Iowa Football: Hawkeyes Climb to 16th in Latest College Football Rankings

The Iowa Hawkeyes, after squandering a 6-0 start with back-to-back losses to Purdue and Wisconsin, have rattled off three straight wins to find themselves at 9-2 entering the final week of the regular season. We’re now just three days away from Iowa’s regular season finale against the Nebraska Cornhuskers and the Hawkeyes remain in contention in the Big Ten West.

With a win over Nebraska and a loss by the Wisconsin Badgers to the Minnesota Golden Gophers (the game is being played in Minneapolis), Iowa would be set up for a return to Indianapolis and a showdown with either Ohio State or Michigan for the Big Ten Championship. Either an Iowa loss or Wisconsin win would again make the Hawkeyes the bridesmaid.

But regardless of how things shake out with Wisconsin, Iowa has to handle their business against a Nebraska team that took the Badgers down to the wire in Madison. When the Hawkeyes travel to Lincoln this weekend for their regular season finale, they’ll do so with a #16 in front of their name on your television screen as Iowa again climbed in this week’s College Football Playoff rankings.

This marks the third week of climbing for Iowa, which debuted at #22 following their loss to Wisconsin in week 10. Again this week, the Hawkeyes are the lowest of five ranked Big Ten teams as they join those same Badgers, who climbed to #14 in the nation.

Ohio State is again atop the conference, this week climbing two spots to #2 after a dominating win over Michigan State last week. They’re followed closely by this week’s opponent, Michigan, who comes in at #5. The winner of that one will be clearly in the college football playoff pending a Big Ten Championship Game matchup with Iowa or Wisconsin.

Following their loss to Ohio State, Michigan State falls from 7th to 12th. They close out the season against Penn State on Saturday.

Outside the Big Ten, the SEC continues to be tied for the lead with five teams ranked in the top-25. Georgia remains #1 while Alabama slides to #3 behind the Ohio State Buckeyes. The PAC-12 lost their playoff contender when Utah obliterated Oregon. The Ducks fall to #11 this week while the Utes climb to #19 as the only other team ranked in the conference.

The ACC gets four teams in this week after a Clemson took down Wake Forest. The enter at #23 while awake falls to #18, one spot behind Pitt. North Carolina State is the other ACC team in the ranks at #20.

The Big 12 only gets three teams ranked this week but all three are in the top-10. Oklahoma State and Baylor are back-to-back at #7 and #8 respectively while Oklahoma comes in at #10.

Importantly, the AAC has two teams ranked this week as Cincinnati uses the Oregon loss to finally climb into the top-4. They’ll get another shot at a top-25 win when they face off against #24 Houston in the AAC Championship Game in two weeks.

Heres a look at this week’s full CFP rankings.

The Hawkeyes will look to continue their climb up the rankings and quest for a Big Ten West title against Nebraska at 12:30pm CT on Black Friday. This week’s matchup with be broadcast on BTN.