Ferentz scratches the Rose Bowl itch

IOWA CITY — This isn't the way any of them envisioned this, but the Iowa Hawkeyes' 2015 season has been beyond their craziest dreams.

The day after Iowa (12-1) fell to No. 3 Michigan State (12-1) inside on the final minute of the Big Ten championship game, the Hawkeyes learned they will make their first appearance in the Rose Bowl since 1991.

This ends a Rose Bowl-less streak that had Iowa sitting next Minnesota (last appearance 1962) and Indiana (1968) for the longest such absence. So, the fact that Iowa went from 7-6 and the TaxSlayer Bowl last season to checking off what has to have been one of the more aggravating itches on head coach Kirk Ferentz's resume, yeah, that has to be pretty satisfying for all of Hawkeye-dom.

The Hawkeyes dropped one spot to No. 5 in the final College Football rankings, two spots ahead of Ohio State, which had a chance to jump the Hawkeyes for the Pasadena, Calif., bowl with a big, huge parade and all of that stuff.

Iowa will face No. 6 Stanford and Swiss Army knife running back Chrisian McCaffrey, who in the Cardinal's Pac-12 championship victory over USC last night, eclipsed the the legendary Barry Sanders' NCAA all-purpose yardage record of 3,250 yards. McCaffrey dazzled in Saturday's conference title win with 461 all-purpose yards — 207 rushing, 105 receiving, 120 kick return and 29 punt return — and three touchdowns.

Iowa thought it was going to the Rose Bowl in 2002, when it finished an 8-0 Big Ten season. Ferentz was carried around the Metrodome by his team while holding a rose. The Orange Bowl swooped in and took the Hawkeyes.

The Hawkeyes came out of their 16-13 loss to Michigan State, who'll face No. 2 Alabama in the national semifinal Cotton Bowl, bloodied but unbowed.

'Whatever game we get, we're going to treat it like it's the national championship,' linebacker Cole Fisher said. 'Wherever they put us, we'll be OK with it.'

Center Austin Blythe said on the prospect of the Rose Bowl, 'Yeah, sure. I think we belong with anybody.'

The Rose Bowl was kind of clear in what it looked at in making its decision. The bottom line was the CFP ranking. After that, it went into some fuzzy, fuzzy math.

Rose Bowl management committee chair Scott Jenkins told The Gazette on Monday that the bowl is working under the 'strong presumption' that it will pick the school that's ranked highest in the final CFP poll if the Big Ten lands a final four team.

'The strong presumption is we'll take the next highest ranked team, which can work for you or against you, depending on where you're ranked,' Jenkins said. 'If you're ranked ahead of Ohio State, assuming Iowa loses, you're going to like that.'

Iowa loves that.

The Hawkeyes' effort against Michigan State held sway with the committee, chairman Jeff Long told ESPN. The Spartans put together an epic 22-play, 82-yard and 9:04 drive that freshman RB L.J. Scott held over the goal line for a nanosecond with 27 seconds left in the game.

'Very close loss with arm stuck out with a football going over the goal line to lose that game,' Long said. 'Holding them five was a strong sentiment of the committee. As you guys know, the Rose Bowl chooses the selection there. They chose Iowa and it makes a great matchup with Iowa and Stanford in the Rose Bowl.'

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