by Jon Miller, Publisher of HawkeyeNation.com

The gnashing of teeth over Iowa’s #1 ranking in the computer portion of the BCS has begun.

Dan Wetzel tweeted the following Sunday night: ‘Iowa actually has 2 wins over BCS top 25. But No. 1? Computers hate USC (9) despite 2 top 25 wins. USC shoulda played Ark State’

That isn’t the only comment, but it’s to the heart of what many people are going to be talking about all across the nation, the same as they did last week. ESPN Radio’s Colin Cowherd (no, I am not going to use the name some of you used as a play on words of his last name, one that includes cow and another that rhymes with herd, but is far more malodorous) ripped on Iowa last week, saying they didn’t belong.

Let’s take a closer look at some of the resumes of the teams that sports talkers will pimp this week, while at the same time trying to tear down Iowa.

Alabama: According to Jeff Sagarin’s computer formula, Alabama has played the 27th most difficult schedule in the nation; Iowa is at 15. They have three wins over teams currently in the BCS Top 25. In their last three wins against Ole Miss, South Carolina and Tennessee, they haven’t scored more than 22 points in any of those contests, averaging just 18 points per game. Their average score in those three games is 18.0 to 6.3. And here I thought the Big Ten was the only conference that played games like that? They have a great defense and they are making plays when they have to in order to win games. And for that, people are saying things like ‘Champions have to get lucky along the way if they are going to win it all. Alabama is playing like a champion.’ That came from the mouth of Lou Holtz last night, just after ESPN led off College Football Final with Iowa-MSU highlights (at least they led off with the Hawks) and several more mentions of how Iowa isn’t the prettiest car on the lot. Sorry, but ‘Bama ain’t no 1968 Camaro, either.

Florida: In their last three games, they have won by an average score of 21.6 to 14.0 against LSU, Arkansas and Mississippi State. They have not scored 30 points in any of those games, and they were the beneficiaries of some debatable calls in their last two games, especially against Arkansas; the SEC crew that did that game was put on hiatus. Sagarin ranks their strength of schedule thus far at #39 in the nation. Florida has just one win against a team currently in the BCS top 25, and the rest of their schedule sees just one more team currently on that list, and that is #22 South Carolina. But, they have Tim Tebow at quarterback, so that means the national media isn’t going to poke too hard. They’ll say things like ‘Florida is all about the championships, and it’s hard for great teams to get up each week when everyone is gunning for them.’ Hmmm..let’s see…Iowa has played four straight games where the opponent felt they were a Big Ten title contender; Penn State, Michigan, Wisconsin and Michigan State. Penn State felt the Iowa game was their biggest of the year and the largest obstacle between them and Pasadena. Michigan felt that it could beat every team on its schedule, Wisconsin was looking at an 11-1 season and a share of the Big Ten title right in the face if they got past Iowa and Michigan State knew if it won out, it would probably be headed to Pasadena. However, don’t expect anyone outside of the Big Ten Network to realize that.

Texas: The Longhorns have played yet another embarrassingly simple non-conference slate, and for that, the computers hate them; They have a strength of schedule south of 50th. Sagarin ranks the Longhorns #14 in the poll he submits to the BCS. They have played just one team in the BCS Top 25 and have just one more game against a team currently in the BCS Top 25, and that is this week against Oklahoma State. The other team was Oklahoma, and they won that one 16-13 and Sam Bradford was out for the final three quarters. If the folks down in Texas want to complain again this year, look no further than the weak OOC schedule; those of us that don’t wear the burnt orange saw this coming back in May.

USC: The Computers put the Trojans at #10. USC has three wins against teams currently in the BCS Top 25, and I am sure Pete Carroll will talk about that this week. Of course, last week, Iowa was the only team in the BCS poll with three wins against Top 25 teams, but now that Wisconsin has been knocked out of the Top 25 after having a bye week, Pete and his minions are free to use that factoid. Pete ripped the computers last week amidst sips of Merlot and hitting the replay button for another rendition of ‘Lean on Me’ while slipping into a cardigan sweater by a propane fireplace. He wondered if college football was interested in the computers or finding the best teams. Pete, it’s real simple; beat Washington and we are not even having a debate here. Hey, the Trojans beat Oregon State at home by six points this week, but that is better than Iowa’s 10 point win ON THE ROAD at Wisconsin, or their 11 point win ON THE ROAD at Penn State, or their two-point win ON THE ROAD at Michigan State, because USC scored 42 points in their six-point win and it was more easy on the eyes, I guess. Phooey to that. But their 18-15 win at Ohio State, a team that lost at Purdue, that was ‘gutty’ or ‘gritty’.

ESPN has an article up on how LSU controls its own destiny, even with one loss. Everyone is jocking the Horned Frogs of TCU right now, and don’t forget about Cincy or Boise State.

That’s all well and good, and each of those teams has an interesting story to tell. But so do the Iowa Hawkeyes.

Iowa: The computers respect what Iowa has done, ranking them #1 this week. Sure, I have bagged on the computers before, and I still struggle to understand how the computer polls are really non-biased when humans enter the criteria for which they crunch. Still, the Coaches Poll is fraudulent, and I think more than half of the Harris Poll voters go to bed before 6pm central, having beaten the rush for the Blue Plate Special down at the local buffet and turn out the lights by ‘Clapping Off’. Iowa has the most impressive road resume of any team in the nation; please email me if you find another.

Is Iowa pretty? Not to many in this spread crazy era, but they win; 12 in a row in fact, the 2nd best winning streak in the nation. In their last six games away from Kinnick Stadium, they have won by an average score of 29.5 to 7.6. No team has scored more than 13 points on them, and it took Michigan State 58:23 to get to the 13-point mark this week. Iowa has not lost a football game for 357 days. They start two freshmen tailbacks, they have played a significant portion of the year without their NFL left tackle an their NFL tight end. They lost a starting cornerback and running back in the summer. Their receiving corp has been healthy for a total of one game this year. No, they are not the prettiest tractor in the field, but they have the constitution of a Ford 8N. In case you don’t know, those tractors never die. These Hawkeyes are indeed the Rocky Balboa of college football circa 2009. If the rest of the nation doesn’t like them, they can take a hike. We’ll take these gutty, gritty, determined Hawkeyes, who are doing what championship teams do; win the next one in front of them.

Tags: BCS, Big Ten Football, hawkeye football, Hawkeye Nation, hawkeyenation.com, Iowa football, iowa hawkeyes, Jon Miller, Top 25 Poll