NorthKCHawk
Well-Known Member
No one backs into victories quite like our Hawkeyes under KF!!Interesting nuggets on Iowa being ranked in the final poll via Matt Brown STORY in The Athletic
Iowa finished 132nd out of 133 FBS teams in scoring at 15.4 points per game. With so many teams at the bottom of the poll losing their bowl games (eight of the last 10 spots), the Hawkeyes clung to a No. 24 final ranking despite being shut out by Michigan and Tennessee in consecutive games to end the season. I was one of 25 voters who did not rank the Hawkeyes, given how historically inept the offense proved to be.
Iowa is the lowest-scoring team to finish ranked since 1964, when LSU averaged 11.6 points per game but finished 8-2-1 with a No. 7 ranking and Oregon State averaged 13.5 points per game but finished No. 8 with an 8-3 record. Iowa is only the fourth team since poll expansion to 25 teams in 1989 to average fewer than 20 points per game and finish ranked, joining 2015Northwestern, 1994 Washington State and 1993 Clemson.
And by scoring zero points against Penn State, Michigan and Tennessee, Iowa became the first team to suffer multiple shutout losses and finish ranked since 1999 Texas A&M — and the first team to finish ranked with three shutout losses since 1949 LSU.