Iowa football: Path to the playoffs goes through Penn State

The Iowa football team is off to one of their best starts in the Kirk Ferentz era, and they still have a shot at the playoff. Here is what it would take.

The Hawkeyes are coming off an easy 23-0 victory against the Maryland Terrapins, and their sights are now set on the #16 Penn State Nittany Lions. Sitting at 6-1, the Iowa football team is in a position to do something they have never done, make the College Football Playoffs. Although it is slim, there is still a chance, and the road goes right through Happy Valley. Here is how the Iowa football team can find themselves playing for a College Football National Championship.

Before we begin, it’s important to understand the current landscape of the College Football Playoff. As it stands today, the top four teams are Alabama, Clemson, Notre Dame and LSU. Closely behind is Michigan, Georgia, Texas, and Oklahoma. The Iowa football team is currently sitting at #18, 14 spots behind the last spot.

It’s important to note as well that the coaches poll doesn’t mean much in the grand scheme of things. The most important ranking is the CFP committee ranking that should be coming out soon.

With five regular season games remaining, the Iowa football team still has a fighting chance at forcing their way into the conversation, but they’ll need a little help. Unfortunately, the heart breaking loss to Wisconsin is still hanging over this season as the Badgers control the tiebreaker over Iowa for Big Ten West title.

First and foremost, the Iowa football team needs to win out the regular season, which features a few tough games including traveling to Penn State and Purdue (which handedly beat Ohio State this past weekend), and taking on giant-killing Northwestern.

Second, Iowa needs Wisconsin to lose at least one more game so they can take the Big Ten West lead. Fortunately, Wisconsin does have to travel to Penn State and Purdue so there is a chance they come away from those games with at least one loss.

If the first two things happen, this will set up the Iowa football team with their second appearance in the Big Ten Championship Game against a hopefully one-loss Michigan or one-loss Ohio State team. This is the extend to which the Iowa football team can control their own destiny. After that, it’s all up to the committee, but it would be extremely tough for them to leave out a one-loss Big Ten team that has wins against Penn State and Michigan/Ohio State with their only loss coming against Wisconsin.

Regardless of how the season plays out, the fact that we are seven weeks into the season and talking about Iowa’s playoff chances is a testament to how great this season has already been. Let’s see if the Iowa football team can keep it going and turn in another magical season for the history books.