Iowa Football Is Ranked No. 15 In CFP Rankings. Here's What It Means

After a convincing win over Northwestern in Evanston last Saturday, Iowa football is moving up in the second edition of this year's College Football Playoff rankings. 

The Hawkeyes entered what was supposed to be one of the most electric weekends of college football ranked 19th and played Northwestern against a loaded evening slate, and while the weekend slate was disappointing for many fans, the win combined with some other helpful results has vaulted Iowa closer to the CFP picture. 

How close? The Hawkeyes checked in at No. 15 in Tuesday's live reveal on ESPN. Though Kirk Ferentz has already said that he doesn't pay attention to these rankings because his only focus is winning, he might have to at this critical juncture of the season. 

Here's what this ranking means for the Hawkeyes along with Ferentz's thoughts on the CFP expanding from 12 to 24 teams. 

Though Iowa is probably still kicking itself for the disastrous loss at Minnesota on Oct. 24, you really couldn't have asked for a better position for the Hawkeyes considering they are a two-loss team with an average resume. The wins (and even the losses) haven't been bad, but before we analyze the teams around Iowa here, it's worth mentioning that the Hawkeyes lack a signature victory that the selection committee may value should Iowa win out. 

What is the Hawkeyes' best win at this point? It's hard to pinpoint, but if there's one thing that takes care of that, it's winning and looking good while doing so. That starts with a comfortable win over Purdue at Kinnick Stadium on Saturday. The Boilermakers are a mess right now after losing to Maryland and it's reasonable to peg Iowa as a hefty home favorite. 

That's the primary objective for the Hawkeyes this weekend, but what about the teams around them? No. 12 Wake Forest and No. 13 Texas Tech are probably the squads Iowa needs to lose the most this weekend. The Demon Deacons ( have been a surprise contender in the ACC under second-year coach Jake Dickert, while the Red Raiders are 8-1 despite often struggling in Big 12 play. 

Wake Forest hasn't played a challenging schedule outside of its lone loss to Miami, but the Demon Deacons do have a tough road test at SMU this weekend, as do the Red Raiders against Oklahoma State. 

Iowa obviously has to defeat Purdue, but its position could improve if both of those outcomes goes its way this weekend. 

Besides the usual football updates, Ferentz also provided his thoughts on the CFP expanding from 12 to 24 teams beginning next season. The coach already expressed that he was in favor of expansion over the summer, which he affirmed during his press conference. 

That didn't come as a surprise to anyone attending the presser, but the questions about the impact of expansion didn't stop. The expanded bracket means that the Big Ten Championship Game (and all other conference championship games) will go away. 

Though Ferentz lost all three of his trips to the Big Ten title game (2015, 2021, 2023), there are mixed emotions about its dissolution. 

"I have to tell you -- yes and no. I'm not feeling real collegiate anymore. If I was, we'd still be playing with 10 or 11 teams in the Big Ten. That stuff is all gone by the wayside. The world has changed dramatically in this arena, so you have to roll with it," Ferentz said.