On Monday’s edition of “The Joel Klatt Show: A College Football Podcast,” host and Fox lead college football analyst, Joel Klatt, broke down a resume comparison between No. 20 Texas (6-2, 3-1 SEC) and unranked Iowa (6-2, 4-1 Big Ten), where he argued the Hawkeyes should be given much more respect from the AP poll voters.
In his breakdown, he noted that the Longhorns, who ranked as the No. 1 team in the nation to start the year, have a much shakier foundation than the Hawkeyes, who began as the No. 44 team in the country, based on their results through the first nine weeks of the season.
Klatt first spoke about Iowa, which he noted has two close losses: a last-minute 16-13 loss at Iowa State and a 20-15 defeat at home against current No. 2 Indiana (which was tied with less than two minutes left to play). While their marquee win is a 25-24 victory over a crumbling Penn State program, he attributed that result to Iowa’s playstyle that invites nail-biting finishes.
“Now, Iowa is not ranked right now, and I started thinking to myself like, ‘Why is Iowa not ranked?’ They just thumped Minnesota. It’s a good football team. They were just tied in the fourth quarter with Indiana, who we think is the No. 2 team in the country and everybody else does too. They were tied with them 13-13 with like 1:50 left in the game in Kinnick,” Klatt said.
“Their other loss was on a last-second field goal at Iowa State in a rivalry game on the road.”
When he reflected on Texas’ close wins and losses so far, Klatt noted both have come in overtime fashion against bottom-of-the-pack SEC programs — Kentucky and Mississippi State — neither of which necessarily elevates a program’s strength. Meanwhile, their two losses have come on the road against Ohio State and Florida, which he stated were not particularly close.
“Meanwhile, Texas, they’re 6-2. They beat Kentucky, and they beat Mississippi State. Two bottom-tier teams. Close wins, overtime against Mississippi State and Kentucky,” Klatt said.
“Their losses are Ohio State and Florida, and candidly, not particularly close. Now, I know the Ohio State one looks like a one-possession game. That’s really a two-possession game. It’s 14-0 until late, late into the fourth quarter, and Ohio State didn’t do anything on offense to try to push the envelope. Florida beat Texas handily.”
In his closing statement on the comparison, Klatt asked AP poll voters why they favor the Longhorns over the Hawkeyes’ body of work, questioning whether it’s because of the preseason rankings or due to some hidden narrative.
While Iowa enjoys its Week 10 bye, Texas will face a challenging opponent this weekend against No. 9 Vanderbilt (7-1, 3-1 SEC) from Darrell K Royal Texas Memorial Stadium at 11 a.m. CT on ABC.
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