Unbeaten Iowa's No. 4 Ranking Well Deserved, But Unimportant

The College Football Playoff has added an incalculable amount of excitement to the immensely popular amateur sport, and in Year 2, it certainly hasn’t failed to provide weekly controversy.

College football fans enjoy the anticipation of the week-by-week release of the rankings, but it always makes a few people unhappy when they think someone’s been snubbed or if someone undeserving sneaks in. Iowa‘s ascension in the rankings has been ruffling some feathers because of their presumed-to-be weak schedule and lack of upper-echelon recruits on their roster.

It’s true that the Hawkeyes play in the weaker division of the Big Ten, and it’s also true that there are bad teams in the conference, but that can be said of any conference in the country. Yes, even the fabled SEC. Four of seven teams in the SEC’s eastern division possess a losing record and, until their squeaker with Florida Atlantic, Florida was right in the mix.

Regardless, their inclusion in the top four at this moment is unimportant. Whether they’re in the picture or on the outside looking in, one truth remains. Iowa will have to beat the winner of the eastern division on Dec. 5. It’s unclear whether it’ll be Michigan State, Ohio State or Michigan, but either way, if they win, they’ll have beaten a top-10 team in a power five conference championship game; and if they’re not upset by Nebraska this weekend, they will be one of two possible unbeatens in the FBS.

I’m not sure Iowa has what it takes to bring down the nation’s top teams from the SEC, ACC or Big 12 in the playoff, but they certainly deserve a shot if they make it through championship weekend unscathed.

Jason Shawley is a Featured Writer for www.RantSports.com covering Big Ten Football. Follow him on Twitter @jshawls.