Iowa makes its way back into the polls after the 21-10 victory against Penn State last night. In the USA Today Coaches Poll, the Hawkeyes come in at #17...4 spots behind Penn State. What?! Penn State is #13 after beating exactly nobody and then getting dismantled at home in front of their famed white out. Maybe all the coaches went to bed before the 4th quarter last night, but there is really no reason why you should rank PSU ahead of Iowa. I usually don't get too worked up about the polls, but this is just ridiculous.

The AP Poll is much more respectable. Iowa is ranked #13 and shockingly (kind of sarcastic, but kind of not) Penn State is #15.

I am mostly pleased with the #13 and #17 rankings, but there are just so many good arguments why Iowa should be ranked higher. Iowa has now won 8 games in a row...the only team with more, Florida, who is currently ranked #1. Texas also has 8 in a row and is ranked #2. Also, look at the teams Iowa has beaten this year. They are a combined 12-4 (the only losses coming to Iowa) and have outscored their opponents (excluding Iowa) 410 to 130...that's an average of 34.2 points scored and 10.8 points allowed. Against Iowa, they are only averaging 11.5 points score and allowing 25.

Somebody figured it out too...Jeff Sagarin. In his ELO_CHESS rankings (a computer ranking used in the BCS formula) he has Iowa ranked #1 overall. You read the right, NUMBER FREAKIN' ONE! Iowa is #5 when he factors in his predictor rankings that take into account points scored. Also, Iowa is the only team in that is 2-0 very top 30 Sagarin ranked teams (PSU 23 and Arizona 21) and the strength of schedule is #11.

Other Thoughts on the Polls:
Going back to Penn State....why were they not punished very much? Ole Miss and Cal, 2 other top 10 teams last week, both lost on the road to good opponents and they fell all the way 21 and 24 in the AP and 18 and 19 in the Coaches. Penn State, on the other hand lost at home and only fell to #13 and #15.

Why isn't Auburn ranked yet? And, what about Wisconsin? Both teams are undefeated (something about half of the teams ranked in front of them can't say) and have put up some impressive numbers. Auburn is averaging on 45 points per game and has beaten a couple of decent teams in West Virginia and Mississippi State. Wisconsin has also beaten a couple of decent teams (Fresno State, Michigan State...maybe even Northern Illinois) and QB Scott Tolzien has been very good.

Boise State is in the top 5. Yes, Boise State is good, and has won some tough games, but really I think it is a little premature. I think Houston probably has a better arguement as far as the non-BCS teams go for being rated so high beating Oklahoma State and Texas Tech (that's more impressive than a win over Oregon).