Tuesday Hawkeyes Reading Room -- Iowa and the BCS computers: A love story

Brad Edwards of ESPN.com says there's room for No. 4 Iowa to advance in the BCS rankings. If, obviously, it keeps winning. Edwards writes:

The Hawkeyes are No. 2 in the computer element this week and figure to finish no worse than that if they win out.

Fortunately for Iowa, the computers are not allowed to process margin of victory, and

they don't have eyes to see the team's ugly performance in the first three quarters of last week's game against Indiana. That, along with an impressive group of road wins (Penn State, Wisconsin and Michigan State) that could be strengthened even further by an upcoming trip to Ohio State, has the Hawkeyes in prime position within the second tier of contenders.

Plus, there's no place for Iowa to go but up in the polls right now. If some of the many skeptical voters can be sold on the Hawkeyes over the next three weeks, even greater movement within the BCS is possible.

ESPN.com's Mark Schlabach handicaps the BCS race. He says Iowa is a 15-to-1 shot to win the national-championship along with Cincinnati. Alabama, Florida and Texas are all 3-1. It's all safe stuff, so I'm offering no excerpt.

Add Kirk Bohls of the Austin American-Statesman to the list of those who 1) thinks Iowa is nothing special and 2) calls the Hawkeyes' win over Indiana "tainted." From Bohls' Monday column:

If I were a Longhorn fan, I'd root for Iowa to remain unbeaten and face an undefeated Texas in the BCS title game if Florida and Alabama suffer a regular-season loss before the SEC championship game - which I think is possible. Watched most of Iowa's tainted win over Indiana and thought I observed some of the worst officiating ever, not to mention some poor play-calling by Hoosiers coach Bill Lynch. If he had called a simple running play at the Iowa 2-yard line - and, if it failed, kicked a field goal - Indiana would have led by 17 late in the third quarter.

Instead, Indiana had a bizarre interception returned for a touchdown to ignite a Hawkeyes comeback. Guess that's why Indiana's Indiana.

John Feinstein of the Washington Post doesn't like how the BCS works. The difference between you and him? He has a column in which to express his BCS disdain.

And he expresses it quite well right here. An excerpt:

Iowa might lose to Ohio State and still get a BCS bid, and Penn State, which already lost to Iowa, could, too.

But Boise State almost certainly won't -- unless TCU loses a game and Boise State wins out.

For the grief the Big Ten is catching, Newsday's Mike Rose ranks it third of the six BCS football conferences. Rose writes:

Believe it or not, the Big Ten could end up with four teams with 10 or more wins -- Iowa, Penn State, Ohio State and Wisconsin.

The Useless Paragraph of the Week comes to us courtesy of the Big Ten Network's Web site, which says here:

Michigan State, Minnesota, Northwestern and Purdue all have three conference losses, which means they need to win out and have the Hawkeyes drop their final three games to have a chance to earn a share of the Big Ten crown.

What the story didn't mention is that Penn State and Ohio State would have to go 1-2 in their final three games, with Penn State beating Ohio State when they meet Saturday.

Sure, Iowa goes 0-3, Penn State and Ohio State go 1-2. Is it any wonder there's so much excitement this week at Michigan State, Minnesota, Northwestern and Purdue? Or is that just from the jostling to get in position for the Insight Bowl?