Iowa Hawkeyes sent College Football Playoff prediction as Oregon, USC, Nebraska loom originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
The Iowa Hawkeyes may be a College Football Playoff team.
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After losing the Cy-Hawk rivalry game to the Iowa State Cyclones 16-13 in classic “El Assico” fashion and going down 20-15 to the Indiana Hoosiers over a three-week span in September, Iowa’s outlook was bleak.
Handling business against everyone in front of them, the Wisconsin Badgers, Penn State Nittany Lions, and Minnesota Golden Gophers, from that point on, have the Hawkeyes squarely in the postseason mix, says USA Today’s Paul Myerberg.
Iowa’s latest win, a 41-3 blowout of the Golden Gophers in Iowa City, was that kind of statement.
Myerberg added the caveat that the Hoosiers and Ohio State Buckeyes are likely on a collision course to the Big Ten Championship, but that the Hawkeyes are a potential at-large bid.
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“While a shot the Big Ten crown is unlikely given an earlier loss to No. 2 Indiana, the recipe is coming together for Iowa just in time to make a serious run at an at-large playoff bid. The Hawkeyes combined an elite defense, a largely error-free performance on offense and opportunistic special teams to swamp Minnesota 41-3, continuing an outright ownership of this rivalry. (Some Big Ten math: Iowa is to Minnesota what Minnesota is to Nebraska, but Iowa is also to Nebraska what Minnesota is to Nebraska, if that makes sense.) Iowa got started with a 75-yard touchdown drive on the game’s opening possession and then scored on a pick-six and a punt return to lead 31-0 at halftime,” Myerberg wrote.
Iowa has three major tests left that can solidify its resume for the College Football Playoff Selection Committee’s sake:
The Oregon Ducks at Kinnick Stadium after this upcoming bye week, the USC Trojans at LA Memorial Coliseum, and the Nebraska Cornhuskers in Lincoln to finish out the campaign.
Win those, and handle business against the Michigan State Spartans in what should be a tune-up for Big Red, and Iowa is all of a sudden on its way to being the next Indiana or Vanderbilt Commodores.
