Iowa's Rose Bowl Flop Sets Big Ten Football Back

The teams that battled for the Big Ten Conference title on Dec. 5 in Indianapolis went on to lose their bowl games in similarly embarrassing fashion. Similar, but not equal.

As bad as Michigan State's 38-0 Dec. 31 loss to Alabama in the Sugar Bowl was, it doesn't hold a candle to what Iowa Football did in the Rose Bowl. And it's not even close.

Get blown out by Alabama? The Crimson Tide were supposed to roll, anyways. But to fall behind 35-0 in the first half and lose by 29 points in what the Big Ten (and the college football powers that be) clearly feels is the most important game on the season, that's hard to sweep under the rug.

Nothing about New Year's Day went right for the Hawkeyes: They gave up a 75-yard touchdown to the most prolific, all-purpose player in FBS history on the game's first play. But plenty of other teams were victimized during the 2015-16 season by Stanford Cardinal quarterback Christian McCaffrey. He did most of the damage but not all of it.

It wasn't McCaffrey that caused Iowa to average 1.4 yards per carry, drop wide-open passes throughout the first three quarters or throw a pick-six down 14-0 in the first quarter. He also isn't the reason Iowa was relegated to focusing on not getting shut out in the second half, accomplishing that goal with a meaningless three points late in the third quarter.

Much credit goes to Iowa for continuing to fight even when the judges had tallied their scorecards. The fourth-quarter TD pass from Hawkeyes quarterback C.J. Beathard to wide receiver Matt VandeBerg earned as big a cheer as anything McCaffrey or the Cardinal did, which shows how important a strong performance and effort was to the Big Ten and how unfortunate it was that such an ovation didn't come until garbage time.

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A game as revered as the Rose Bowl isn't used to such moral victories, and it does its best to keep itself sequestered from the rest of the growing list of bowl games.

The Rose Bowl is the "Granddaddy of Them All," a game so rich in tradition and pageantry that it turns its nose up at the thought of giving up the best time slot on the best day of the year. It has a parade, a Beef Bowl and a permanent place in college football history. Wins and losses in Pasadena, California are often as memorable as any other.

It was a huge big deal for Iowa when it earned the Rose Bowl bid, its first since 1991. That was something head coach Kirk Ferentz lauded when he told USA Today's Nicole Auerbach "if this is the consolation prize, then what a deal it is for both of us."

The Hawkeyes faced skepticism throughout a perfect regular season, and after losing narrowly to Michigan State for the Big Ten title, they were tabbed by the playoff selection committee over Ohio State for the league's prime bowl bid.

"Ohio State was better, the committee made an immediately questionable ranking choice, and the greatest bowl game was a dud this year because of it," Jason Kirk of SB Nation wrote.

The Rose Bowl was a reward for an amazing year, a chance for Iowa to top it off with a signature win in a showcase game.

But that invite came with a seemingly unspoken expectation: Don't make us look silly. Don't go out there in front of a Hawkeyes-heavy crowd during what's sure to be the highest-rated New Year's Six game and invalidate the 2015 season.

Not just for Iowa but for the Big Ten as a whole.

Jae C. Hong/Associated Press

Ohio State had to carry the torch all alone last year—and did so swimmingly with an impressive run to the national title. When the Buckeyes were beaten by the Spartans at home in November, knocking them out of contention for the conference championship, it meant someone else was going to have to pick up the slack.

Michigan State couldn't bring the league another national title, but at least Iowa would hold its own in front of all our dignitaries.

Nope. Instead, Iowa will be at the forefront of the inevitable debate over who is the worst 12-win team in college football history. And since Michigan State is probably in that discussion as well, the Big Ten goes into the offseason, having lost any momentum it gained last year and maintained during the regular season.

Iowa managed to avoid the East Division's four best teams in 2015, getting Indiana and Maryland in the crossover games. But now the Big Ten is moving to a nine-game conference schedule, joining the Big 12 and Pac-12 in that area. And the Hawkeyes are set to play Michigan and Penn State on back-to-back weeks in November 2016.

That added game could help the Big Ten ensure its best (and most deserving) teams rise to the top by the end of the year. Or it could make it more susceptible to self-cannibalization and hurt future playoff chances. It happened to the Big 12 in 2014 and the Pac-12 this season.

Follow Brian J. Pedersen on Twitter at @realBJP.