BCS stature nice, but MSU is Iowa’s concern

The BCS rankings are out and Iowa is a player.

Number 6. Not bad, not bad at all.

But know the first set of BCS rankings in mid-October often bears only a vague resemblance to the final ones in early December.

Iowa's one and only serious dance with the BCS came in 2002. On Oct. 20 of that year, the first BCS rankings gave us this: 1. Oklahoma, 2. Miami, 3. Notre Dame, 4. Virginia Tech, 6. Ohio State, 13. Iowa, 14. USC.

When the final BCS standings came out that December: 1. Miami, 2. Ohio State, 4. USC, 5. Iowa, 7. Oklahoma, 9. Notre Dame. Virginia Tech wasn't in the top 15.

In the first 11 years of the BCS, the top two teams in the opening standings have reached the title game just once. Only 10 of the 22 teams that were ranked first or second in the first standings made it all the way to the championship game.

The 7-0 Hawkeyes are five wins from worrying about something as dreamy as a possible spot in the national-title game. Right now, that might as well be five light years away.

If all is truly well in Hawkdom, the team is more focused on MSU than BCS.

Michigan State and its three-game win streak is next, another road game against another dangerous opponent.

"The more we win, the higher the stakes," said Iowa receiver Derrell Johnson-Koulianos after his team's 20-10 triumph at Wisconsin Saturday. "People are going to look at us for the remainder of the year.

"The emphasis and the concentration is going to have to rise for us to make sure we understand. Everybody's gunning for us the rest of the year."

Michigan State will be gunning, all right. A win over Iowa shoots the Spartans (3-1 in the league) into the Big Ten-title chase for real.

The Hawkeyes are headed on the road, for a night game, with a motivated opponent. They've had one, two, even all three of those elements to combat in each of the last several weeks. They get the whole enchilada in East Lansing.

"It's a huge opportunity for Michigan State," said Spartans Coach Mark Dantonio. "It will be a hot ticket."

Tough duty for Iowa. Again.

In the meantime, some things are afterthoughts as lofty things like BCS standings are discussed.

Oh, wouldn't have seven wins been enjoyed much more in 2006 or 2007 than the six Iowa logged in those seasons? The Hawkeyes can lose their next five games and still avoid Detroit's Little Caesars Pizza Bowl. No Big Ten team that brings lots of fans falls all the way to that game with a 7-5 mark.

"I would have hitchhiked up there in '07," Iowa Coach Kirk Ferentz said Saturday.

Now, for the second straight year, there are better carrots to chase.

"Hopefully, the bus is moving in the right direction," Ferentz said. "Now we've got to keep from hitting those potholes or oil slicks or ice patches."

Iowa makes one trip to Michigan this year, and it's not for pizza in Detroit. It's a meaty game in East Lansing, a big one.

Another big one.