Hawkeyes move up to No. 4 in College Football Playoff rankings

IOWA CITY - This really is the college football version of bracketology. It doesn't mean a thing, but, no, it certainly can't hurt to see your team's name in a good spot on the bracket.

The Iowa Hawkeyes broke into the College Football Playoff final four on Tuesday night, moving up a spot from last week and into No. 4. This puts Iowa, a year removed from 7-6, a Black Friday collapse against Nebraska and a TaxSlayer Bowl humiliation, as close as a program can be to controlling its own destiny. If the Hawkeyes (11-0, 7-0 Big Ten) can beat Nebraska (5-6, 3-4) on Friday and beat the East Division champion in the Big Ten championship game on Dec. 5 in Indianapolis, they'll be in the national final four, which, with two votes remaining in the season, had Clemson No. 1, Alabama No. 2 and Oklahoma No. 3.

CFP committee chairman Jeff Long said told ESPN that there were a 'number” of revotes from the committee in the Nos. 3 to 6 area. Michigan State (10-1) moved up to No. 5, while Notre Dame, after a lackluster victory over Boston College, fell out of the top 4 to No. 6.

How did Oklahoma, Iowa and Michigan State differentiate?

'We discussed why the Sooners with one loss should rank higher than the undefeated Iowa,” Long said. 'The answer: An increasingly impressive body of work that includes wins the past two weeks over ranked opponents Baylor and TCU.

'We similarly had a lengthy discussion of Michigan State and Iowa. The committee viewed the two teams as equal in so many areas. Iowa's undefeated record made the difference.”

The committee comprises 12 people, so four is the minimum number for a revote. This week, however, Mike Tranghese was ill and didn't attend the meeting or vote, so the vote was 11.

Long was pressed on Michigan State's position. The Spartans have six wins over .500 teams and three over CFP top 25 (Ohio State, Michigan and Oregon).

'Well, again, in our view, Oklahoma is better than Iowa, so in our estimation and in our votes, we feel that way,” Long said. 'And then again, we thought Iowa and Michigan State were extremely close. We compared them very closely, and as you pointed out, they do have some differences there.

'But I think in the end, they were so close that the fact that Iowa is undefeated and they have not had a misstep along the way at this point gave them the edge against Michigan State.”

The selection committee will prepare two more rankings, including the final set on Selection Day (Dec. 6). The top four teams in the final rankings will play in the Playoff Semifinals on December 31, 2015, at the Capital One Orange Bowl and the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic.

The semifinals pit the No. 1 seed vs. No. 4 and the No. 2 vs. the No. 3. The national championship game is Jan. 11 at the University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Ariz.

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