Iowa slides to No. 17 in College Football Playoff rankings despite win over Illinois

IOWA CITY — Iowa slid one spot in the College Football Playoff rankings to No. 17 with one week of the regular season remaining.

The move from No. 16 to No. 17 was despite Iowa's 15-13 win against Illinois last weekend. The Hawkeyes improved to 9-2 overall and 6-2 in Big Ten play along with clinching the outright Big Ten West title with the victory.

Fourteen of the 15 teams ahead of Iowa in last week’s CFP rankings won last weekend, limiting the upward mobility of the Hawkeyes this week. The one team to lose, Oregon State, fell from No. 11 to No. 16 after suffering a two-point loss to then-No. 5 Washington.

Arizona jumped in front of Iowa — going from No. 17 to No. 15 — after its dominant, 42-18, win over then-No. 22 Utah. Iowa has not faced a ranked opponent since its 31-0 loss to then-No. 7 Penn State in September.

Three other Big Ten teams are in the CFP’s latest rankings — No. 2 Ohio State, No. 3 Michigan and No. 11 Penn State.

Iowa will face the winner of this weekend’s Ohio State-Michigan game on Dec. 2 in the Big Ten championship game.

Comments: john.steppe@thegazette.com