Unbeaten Hawkeyes Ranked No. 9 In Initial CFP Poll

The Iowa Hawkeyes are ranked ninth in the initial College Football Playoff (CFP) rankings. The poll was released by the playoff selection committee Tuesday evening (Nov. 3, 2015).

The Hawkeyes (8-0, 4-0) are one of three Big Ten Conference (B1G) teams in the top 10, joining No. 3 Ohio State and No. 7 Michigan State.

“I’m proud of what our guys have done through eight games, it is significant and impressive,” said Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz. “With that being said, we know we have four tough contests in front of us and that is where our focus has to be."

The Hawkeyes play at Indiana on Saturday, before hosting Minnesota on Nov. 14 and Purdue on Nov. 21. They close regular-season play at Nebraska on Nov. 27, the Friday after Thanksgiving.

Additional Big Ten teams in the top 25 include Michigan at No. 17 and Northwestern at No. 21. Clemson is the top ranked team in the initial 2015 CFP poll, while LSU is second and Alabama fourth. Notre Dame is ranked fifth, followed by Baylor at No. 6.

Clemson, LSU and Ohio State (as well as Iowa) are among 11 unbeaten teams in FBS, nearly quadruple the number there was last season when the committee started ranking teams. Alabama and Notre Dame each have one loss.

Tuesday’s rankings are the first for the Hawkeyes in the College Football Playoff rankings, which began last season and ended with Ohio State earning the national title with wins over Alabama and Oregon. The Buckeyes were 16th in the initial 2014 rankings.

The top four teams in the first CFP rankings last year included Mississippi State, Auburn, Ole Miss and Florida State. From that group, only Florida State made the playoffs.

“We all saw last year where it was a pretty fluid process, how those polls and the rankings changed during the course of November and December," Ferentz said. "It is nice to be talked about in the discussion, but the biggest thing right now is to take care of our business each week.”

Under the previous Bowl Championship Series (BCS) system, Iowa appeared in the rankings on 38 occasions between 2002-2010. Iowa’s highest ranking came during the 2009 season, when the Hawkeyes were ranked fourth on Oct. 26 and Nov. 2. Iowa concluded the season with a win over Georgia Tech in the 2010 FedEx Orange Bowl and ended the 2009 season ranked 10th in the final poll.