California here the Hawkeyes come
Cue the 2Pac.
Or the Mamas and the Papas.
Or Led Zeppelin, whatever floats your boat.
The Hawkeyes are destined for a Golden State bowl game after losing to Northwestern on Saturday.
The third-straight loss ended Iowa’s chances at a New Year’s Day bowl appearance, leaving the TaxSlayer (Jacksonville), Holiday (San Diego), and Redbox (Santa Clara) as the likely destinations. All games are December 31.
None are going to be 24 degrees at kickoff. But I digress.
Iowa played in the TaxSlayer in 2015 and lost to Tennessee. That’s the last time the Big Ten was in the game, too. You probably remember it — or maybe not — since the performance is not really one to keep in the mental rolodex.
There’s a joint agreement between the TaxSlayer Bowl and the Music City Bowl to have three Big Ten and three ACC teams in each game over a six-year period. The Hawkeyes appearance was the first in the new contract, and there’s virtually no way the TaxSlayer committee would a) select its third-straight ACC team or b) take Iowa again to be the Big Ten representative.
So a postseason trip to California is a lock, provided Iowa doesn’t lose its final two games to Illinois and Nebraska. If that somehow happens, then Detroit, yes DETROIT, would be in the mix for the Quick Lane Bowl.
I don’t think that’s happening either, but nothing would surprise me with the 2018 squad at this point.
That leaves the Black-and-Gold with either the Holiday Bowl or Redbox Bowl for their postseason options. Both would feature an opponent from the Pac-12.
And like with New York City last year, I’d suspect a majority of the Hawkeyes roster has not been to either San Diego or San Francisco. A cool experience for the players either way.
Iowa played in the Holiday Bowl three times from 1986-1991, but has not returned, largely because the Big Ten wasn’t affiliated with the game for almost two decades. It was predominantly a Big 8/12 versus Pac 10/12 matchup from 1995-2013.
The Redbox Bowl is on its sixth different name since the game’s 2002 inception. There’s been a hodgepodge of teams in the game, although the Pac-12 has sent a team 11 of the past 12 seasons as part of an agreement. Iowa has not appeared in the bowl.
San Diego or Santa Clara.
Taken ‘em to spots they’ve never before hung.
Go West, Hawks fans.
For more Hawkeye coverage, follow @AdamJRossow and @HawkeyeHQ on Twitter and Facebook — and Hawkeye Headquarters on OurQuadCities.com all season. We’re the only Quad-Cities station to follow Iowa at home and on the road, so travel with us to Illinois for the final road game of the season on November 17 and join us at Kinnick Stadium on November 23 as the Hawkeyes host Nebraska.
