Fun Facts: Florida-Iowa, Monster Jam Edition

Iowa and Florida, an Outback Bowl. Fun Facts.

1. Both teams are .500 in bowls. Florida is 21-21. Iowa is 14-14-1.

2. Iowa and Florida are tied with Georgia and Wisconsin for most Outback Bowl appearances, with five.

3. The winner will tie Georgia, Michigan and Tennessee for most Outback Bowl wins, with three.

4. Iowa quarterback C.J. Beathard has five touchdown passes in bowls, all in the fourth quarter. He had one in the 2014 Outback Bowl, two in the 2015 TaxSlayer Bowl, and two in the 2016 Rose Bowl.

5. While the Hawkeyes endured a 45-16 defeat to Stanford in that Rose Bowl, Florida got routed even worse in its bowl. The Gators lost 41-7 to Michigan in the Buffalo Wild Wings Citrus Bowl. Former Hawkeye quarterback Jake Rudock threw three touchdown passes in that game.

6. If Akrum Wadley rushes for 34 yards, he'll give Iowa a second 1,000-yard rusher, which would be a school-first. Only five teams (Kentucky, New Mexico, San Diego State, South Florida and Tulsa) have two 1,000-yard rushers. Sixty-eight players have 1,000-plus yards.

7. Three of the last seven Outback Bowls went to overtime.

8. Iowa was outscored by a total of 98-7 in its last four first-halves of bowls.

9. The last time Iowa and Florida met, in the Jan. 2, 2006 Outback Bowl, they combined for 857 yards. That isn't expected this time.

10. Iowa is an underdog in a bowl for the seventh-consecutive time.

11. Raymond James Stadium is hosting the Outback Bowl, the College Football Playoff championship game on Jan. 9, and a Monster Jam Show on Jan. 14.

12. This is Iowa's 10th Florida bowl appearance. It's Florida's 23rd.

13. Dr. Jerry Punch will be ABC's sideline announcer for the Outback Bowl. Punch has a medical degree from Wake Forest. He spent 14 years as the director of emergency room services at a Florida hospital. He appeared as himself in the movie 'Days of Thunder.”

14. The Outback Bowl has been called the Outback Bowl since 1996. There were 18 bowls that year. There are 40 now.

15. The actual Outback is in Australia. It's 10,160 miles from Tampa to Alice Springs, the largest city in the Outback.