The System DOES Work!

For those Hawk fans out there who were mad about their team being unranked before this week, or about Penn State still being ranked ahead of them in one of the major polls, here is a word of advice: relax. In the big scheme of things, rankings are truly meaningles until about week 13, when it's time to decide who goes to what bowl.

Honestly, as much fun (or frustration, depending on your point of view) is involved in talking about the rankings, the only ones that matter are the final two. The first one decides what bowl you go to, and the second shows how successful your season was.

That's it.

Week 4 rankings are worthless. Alabama was ranked #1 more weeks than any other team last year. You don't get a trophy for that. In fact, they didn't even get a trip to the National Championship Game for that.

For the rankings to really matter, all Iowa has to do is win. After Saturday's great game, the team controls its own destiny on how far it will go this season. The rest will take care of itself. Hypothetically, say Iowa goes undefeated (knock on wood)...

#1 Florida plays #4 LSU in Week 6.

#2 Texas plays #8 Oklahoma in Week 7.

#3 Alabama plays #4 LSU in Week 10.

#13 Iowa would have to beat #9 Ohio State in Week 11.

As long as LSU doesn't lose both of their games, those 4 games alone puts Iowa at #9. That doesn't even begin to discuss the upsets that will (not might) happen between now and December. But even if every higher rank winds up winning, Iowa will be higher then #9...

-SOS and Computer Rankings will boost Iowa ahead of TCU, Houston, and yes, even ESPN's favorite team, Boise State.

-Virginia Tech will not play a tough enough schedule to warrant them being ahead of Iowa with 1 loss.

Iowa is now at #5. Who is still ahead of them?

-Florida, who would still have to get past the SEC Championship Game.

-Texas, playing in the Big 12 Championship Game.

-An unproven Cincinnati team.

-A shaky USC team that is prime to be upset again.

So when you go to pick up the sports page Monday morning, don't go straight to the rankings. It just doesn't matter. The only thing that will matter, is what happened inside Kinnick Stadium two days before. Because, taking the advice of Kirk Ferentz, before we worry about Big Ten Championships or even greater aspirations, Hawkeye Nation needs to worry about the Championship that will take place every single week for the next two months.

Delay of Game

With two midterms tomorrow, there will be a 24 hour delay of the return of Hawk Talk. Check back tomorrow afternoon. This is a one time occurance. After tomorrow, they will be regularly on Thursdays and Sundays.