Duane Banks Field and the softball team plays at Bob Pearl Softball Field.
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Sports sponsored
The University of Iowa currently fields 22 varsity teams, competing in the Big Ten Conference. Three men's teams – gymnastics, swimming and diving, and tennis – were eliminated after the 2020–21 academic year to help address a projected $60–75 million deficit related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Men's sports
Iowa began playing baseball in 1890, when the Hawkeyes went a combined 2–1 (two wins and one loss) against two teams, Cornell and Vinton. To date, Iowa has won eight Big Ten titles, and in 1972 Iowa earned its way to the CWS at Rosenblatt Stadium in Omaha with a 13–3 Big Ten record, which is still the best Big Ten winning percentage in Iowa baseball history. That record included another school record that still stands, an 11-game Big Ten winning streak. It was Iowa's first outright Big Ten baseball title since 1939, and the last one since, although the Hawkeyes did earn ties for the conference championship in 1974 and 1990.
But that 1972 Iowa team fought its way to Omaha the hard way, losing its first game in the regional tournament, then winning doubleheaders on consecutive days on the campus of Bowling Green University in Ohio. Lose one of those four games, and Iowa goes home. In 1972, only conference champions competed for the eight World Series berths.
The Hawkeyes opened the 1972 CWS against #1-ranked Arizona State, who entered the game with an incredible record of 60 wins and only 4 losses. But Iowa, a huge underdog, outhit the Sun Devils 8–3 only to lose, 2–1. Iowa had the tying run thrown out at the plate in the 9th inning, and left another runner at third as the final out was made. Iowa had also threatened in the 7th with a lead-off double, but could not score. The Hawkeyes then played in the losers' bracket the next day against Temple. But after taking a 6–2 lead into the sixth inning, the Hawkeyes ended up being knocked out of the Series with a 12–8 loss. Arizona State lost the championship game that year to Southern Cal, while Temple finished 3rd. The Hawkeyes finished ranked No. 9 in the nation, still the highest national ranking in the history of Iowa Hawkeye baseball. Future Major Leaguer Jim Sundberg, catcher from Galesburg, Ill., was one of the team leaders. The Hawkeyes featured several Iowans in the starting lineup, including Tom Hurn (1B – Cedar Rapids), Mike Kielkopf (2B-Ottumwa), Brad Trickey (3B-Cedar Rapids), along with the top two starting pitchers, Mark Tschopp (Cedar Rapids) and Bill Heckroth (Dysart).
Iowa plays its home games at Duane Banks Field, whose namesake is the winningest baseball coach in school history. Rick Heller replaced Jack Dahm as the Hawkeyes' head baseball coach in 2013. In his first season in Iowa City, Heller helped guide the Hawkeyes to a 9–1 start—the program's best start since 1940—a Big Ten tournament berth and conference tournament win. Iowa finished the year with a 30–23 record for just the third 30-win season since 1993. The 30 victories are the most by a first-year coach in Iowa history.
Women's sports
Women's basketball at the University of Iowa began in 1974, under head coach Lark Birdsong. The Hawkeyes finished 5–16 that season, getting their first win over Big Ten rival, Minnesota. Birdsong would continue to coach Iowa until the 1978–1979 season, the first winning season in Iowa women's basketball history. Judy McMullen replaced Birdsong, and after coaching at Iowa for four seasons, McMullen was replaced by C. Vivian Stringer in 1983. Prior to her tenure at Iowa, Stringer coached at Cheyney University, and took the school to new heights when she led the Wolves to the national championship game in 1982.
Beginning with the 1983–1984 season, Stringer coached at Iowa for 12 seasons. In that time, the Hawkeyes won six Big Ten championships, played in nine NCAA tournaments, and reached the Final Four in 1993. Unprecedented attention was shown to the Hawkeyes under Stringer, as evidenced by the record-setting 22,157 fans that watched Iowa play Ohio State on February 3, 1985, in Carver–Hawkeye Arena. Stringer, however, left Iowa to coach at Rutgers in 1995, following the death of her husband Bill.
Angie Lee replaced Stringer, and led the Hawkeyes to a Big Ten championship in her first season. Under Lee, Iowa won another Big Ten title in 1998, but success began to wane soon thereafter. Lee's successor as head coach was Lisa Bluder, The Hawkeyes have won two regular season Big Ten championship and four Big Ten tournament championships, recently winning both titles in 2022 and the tournament championship in 2023 with a team led by superstar guard Caitlin Clark. In 2023, the team advanced to the Final Four in Dallas, TX as a #2 seed after defeating Southeastern Louisiana (#15), Georgia (#10), Colorado (#6), and Louisville (#5). Bluder retired after the 2023–24 season and was replaced by assistant Jan Jensen.
Women's rowing became a varsity sport at the University of Iowa in 1994 at which time Mandi Kowal was hired as head coach. In 1997 and 1998 the Hawkeyes' varsity 4 (V4+) was invited to the NCAA Championships; 1997 marked the first NCAA rowing championships. The Hawkeyes made a whole team appearance at Nationals in 2001. With the combined novice and varsity teams, the Hawkeyes typically have 70–80 rowing athletes, making it the second-largest team on campus, second only to football.
Fall 2009 brought the completion of a new state-of-the-art boathouse. Prior to that time the rowing Hawkeyes had no permanent home, but instead their boats were housed in an excess area of the Iowa Advanced Technology Laboratories. The new P. Sue Beckwith, M.D. Boathouse is named after the benefactor, a former University of Iowa basketball letter-winner, who gave the seed money that made the boathouse possible. The boathouse is 20,000 square feet (1,900 m2) and designed to withstand flooding. The building has workout facilities, team locker rooms, boat bays, indoor rowing tanks, and meeting spaces. On October 21, 2021, former Iowa Athletic Director Gary Barta named Jeff Garbutt as the fourth head coach in the history of the Iowa rowing program. Garbutt previously served as an assistant coach for the Hawkeyes from 2013 to 2020 and was the head coach of both the men's and women's rowing teams at La Salle University during the 2020–21 season. During his tenure as an assistant at Iowa, Garbutt helped guide the team, under head coach Andrew Carter, to three consecutive NCAA Championship appearances from 2017 to 2019. In 2018, the program reached its highest-ever national ranking, placing No. 7 in the Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association Poll.
Notable non-varsity sports
Ultimate
The Iowa Hawkeye Ultimate Club (IHUC) competes in the West Plains conference of the North Central Region. In 2010, the team tied for 9th at college nationals, while taking 3rd place in 2011.
The Iowa Women's Ultimate team, Saucy Nancy, has also been very successful in years past. In 2011 the team tied for 5th at the College Championship in Boulder, Colorado. In 2012, they accomplished the same feat, tying for 5th again in Boulder, Colorado. Then in 2013, Saucy made it back into the College Championship in Madison, Wisconsin, and this time tied for 3rd.
Rugby
The University of Iowa Rugby Football Club plays college rugby in the Heart of America conference of D1AA Rugby. Iowa rugby has had some success in the past 20 years, finishing second at the 2014 Big Ten 7s tournament, and the 2015 Big Ten West 7s tournament. After coming close to achieving a Top 25 ranking in 2011, Iowa would be ranked as high as 17th in the nation after their final match of their 2014 season, and being ranked 20th in the final Canterbury D1A Poll of the 2014–15 season. Iowa would go on to make the USA Rugby 7s National Championships in back-to-back years, 2015 and 2016, moving on as runners-up in their group in 2015 before falling in the elimination round. In the 2023–24 season, the Hawkeyes fell to the Kansas Jayhawks in the post season, but won over Kansas State in their final playoff match. Most recently, Iowa took first in the Hawkeye Classic rugby Sevens tournament, with a notable victory over long-time rival and historically accomplished Iowa State team. Iowa plays its matches at the University of Iowa Rugby Fields on Hawkeye Park Road. Iowa is led by Head Coach Tyler Dailey.
Pageantry
The University of Iowa borrowed its nickname from the state of Iowa years ago. The term "Hawkeye" originally appeared in the novel, The Last of the Mohicans, written by James Fenimore Cooper. In the book, the protagonist Natty Bumppo is given the word "Hawkeye" as a nickname from the Delaware Indians. Twelve years following the publishing of the book, the nickname was also given to people in the territory of Iowa (the state is now known as the Hawkeye State). Two men, Judge David Rorer and James G. Edwards, sought out to popularize the nickname, and were rewarded when territorial officials gave their approval.
The nickname gained a palpable symbol in 1948 when a cartoon character was created. Later named Herky, it was created by Richard Spencer III. The mascot was instantly popular among fans and gained its name through a statewide contest. A man named John Franklin suggested the Herky name. Since the mid-1950s, Herky has been a fixture at Iowa football games and has played a prominent role in all Iowa athletic events.
Iowa's primary school colors are black and old gold. The school's fight songs are "On Iowa!," the "Iowa Fight Song," and "Roll Along Iowa." A fourth song, the "Hawkeye Victory Polka," commonly referred to as "The Beer Song" or "In Heaven There Is No Beer," is played specifically following Iowa football and basketball victories. The school's alma mater is "Alma Mater, Iowa."
Athletic directors
Iowa has had 12 athletic directors in its history. They are:
Nelson Kellogg, 1910–1917
Howard Jones, 1917–1924
Paul Belting, 1924–1929
Edward Lauer, 1929–1934
Ossie Solem, 1934–1937
E. G. Schroeder, 1937–1947
Paul Brechler, 1947–1960
Forest Evashevski, 1960–1970
Bump Elliott, 1970–1990
Christine Grant, 1973–2000 as women's athletic director
Bob Bowlsby, 1990–2006
Gary Barta, 2006–2023
Beth Goetz, 2023-
Championships
NCAA team championships
Iowa has won 26 NCAA team national championships.
Men's (25)
Gymnastics (1): 1969
Wrestling (24): 1975, 1976, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2021
Women's (1)
Field Hockey (1): 1986
See also:
List of NCAA schools with the most NCAA Division I championships
Big Ten Conference NCAA national team championships
Other national team championships
Below are 13 national team titles that were not bestowed by the NCAA:
Men's
Football (5 claimed): 1921, 1922, 1956, 1958, 1960
Rifle (5): 1911, 1918, 1929, 1940, 1946
Women's
Track & Field (1): 1924
Wrestling (2): 2024, 2025
Big Ten Conference championships
The University of Iowa has 129 Big Ten Conference Championships
Men
Basketball (11): 1923, 1926, 1945, 1955, 1956, 1968, 1970, 1979, 2001, 2006, 2022
Baseball (9): 1927, 1938, 1939, 1942, 1949, 1972, 1974, 1990, 2017
Cross country (2): 1961, 1966
Football (11): 1900, 1921, 1922, 1956, 1958, 1960, 1981, 1985, 1990, 2002, 2004
Golf (1): 1992
Gymnastics (8): 1937, 1967, 1968, 1972, 1974, 1986, 1998, 2019
Indoor track & field (5): 1926, 1929, 1963, 2021, 2022
Outdoor track & field (5): 1963, 1967, 2011, 2019, 2021
Swimming (3): 1936, 1981, 1982
Tennis (1): 1958
Wrestling (37): 1915, 1916, 1958, 1962, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2004, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2015, 2020, 2021
Women
Basketball (15): 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2001, 2008, 2019, 2022, 2023, 2024
Cross country (1): 1982
Field hockey (13): 1981, 1982, 1983, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1992, 1995, 1996, 1999, 2004, 2019, 2021