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Iowa to face Vanderbilt in Reliaquest Bowl

On3 imageby: Tom Kakert15 hours agoHawkeyeReport

After wrapping up an 8-4 season, the Iowa football team officially learned their bowl destination and opponent on Sunday afternoon. The Hawkeyes are headed back to Tampa for their bowl game for the seventh time in the Kirk Ferentz era.

The previous six times it was the Outback Bowl, but now the title sponsor is Reliaquest. Iowa will face Vanderbilt in the contest and the game will be played on December 31st at 11:00 a.m. central time.  This will be the first meeting ever between Iowa and Vanderbilt. This news was reported by On3’s Brett McMurphy.

Vanderbilt has had a fantastic season. They are 10-2 this year and nearly made the College Football Playoff, finishing ranked 14th in the final rankings released on Sunday morning. The Commodores are led by potential Heisman Trophy candidate Diego Pavia.

As mentioned, this will be the seventh trip by the Iowa football team to Tampa for a bowl game. It will also be the Hawkeyes 12th straight bowl game for the program.

Iowa first played in the Tampa based bowl game back on January 1, 2004 when they defeated Florida. Two years later, the Hawkeyes were back at Raymond James Stadium and once again the Gators were the opponent.

They retuned for the 2009 contest on January 1st and cruised to a win over South Carolina. After a five year break, Iowa was back in Tampa for the 2014 game and loss to LSU. Then in 2017, Iowa faced Florida for the third time and this time the Hawkeyes lost in a one-sided affair. Two years later, the Hawkeyes were back in action in Tampa, this time against Mississippi State. Iowa rallied for the victory and are now 3-3 in this bowl game.

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