Was talking with a co-worker the other day and they mentioned how Iowa lost to Michigan in 2004 but they consider it a shared title. I totally forgot about this.
What do you think? Should they get credit for this big ten championship even though they lost head to head to the team they share the title with?
In 2015 there was a Conference Championship Game. So even though they were unbeaten entering that game, had a better record than in 2004, you don’t get to count that year.
For fun, here's a look dating back to the Hayden Fry era, where Iowa would've made a 12-team CFP:
1983:
8 Michigan vs 9 BYU (WAC)
- winner plays #1 Nebraska (Big 8), at Orange Bowl
5 Miami vs 12 Boston College
-winner plays #4 Illinois (B10), at Peach Bowl
6 SMU vs 11 Florida
-winner plays #3 Auburn (SEC), at Sugar Bowl
7 Georgia vs 10 Iowa
-winner plays #2 Texas (SWC), at Fiesta Bowl
Semifinals- Rose Bowl / Cotton Bowl
1985:
8 Tennessee vs 9 BYU (WAC)
- winner plays #1 Penn State, at Fiesta Bowl
5 Michigan vs 12 LSU
-winner plays #4 Iowa (B10), at Rose Bowl
6 Florida (SEC) vs 11 Texas A&M (SWC)
-winner plays #3 Oklahoma (Big 8), at Cotton Bowl
7 Nebraska vs 10 Air Force
-winner plays #2 Miami, at Sugar Bowl
Semifinals- Orange Bowl / Peach Bowl
1990:
8 Washington (Pac 10) vs 9 Houston
- winner plays #1 Colorado (Big 8), at Rose Bowl
5 Notre Dame vs 12 Iowa (B10)
-winner plays #4 Miami, at Peach Bowl
6 Florida State vs 11 Michigan
-winner plays #3 Texas (SWC), at Cotton Bowl
7 Penn State vs 10 Tennessee (SEC)
-winner plays #2 Georgia Tech (ACC), at Orange Bowl
Semifinals- Sugar Bowl / Fiesta Bowl
1991:
8 Alabama vs 9 Texas A&M (SWC)
- winner plays #1 Miami (Big East), Sugar Bowl
5 Florida State vs 12 East Carolina
-winner plays #4 Michigan (B10), Cotton Bowl
6 Penn State vs 11 Nebraska (*Big 8)
-winner plays #3 Florida (SEC), Peach Bowl
7 Iowa vs 10 Tennessee
-winner plays #2 Washington (Pac 10), Fiesta Bowl
(*)- At Large
Semifinals- Rose Bowl / Orange Bowl
2002:
8 Kansas State vs 9 Notre Dame
- winner plays #1 Miami (Big East), Orange Bowl
5 Iowa (*B10) vs 12 Penn State
-winner plays #4 USC (Pac 10), Rose Bowl
6 Washington State (*Pac 10) vs 11 Michigan
-winner plays #3 Georgia (SEC), Peach Bowl
7 Oklahoma (B12) vs 10 Texas
-winner plays #2 Ohio State (B10), Fiesta Bowl
(*)- At Large
Semifinals- Sugar Bowl / Cotton Bowl
2009:
8 Ohio State (*B10) vs 9 Georgia Tech (*ACC)
- winner plays #1 Alabama (SEC), at Sugar Bowl
5 Florida vs 12 LSU
-winner plays #4 TCU (MWC), at Peach Bowl
6 Boise State (WAC) vs 11 Virginia Tech
-winner plays #3 Cincinnati (Big East), at Orange Bowl
7 Oregon (*Pac 10) vs 10 Iowa
-winner plays #2 Texas (B12), at Cotton Bowl
(*)- At Large
Semifinals- Rose Bowl / Fiesta Bowl
2015:
8 Notre Dame vs 9 Florida State
- winner plays #1 Clemson (ACC), Orange Bowl
5 Iowa vs 12 Mississippi
-winner plays #4 Oklahoma (B12), Fiesta Bowl
6 Stanford (Pac 12) vs 11 TCU
-winner plays #3 Michigan State (B10), at Rose Bowl
7 Ohio State vs 10 North Carolina
-winner plays #2 Alabama (SEC), Sugar Bowl
Semifinals- Peach Bowl / Cotton Bowl
Years just missed or had play-in opportunities to make the CFP: 1981, 2003, 2004, 2021, 2023
P.S. for those doing math at home, that's 12 of the 47 years between the Fry and Ferentz era that we either would've had teams make the CFP or would've just missed it.
Was talking with a co-worker the other day and they mentioned how Iowa lost to Michigan in 2004 but they consider it a shared title. I totally forgot about this.
What do you think? Should they get credit for this big ten championship even though they lost head to head to the team they share the title with?
And sadly that wasn't even the worst officiating game that season. The bowl game against Florida is the worst officiated game I've ever seen, and by a pretty wide margin.
The 26-0 game there were some shady *** calls, specifically the "fumble" that was blown a dead ball and the Michigan guy picked it up to hand to the officials and Michigan gets the call because of that?? That allowed them to score to break it open. I don't believe for a moment that Deacon Hill was going to lead Iowa to a conference title but officiating made sure it wasn't even a possibility.
The 26-0 game there were some shady *** calls, specifically the "fumble" that was blown a dead ball and the Michigan guy picked it up to hand to the officials and Michigan gets the call because of that?? That allowed them to score to break it open. I don't believe for a moment that Deacon Hill was going to lead Iowa to a conference title but officiating made sure it wasn't even a possibility.
The head to head result determined the Rose Bowl bid. Not sure why anything else is odd. The Big Ten has had co-champs many times for the century of seasons before they added the championship game.
What was really odd was the rule that they used to have where you couldn’t go to the Rose Bowl in back to back seasons. Thankfully that went away
I don't think that was ever a rule as you stated, but it was the tiebreaker after head-to-head and overall record was considered (as opposed to win % against common opponents and other tiebreakers used nowadays, especially in determining the basketball tourney bracket).
