IMO, there are way too many people everywhere that are ready for this all to end. Maybe I'm too realistic or maybe I'm "settling", but this is the 10th season in 11 year that Iowa has been ranked. If you count votes received, we've been ranked in the top 31 13 years in a row. Not sure how many schools can say that, but there isn't a season where we aren't at the very least competitive.
Iowa, Clemson, Ohio State, Georgia, and Alabama are the only teams in the last 10 years to win at least 8 games every season. Clemson is currently 3-5, so being the 4th wheel with OSU, Bama, and UGA is not a bad thing.