The University of Iowa football team has matched the best start in the school’s history and on Sunday it was rewarded with one of its best showings in the first Bowl Championship Series standings of the season.

The Hawkeyes debuted in the No. 6 position, the highest of any Big Ten team and their best BCS placement since finishing fifth in the final standings in 2002. The highest the Hawkeyes had been since then was 11th, in the 2003 and 2004 seasons.

The BCS standings are determined by combining computer rankings with the USA Today coaches poll and the Harris Interactive Poll. The top two teams in the final standings on Dec. 6 will meet in the BCS national championship game, but the rankings also are used to help determine which teams play in the four BCS bowl games – the Rose, Orange, Sugar and Fiesta.

Although it could determine their post-season destination, the Hawkeyes continually have expressed disdain for any polls, BCS or otherwise.

“Rankings don’t mean a whole lot to us at this point,’’ quarterback Ricky Stanzi said after leading the Hawkeyes to a 20-10 victory over Wisconsin on Saturday.

Senior linebacker A.J. Edds said the same thing. He said he and his teammates aren’t worried about how much anyone nationwide respects or appreciates what they’ve accomplished.

“All we can do is keep on winning and we’ll see what happens,’’ Edds said.

The Hawkeyes also moved up to No. 7 Sunday in the Associated Press poll, which no longer has any bearing on the BCS list. They were No. 11 last week but jumped ahead of Virginia Tech and Ohio State, which lost; LSU, which was idle; and Miami (Fla.), which defeated Central Florida.

Meanwhile, the Hawkeyes recorded their sixth come-from-behind win of the season to move to 7-0. They trailed Wisconsin 10-0 in the second quarter before scoring the last 20 points of the contest.

“I think it’s reflective of our team,’’ Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz said. “They just keep pushing forward and don’t seem to be too affected by anything that happens.’’