Iowa’s Newest Football Team Qualifies for Playoffs Despite Awful Record

A terrible first season for Iowa's newest football team wasn't enough to keep them out of the playoffs. The Iowa Woo are looking for the most important win of their season in the first of two playoff games in the newly formed Arena League.

If you're unfamiliar, the Iowa Woo (originally known as the Waterloo Woo) is a four-team indoor arena football league that began play this summer. Cities include Waterloo, Duluth (MN), Kansas City (MO), and the Ozarks (Springfield, MO). Full Disclosure: the Arena League is NOT the same as the Arena Football League. The Arena Football League began in 1986, folded in 2019, and is in the midst of a comeback (albeit a rocky one) this year. The Arena League is a brand new football league.

The Iowa Woo got off to a miserable start in their inaugural season, starting the season 0-4 and notching their first win against the Duluth Harbor Monsters on June 29th. The Woo defeated the Monsters 41-22 in one of the lower-scoring games in the league's brief history. Weeks later, the Woo would give up 99 points to the Kansas City Goats.

Part of the reason for some of the finals in the Arena League looking more like basketball scores than that of conventional American football scores is due to the fact that the field is only 50 yards. This obviously leads to more offensive action, and as a result, more scoring.

Get our free mobile app

Still, the 1-7 Woo have clinched the fourth seed in the Arena League's first playoffs. Being that there are only four teams, every team would need to participate in the playoffs. Otherwise, the two top-seeded teams would ultimately make up the championship game. So, the Woo get one final shot to preserve their season, with a matchup against first-seed Kansas City (7-1) on August 3rd at St. Pius X High School in Kansas City, MO.

Should the Woo somehow pull off a miraculous upset, they would face either Duluth Harbor or the Ozarks Lunkers in ArenaMania, the league's first ever championship game on August 10th.

No less, the Woo have seemingly brought some palpable excitement to Waterloo, IA. Their home games are played at the Hippodrome. The Iowa Woo Facebook page frequently shows players and coaches out in the community of Waterloo, interacting with fans, and exuding a positive vibe. That's something that ultimately means more than wins and losses.

Arena League Commissioner Brown told the people of Waterloo in a May 2023 press conference that the Arena League is coming to the Cedar Valley because "people wanted it:"

They were chosen because of the fan support we got when we sent out the information [....] overwhelmingly the city said yes we want a team here so that is why we were in Springfield. That is why we were in Duluth and we have one more city we will announce in the next couple of weeks, and that is why we are excited because the city and fans are excited. - per KWWL

Follow the Iowa Woo on the team's official website.

READ ABOUT THE FIFTH GRADER WHO DECIDED THE IOWA WOO'S OFFICIAL MASCOT.