No. 3 Iowa. No. 4 Penn State. Who Knew?
All this talk about college football chaos and now. . . first week in October. . . everything’s settled.
No. 1 Alabama and No. 2 Georgia. And No. 3 Iowa and No. 4 Penn State.
Should be a great College Football Playoff.
Except for one thing. . . Penn State travels to Iowa this week.
And while the Crimson Tide and the Dawgs are universally accepted as the Masters of the Universe, the Nittany Lions and the Hawkeyes are merely at the top of a crowded list that follows the two SEC super-heroes.
And by the way, why have the Jacksonville Jaguars and Atlanta Falcons not been relegated to the SEC by NFL-worthy Alabama and Georgia? Discuss amongst yourselves.
The hot Group of 5 topic is whether an undefeated No. 5 Cincinnati, with victories at Indiana and Notre Dame, can crack the CFP glass ceiling.
But wait. Lurking at No. 10 is BYU (5-0), which has already taken down three Pac-12 teams (Arizona, Utah and No. 22 Arizona State), and has two more (Washington State and USC) to go. Plus. . . Baylor and Virginia.
Who would have the better unbeaten resume? Cincinnati or BYU?
Do you want to be the committee member who tells the Cougars their schedule doesn’t measure up if they run the table?
And BYU’s path to running the table isn’t nearly as dangerous as the gauntlet Penn State faces.
That’s why fans of the Big Ten’s playoff chances probably should be rooting for the Hawkeyes. After Penn State, Iowa faces the other six members of the mild, mild Big Ten West, who have a combined record of 14-17.
The Nittany Lions, meanwhile, face four teams (No. 7 Ohio State, No. 9 Michigan, No. 11 Michigan State and Maryland) who are a combined 18-2, plus Rutgers and Illinois.
And yes, the Hawkeyes exposed Maryland (4-1), routing the Terps 51-14 on Friday night. We still don’t know the upsides of Michigan and Michigan State—and may not until they go head-to-head on Oct. 30.
Nor do we know whether Ohio State can shore up its rickety defense and recover from that upset loss to Oregon to fulfill its lofty expectations. (That’s a loss, by the way, that looks even shakier after the Ducks’ meltdown at Stanford.)
Again, Ohio State will face a strength test when it plays host to Penn State on Oct. 30, which looms as a major Decision Day in the Big Ten East.
That’s another reason to not make too much of the East’s current excitement at having four of the nation’s top 11 ranked teams.
Unlike Alabama and Georgia, who have met exactly twice in the regular season since 2008, Penn State and Iowa will bang helmets on Saturday for the sixth straight season even though they are not in the same division.
Just call the SEC shrewd when it comes to scheduling. And scratch your head at the Big Ten’s schedule ideas. . . while you enjoy this top-five showdown.
Considering how much pre-season chatter there was about Ohio State being ready to not miss a playoff beat and Wisconsin being the best in the modest Big Ten West, it's surprising that Penn State and Iowa have become the teams to beat in the conference.
Traditionally, Penn State would be the offensive force. And Iowa, which broke a four-game losing streak against the Nittany Lions last fall, would be the defensive object in the series.
But the teams that line up on Saturday both hang their hat on defense.
Iowa (11.6 points per game) is second in the nation in scoring defense and Penn State (12.0) is third behind national leader Georgia (4.6).
Iowa leads the nation in turnover margin (2.4) and is 7th in total defense, but only 44th in scoring offense (33.2 points a game).
Penn State is tied for 12th in turnover margin (1.20), is 33rd in total defense, second in red-zone defense and tied for 62nd in scoring offense (30.0).
Against their lone common opponent, Indiana, Iowa won 34-6 while Penn State pitched a 24-0 shutout.
So what’s it going to come down to? The unheralded quarterback (Sean Clifford for Penn State, Spencer Petras for Iowa) who makes the fewest mistakes. And most likely, a field goal.