Iowa Football's Bowl Projections Reach the College Football Playoff Discourse

I think it might be okay to let the dreams begin to enter your mind more and more, Iowa fans. The win over the Michigan Wolverines has catapulted Iowa's expectations to a new level and raised the Hawkeyes' ceiling substantially.

After some weeks of being viewed as a middling Big Ten team in bowl projections, the Iowa Hawkeyes have entered a new club of teams and bowl games that could become a reality later this year.

Iowa Hawkeyes Bowl Projections

After a slew of projections continued to put Iowa in the Music City Bowl or the Pinstripe Bowl, the Hawkeyes have jumped up the ladder, finding themselves in the mix for some New Year's Bowls, and even the occasional College Football Playoff projection.

Sports Illustrated

Welcome to the playoff party, Iowa! In a big shakeup, Sports Illustrated's bowl projections see Iowa entering the College Football Playoff as the No. 8 seed, which means they would get to host a game.

Their draw? The Indiana Hoosiers and Curt Cignetti.

CBS Sports

The CBS Sports bowl projections aren't quite on board with Iowa making the 12-team playoff field just yet. They did elevate Iowa's bowl game status, though. The Hawkeyes are headed to the Citrus Bowl to take on the Tennessee Volunteers.

College Football News

The projection from College Football News follows suit to CBS Sports in sending Iowa to the Citrus Bowl. They have Iowa drawing a fun SEC matchup against the Ole Miss Rebels.

ESPN

Here's where the split arises again. In one of ESPN's bowl projections, Iowa draws the No. 10 seed in the playoff, which means a road trip to Tuscaloosa to take on the Alabama Crimson Tide.

The other projection still doubts Iowa, with a trip to the Music City Bowl to play Mississippi State capping Iowa's season.

Riley Donald's Iowa Hawkeyes Bowl Projection

Oh, Iowa, how badly are you going to twist my arm to put you in the College Football Playoff? It won't take much, I promise,

I want to. I really do. I think Iowa can start dreaming about the playoff at this point, but there is still a lot of work to do.

Ohio State is next up. A trip to Washington isn't easy. Is Wisconsin frisky? Northwestern looks decent. That's suddenly a bit tougher to manage than it looked two weeks ago.

Riley Donald's Iowa Hawkeyes Bowl Projection: Iowa vs Ole Miss, Citrus Bowl

If Iowa can go 1-1 against Ohio State and Washington in the next two, the College Football Playoff remains firmly in their control. Saying it is one thing, but doing it is another.

For now, I have Iowa just on the outside looking in from the Citrus Bowl against an Ole Miss game that sets up a fun matchup of contrasting styles.

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