Ad Disclosure
Iowa did Wisconsin a huge favor beating Ohio State, but Badgers have no time to pay thanks
Published:
The strength of Wisconsin’s schedule has been problematic for the College Football Playoff committee in the first two rankings of the season. Despite a perfect 9-0 start, the Badgers have been ignored as a real final four contender, sitting at No. 8 in the latest poll.
Just a few days ago, Wisconsin’s only chance to add a signature win and send a message to the selection committee was going to come in the B1G Championship Game on Dec. 2. A win over a Top 10 team like Ohio State or Penn State to claim a conference title might be enough to slingshot the Badgers into one of those four spots.
Luckily for Paul Chryst and Co., another opportunity at boosting the résumé is coming this week, courtesy of Iowa.
From an outsider’s perspective, the B1G’s hopes at reaching a fourth-straight Playoff faded when the Hawkeyes trounced the Buckeyes at Kinnick Stadium 55-24 to open the month of November. The destruction was multiplied after Michigan State downed Penn State on a last-second field goal attempt. But while everyone else was whimpering about the conference’s top teams getting eliminated from a spot in the final four, Madison threw a miniature celebration.
Iowa’s win over Ohio State undoubtedly shook the B1G’s CFP chances. The Hawkeyes — now ranked No. 20 in the latest CFP poll — have turned an automatic bid into an iffy situation, but it’s one Wisconsin will benefit from greatly, assuming it doesn’t slip up this weekend.
The Hawkeyes represent the first ranked team the Badgers have played this season — Northwestern, now No. 25, was unranked when the two met in September — and just the third opponent that currently owns a record north of .500. And with wins over Iowa State and Ohio State, Iowa has the credentials to be that résumé inflator Wisconsin desperately needs.
As the CFP committee has demonstrated over the past two weeks, simply being undefeated by knocking around bad competition isn’t good enough to punch a ticket to one of those semifinal games — though the committee might want to apply that logic when ranking Alabama, which has one win over a current ranked team (LSU), the same number as Wisconsin (Northwestern). Beating Iowa, one week after the Hawkeyes dismantled the Buckeyes limb by limb, might be the nudge to get Wisconsin into at least one of those top six spots come next Tuesday.
Even if a win for Wisconsin over the 20th-ranked Hawkeyes doesn’t translate to an immediate bump in the rankings, it will be a good foundation for the final four weeks of the season. Following this weekend’s bout, the Badgers host a (likely 8-2) Michigan team that should work itself back into the Top 25. A trip to Minneapolis against P.J. Fleck and the Gophers will round out the season before a match-up with either No. 13 Ohio State or No. 12 Michigan State in the B1G Championship Game.
Win out and the Badgers are sitting pretty.
Maybe Wisconsin isn’t rattling off wins over top 10 squads on a weekly basis, but four wins over ranked opponents, a B1G title and an unblemished 13-0 record would be pretty hard to ignore, regardless of how loud the doubters are clapping. As UW athletic director Barry Alvarez said earlier this week, it would be a “shock” if the Badgers made it through the year unscathed and didn’t get in.
Over the next four weeks, Wisconsin will have the chance to make a case to the CFP committee. It will have the opportunity to show it can knock around some of the big dogs just like it feasts on the welterweights. Wisconsin finally has an opportunity to prove it belongs in the conversation.
And the team responsible for that chance is the one the Badgers need to beat on Saturday.
Dustin grew up in the heart of Big Ten country and has been in sports media since 2010. He has been covering Big Ten football since 2014. You can follow him on Twitter: @SchutteCFB