IOWA CITY, Iowa -- Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz will get another
chance to match wits with Nick Saban, this time with considerably
more talent at his disposal.
Ferentz and his team learned Saturday night that they'll play
No. 13 LSU in the Capital One Bowl in Orlando on Jan. 1. The pairing of two 9-2 teams came
about after Auburn defeated Tennessee in the Southeastern
Conference championship game, sending Auburn to the Bowl
Championship Series, most likely the Sugar Bowl.
In their only game as opponents, the two former Cleveland
Browns' assistants met in 1999, when Saban's Michigan State team
hammered Iowa 49-3. That was Ferentz's first season with the
Hawkeyes.
"Thanks goodness he's a friend of mine," Ferentz said. "It
could have been a lot worse. They could have had a hundred that day
if they chose to. We weren't ready to play that game."
Iowa (No. 14 ESPN/USA Today; No. 12 AP), which shared the Big Ten championship with
Michigan, would have played Auburn if Tennessee had won Saturday's
game.
Alabama: The Crimson Tide will play Minnesota in the Music
City Bowl on New Year's Eve, university and bowl officials said
Saturday night.
The game will be the first bowl appearance for Alabama since the
2001 Independence Bowl. Alabama (6-5) is coming off probation.
Minnesota also is 6-5.