The Hlog

The Bowl Mishmash

Under no circumstances can I see Iowa going to a bowl lower in the Big Ten's pecking order than the Insight should it defeat Western Michigan Saturday and improve to 7-5.

The top five slots would go to, in no particular order, Ohio State, Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin and Penn State. The Insight gets the sixth pick from the Big Ten, after the Rose, Capital One, Outback, Alamo and Champs Sports. Would the Insight take an 8-4 Purdue (assuming the Boilermakers win at Indiana Saturday)? Why? To have 5,000 fans from Purdue instead of heaven knows how many supporting Iowa?

Would the Insight take a 7-5 Michigan State (if it beats Penn State Saturday), a 7-5 Indiana (if it beats Purdue) or a 7-5 Northwestern (if it beats Illinois - ha!)? No, no, and not on your life.

If Michigan beats Ohio State for the Big Ten title and Rose Bowl berth and another BCS bowl still chose Ohio State (unlikely, but possible) , then Iowa would move up a spot to the Champs Sports.

But it's the Insight. Tempe. Tens of thousands of Iowa fans on Mill Street for New Year's Eve. A windfall for the game, which has never drawn as many as 49,000 fans in its history that stretches back to its Copper Bowl debut in 1989. You think Iowa in greater Phoenix wouldn't top 49,000 fans? Is there an Iowan without a relative or friend in Arizona?

If the Hawkeyes do end up in that game and I cover it for the Gazette, I may not come home until spring training's over.

As for possible Iowa opponents in the Insight - if we're going to get way ahead of ourselves, let's go all the way - rest assured it won't be an especially good one. The Insight gets the No. 6 Big 12 team, and that conference seems a decent bet to send two teams to BCS games, making the Insight No. 7. The bowl would probably want a Southwestern representative, a Texas or Oklahoma school.

Forget about good teams like Kansas, Oklahoma, Missouri and Texas. Texas Tech played in last year's Insight Bowl and probably wouldn't be wanted back so soon. That could mean a 6-6 Oklahoma State. Or a 6-6 Texas A&M with a lame-duck coach in Dennis Franchione. Or a 6-6 Kansas State if the Wildcats can win one of its last two games against Missouri or Fresno State. The winner of the Nov. 23 Nebraska-Colorado game will be 6-6.

The NFL Network, which carries the Insight Bowl (Why? Why? Why?) probably wouldn't want a Nebraska-Iowa game, for demographic purposes. Two lightly populated Midwest states that border each other? It would play well in Council Bluffs, but not in most of America. Not that most of America gets the NFL Network, anyhow.

At any rate, this year's Insight Bowl would be forgettable for 96 percent of the nation. But if Iowa's a participant, it will be manna from heaven for the merchants of Tempe, Scottsdale, Mesa and Phoenix.
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