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Booger McFarland, Joey Galloway say CFP rankings of Iowa, Michigan show respect committee has for Big Ten

Chandler Vesselsby: Chandler Vessels22 hours agoChandlerVessels
big ten playoff
Joseph Cress/For the Register / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The second College Football Playoff rankings of the 2025 season were released Tuesday, and the Big Ten was well-represented. The conference had six teams overall in the top 25, including three in the top 10.

Of course, there will be much discussion about Ohio State, Indiana and Oregon, which earned the three playoff spots for the conference if the season were to end today. However, it was the teams outside of the field that caught the eye of ESPN analyst Boofer McFarland.

Iowa was the lowest ranked of all those teams, coming in at No. 21. The Hawkeyes nearly took out the No. 8 Ducks this past week but lost 18-16 on a last-second field goal. Speaking on the rankings reveal show on ESPN, McFarland argued that Iowa’s ranking is a big boost to Oregon’s resume.

“This is important for Oregon because we know the committee didn’t really like Oregon with where they places them,” he said. “Now you get a ranked win at Iowa and they didn’t drop Iowa but one spot. That’s big time for Oregon.”

The win against the Hawkeyes is Oregon’s only victory against a team currently ranked in the top 25. However, they will have another chance to get one in a couple of weeks when they take on No. 17 USC.

Right in between the Hawkeyes and Trojans sits No. 18 Michigan. The Wolverines have still yet to beat a team that is currently ranked in the top 25 but will of course have a matchup against rival Ohio State at the end of the regular season. Michigan was won four straight games against the Buckeyes and would certainly be an at-large candidate if it could pull off a fifth.

Fellow ESPN analyst Joey Galloway added to McFarland’s comments about Iowa by saying that Michigan’s ranking also shows how much respect the committee has for the strength of the Big Ten. That could leave the door open for the conference to potentially get a fourth team in the CFP, much like it did a year ago.

“When you talk about Michigan and Iowa still being ranked and you talk about perception, I think this committee has a lot of respect for where the Big Ten is sitting,” Galloway said. “Michigan, we’ll talk about USC also. It could be that fourth spot to get into the playoff outside of the top three in the Big Ten.”