Apparently, not everyone was impressed with Iowa's dominant performance against Northern Illinois in week one.
Iowa's offense lit up the NIU defense for 507 total yards, while the defense held the Huskies' offense to 120 total yards. The Hawkeyes also dominated on special teams, as transfer wide receiver Evan James carved up the NIU special teams unit with 108 punt return yards and a return touchdown. Iowa had it all working in week one, but one strange top-25 list dropped the Hawkeyes out of the rankings.
RJ Young's top-25 for week two dropped the Hawkeyes completely out
Iowa started the season ranked No. 21 overall in both the AP and coaches' polls and proved that ranking against NIU. The game was never in doubt, but some analysts weren't buying it.
It's time for @RJ_Young's Week 2 Top 25 🙌
— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) September 8, 2026
Do you agree with his rankings? pic.twitter.com/rn6X2zaC4P
In an extremely absurd rankings list, RJ Young dropped the Hawkeyes from No. 21 overall to unranked, even after taking care of business and then some against Northern Illinois. He somehow still had Michigan ranked after a questionable win over Western Michigan, vaulting Florida from unranked to No. 19 and North Dakota State from unranked to No. 24. There is no way that Iowa should have fallen out of his rankings after winning in week one, especially dropping them five spots.
This list proves how biased the media is toward the SEC and CFB blue-bloods, but it could give Iowa some more bulletin-board material. Not only is this list absolutely absurd, but it really doesn't make much sense. Everybody else on his list made minimal moves except for Michigan going down significantly, which was expected after their flub against Western Michigan. This is an opinion-based ranking system, but come on. Iowa did more than enough to show why they deserve their ranking and move up in the AP Top 25 poll.
Iowa took a slight jump in the AP Top-25 rankings this week before a pivotal game against Iowa State, moving to No. 21 overall. At the end of the day, the AP and the coaches poll are the only ones that matter, and luckily, Davis isn't a voter for either one. Even though most Iowa players and coaches will tell you that they completely ignore outside noise, their bulletin board is stacking up with materials they can use for motivation.
Not only did Davis drop them from his top 25, but Iowa State DT Bryson Lamb also claimed they aren't scared of the formidable Iowa offensive line. Iowa doesn't need any motivation for this game, but they have gotten some from unlikely sources. For now, the main focus is taking care of business against Iowa State at Kinnick Stadium in week two, and ignoring all the absurd rankings lists and projections that have been released.
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