With the kickoff of the 2019 college football season nearly upon us, the Associated Press released their annual preseason poll on Monday and the Iowa football team is in the Top 25 to start to season for the 24th time in school history.

The AP Poll has the Hawkeyes ranked 20th in the first poll of the year. This is the first time since the 2016 season that Iowa has been ranked in the Top 25 to start the season. That year, Iowa was 17th in the poll.

This is the 7th time in the Kirk Ferentz era that the Hawkeyes have been ranked in the preseason poll. The highest ranking in the preseason under Ferentz was back in 2010 when Iowa was ranked 9th to begin the season.

The Hawkeyes face a very competitive schedule in 2019 that includes five games against AP preseason Top 25 teams with four of those contests on the road. Opponents in the Top 25 include Michigan (7th), Penn State (15th), Wisconsin (19th), Iowa State (21st) and Nebraska (24th). Iowa opponents Northwestern and Minnesota were also received votes, but were not included in the Top 25 to start the season.