Iowa moves to No. 3 in AP college football Top 25 rankings

Iowa City is home to a top-three college football program.

The weekly Associated Press poll bumped Iowa from No. 5 to No. 3 Sunday. It’s the Hawkeyes’ highest ranking since 2015.

The rise in the rankings comes after Iowa’s 37-point win over Maryland and then-No. 3 Oregon’s 31-24 loss to unranked Stanford.

The fourth week for Iowa (5-0, 2-0) as No. 5 or better marks the program’s longest run as a top-five team in the AP Poll since 2002.

The Hawkeyes did not receive any first-place votes, which all went to No. 1 Alabama and No. 2 Georgia.

Iowa also moved to No. 3 in the USA Today Sports AFCA Coaches Poll and the Football Writers Association of America-National Football Foundation Super 16 Poll.

Iowa’s next opponent Penn State (5-0, 2-0) remained at No. 4 in the AP poll after its 24-0 win against Indiana.

It will be the first game at Kinnick Stadium between two top-five teams since then-No. 1 Iowa defeated then-No. 2 Michigan in 1985.

Iowa has not played a top-five foe while also being in the top five since the 2015 Big Ten championship game against Michigan State. It’ll be a first for Penn State, too, since 1999.

The Hawkeyes have worked to not think about the rankings, though, players have repeatedly said this season.

“The rankings really do not matter,” quarterback Spencer Petras said after Friday’s win, “because if we lose, we’re not going to be ranked as high as we are.”

Five teams in the Big Ten are ranked in the AP Poll. Ohio State is at No. 7, Michigan is at No. 9 and Michigan State is at No. 11.

The poll saw a shakeup after nine ranked teams suffered losses over the weekend, including four top-10 teams.

Iowa State (3-2, 1-1) did not receive any votes for the first time this season. The Cyclones had a 59-7 win against Kansas Saturday, but they lost 31-29 to an unranked Baylor team the previous week.

AP Top 25

1. Alabama (5-0), 53 first-place votes

2. Georgia (5-0), 9 first-place votes

3. Iowa (5-0)

4. Penn State (5-0)

5. Cincinnati (4-0)

6. Oklahoma (5-0)

7. Ohio State (4-1)

8. Oregon(4-1)

9. Michigan (5-0)

10. BYU (5-0)

11. Michigan State (5-0)

12. Oklahoma State (5-0)

13. Arkansas (4-1)

14. Notre Dame (4-1)

15. Coastal Carolina (5-0)

16. Kentucky (5-0)

17. Mississippi (3-1)

18. Auburn (4-1)

19. Wake Forest (5-0)

20. Florida (3-2)

21. Texas (4-1)

22. Arizona State (4-1)

23. NC State (4-1)

24. SMU (5-0)

25. San Diego State (4-0)

Others receiving votes: Clemson 96, Texas A&M 41, Oregon St. 27, Baylor 24, Mississippi St. 18, Virginia Tech 13, Stanford 11, UTSA 10, Pittsburgh 6, Fresno St. 5, Texas Tech 4, W. Michigan 3, Kansas St. 2, Appalachian St. 2, UCLA 1, Boston College 1.

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