Wine: Big Ten Bowling

Dec. 19, 2005

The Bowl Game

• The 2006 Outback Bowl
• Order 2006 Outback Bowl Game Tickets Online!
• The 2006 Outback Bowl Hawkeye Huddle
• Watch Iowa’s 2005 Outback Bowl Highlights

More About Iowa Football

• 2005 Collector’s Patch: Winning Numbers
• Follow the Renovation of Kinnick!
• The Schedule: 2005 and Beyond
• Listen to the Hawkeyes on XM Radio
• Watch and Listen to Kirk, the Hawkeyes

The Big Ten football team with the current most consecutive post-season appearances in January is (drum roll, please) the University of Iowa.

When the Outback Bowl bypassed Michigan for Iowa this year, it extended Iowa’s streak of January bowl games to four and ended Michigan’s at nine.

Thank you, Outback Bowl. You have given our football team a well-earned distinction and besides that, we enjoy spending early January in Florida.

Facts in the first two paragraphs can be confirmed on page 69 of the Big Ten Football Media Guide, which also tells us that Iowa ranks third in all-time bowl games. The Hawkeyes are making their 21st post-season appearance, while Michigan and Ohio State are both making their 37th.

It is also worth noting that Iowa, with a bowl record of 11-8-1, is only one of three Big Ten schools that has a winning percentage in bowl games. Penn State is 6-2 since it began competing in the league in 1993. Purdue is 7-6.

Iowa has post-season victories the past two years, but Big Ten success in general has been mixed. In 2003 the conference sent a record eight teams to bowls, but only three won. In 2004 the league record was 3-3.

Seven Big Ten teams are playing in bowl games this month and next. If five win, the conference will equal a record established in 1998 and tied twice since then.

Sports books in Las Vegas believe four Big Ten teams will win, but Iowa is not one of them. The Hawkeyes are listed as a 3-point underdog, perhaps because their opponent is Florida, whose campus in Gainsville is only a couple of hours from Tampa. If the game were played at Drake Stadium, Iowa might be the favorite and the temperature at game time less mild.

Being a post-season favorite is not necessarily a good thing, anyway. Kirk Ferentz was supposed to be the losing coach in the three bowl games he has won. Hayden Fry’s teams were underdogs in the last two bowl games he won.

One of the big jobs facing Ferentz is to convince his Hawkeyes that this is not the same Florida team they beat 37-17 two years ago in the same stadium. Yes, the Gators have the same quarterback, the dangerous Chris Leak, but almost everything else has changed, including the coaching staff.

Perhaps the biggest difference is Florida’s defense, which has allowed less than 300 yards a game, on average, and ranks seventh in the nation. Two years ago, behind the darting Fred Russell, the Hawkeyes ran wild, piling up 328 yards on the ground. Don’t count on that to happen again.

Both teams feature veteran quarterbacks who trigger explosive offenses, but don’t be surprised if this settles into a contest that produces a final score lower than expected. Iowa’s defense improved noticeably in the late season, shutting down two exceptional running teams, Wisconsin and Minnesota.

If you want some positive vibes for this game, look no further than The Sporting News, whose board of five experts unanimously picks Iowa to beat Florida in the Outback Bowl. It is only one of seven bowl games (there are 28) in which the experts agree unanimously.

Here’s a look at other bowls involving Big Ten teams:

Alamo Bowl – If Michigan comes to play this will not be much of a contest. But if the Wolverines are sulking because they aren’t playing in January, Nebraska could pull a major upset.

Music City Bowl – Minnesota’s running game will be more than Virginia can handle. This is the third time in four years the Gophers have played in Nashville and they’ve won the last two, beating Arkansas and Alabama.

Sun Bowl – Northwestern’s football team scores more points than its basketball team, but that might not be enough to beat UCLA. This game could make the scoreboard look like a pin-ball machine.

Capital One Bowl – If Auburn shuts down Wisconsin’s running game this one could get ugly. On the other hand, the Badgers might get an emotional lift from Barry Alvarez, who will coach his last game.

Fiesta Bowl – Ohio State and Notre Dame, tradition-rich football schools, should provide a dandy game, but the edge goes to the Buckeyes, who beat Miami for the national championship in this bowl in 2002, and came back to beat Kansas State in 2003.

Orange Bowl – With two head coaches in their late 70s, this should be called the “Feel Good Bowl.” Joe Paterno of Penn State and Bobby Bowden of Florida State are not only legends, they are two of the nicest guys in the business. Paterno will win this one, perhaps decisively, giving the Big Ten a nice ending to the bowl season.