The Iowa Hawkeyes lost a tough one against Iowa State on Saturday, but it doesn't necessarily mean that the Hawkeyes are out of the playoff just yet. With the new expanded format the Hawkeyes could afford to lose one and possibly even two teams, but they can't rely on that.
This loss is a hard one to swallow as it's against an in-state rival, but they have to keep their eyes on the prize, learn, and move forward. The playoff is not completely out of reach and this game can teach the Hawkeyes a lot.
Even though Iowa lost, they aren't the only ranked team that lost. No. 19 Kansas lost to Illinois, No. 5 Notre Dame lost to Northern Illinois, and No. 10 Michigan lost to No. 3 Texas. Other teams struggled against the opponent they were favored like Alabama, Oregon, Kansas State, and Penn State.
So with the second week of college football in the books, here are my Week 2 College Football Playoff predictions.
Rank | Team | Why are they here | Previous ranking |
|---|---|---|---|
1 | Georgia | SEC Champion | 1 |
2 | Ohio State | Big Ten Champion | 2 |
3 | Miami | ACC Champion | 3 |
4 | Kansas State | Big 12 Champion | 11 |
5 | Texas | At-large | 6 |
6 | Missouri | At-large | 8 |
7 | Ole Miss | At-large | Unranked |
8 | Tennessee | At-large | Unranked |
9 | Oregon | At-large | 5 |
10 | Penn State | At-large | Unranked |
11 | Notre Dame | At-large | 9 |
12 | Boise State | MW Champion | 12 |
There wasn't a lot of movement for the top three teams as they all dominated their matchups the way they were supposed to. Kansas State jumped back up to the No. 4 spot after a solid comeback win over Tulane, but the Big 12 is still very much in the air and Utah is there knocking on the door.
The SEC is definitely dominating these rankings with five teams in and they could have had more. Alabama did drop out, but that's because it took them till five minutes left in the game to effectively put away USF, a team they should have beaten-handedly. Texas showed that they truly could be back with a dominant win at Michigan, essentially knocking them out of these rankings as well. Let's not forget about Missouri though as they haven't given up a point yet this season against Murray State and Buffalo.
Ole Miss and Tennessee make their first appearances in this prediction as they have also dominated their opponents at the beginning of the season. Oregon dropped a couple of spots after struggling to beat Boise State at home in Eugene. Penn State made their first appearance in the ranking as well, but it was with some caution after the way they looked against Bowling Green.
The choice to leave Notre Dame in the rankings was tough as they not only lost to Northern Illinois, but they lost at home where they had the crowd on their side. The Fighting Irish look almost exposed after the offensive performance they put up. They are favored to win the rest of their games, but their biggest opponent is USC at the end of the season, but the Trojans need to be a worthy opponent by then.
Boise State is still the best-looking Group of Five team in these rankings as they almost took down Oregon, a team that some think could take out Ohio State. The Broncos are strong and even with one loss could still make the playoffs.