I would hope the rankings help people realize that Minnesota didn't accomplish some of the subjective things many have posted that they did this year. They didn't "change the perception of Minnesota football" for example an there definitely is some "same old Gophers" still there. Everyone was justifiably ecstatic over the win against Penn State, but the quality of play from the team drastically diminished after that high point. It's clear that the committee, fair or not, views the Penn State win as a fluke and the Wisconsin performance as the "real Minnesota". If the University can finally get the message that losing to rivals is an embarrassment and everything possible needs to be done to change it, then the committee did Minnesota a favor by their ranking which really doesn't have a justification in fact/logic and only in perception. Losses have consequences and every Minnesota fan should have expected a harsh drop after losing the way the Gophers did on Saturday. Top 10 teams don't lose at home in that manner with everything on the line. There was so much on the line on Saturday, including national perception of where this program really was and it looked like a program that simply got a fluke win and played an easy schedule on Saturday. I disagree with that assessment, but I can't blame someone who doesn't watch every game from drawing that conclusion either.
Iowa has one quality win just like Minnesota, but one more loss. More importantly, Iowa could have lost to Illinois and Nebraska the past two weeks. There is no explanation for them going 3-0 in their last 3 games that doesn't include a lot of luck. The Gophers trounced both Illinois and Nebraska. In no way do I believe Minnesota deserves to be ranked above Penn State, despite the head to head win, but that same logic should apply to Iowa as well. The only reason it doesn't is because of the stigma Minnesota still has to overcome. I have no doubt Minnesota was better than Iowa and never should have lost that game. Again, it just shows how important not choking down the stretch this year was.