Iowa Hawkeyes draw future Big Ten foe in Sin City in recent CBS Sports bowl projections

Sitting at 4-1 on the season, the Iowa Hawkeyes are rapidly nearing bowl eligibility as they have so often done under Kirk Ferentz. With seven games to go, the Hawkeyes need just two wins to make a bowl game but are undoubtedly looking for many more than that.

In the most recent bowl projections from CBS Sports, the Hawkeyes are headed to a bowl game that they have never been to before, although it will be against an opponent they have met in a bowl game previously and will begin meeting much more often once they join the Big Ten. The Hawkeyes’ newest bowl projection slots them in the Las Vegas Bowl against the UCLA Bruins on Dec. 23, in Las Vegas, Nev.

This would be the second bowl meeting between the two as they previously met back in the 1986 Rose Bowl. UCLA won that matchup, 45-28. Legendary Hawkeye quarterback Chuck Long passed for 319 yards and a score and running back Ronnie Harmon caught a career-high 11 passes for 102 yards, but Iowa also turned the football over five times, including four times in the first half.

Iowa has never played in the Las Vegas Bowl while UCLA has played in it three times in 2002, 2004, and 2007. They hold a 1-2 record in this bowl.

This game would undoubtedly draw some national intrigue as it would pit UCLA and Iowa against each other in a Pac-12 versus Big Ten matchup in the final year of the Pac-12. UCLA would end their time in the Pac-12 by taking on Iowa, a member of the Big Ten conference that they are joining next year.

Would the bowl committee think about this and push for it? Possibly. The intrigue is there. Or, would they view it as two teams that will be in the same conference next year and look for a less common matchup than what this one is set to become?

For the best local Iowa news, sports, entertainment and culture coverage, subscribe to The Des Moines Register.