Dear Old Gold
Fansided

Iowa football: Hawkeyes still ranked in Week 11 CFP Rankings

By Andrew Wade

WEST LAFAYETTE, IN - NOVEMBER 03: Nate Stanley #4 of the Iowa Hawkeyes runs the ball during the game against the Purdue Boilermakers at Ross-Ade Stadium on November 3, 2018 in West Lafayette, Indiana. (Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images)
WEST LAFAYETTE, IN - NOVEMBER 03: Nate Stanley #4 of the Iowa Hawkeyes runs the ball during the game against the Purdue Boilermakers at Ross-Ade Stadium on November 3, 2018 in West Lafayette, Indiana. (Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit

The week eleven College Football Playoff rankings were released last night, and the Iowa football team remained within the top 25. Find out where below.

The Iowa football team has now been in the first two College Football Playoff rankings, but this week’s inclusion wasn’t such a certainty after the Hawkeyes fell to the Purdue Boilermakers Saturday afternoon. Last week, the committee placed Iowa at #16 in their inaugural 2018 poll, and within reason of what I predicted yesterday morning, the committee kept the Hawks in the poll at #21.

This despite Iowa falling out of both the AP and Coaches poll this week. Fortunately for the Iowa football team, the committee values the Hawks much more than the press or coaches especially considering this is the only poll that actually matters come postseason time.

Important to the Hawks is where the other Big Ten teams fell within the rankings. The Michigan Wolverines moved up to #4 while the Ohio State Buckeyes stayed still at #10 after their narrow win over the Nebraska Cornhuskers. Meanwhile, Penn State fell to #20 after getting their butts kicked by Michigan 42-7. Somewhat surprisingly, ,the Michigan State Spartans made their first appearance in the CFP rankings coming in at #18 after a 24-3 win over Maryland.

No other Big Ten teams made the cut including the first place Northwestern Wildcats or the 6-3 Wisconsin Badgers who also beat Iowa earlier this season. This tells me the committee isn’t fond of Wisconsin’s early season loss to 4-5 BYU or their small victory over Rutgers or their loss to Northwestern. If the committee truly is holding the Northwestern loss against Wisconsin, this bodes well for the Hawks as long as they can take care of business this week.

As I alluded to in an article yesterday, the Hawkeyes surprisingly still have a lot to play for this season despite being mostly out of the running for the Big Ten West title. If Penn State and Michigan State both manage to fall one more time this season, the Iowa Hawkeyes would be the third highest ranked team in the CFP rankings leaving them a potentially clear shot at playing in the Citrus Bowl.

Other notable teams in the ranking:

  • Iowa State sits right behind Iowa at #22.
  • 6-3 Texas is two spots in front of Iowa at #18 even though they share a common opponent (Maryland).
  • #16 Mississippi State plays #1 Alabama this weekend. How far will they fall after a very likely loss?
  • #18 Michigan State plays #10 Ohio State this weekend. How far will Michigan State fall if they move to 6-4?
  • #19 Penn State plays Wisconsin this week. If Wisconsin wins, how will the playoff committee value a 6-3 Wisconsin team with a win over ranked Penn State?

Related Story. What needs to happen for Iowa to make the Citrus Bowl?. light

Regardless of the outcome of this weekend’s games, it’s exciting to see the Hawkeyes remain in the poll. It means there is a still a shot at a better postseason bowl than many fans thought possible after Saturday.