Iowa Blog Black Heart Gold Pants Takes Cautious Approach

The folks over at Black Heart Gold Pants aren’t getting too excited yet over their No. 6 ranking in the BCS poll. Everybody in the country knows the Big Ten is down this season, but if Iowa keeps winning, they very well could end up in the title game to get smacked down by the SEC like recent Ohio State teams.

Here are their thoughts:

The initial BCS rankings are out, and 7-0 Iowa comes in sixth. They place behind Florida, Alabama, Texas, Boise State, and Cincinnati. It is Iowa’s highest BCS ranking since the last week of the 2002 regular season. This comes despite the fact that the Hawkeyes are ranked seventh in the Harris Poll and eighth by the coaches. The bump to sixth comes as a result of the computers, where (contrary to the Bleacher Report’s unhinged ramblings) the Hawkeyes are shown much love: Iowa averages third in the six BCS computer rankings, with Colley placing them first and only Billingsley leaving them out of the top 3.

I can find only one serious quarrel with the teams ranked ahead of Iowa: Boise State, which has played exactly two teams with a winning record — Oregon and Tulsa — and has just one left on its remaining schedule. It’s far too early to start gaming out the scenarios, but if Iowa’s BCS standing actually matters at the end of the year — essentially, if they run the table — the strength of their schedule should be enough to overtake the Broncos. Same goes for #5 Cincinnati, which has a legitimate shot at going undefeated in the Big East, but had an otherwise strong non-conference slate weakened by Fresno State’s meh performance and Illinois’ implosion.

I’m frankly more surprised at teams ranked behind Iowa: Southern Cal, who are ranked fourth by both polls but hated by the computers for their mediocre schedule, and Texas Christian, who ranked ahead of Iowa in the polls prior to this week but again loses points with the machines.

As said above, it’s far too early to seriously consider the implications of the BCS rankings. As Hlas points out, less than half the teams ranked in the top two of the initial standings have made the championship. Just once has #1 and #2 made it to the finish unscathed. There is a lot of football left to be played, folks. Try to stay calm.