Election Day may be in November, but the week leading up to the announcement of all 34 college football bowl games seems to have politicking left and right.
When Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz held a press conference to discuss the Hawkeyes’ postseason possibilities on Wednesday, he did the same.
As Ferentz made his pitch for why his team is “worthy” of a Bowl Championship Series bowl game, he noted two observations he made while watching other NCAA contests during Thanksgiving.
One was the number of close games that took place, some of which were upsets. The other was highly regarded teams suffering injuries.
He then tied both observations back to what his team dealt with all season — from the close victories to the several sustained injuries along the way.
“Those things all influence how a season goes, how a team performs, and I think those things actually reinforce the job that our players did this year because we certainly had our set of challenges,” Ferentz said.
Since taking over at Iowa, he has led the Hawkeyes to seven bowl games and boasts a 4-3 record in those contests — the most recent being a 31-10 victory over South Carolina in the Outback Bowl last season.
Iowa Athletics Director Gary Barta acknowledged on Wednesday the three likeliest destinations for the Hawkeyes are the Fiesta, Orange, and Capital One, with the first two being BCS contests.
Of the triad, the best-case scenario for the No. 9 Hawkeyes would be the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl, played at University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Ariz., on Jan. 4, 2010.
Should No. 3 Texas beat No. 21 Nebraska on Saturday, the Longhorns will play in the BCS national championship game, which then allows Fiesta Bowl officials to choose a replacement for its Big 12 representative before all remaining at-large selections can be chosen.
Barring an upset against Texas this weekend, the consensus seems either Iowa or No. 10 Penn State will be the Longhorns’ replacement. Both the Hawkeyes and Nittany Lions posted 6-2 records in Big Ten play and are 10-2 overall.
On Sept. 26, Iowa won the head-to-head meeting in State College, Pa., 21-10.
Barta said both squads are deserving of BCS bids and likened the situation to going up against a brother for a job because both schools hail from the Big Ten.
But he’s all about getting the Hawkeyes to the one BCS berth the two are competing for.
“I do put weight on the fact that head-to-head, we were fortunate enough to come out on top at their place, so we’ve made sure that everybody’s reminded of that,” Barta said. “But beyond that, we’re talking about the strengths of Iowa.
“We’re talking about our fans traveling, our television ratings, our history in bowl games, and focusing on what we’ll bring as opposed to what someone else might not.”
To go along with the head-to-head argument, Ferentz also noted Iowa’s success against quality opponents. Six of the Hawkeyes’ 10 victories came over bowl-eligible teams, with two coming in non-conference play against a 6-6 Iowa State and an Arizona team sitting at 7-4 entering its game at No. 20 USC this weekend.
However, Ferentz said he won’t be entirely disappointed with his team’s ultimate fate.
“I’ve never been to a bad bowl. Never had a bad bowl experience, and I think that’s definitely going to definitely be the case here,” Ferentz said. “We’re very excited about what our team has done, and whether we’re playing in a BCS bowl or any of the other bowls, they’re all great experiences.”