Hlas: Win No. 9 matters more for Hawkeyes than No. 9 ranking

Getting stirred up about Iowa's No. 9 spot in the first College Football Playoff rankings may not be the best use of time, for Hawkeye backers or detractors.

Do you think a 13-0 Iowa team wouldn't be in the Final Four, no matter who it has played and who else is in the hunt? It's possible, sure. However, beating an unbeaten Ohio State or Michigan State on Dec. 5 would bring a lot of converts to the House of Hawkeyes. It's actually doing it that is the hard part.

All that said, the first poll predictably opened a round of 'We're Disrespected,' 'They're Overrated,' and 'We've Done This, They Haven't Done That.' Almost anyone but fans of No. 1 Clemson can play.

In Iowa's case, it can't do anything to defend its remaining Big Ten schedule. It just has to keep winning games and see what happens. Even if the Hawkeyes win from now through Black Friday, they may not do much climbing in the CFP rankings.

The four remaining foes — Indiana, Minnesota, Purdue and Nebraska — have a combined Big Ten record of 3-14. The three wins came against each other.

It might be nice for Iowa if Wisconsin, Northwestern and Pittsburgh tear the rest of their foes to shreds to make the Hawkeyes' wins over those 2-loss teams look better. It would be especially nice for Iowa if Pitt beats No. 5 Notre Dame Saturday.

But if I'm the Hawkeyes, I think I'd like to see Wisconsin lose one more time to open that door to the Big Ten West title wider. Leave the strength-of-schedule worries to Barry Alvarez, Tom Osborne and Condoleezza Rice.

As for now, the impression is that Iowa doesn't pass the eyeball test as easily as certain other clubs. But you can win people over or at least wear them down if you keep winning.

The Vegas College Football Rankings is assembled by a small group of handicappers and oddsmakers in Las Vegas who know their stuff and aren't the least bit emotional about the teams.

Five teams with one defeat are on their list. Iowa isn't. Their top two are Ohio State and Alabama, not Clemson and LSU.

But it's all hot gas until the final four are determined on the first Sunday of December and the fifth team screams bloody murder.

Class will tell in Saturday's LSU-Alabama game. Class will tell when Michigan State visits Ohio State. Class will tell when Baylor, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and TCU have their round-robin. Class will tell for Iowa if it gets to Indianapolis to play the East champ.

Maybe the worst thing to come out of all this for the Hawkeyes — and being No. 9 isn't exactly a kick in the head — is the schedule chatter deflects from what has been a marvelous season so far. An 8-0 record with road wins over two teams that were ranked at the time should be a dish served without a trace of bitterness.

The rest of the season remains a golden opportunity, a chance to go where no Iowa team has gone since 1922 and finish a regular-season with a perfect record. The quest resumes Saturday at Indiana, where Ohio State batted away a Hoosier pass in the end zone to hang on for a 34-27 win on Oct. 3.

If Iowa wins authoritatively over the same team in the same stadium, that's got to be more of a plus than a minus, doesn't it?

In fact, it will be more of a plus than a minus if the Hawkeyes win by one point.