Iowa is Ranked #1 in at least 5 polls

[HuckFinn]

Cincy's chart on Clemson is absolutely stunning! I was likely out of touch, but I had no idea what their body of work really looked like. Has their strength of schedule been criticized? Yeah, I know they had a couple of maybe quality wins against Louisville and ND, both of whom are over rated.

 

[kicker22]

I guess my question is what would our offense currently look like with the Oline at full strength. Canzeri, Daniels, Smith, and CJ's injuries aside, even with them dinged up we've still been able to run the ball at will. In the past our schedules always played out in a way that our offensive statistics fall back to mediocrity as the season advances. We might actually see those numbers go through the roof to finish off the year.

 

[hawkeyebob62]

This is a direct quote from Cap't Kirk after we steamrolled NW.........Hey, man, whatever works, just keep doing it each Saturday....

Did he really say that? I've been saying it since the Wisconsin game. We're winning, so in one sense, I don't really care "how" good we are.

But at this point, I find it hard to believe we would get crushed (as some have stated elsewhere) by Stanford/USC/UCLA/Oregon, OR that we would crush anyone else. NW was a good crushing, but we were also late into the 4th quarter before ISU/Wiscy/Illinois games were decided. And of course, Pitt was game-ending 57-yard FG. Likely to end up being a REALLY GOOD win, but Pitt has several tests ahead to get a true gauge on it.

I am pretty sure NO team in NCAA football would embarrass the Hawks. I am also pretty sure we wouldn't run away from any of the teams in the CFP or the New Year's Six bowls.

Right now, we are what our record says: an undefeated team with some very good wins, but still at least five games away from drawing a definitive conclusion.

 

[HawkeyeMHA]

If we're ranked #1 in five of them, how many are there?

 

[IAHawkFan]

When you look at the teams, the only one that has been dominant has been Baylor - and that was against bottom-feeders. And, of course, they just lost their QB.

Ohio St looked good with Barrett at QB. They just keep winning, and have yet to play anywhere near their best game. The could be scary good over the rest of the season - or, they could continue to do just enough until someone knocks them off and wakes them up.

Clemson looked impressive dismantling that Miami team. In fairness, though, Miami had given up before the game even started. Still, they looked as impressive as anyone has this year.

Michigan St should have lost to Michigan. They didn't, though. They are another team that looks to have a lot of talent. Just not sure how good they are. Not sure I would write them off just yet.

LSU has pretty consistently done just enough to get the win. They have looked really good at times - and no so good at others.


Of these teams, Ohio St is the only one that looks like it could really bring the hurt to the Hawks if they bring their best game. We should be pretty competitive with the rest.

Of course, we have 5 more games to win before any of this matters. Let's win those first, then we can talk about whether we deserve any #1 rankings.

 

[TacoHidalgo]

Well, you know, college football does offer a measure of continuity from one season to the next and simply is not played in a vacuum. I'd hesitate to even pull this top 4 talk out from under the rock until we get to the CCG undefeated,or some of the other no-loss teams stumble.

Looking one game back of our brilliant performance against NIU offers a glimpse at recent horror. We have to own that.

 

[ChosenChildren]

If we're ranked #1 in five of them, how many are there?

According to Massey, there appear to be over 30 rating services!

 

[1977Hawkeye]

This is exactly how I feel. If you had no preconceived notions of anyone this year, Iowa's body of work is legitmately top 5 out there. Very different than being one of the 5 best teams but until proven otherwise and a full season is turned in who knows. I can envision Iowa playing a smart, frustrating, ball control game and beating anyone. But first there are 5 teams to play, anyone of which could end this.

Absolutely. I'm pretty sure Iowa doesn't have Top 5 talent, but if they keep winning, they could certainly achieve Top 5 in the polls. It's not necessarily about raw talent - it's about W's. Talent by itself doesn't always win games.

If they can get to 12-0 going into the Big Ten title game, other teams ahead of us will lose in the next month+. That, by itself, will vault us pretty high.

 

[PhoenixHawk]

We have a dominant power running game, a qb that"s a legit deep threat, and a top D against both the run and the pass. I like our chances against anyone. The only team I fear is Barret & Miller as running QB's at OSU.

 

[DDThompson]

If we're ranked #1 in five of them, how many are there?

50

Each fan base in top ten gets five. Click-bait.

 

[bcl20]

They have a better resume than anyone other than Alabama in the top ten right now, and they are undefeated. Also, having watched every team play in the top ten, the Hawks could compete with all of them. None of the top ten are absolutely steamrolling teams this year. Are they #1? No, but they are absolutely as good as Clemson and TCU.

Alabama lost a game. Our resume is better than theirs too.