The Hawkeyes went 12-0 in the regular season for the first time ever and rose as high as No. 3 in the College Football Playoff rankings before their close loss to Michigan State in the Big Ten Championship.
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A season that began with a thud ended will end with roses.
Iowa and Stanford finished in the final two rankings spots outside the four-team playoff, yet they earned coveted spots in the traditional year-end intersectional matchup between the Big Ten and Pac-12 powers.
Not bad for a season that began with a touchdown-less loss at Northwestern and a meek first half against UCF.
Stanford will presumably be making its 15th Rose Bowl appearance in program history; the Cardinal are 6-7-1 all-time in the hallowed game.
Kirk Ferentz’s outfit will square off with Stanford, the Pac-12 champions, in the 2015 installment of the historic Rose Bowl game.
It will be the first meeting for the two teams. Iowa has lost its last three Rose Bowl trips, last winning after the 1958 season.
LONG TIME COMING: Although it took 25 years for Iowa to get back to Pasadena, it’s been even longer since the Hawkeyes could celebrate a victory. Now this is not set in stone, but considering the Pac-12 standings, location and fan draw, the Foster Farms Bowl could most likely select UCLA Football.
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Iowa narrowly missed winning the Big Ten title.
