Bruce Feldman: Iowa a Top 4 Team in the Country

[OnceAhawk]

Feldman's Top 10: Clemson vaults to top after crushing Miami

By Bruce Feldman
Oct 25, 2015 at 2:36a ET
http://www.foxsports.com/college-fo...wkeyes-ohio-state-buckeyes-feldman-t10-102415

Editor's note: Each week, Bruce Feldman and Stewart Mandel will break down their top 10 teams based on the most recent slate of games. Here are Feldman's rankings after Week 8 (Also, read Mandel's):



1. Clemson (7-0): The Tigers crushed Miami on the road, beating the ’Canes worse than anyone ever has. Granted Miami’s a mess right now, but the win over Notre Dame earlier this season is nice.



2. LSU (7-0): Brandon Harris continues to blossom (9 TDs, 0 INTs) as the Tigers cruised past a decent Western Kentucky team after handling previously unbeaten UF.



3. Baylor (7-0): Saturday’s 18-point win over Iowa State was the closest game the Bears have had, although the schedule has been very suspect. We’ll find out a lot more about Baylor in November. What’s most pressing for now is the status of QB Seth Russell’s neck injury, which we should know more about by Monday.



4. Iowa (7-0): The Hawkeyes’ 3-point win over Pitt is looking better and better and they also have wins over Northwestern and Wisconsin -- each are 6-2 and both of those wins came on the road.



5. Ohio State (8-0): Now that J.T. Barrett has taken over the offense again, the Buckeyes looked more on point. Of course playing against Rutgers can do that for a team.



6. Michigan State (8-0): The Spartanshad their hands full with Indiana for a while, but Connor Cook and company blew them out late and remained unbeaten.



7. TCU (7-0): An explosive offense and a hobbled defense that figures to keep improving under Gary Patterson. Truth is, their best win may be the blowout win over Texas.



8. Notre Dame (6-1): I was tempted to have Stanford above ND. The Cardinal’s wins over the two LA schools got a bump in worth this week, but I went with the Irish, who have a better loss at Clemson in a monsoon, compared to Stanford losing against Northwestern.



9. Stanford (6-1): Christian McCaffrey keeps building his Heisman case andDavid Shaw’s team keeps dominating folks.



10. Utah (6-1): Blown out at USC as Travis Wilson really had a rough night, but the Utes still have a solid resume that keeps them in the race if they win out, giving them an edge over ’Bama -- which had its hands full at home with Tennessee -- as well as Memphis and OU.



Bruce Feldman is a senior college football reporter and columnist for FOXSports.com and FS1. He is also a New York Times best-selling author. His new book, “The QB: The Making of Modern Quarterbacks,” came out in October 2014. Follow him on Twitter @BruceFeldmanCFB and Facebook.

 

[icu81222]

LSU cruises.

The SEC narrative lives.

If it were a B1G team...."xyz struggles "

 

[OnceAhawk]

LSU cruises.

The SEC narrative lives.

If it were a B1G team...."xyz struggles "

yeah, gotta love how he writes that LSU "cruised past a decent Western Kentucky team;" you are right; W Kentucky would be viewed as terrible if a B1G team were playing them

#SECbiasContinues

 

[wyldhawk9]

I do not think this Iowa team should be ranked above Osu or May at this point. The Bucks definitely have their mojo back.

 

[icu81222]

yeah, gotta love how he writes that LSU "cruised past a decent Western Kentucky team;" you are right; W Kentucky would be viewed as terrible if a B1G team were playing them

#SECbiasContinues

Didn't lowly Indiana beat W Kentucky?

 

[Suterman]

Seems a bit high to me. If we can be Top 4 on December 6th then I will be excited.

 

[Servbot24]

Super happy for Iowa this year, but we are not top 4.

 

[Hawk and Awe]

It's like little brother or short man syndrome with some of you. Honestly I think it makes us look bad when our fans are always crying about bias. You're complaining about a guy that put us in the top 4?

LSU won by 4 TDs. They were up 21 at the start of the 4th quarter. It's not like they escaped.

 

[BigDelHawk]

Clemson is a pretender, we will see what happens as they have some road bumps in their schedule, Florida State awaits. Syracuse gave Pitt a scare.

Alabama and LSU play each other.

Baylor QB has a broken bone in his neck, could end his season.

Ohio State and Michigan State play each other.

TCU, Baylor and Oklahoma all play each other. Best case scenario, One loss Oklahoma wins both. Heck, TCU still plays West Virginia, and I do not think they get by them.

 

[GPRHAWK]

Sorry but we are not a top 4 team right now. We are ranked about where we should be imo. Win out and beat tOSU or MSU and we are a top 4 team.

 

[St_Henry_Buckeye]

Hilarious stuff.

 

[GunnerHawk]

Not agreeing with this at all, can't get last year's November swoon out of my mind. Every game will be tough. Maryland gave PSU a run for their money, Indiana played MSU tough until late. Playing for Floyd is always a hard fought game. Nebraska is always tough at home. Purdue should be our easiest game, fingers crossed.

I could see us winning or losing every game. I do think 10-2 and am hoping for more.

 

[HerkysDad]

Remember: the higher the delta (ranking difference) between you and you opponent, the louder people will scream "pretender" after a loss.

 

[swagsurfer02]

We are a top 4 team in our conference, not in college football.

 

[Hawk-A-Doodle-Doo]

A) Ol' Doodle does not think we are the fourth best team in America right now
B) It sure is a lot of g-damn fun being relevant and being in the conversation again though, isn't it?!?

 

[OnceAhawk]

this is just one man's opinion; see orig post where Stewart Mandel has us at #10

so, last week we were #12/#13 and now this week people's opinions run anywhere from #4 to #10; this type of discussion sure is a lot more fun than last year's discussions

 

[Bigfann1966]

I do not think this Iowa team should be ranked above Osu or May at this point. The Bucks definitely have their mojo back.

I would agree, they have it all! Barrett takes them to another level! That will be a nightmare game if we make it that far!

 

[cedarvalleykid14]

I'd say Bruce has it about right and that some folks on here wouldn't know a touchdown from a home run. I haven't seen anybody who is clearly better than Iowa, and Iowa is undefeated, having dominated a team that beat Stanford, won @ Duke, and @ Nebraska. Iowa is also the only team other than Alabama to beat Wisconsin.

Please get a clue. Then you'll have one.

 

[swagsurfer02]

I'd say Bruce has it about right and that some folks on here wouldn't know a touchdown from a home run. I haven't seen anybody who is clearly better than Iowa, and Iowa is undefeated, having dominated a team that beat Stanford, won @ Duke, and @ Nebraska. Iowa is also the only team other than Alabama to beat Wisconsin.

Please get a clue. Then you'll have one.

You haven't seen anybody that is clearly better than Iowa? You don't think Alabama, Ohio State, Baylor, LSU are clearly better than Iowa?


Iowa survived Wisconsin and Alabama blasted them (with Clement). I maintain that we would have our hands full with Mich, MSU, Florida, Texas A&M, Clemson, Stanford, USC, Notre Dame etc....

I'm convinced you don't know the difference between a touchdown and home run.

 

[C/Seahawk]

I'd say Bruce has it about right and that some folks on here wouldn't know a touchdown from a home run. I haven't seen anybody who is clearly better than Iowa, and Iowa is undefeated, having dominated a team that beat Stanford, won @ Duke, and @ Nebraska. Iowa is also the only team other than Alabama to beat Wisconsin.

Please get a clue. Then you'll have one.

gold jerry, gold. This coming from the one person that doesn't understand read and react passing schemes aka 'get open' routes, along with difference between a ball carrier crossing the goal line versus a receiver attempting to make a catch and maintain possession in the end zone.

 

[j0nnyHB]

A) Ol' Doodle does not think we are the fourth best team in America right now
B) It sure is a lot of g-damn fun being relevant and being in the conversation again though, isn't it?!?

j0nnyHB agrees with Ol' Doodle ;-) ... I do think if Iowa can get everyone back on the OL and Dewsey, T Smith, Canzari and CJ can comeback and be the players they are capable of being, this team has a chance to improve and have a shot!

 

[Mohawkeye]

I think we are a top 10 team, not top 4, but I'm glad we are getting the pub. The thing is, this team has improved quite a bit each week and I get the feeling we could keep on improving. Lots of youth on this team. By the end of the year, if this continues, I won't be afraid to play OSU or anyone else.

 

[C/Seahawk]

I think we are a top 10 team, not top 4, but I'm glad we are getting the pub. The thing is, this team has improved quite a bit each week and I get the feeling we could keep on improving. Lots of youth on this team. By the end of the year, if this continues, I won't be afraid to play OSU or anyone else.

the one thing that can level the playing field between us and a team like OSU, or take your pick from the top tier SEC teams, is our physicality and how clean we have been playing(minimizing penalties and mental errors, etc.).

We saw it week one...the team played an extremely clean game for the season opener, very few penalties, and that trend has continued throughout the season. If the Hawks keep that up, along with playing with an attitude and toughness, we can compete with just about anyone.

Lets hope the team took advantage of the bye week. Going back to the Brian Ferentz podcast with Hlas, he talked about the team having the best bye week possible. Attacking treatment, being productive and efficient in the film room, not just laying around and resting. The mental reps they take this week will be as important as traditional reps on the field. Based on what we've seen from the players and coaches season to date, I would be surprised if they didn't have a great bye week. I also loved KF's comments about dreaming big this week...its inevitable for kids to think big at a time like this...embrace it while understanding a lot of work is ahead.

go hawks

 

[SoonerBeAHawk]

Does anyone remember what OSU did last year to a Wisconsin team that was much superior to this year's version? OSU can just flat go off.

I'll take Iowa's chances against MSU or Michigan, really want no part of OSU.

 

[The_Joker13]

I feel like our defense can keep us in just about any game. Get a few breaks/turnovers and anything can happen. Definitely feel we should be ranked in the top ten, but it's too early to worry about that.

 

[icu81222]

It's like little brother or short man syndrome with some of you. Honestly I think it makes us look bad when our fans are always crying about bias. You're complaining about a guy that put us in the top 4?

LSU won by 4 TDs. They were up 21 at the start of the 4th quarter. It's not like they escaped.

No one is complaining about where iowa is ranked. Just pointing out the usual SEC myth BS narrative that is played

 

[TankHawk]

this is just one man's opinion; see orig post where Stewart Mandel has us at #10

so, last week we were #12/#13 and now this week people's opinions run anywhere from #4 to #10; this type of discussion sure is a lot more fun than last year's discussions

Agreed. If we just had a couple more bye weeks we could be top 2.

 

[WORTHYWISH]

I would agree, they have it all! Barrett takes them to another level! That will be a nightmare game if we make it that far!

Yep. Do NOT want to play a JT Barrett Ohio St team. Would much rather play a Spartan team. Now watch Sparty beat Ohio St. lol

 

[Phenomenally Frantastic]

No respect I tells ya!

 

[citizenHawk]

I would agree, they have it all! Barrett takes them to another level! That will be a nightmare game if we make it that far!

Just to have the opportunity for this game would be incredible.
Potentially the biggest "win" possible (facing a #1 team with a 20+winning streak, for a chance at both a Big Ten championship and a playoff birth) in the modern era. Anything after would just be gravy--beautiful gravy. Just to get that slugger's chance though...

 

[jerbob36]

Wow. That's straight up crazy. And I love the Hawks. We are fortunate to have played a lot of weak QBs so far. When we play a great QB, I worry about our passing defense a bit. Love the pub, though.

 

[renkHawk]

You haven't seen anybody that is clearly better than Iowa? You don't think Alabama, Ohio State, Baylor, LSU are clearly better than Iowa?


Iowa survived Wisconsin and Alabama blasted them (with Clement). I maintain that we would have our hands full with Mich, MSU, Florida, Texas A&M, Clemson, Stanford, USC, Notre Dame etc....

I'm convinced you don't know the difference between a touchdown and home run.

"Stanford"....Did you say Stanford... Don't make me point out the Northwestern vs Stanford score and then point out the Iowa vs Northwestern score.

 

[Ray Kinsella]

I'm starting to think that an unbeaten Iowa team could be left out of the playoff, if Clemson, LSU, and the Big XII champ stay undefeated and Notre Dame's only loss is to Clemson.

 

[R1950]

Does anyone remember what OSU did last year to a Wisconsin team that was much superior to this year's version? OSU can just flat go off.

Also, Wisconsin was a 5 to 6 point favorite in that game.

 

[ANYCHawk]

Wow. That's straight up crazy. And I love the Hawks. We are fortunate to have played a lot of weak QBs so far. When we play a great QB, I worry about our passing defense a bit. Love the pub, though.

 

[swagsurfer02]

"Stanford"....Did you say Stanford... Don't make me point out the Northwestern vs Stanford score and then point out the Iowa vs Northwestern score.

Point it out, however it was a fluke. It was like 9am for those Stanford guys when they played.

 

[Bigfann1966]

Northwestern is this years VT. The best teams in the BIG are in the east and the pillow fight in the west will amount to nothing. We have beat OSU once in the KF era and this isn't one of his best teams from a personnel standpoint. I love drinking the koolaid, but we several games we could still lose? I hope we win out and hammer whoever we would play o

Yep. Do NOT want to play a JT Barrett Ohio St team. Would much rather play a Spartan team. Now watch Sparty beat Ohio St. lol

Haha, I have thought the same thing. We match up much better with MSU!

 

[Bigfann1966]

Does anyone remember what OSU did last year to a Wisconsin team that was much superior to this year's version? OSU can just flat go off.

Also, Wisconsin was a 5 to 6 point favorite in that game.

Exactly! Drink all the koolaid we want, they play at a different level most of the time! Their second team would be first for most of the FBS programs. Upsets do happen tho....

 

[Phenomenally Frantastic]

Point it out, however it was a fluke. It was like 9am for those Stanford guys when they played.

that dont mean shit.

no one gave Iowa a pass for playing at midnight central time against Arizona in 2010.

Northwestern beat Stanford. that's all that matters. Spin it however you wish.

 

[swagsurfer02]

that dont mean shit.

no one gave Iowa a pass for playing at midnight central time against Arizona in 2010.

Northwestern beat Stanford. that's all that matters. Spin it however you wish.

I'd absolutely rather play late then early. Are you kidding? Anyway, we are playing well but we're not a top 4 team. C'mon guy.

Also you're talking about the '10 team that lost 4 or 5 games. Stanford has been rolling ppl. It was a fluke.