Iowa Football's Kirk Ferentz Takes a Playful Jab at CFP Rankings, ESPN

Kirk Ferentz wasn't afraid to show some sense of humor this week when he took a little shot at ESPN and the College Football Playoff in cahoots.

Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz smiles during a spring NCAA college football practice, Tuesday, March 29, 2022, at the University of Iowa Indoor Practice Facility in Iowa City, Iowa. 220329 Iowa Spring Fb 045 Jpg | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

Like it or not, college football has become a business. And it's a very, very big money business in this country. From ticket sales to merchandise to the pot of gold: network deals with television channels. It's an arms race of NIL, TV rights, and keeping up with the rest of your conference.

That's the world the College Football Playoff has created, and Iowa Hawkeyes head coach Kirk Ferentz is having a little fun with it. When meeting with the media this week, he took the chance to sneak in a little jab at ESPN and the CFP being in cahoots.

Kirk Ferentz calls out ESPN and the CFP being tied together

It's no secret that the College Football Playoff and ESPN are tied together hand in hand. ESPN holds the exclusive broadcast rights for a measly $7.8 billion. With that sort of deal, it's no surprise they promote it endlessly.

Kirk Ferentz knows this. He also knows that certain conferences (I'm not saying the SEC, but the SEC) get promoted more by ESPN and get some College Football Playoff love due to the conflict of interest.

He took his shot at the duo, making a joke that Iowa won't be ranked due to the Big Ten's media deals when he was asked if he pays any attention to the rankings.

"Geez, I can't wait! Yeah, that's tonight?!?! Not to be a smart ass, but no.

"So, not to make fun of it, but it's great for TV, right? It's going to be televised? ESPN is loving it. Next time I look at my iPad, I'm sure I'll be reading all about it and can't wait.

"I did notice they seem to promote the sports that they carry. Is that correct? I'm figuring that out. You couldn't find anything on the Baseball World Series until the last game. Is that fair? I'm living in the same world, right?

"I'm like, are they still playing the World Series or what? Oh, yeah, FOX, ESPN -- I got it, okay. I better watch out because I'm pro-FOX, right?

"We're a FOX conference and several others, but we're not ESPN, so we probably won't make the rankings. Haven't gone that far, but anyway, I'm not too worried about it," Ferentz added.

The Big Ten plays its games on the Big Ten Network, FOX, FS1, CBS, and NBC, with some games streamed on Peacock, which encompasses nearly the entire broadcast slate, except for ESPN. Will that play into Iowa's CFP ranking being a tick lower than it should be?