The chance to punch a ticket to the College Football Playoff could be closer than it may appear on the surface for the Iowa Hawkeyes.
It could be another feather in the already full cap of head coach Kirk Ferentz. Their opening victory, which saw an offense come to life, has some believing that it could become a reality this season.
In their newest bowl projections, CBS Sports has thrust the Iowa Hawkeyes into the College Football Playoff projection.
CBS has moved Iowa up to the No. 11 seed and drawing a first-round game on the road against the projected No. 6 seed Oregon Ducks. With the new format of the expanded 12-team playoff, the four first-round games are played on campuses.
This matchup would be a Big Ten matchup with Oregon just getting its first year in the Big Ten underway.
These two would join a handful of other Big Ten representatives. Ohio State is projected as the No. 2 seed while Penn State is slotted as the No. 8 seed.
The rest of the projections see No. 1 Georgia, No. 3 Utah, and No. 4 Miami receiving byes in the first round.
The other first-round matchups would see No. 5 Texas hosting No. 12 Boise State, No. 8 Penn State hosting No. 9 Notre Dame, and No. 7 Alabama hosting No. 10 Kansas State.
Not set to begin until Dec. 20 and 21, the College Football Playoff is months away, but it is something that the Hawkeyes could see in their future.
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