The Iowa football team returned to the Bowl Championship Series top 10 following a number of upsets in college football over the weekend.

With Pittsburgh’s loss at West Virginia on Nov. 27 and Georgia Tech falling to in-state rival Georgia on Nov. 28, Iowa moved to No. 9 in the latest BCS rankings.

The Hawkeyes were also aided by Oklahoma State’s loss to Oklahoma also on Nov. 27, which eliminated the Cowboys from BCS at-large contention.

Most bowl prognosticators project Iowa’s primary remaining BCS obstacle to be Penn State, a team the Hawkeyes downed, 21-10, on Sept. 26.

Both the Hawkeyes and the NIttany Lions finished the season tied for second place in the Big Ten with identical records (10-2, 6-2).

Penn State sits one spot ahead of Iowa in the Harris Interactive and USA Today coaches’ polls, which both factor into the cumulative BCS rankings, but a low computer ranking leaves Penn State at No. 11 overall in the BCS.

Official bowl selections will be announced next weekend following a number of decisive conference championship games.

— by Jon Linder