The University of Iowa currently fields 22 varsity teams, competing in the
Big Ten Conference. Three men's teamsgymnastics, swimming and diving, and tenniswere eliminated after the 2020–21 academic year to help address a projected $60–75million deficit related to the
COVID-19 pandemic.
Men's sports Baseball 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. but it was on January 18, 1896, that Iowa played the
University of Chicago in the first five-on-five college basketball game. The
Maroons won that game, 15–12. Six years later, men's basketball became a sanctioned varsity sport under head coach Ed Rule. Rule coached the Hawkeyes in four non-consecutive seasons until 1908, compiling a 37–15 record. Iowa played in the national championship game against
San Francisco in 1956, but lost by 12 after taking an early double-digit lead. The Hawkeyes played in a third Final Four in 1980, and have also won the
Big Ten tournament thrice since its 1998 inception, in 2001, 2006, and 2022. Iowa's current coach is
Ben McCollum, who coached at
Drake University before coming to Iowa in 2025. The Hawkeyes have played their home games in
Carver–Hawkeye Arena since 1983; the arena can currently hold up to 15,500 people.
Cross country The Hawkeyes' men's
cross country team won team Big Ten titles in 1961 and 1966 and have also had nine individual Big Ten champions, most recently with Larry Wieczorek in 1967. Wieczorek's time in the 8,000 meter race still stands as the sixth-quickest time in school history. To date, Deacon Jones is Iowa's lone national champion, having won the award in 1957. Both Jones and Wieczorek were all-Americans for the Hawkeyes, along with Kevin Herd, Stetson Steele, and Ted Wheeler.
Football on September 8, 2007 Football at the University of Iowa dates back as far as November 27, 1872, when the Iowa Academics played a game against the University of Iowa College of Law. However, football was not officially recognized as a varsity sport until November 16, 1889, when the Hawkeyes played against and lost to
Grinnell. The next year, Iowa got its first win against
Iowa Wesleyan, and since then, the Hawkeyes have won 11
Big Ten championships and have played in 30 post-season
bowl games. The Hawkeyes are 18–16–1 in such games, having most recently won against Kentucky in the
2022 Music City Bowl. Iowa won the 2010 Orange Bowl vs
Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets 24–14. The Orange Bowl is a BCS bowl game. Iowa's first bowl game was the
1957 Rose Bowl, which ended in a 35–19 win over
Oregon State. The Hawkeyes' lone claim to a national championship came after winning the Rose Bowl following the 1958 season, when they were awarded the Grantland Rice trophy by the Football Writers Association of America. The Hawkeyes' current head coach is
Kirk Ferentz. In nineteen seasons under Ferentz, the Hawkeyes have won a
BCS bowl, two Big Ten titles and have played in fifteen bowl games. Ferentz is the all time Iowa football wins leader with 151 after surpassing his predecessor, Hayden Fry, during the 2018 football season. Fry, who coached the Hawkeyes for 20 seasons, had 143 wins, three Big Ten titles, and 14
bowl trips in his tenure at Iowa. Fry also led the Hawkeyes to eight-straight bowl games from 1981 to 1988, the longest such streak in program history. Fry was inducted into the
College Football Hall of Fame in 2003. In 2015, the Hawks made it to the Rose Bowl and lost to Stanford. Since 1929, the Hawkeyes have played their home games in
Kinnick Stadium. Renamed in 1972 in honor of Iowa's lone
Heisman Trophy winner,
Nile Kinnick, Kinnick won the Heisman Award following the conclusion of the
1939 season, but died on June 2, 1943, in the
Gulf of Paria during a World War II training flight. His face can still be seen today, on the coins that officials toss at the beginning of all Big Ten games.
Gymnastics Iowa's men's gymnastics team is credited with winning the first NCAA national championship in school history in 1969. This, in turn, allowed the University of Iowa to become the last of all the Big Ten schools to have won a national championship in an NCAA-sponsored sport. The Hawkeyes have also won seven Big Ten team titles, the last coming in 1998. On the individual level, 12 Hawkeyes have won national championships. Michael Reavis is Iowa's most-recent national champion, having won on
vault in 2005.
Swimming and diving Men's swimming became a sanctioned varsity sport at the University of Iowa in 1917, with David Armbruster as the team's coach. Coaching from 1917 to 1958, Armbruster led the Hawkeyes to one Big Ten championship, in 1936. He was followed by Robert Allen, who coached the Hawkeyes until 1975. Under Allen, Iowa's best finish in the Big Ten was fifth, on two occasions. Glenn Patton was next in the line of coaches, and during his tenure, the Hawkeyes won two Big Ten championships and finished as high as eighth on the national level. Currently, Marc Long is Iowa's men's and women's swimming coach. On 19 occasions has a men's swimmer at Iowa won an individual national championship. Ray Walters was the Hawkeyes' first national champion, having won the 50 meter
freestyle in 1936. Nine of Iowa's national championships in men's swimming, however, are credited to
Artur Wojdat, who competed at the collegiate level from 1989 to 1992. Wojdat was an 18-time all-American, a 10-time Big Ten champion, and a four-time national champion in the 500 yard freestyle event. Wojdat also won the bronze medal in the 400 meter freestyle at the
1988 Summer Olympics in
Seoul,
South Korea. Receiving NCAA Swimmer of the Year in 2010 & 2011 while on the University of Florida swim team, Olympian
Conor Dwyer swam with the Hawkeyes swim team on scholarship for his first two collegiate seasons: the Hawkeyes were the only university to offer Dwyer a scholarship after high school.
Tennis Men's tennis became a varsity sport at Iowa in 1939, and from that time to the present, the Hawkeyes have won the Big Ten championship once, in 1958. That year, the Hawkeyes recorded a 10–1 team record and finished third at the national level. In 1998, Tyler Cleveland won the Big Ten Freshman of the Year Award. He later won the Big Ten Player of the Year Award twice, in 2000 and 2001. Cleveland and as of 2013 14 other men's tennis players had been named to an all-Big Ten team. The team is currently coached by Ross Wilson.
Kareem Al Allaf holds the all-time wins record for singles and doubles combined in college tennis at the University of Iowa, with 164 combined wins for the Hawkeyes, for whom he played from 2016 to 2021. Allaf earned three All-
Big Ten honors. In outdoor track competition, Iowa has won team Big Ten titles in 1963, 1967, 2011, 2019, and 2021. Their 2011 championship ended a 44-year drought. Iowa jumped Minnesota on the last day of the tournament by placing ahead of the Golden Gophers in the 4x400 – the last event of the tournament. Since 1902, the Hawkeyes have had 92 separate individual Big Ten championships. Yamini currently shares the Big Ten Outdoor Championships long jump record with Ohio State's
Jesse Owens. Former Iowa football player
Tim Dwight also competed in track. Dwight won the 100 meter Big Ten championship in 1999 with a time of 10.51 seconds. Iowa's first Big Ten championship came in 1958, a year in which the Hawkeyes also had 10 dual wins for the first time. However, Iowa would not win another Big Ten title until 1974, under head coach Gary Kurdelmeier. Kurdelmeier led the Hawkeyes to their first national championship in 1975 and their second in 1976. Iowa lost only one dual match in those two seasons. Gable was replaced as coach by
Jim Zalesky. Under Zalesky, the Hawkeyes won three straight national titles from 1998 to 2000 and placed ten individual national champions. However, Zalesky was fired following the 2005–2006 season, as the Hawkeyes began to fade on the national level. He was replaced by
Tom Brands, who in 2008 led Iowa to its first team national title since 2000.
Brent Metcalf and Mark Perry won individual national championships in 2008, with Perry becoming Iowa's 17th four-time all-American. Brands' Hawkeyes also won team NCAA championships in 2009, 2010 and 2021.
Women's sports Basketball 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. 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, 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.
Rowing 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. 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.
Softball The Hawkeye softball team has appeared in four Women's College World Series, in 1995, 1996, 1997, and 2001. The current head softball coach of the Hawkeyes is
Renee Luers-Gillispie.
Swimming and diving Nancilea Underwood (now Foster) was a diver on the United States Olympic Team in 2008 after completing her career diving for the University of Iowa. She was a 4-time US National Champion in individual and synchronized springboard events. She placed 8th on the 3 meter springboard at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.
Wrestling On September 23, 2021, Iowa announced that it would add women's wrestling for the 2023–24 school year. At the time, the NCAA did not hold a championship in that sport, but recognized it as part of the
NCAA Emerging Sports for Women program. Iowa became the first
power conference school to sponsor varsity women's wrestling. Women's wrestling graduated from the Emerging Sports program to official championship status effective in 2025–26. Iowa remains the only power conference school to
sponsor women's wrestling, and is one of only six Division I members with a varsity program.
Soccer The program made its first
NCAA Tournament appearance in 2013 and has since qualified in 2019, 2020, 2023, and 2024. Under head coach Dave DiIanni, Iowa won
Big Ten Tournament titles in 2020 and 2023 and reached the Sweet Sixteen for the first time in 2024.
Field hockey The program was founded in 1977 by Christine H.B. Grant, who established the team, served as Iowa's first women's athletics director (1973–2000), and was a national advocate for
Title IX—testifying in court, serving as a federal consultant, and shaping gender equity policy. The team captured the
NCAA Championship in 1986, the first Midwestern program to do so, and has made numerous
Final Four appearances. Their home field was renamed
Dr. Christine H.B. Grant Field in her honor in 1991 and rededicated after renovations in 2006. The Hawkeyes have won 16 conference titles (13 regular‑season, 6 tournament) and made numerous NCAA Tournament and Final Four appearances. Coached by Lisa Cellucci since 2014, Iowa has earned
Big Ten Coach of the Year honors three years in a row (2019–21) and reached the NCAA semifinals in 2020.
Spirit Squad The University of Iowa Spirit Squad consists of the Dance Team, Cheer Team, and the university mascot, Herky. The group includes over 50 members who perform at Iowa athletic events and participate in community outreach. The Iowa Dance Team also competes nationally at the Universal Dance Association (UDA) College Nationals. The team's highest placement at the competition is third place, achieved in both 2017 and 2020. As of 2024, the program has recorded 11 consecutive years of Top 10 finishes at UDA Nationals. In 2022, Nathan Polancyak became the first male member of the University of Iowa Dance Team. == Notable non-varsity sports ==