Iowa football: Predicting where Hawks land in end of season rankings

The Iowa football program took care of business Tuesday against #18 Mississippi State, and they should be in the final CFP rankings because of it.

It’s not necessarily something that is openly talked about, but after the Iowa football team’s Outback Bowl win over #18 Mississippi State, Kirk Ferentz opened up a bit about the season and what this win means to him including the possibility of finishing the season ranked.

"Our team, certainly happy for them but our seniors, to go out with another good season, finished up with nine wins, four trophies this year and should be a top 20 football team."

When looking at the final regular season College Football Playoff rankings, I honestly find it difficult to see how they could possibly leave the Iowa football team out. In fact, I thought there was a chance that the Hawks snuck into the final slot when the final regular season poll was being released, but that obviously, did not happen.

Prior to bowl season mostly finishing up, there were six teams with eight wins inside the Top-25 and seven teams with nine wins. Six of those thirteen teams including #24 Iowa State, #23 Missouri, and #18 Mississippi State. Moreover, the #25 team, Boise State, didn’t get a chance to play as their bowl game was canceled.

That means there are anywhere from 6-7 slots up for grabs at this point, and factoring in that the Iowa football team beat one of those ranked teams, they are almost assuredly going to be in the Top-25, but where?

Nine wins should easily push them past Boise State, Iowa State, Missouri, and Mississippi State who all lost or didn’t play. #17 Utah also lost to Northwestern, and I could see the Hawks jumping them and they should be able to jump #16 West Virginia who fell to Syracuse.

While there’s no magic science to the College Football Playoff committees ranking process, they factor in head-to-head, overall wins, key losses, etc. to make their determination. It’s important to note that for awhile, the committee continued to value the Hawkeyes more so than other teams with similar wins.

With this in mind, I believe when the final rankings come out, the Iowa football team will be sitting at #19, which all things considered, is a pretty darn good year for the Hawkeyes.