Illinois State. Iowa State. North Texas. Maryland. Indiana.
These are not the opponents of a national contender: not in football, anyway. They’re middling at best, the sort of teams a powerhouse schedules to give its starters some rest.
They’ve been the bread and butter of Iowa’s 2015 schedule. And with three games left in the regular season, the Hawkeyes are undefeated, and, perhaps more importantly, knocking on the door of college football’s four-team playoff, the winner of which earns a National Championship title. At the time of writing, Coach Kirk Ferentz’s team is ranked fifth in the College Football Playoff Committee’s weekly poll, as well garnering the eighth spot in the Associated Press’s rankings.