Iowa Named College Football Playoffs Darkhorse

Neuheisel knows that Ohio State and Indiana are likely making the playoffs, but it's just a matter of how many other B1G teams join them. Iowa would love to have the Hoosiers game back, but there's no shame in losing to a Indiana team that also defeated Oregon by 10 points.

At the end of the day, Iowa improving to 5-1 over the Ducks would likely erase their loss to Iowa State earlier in the season.

"Listen, Iowa is now alive in the Big Ten race. We talked about the CFP looking for a fourth team from the Big Ten, put Iowa in that list of candidates," Neuheisel said.

"USC is going to fight for a spot, Michigan is going to fight for a spot, but Iowa, with the way they're playing, remember, their close margin of defeat to Indiana. They kicked a field goal to take the lead late and missed it, unfortunately. This is a really good football team. Next week, here comes Oregon."

Iowa's Chances of Making the Playoffs

At the end of the day, Iowa controls their own destiny. A win over Oregon certainly helps their chances, but they still have to win out. One of the teams that Neuheisel mentioned, USC, awaits the Hawkeyes after they take on the Ducks.

The Trojans are 5-2 (3-1) as they enjoyed October 25 off. Last week, they fell to No. 13 Notre Dame, 34-24. That ten-point loss came as a bit of a shock as they just took care of business against No. 15 Michigan, 31-13.

For the Wolverines, their only shot to make the playoffs would be if they shocked the world against Ohio State in their regular season finale. The Michigan vs. OSU rivalry is well-documented, so truly anything can happen on November 29.

One of the main things the panel continued to talk about was peaking at the right time. For Iowa, the time is now. There's no better time to string a few wins together. They've already won three in a row, and a win over Oregon would make it much easier to take down USC, Michigan State, and Nebraska as the regular season begins to wind down.