COLLEGE

Iowa football drops outside of top 20 after Wisconsin heartbreak

Danny Lawhon
The Des Moines Register

Iowa's third one-score loss to a ranked Big Ten Conference opponent this season brings with it a double punishment.

The fact that the Hawkeyes (6-3, 3-3 Big Ten Conference) dropped four spots, to No. 22, in the latest USA TODAY Amway Coaches' Poll released Sunday is merely a secondary blow to the essential death knell dealt to their West Division chances with Saturday's 24-22 loss at now-No. 15 Wisconsin (7-2, 4-2).

Barring a remarkably unlikely sequence of events that includes unbeaten and seventh-ranked Minnesota losing on the road at league bottom-feeder Northwestern and the Badgers falling to both Nebraska and Purdue, Iowa's regular season will conclude with the Black Friday trip to Lincoln to face the Cornhuskers.

The damage was done in The Associated Press poll as well, with the Hawkeyes falling to No. 23 from No. 18.

Iowa hosts the division-leading Golden Gophers at 3 p.m. this Saturday.

LSU is the new No. 1 in the coaches' poll after unseating top-ranked Alabama 46-41 on Saturday. Ohio State, Clemson, the previously mentioned Crimson Tide and Georgia round out the top five.

FULL COACHES' POLL

  1. LSU, 1,591 points, 55 first-place votes
  2. Ohio State, 1,523 (5)
  3. Clemson, 1,491 (4)
  4. Alabama, 1,356
  5. Georgia, 1,327
  6. Oregon, 1,269
  7. Minnesota, 1,154
  8. Oklahoma, 1,128
  9. Utah, 1,096
  10. Baylor, 1,028
  11. Penn State, 942
  12. Florida, 937
  13. Auburn, 863
  14. Michigan, 731
  15. Wisconsin, 670
  16. Notre Dame, 659
  17. Cincinnati, 590
  18. Memphis, 517
  19. Boise State, 452
  20. SMU, 326
  21. Navy, 249
  22. Iowa, 187
  23. Texas, 163
  24. Appalachian State, 133
  25. Indiana, 123

Dropped out: No. 20 Wake Forest; No. 22 Kansas State; No. 24 San Diego State.

Others receiving votes: Oklahoma State, 49; Wake Forest, 45; Louisiana Tech, 43; Kansas State, 38; San Diego State, 32; Texas A&M, 31; Air Force, 25; Virginia Tech, 17; Virginia, 12; Wyoming, 1; UL-Lafayette, 1; Central Florida, 1.

FULL ASSOCIATED PRESS POLL

  1. LSU, 1,542
  2. Ohio State, 1,480
  3. Clemson, 1,441
  4. Alabama, 1,312
  5. Georgia, 1,267
  6. Oregon, 1,224
  7. Minnesota, 1,164
  8. Utah, 1,099
  9. Penn State, 1,003
  10. Oklahoma, 1,000
  11. Florida, 934
  12. Auburn, 871
  13. Michigan, 744
  14. Wisconsin, 657
  15. Notre Dame, 593
  16. Cincinnati, 567
  17. Memphis, 510
  18. Boise State, 371
  19. SMU, 346
  20. Navy, 228
  21. Texas, 199
  22. Iowa, 197
  23. Indiana, 108
  24. Oklahoma State, 77

Others receiving votes: Appalachian State, 73; Kansas State, 67; Texas A&M, 42; Wake Forest, 38; Louisiana Tech, 25; Virginia, 12; San Diego State, 7; Iowa State, 4; Virginia Tech, 4; Washington, 3; Pittsburgh, 2; UCF, 2; Air Force, 2; USC, 1; Illinois, 1.