Iowa football is 7-2 and still clinging to hopes of making the 12-team College Football Playoff.

The Hawkeyes defeated Northwestern 24-10 on Nov. 7 in Evanston, Illinois, to move to 4-2 in the Big Ten Conference. Iowa was No. 19 in the first CFP rankings released Nov. 3.

The second CFP rankings will be released at 8 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 10 (ESPN).

This set of rankings is a potentially consequential one for the Hawkeyes, who at 7-2 undoubtedly need to win their final three regular-season games to be considered for the College Football Playoff. And while 12 teams make the field, the 12th to get in will be the highest-ranked Group of 6 program after the final top 25 is set.

So, Iowa needs to climb all the way to at least 11 when the final rankings are released on Dec. 6.

A big factor to watch this week is where the Hawkeyes stand among Big Ten Conference teams. Iowa was No. 19 in the initial rankings, fourth among Big Ten programs behind No. 4 Indiana, No. 8 UCLA and No. 12 Ohio State and just ahead of No. 20 USC and No. 23 Oregon.

The question is whether Iowa will be ranked ahead of 6-3 Oregon (which thrashed Ohio State and also has a win over USC) and 6-3 Ohio State (which beat Iowa but is on a two-game slide since losing starting quarterback Julian Sayin indefinitely). There’s no question 8-1 Indiana and 9-0 UCLA will be above Iowa, but can the Hawkeyes be third among Big Ten teams? That’ll be important considering neither Iowa nor Oregon nor Ohio State really has another potential “signature” win remaining on the schedule.

USC was idle last week, so it would be a shock if the Trojans jumped Iowa, which delivered an impressive 24-10 win at Northwestern that wasn’t really that close. But the Trojans (7-2) do have two “signature” games coming up: at Indiana and at UCLA (with a home game vs. Maryland in between).

Here's a look at where some publications project the Hawkeyes to land in the Nov. 10 CFP rankings: