Iowa zooms up to No. 5 in latest rankings

IOWA CITY - Iowa's no-frills, pork-and-potatoes style of football has cleansed the palate of the College Football Playoff selection committee and earned the Hawkeyes their highest ranking in the two-year poll.

In a surprise to many observers, the committee ranked Iowa No. 5 on Tuesday night, a four-spot leap from last week and ahead of unbeatens Oklahoma State and Baylor from the Big 12. Committee chairman Jeff Long said what Iowa lacks in sizzle, they make up for in substance.

'I think it's a recognition by the committee that they were increasingly impressed with Iowa and their body of work,” said Long, the athletics director at Arkansas. 'You know, they have the strongest strength of schedule of the undefeated teams, other than Clemson, the No. 1 team, and then I think they appreciated the road victories they have. They have two road victories against top-25 ranked teams by the CFP, not including that Indiana win, which, again, was another road victory for them.

'I think we recognized that they are consistent on both sides of the ball. They're not a flashy team, but they are consistent.”

The Hawkeyes (9-0, 5-0 Big Ten) are the second-highest rated Big Ten squad by the committee. Ohio State (9-0, 5-0) is ranked third, while Michigan State (8-1, 4-1) fell to 13th after a last-second loss to Nebraska. Also ranked are No. 14 Michigan (7-2, 4-1), No. 18 Northwestern (7-2, 3-2) and No. 25 Wisconsin (8-2, 5-1), which makes its debut. Iowa beat both the Wildcats and Badgers on the road this year.

Clemson (9-0) held the top spot for the second straight week, followed by Alabama (8-1), Ohio State (9-0) and Notre Dame (8-1). Iowa edged Baylor (8-0) for the fifth slot and slightly ahead of No. 7 Stanford (8-1) and No. 8 Oklahoma State (9-0).

Iowa's hold on fifth is tenuous, however. Long said the committee had long discussions among teams five through eight and they were closely ranked. Iowa owns two top-25 wins while Baylor's strength of schedule ranks 94th nationally. But both Baylor and No. 12 Oklahoma each have three games against ranked opponents, and Oklahoma State has two more. Stanford plays Notre Dame and a potential Pac-12 championship game.

Iowa's final three regular-season opponents have a combined record of 10-18 and 4-12 in Big Ten play. But the Hawkeyes would get a boost from facing Ohio State in the Big Ten title game. Iowa needs two wins to clinch the Big Ten West Division title.

'Their fan base maybe got a hold of the committee because they have been very, very frustrated with a lot of people not giving this team the recognition they deserve,” ESPN analyst Kirk Herbstreit said. 'Iowa, this is huge news because if you sit and look at the schedule that they have, they have a big opportunity to take care of business in the regular season.

'If Iowa wins out, they will be one of the four teams. It's as simple as that.”

The Hawkeyes have scored fewer than 27 points only once. Nationally they rank eighth in scoring defense.

'I think you look at the team (Iowa Coach Kirk) Ferentz has is playing exceptionally fundamentally sound football on the defensive side of the ball,” ESPN analyst Danny Kanell said. 'They've got a quarterback in C.J. Beathard, who is making great decisions. They've got multiple backs in the backfield who are capable of running the football, Akrum Wadley is the latest one who has really taken over since (Jordan) Canzeri has been hurt. When they get him back, they have a sound identity. They just play good, fundamentally sound football.”

The lack of sizzle apparently is winning over analysts.

'Consistent, not flashy, solid on both sides of the ball,” ESPN analyst Joey Galloway said. 'If anybody has watched Iowa play this year, that's what you could say. You couldn't come away with anything else to say about Iowa because it is not a fun style of football to watch. It's two tight ends, it's a fullback, they've had three running backs over 100 yards. That's their style of football. It won't grab your attention. It won't be like watching Big 12 football. It won't be like watching Clemson or Alabama. They are just a solidly consistent football team.

'The fact that they are in the top six at this moment, they will have an Ohio State team maybe a Michigan team in the Big Ten championship game, this Iowa team that nobody wants to give a ton of respect to right now, I respect the committee for actually sitting down and studying this team and seeing what they are and they are going to be right in striking distance if they run the table and finish off this season.”

The Hawkeyes face longtime rival Minnesota (4-5, 1-4 Big Ten) at 7 p.m. Saturday at Kinnick Stadium. Iowa then plays host to Purdue (2-7, 1-4) on Nov. 21 before traveling to Nebraska (4-6, 2-4) on Nov. 27.

l Comments: (319) 339-3169; scott.dochterman@thegazette.com