Alabama, Ohio State are big winners with Iowa losing to Purdue

The Iowa Hawkeyes lost in stunning fashion to Purdue, opening the door for Alabama and Ohio State to have clearer paths to the College Football Playoff.

After the Iowa Hawkeyes got their win over Penn State, it seemed as if it could be smooth sailing for Kirk Ferentz’s team to the College Football Playoff or, at minimum, the Big Ten Championship Game with an easy schedule ahead.

In the words of the great Lee Corso, not so fast my friend.

Playing at home against Kinnick Stadium against a pedestrian Purdue team, Iowa didn’t just get beat — they got dominated. The Hawkeyes, a team that has thrived on their defense turning the ball over this season, committed three costly turnovers to the Boilermakers, bettering the visiting team’s season total on defense (2) coming into the matchup.

With Spencer Petras and the offense showing their limitations, the Hawkeyes had nothing left as they fell, 24-7. Now, they are sure to drop down in the rankings and their path to the playoff just got much more complicated.

And that is beautiful news to the hears of the Alabama Crimson Tide and Ohio State Buckeyes.

Alabama and Ohio State have a much easier path to the College Football Playoff with Iowa losing to Purdue.

The simple truth of the College Football Playoff in the 2021 season is that the more undefeated teams remaining, the less of a chance teams like Alabama and Ohio State would have in making it into the final four.

But with Iowa dropping out, that improves the chances greatly for the Crimson Tide and Buckeyes. Yes, those teams obviously still have to take care of business and win out — including Alabama likely facing Georgia in the SEC Championship Game and Ohio State perhaps seeing Iowa for the Big Ten title — but there is now less uncertainty.

If those two teams are able to accomplish that and finish with just one loss, that likely means the Hawkeyes have two losses, thus eliminating them. Then, we could get into a résumé contest between one-loss teams. In that case, it’s hard to think that the committee wouldn’t find a way to put Alabama and Ohio State into the mix. You could also argue that the committee would look to get them in over an undefeated Cincinnati team.

With the way this college football season has played out, absolutely nothing is certain. We’ve seen top teams fall week after week, so there could be more upset losses coming.

As of now, though, Iowa losing to Purdue in such shocking fashion majorly clears the path for the Crimson Tide and Buckeyes to achieve what everyone expected them to coming into the year, namely making the College Football Playoff.

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