Yesterday's Biggest Cy-Hawk Game Ever featured a pair of Top Ten teams, so one of the questions in the aftermath of that game was how far the winner of that game might move up in the rankings. Only one Top Team team lost yesterday (Ohio State), but a few other Top Ten teams (Texas A&M, Notre Dame) looked less than impressive in wins. Of course, the team that upset Ohio State (then-#12 Oregon) would also be poised for its own big move up in the rankings. So how far did Iowa move up in the rankings? Well...
New AP poll:
— Mike Rodak (@mikerodak) September 12, 2021
1. Alabama (60)
2. Georgia (3)
3. Oklahoma
4. Oregon
5. Iowa
6. Clemson
7. Texas A&M
8. Cincinnati
9. Ohio State
10. Penn State
11. Florida
BANG. Your Top 5-ranked Iowa Hawkeyes.
Here's the full AP Top 25:
| RANK | TEAM | RECORD | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alabama (60) | 2-0 | 1572 |
| 2 | Georgia (3) | 2-0 | 1514 |
| 3 | Oklahoma | 2-0 | 1402 |
| 4 | Oregon | 2-0 | 1355 |
| 5 | Iowa | 2-0 | 1263 |
| 6 | Clemson | 1-1 | 1246 |
| 7 | Texas A&M | 2-0 | 1206 |
| 8 | Cincinnati | 2-0 | 1149 |
| 9 | Ohio State | 1-1 | 1029 |
| 10 | Penn State | 2-0 | 1005 |
| 11 | Florida | 2-0 | 935 |
| 12 | Notre Dame | 2-0 | 926 |
| 13 | UCLA | 2-0 | 804 |
| 14 | Iowa State | 1-1 | 593 |
| 15 | Virginia Tech | 2-0 | 591 |
| 16 | Coastal Carolina | 2-0 | 562 |
| 17 | Ole Miss | 2-0 | 550 |
| 18 | Wisconsin | 1-1 | 499 |
| 19 | Arizona State | 2-0 | 347 |
| 20 | Arkansas | 2-0 | 277 |
| 21 | North Carolina | 1-1 | 268 |
| 22 | Auburn | 2-0 | 233 |
| 23 | BYU | 2-0 | 213 |
| 24 | Miami (FL) | 1-1 | 177 |
| 25 | Michigan | 2-0 | 163 |
The #5 ranking is the highest for Iowa since being ranked #4 before the 2015 Big Ten Championship Game. We've seen Iowa with Top 10 rankings before in the Ferentz Era -- several times, in fact. But the timing is different here. In the past, Iowa's had to climb the ladder to enter the Top 10 and it's taken several weeks to do so; they didn't enter the Top 10 of the rankings until October or November (or the end of the season). A Top 10 ranking (Top 5, actually) in September? You have to go back a long time to find the last time that happened for an Iowa team:
Iowa's football team isn't just on the national radar, it's flying high. For the first time since 1985, the Hawkeyes are in the AP Top 5 in September. https://t.co/nlgM8Mossg
— Mike Hlas (@Hlas) September 12, 2021
1985! Of course, that was one of the most celebrated Iowa teams of all-time, one tipped for big things from the very beginning of the year (Iowa was ranked #4 in the preseason rankings) and who spent the entire season ranked in the Top 10. This year's team still has a lot of work to do, obviously. But doing something that no Iowa team has done in over 35 years is still pretty fun and worth enjoying right now.
Meanwhile, the new Coaches Poll rankings are out and they are... well, they're Coaches Poll rankings.
| RANK | TEAM | RECORD | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alabama (64) | 2-0 | 1624 |
| 2 | Georgia (1) | 2-0 | 1558 |
| 3 | Oklahoma | 2-0 | 1454 |
| 4 | Oregon | 2-0 | 1356 |
| 5 | Texas A&M | 2-0 | 1307 |
| 6 | Clemson | 1-1 | 1279 |
| 7 | Iowa | 2-0 | 1165 |
| 8 | Cincinnati | 2-0 | 1114 |
| 9 | Florida | 2-0 | 1095 |
| 10 | Notre Dame | 2-0 | 1059 |
| 11 | Ohio State | 1-1 | 1041 |
| 12 | Penn State | 2-0 | 995 |
| 13 | UCLA | 2-0 | 787 |
| 14 | Iowa State | 1-1 | 611 |
| 15 | Virginia Tech | 2-0 | 591 |
| 16 | Ole Miss | 2-0 | 546 |
| 17 | Wisconsin | 1-1 | 537 |
| 18 | Coastal Carolina | 2-0 | 492 |
| 19 | North Carolina | 1-1 | 300 |
| 20 | Auburn | 2-0 | 264 |
| 21 | Arizona State | 2-0 | 246 |
| 22 | Oklahoma State | 2-0 | 222 |
| 23 | BYU | 2-0 | 213 |
| 24 | Arkansas | 2-0 | 196 |
| 25 | Michigan | 2-0 | 180 |
Which is to say that they're pretty worthless and dumb. (Well, more worthless and dumb than all rankings at this point in the season.) Iowa moved up to #7 in the Coaches Poll rankings, trailing big movers Oregon as well as Texas A&M and Clemson. More annoying than the #7 ranking is that one of the Coaches Poll voters ranked Iowa #18 this week. Which... come the fuck on.
Meanwhile, other rankings also like the cut of Iowa's jib right now. Iowa's 6th in the FWAA's new Super 16 poll, up from 13 last week. They're 7th in the new Sagarin ratings. Of course, we've always been Massey men, and the Massey ratings index really, really, really likes Iowa right now:
WE WANT BAM-- er, maybe not just yet.
It's always great to be a Hawkeye, friends, but it's really great right now.
