Tuesday Hawkeyes Reading Room - Could Fiesta Bowl pull a hook-and-lateral and Statue of Liberty, and take both Boise State and TCU

Boise State was full of surprises when it played in the Fiesta Bowl three seasons ago, capping its 43-42 overtime win over Oklahoma with a hook-and-lateral for a touchdown and a Statue of Liberty play for the winning two-point conversion.

So, will the bowl itself pull a surprise on Sunday and invite two non-BCS conference teams to its Jan. 4 game in Glendale, Ariz., in unbeaten TCU and unbeaten Boise State, instead of having 10-2 Iowa as one of its contestants?

Scott Bordow of the East Valley Tribune in metro Phoenix thinks it should. Bordow writes:

Now, the Hawkeyes' lure is strong. Amazingly, Iowa never has played in the Fiesta Bowl, so there's a good chance the entire state will leave for the week and spend money in Valley hotels, restaurants, etc. . . .

Here's the thing about the Hawkeyes, though: They're a Big Ten team. They play BORING football. They'll put you to sleep faster than a tryptophan overload on Thanksgiving.

Even if Boise State's entire offensive line promised to get down on their knees and propose to their girlfriends after the game, the television ratings would suffer.

Boise State and TCU, on the other hand, has a natural hook - which unbeaten team is better - and several juicy subplots.

How will the Broncos' offense, ranked No. 9 in the country, move the ball against the Horned Frogs' defense, ranked No. 2?

I omitted a paragraph from the middle of that train of thought from the columnist. It's one that will cost him a bundle of credibility in Hawkdom, I'm afraid. It is:

If you had a choice, where would you spend New Year's Eve: Ames, Iowa or Mill Avenue (a popular nightlife area in Tempe)?

Uh, Chris, the University of Iowa is in Iowa City. Iowa State is in Ames. If Iowa does get a Fiesta invite, you'll find many of the visitors to Greater Phoenix a month from now will be a little sensitive to this.

But what about Penn State? The Nittany Lions won't go quietly in the December night, even without a win over a ranked team and with a 21-10 home loss to Iowa.

They want a BCS bowl bid. Joe Paterno admits it, as this story amplifies.

"I've told some people to do anything you can to make sure people understand that we're going to bring a lot of fans ... and we have great television ratings,'' Paterno said.

Penn State indeed is typically a big postseason draw. The school boasts in its e-mail to bowl organizers that they had 30,000 fans at last year's Rose Bowl, and at least 35,000 fans for the Orange Bowl in 2006.

And Paterno, a Hall of Famer who is major college football's career wins leader, remains one of the sport's biggest draws. The 12.3 TV rating for Penn State-Florida State in the 2006 Orange Bowl was dramatically higher than the last three Orange Bowl games.

Revenue and TV ratings are just as important - if not more - than team records to bowl organizers in setting up matchups.

"We're certainly trying to use the new technologies out there to try and tell our story as best we can,'' athletic director Tim Curley said.

But there are two sides to this story, of course, as the story details.

The Hawkeyes also have a reputation of bringing fans to bowl games. The Fiesta Bowl is

seen as a strong possibility, and Iowa team spokesman Phil Haddy says there are roughly 1 million transplanted native Iowans living in Arizona.

"We could probably sell out the stadium with nobody from the state of Iowa going down there,'' Haddy said.

Did you know that? As of July 2008, the population of Arizona was roughly 6.5 million. Transplanted Iowans account for about one in every six or seven? Does that seem right to you? A state with 3 million people that have stayed behind has sent 1 million to another state?

But I'm not arguing, no sir. You do not mess with Iowa sports information director Haddy. Because if you do, he'll leave you in the Arizona desert to rot. Also, I don't know what Phil's actual claim was. 

Iowa football used much more creative math than that in its football past. Hayden Fry used to say 40 million people lived within a 100-mile radius of State College, Pa. Look on a map and tell me where the vast majority of  those people are hiding.

Oklahoma Coach Bob Stoops made it clear he is staying on at OU. The Oklahoman newspaper reprinted his brief statement on the matter. I found this sentence interesting.

I will never confirm or deny whether I talk or not talk to anybody, and I won't be interviewing for any jobs, he said.

Stoops' agent is Neil Cornrich, who also works for Kirk Ferentz. I don't know what Cornrich tells his clients, but I'm guessing one thing is to never negotiate in public. Both Stoops and Ferentz got linked to Notre Dame via a story in the Chicago Sun-Times that offered nothing substantial on which to base it. The Ferentz-Notre Dame thing has had an amazingly long shelf life given Ferentz has zero intention to entertaining a move to South Bend.

But never confirm or deny whether or not you talk to anyone. It's good business. I don't say that to be facetious.

You could do a lot worse than have Cornrich as your agent. Peruse neilcornrich.com and you'll soon find out why. Former Hawkeyes Dallas Clark, Aaron Kampman and Bob Sanders, now NFL stars, are also represented by Cornrich.

For something completely different, here's something related to Hawkeyes basketball. Iowa will pursue a win over Virginia Tech on Tuesday night. If the Hawks prevail, they'll have their first winning streak of more than one game since they beat Bryant, Northern Iowa and Iowa State in succession between Dec. 5 and Dec. 12 of last year.

So there's that. There's also this: Former Hawkeye Sean Sonderleiter is off to a good start with the Fort Wayne Mad Ants of the NBA D-League.

Sondy, who turns 29 on Dec. 17, is averaging 13.5 points and 8.5 rebounds, 5.0 offensive rebounds and 1.5 blocks per game through two games with the Mad Ants. He played with that team for 33 games last season, averaging 4.1 points and 3.1 rebounds.

If his career continues the upward swing it's currently on, Sonderleiter will play in the 2012 NBA All-Star Game.

But seriously, folks, I saw the Minnesota Timberwolves last Friday night. I can tell you there's room on at least one NBA team for Sonderleiter and I hope he gets on one some day.