Iowa

B10 · 1981 Season · Final

Season

Rebuilding ＋

Record

8–4

0.667 Win %

Conference

3rd

6–2 in B10

All-Time Resume

Ranked Seasons

128

1899–2026

All-Time Record

683–557–34

0.549 Win %

Peak Final Rank

1900

#1 Finishes

Top 5: 4 · Top 10: 12 · Top 25: 29

12-Team Playoff & Revenue Era · 2 seasons
Limited Playoff Era · 26 seasons · 3 Top 10
Independents & Bowl Tie-In Era · 16 seasons · 1 Top 10
Divisional Era · 26 seasons · 4 Top 10
AP Poll & Postwar Era · 20 seasons
Forward Pass & Stadium Boom Era · 30 seasons · 2 Top 10
Pioneer Era · 7 seasons · 2 Top 10 · 1× #1

Final finishes, as published; the season in progress counts toward record only. Compare Iowa head-to-head · History & Eras

1981 Schedule & Results

Wk	Date	Opponent	Conf	Opp. Record	Result
3	Week 3 · Sep 15	Nebraska (NEBRASKA)H2H	IND B8	9–3	W 10–7
4	Week 4 · Sep 22	Iowa State (IOWA STATE)H2H	IND B8	5–5–1	L 12–23
5	Week 5 · Sep 29	UCLA H2H	PAC	7–4–1	W 20–7
6	Week 6 · Oct 6	Northwestern (NORTHWESTERN)H2H	B10	0–11	W 64–0
7	Week 7 · Oct 13	Indiana (INDIANA)H2H	B10	3–8	W 42–28
8	Week 8 · Oct 20	Michigan (MICHIGAN)H2H	B10	9–3	W 9–7
9	Week 9 · Oct 27	Minnesota (MINNESOTA)H2H	B10	6–5	L 10–12
10	Week 10 · Nov 3	Illinois (ILLINOIS)H2H	B10	7–4	L 7–24
11	Week 11 · Nov 10	Purdue (PURDUE)H2H	B10	5–6	W 33–7
12	Week 12 · Nov 17	Wisconsin (WISCONSIN)H2H	B10	7–5	W 17–7
13	Week 13 · Nov 24	Michigan State (MICHIGAN STATE)H2H	B10	5–6	W 36–7
18	Final · Jan 5	Washington (WASHINGTON)H2H	PAC	10–2	L 0–28

Past season results come from the published weekly rankings; home/away is not recorded. Unranked = opponent outside the ranked field. Kickoff times in Eastern Time. TBD = not yet announced. vs* = neutral site. Opp. Record is the current season record; — = unavailable.

Rating Tier Spectrum

1.943

Paramount (best)Rock Bottom

Where the rating sits on the 12-tier scale (lower is better).

NOW — Net Opponent Wins

+29

-16+45

Nebraska +9
Michigan +9
UCLA +7
Wisconsin +7
Purdue +5
Michigan State +5
Indiana +3
Northwestern 0
Washington -2
Illinois -4
Iowa State -5
Minnesota -5

Each win stacks that opponent's win total to the right; each loss stacks that opponent's loss total to the left.

National Standing

Rank #27Better than 81%

Win % Place 33rdBetter than 77%

0.667 Win % · Change -9

Percent of all FBS teams this team is ahead of.

Rank by Week

Higher on the chart = better rank.

Game Margins

-11

+13

+64

+14

-2

-17

+26

+10

+29

-28

Bars above the line are wins, below are losses; height = point margin.

Final Rank by Season

Higher = better finish. Ranks as published.