By Pat Harty

IOWA CITY, Iowa – A rematch with Kentucky on New Year’s Eve, and the Iowa football team’s first ever trip to the Music City Bowl in Nashville, Tennessee probably isn’t what fans had envisioned for how this season would end.

But as the old saying goes, you get what you deserve, and Iowa at 7-5, and coming off a loss at home to 3-8 Nebraska got what it deserves, maybe not the Iowa defense and special teams, but the team itself got what it deserves.

And it could be worse as Iowa was mentioned as a possibility for the Pinstripe Bowl at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx where it defeated Boston College in 2017 while playing on a frozen surface.

New York City, of course, has much to offer.

But a football game being played on a baseball field in late December just isn’t appealing, even in the Big Apple.

Nashville also has a lot to offer from a tourist standpoint, from its rich tradition of music to its many restaurants and bars, Iowa fans should have plenty of ways to spend their money.

There are many worse places to spend New Year’s Eve than Nashville.

As for the rematch on the field between two 7-5 teams that have struggled to score points, maybe with some more time it’ll create a buzz.

Iowa is ranked 14th in the Big Ten in total offense, while Kentucky is ranked 14th in the Southeastern Conference in total offense.

Iowa will be without its top two quarterbacks, while Kentucky is expected to be without starting quarterback Will Levis, who projects to go high in the 2023 NFL Draft, although, Levis hasn’t confirmed his status at this point.

It’s being reported that both schools were fine with the rematch and that the Music City Bowl wanted Iowa vs. Kentucky all along.

More power to them for getting the matchup they apparently wanted.

But right now, it’s hard to get excited about a team that Iowa just played in its most recent bowl game, the 2022 Citrus Bowl.

Kentucky won that game 20-17, and while it was a competitive matchup with a cool storyline, to have Iowa and Kentucky play in back-to-back bowl games just doesn’t make a lot of sense.

The Mark Stoops-connection-to-Iowa storyline provided a lot of content for the Iowa media in the days leading up to the Citrus Bowl.

But now what?

Just rinse and repeat a year later?

Former Iowa quarterback Deuce Hogan is now the backup to Will Levis at Kentucky, and with Levis reportedly opting out of the Music City Bowl to prepare for the NFL draft, that creates another intriguing storyline as Hogan transferred shortly after Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz joked about staying in Iowa City if Hogan would’ve had to play at Nebraska in 2021.

Hogan’s mother lashed out at Ferentz on social media, and her son was gone just a few weeks later.

The decision to match Iowa and Kentucky in back-to-back bowl games goes against the SEC’s normal bowl placement procedures that work to avoid repeat matchups in a short window.

It also forces a conflict for Kentucky fans since the Music City Bowl kicks off at the same time as the Kentucky-Louisville men’s basketball rivalry game.

This will also be Kentucky’s sixth appearance in the Music City Bowl, so there could be some hangover from that, although, Nashville is a fun and an easily accessible tourist spot.

The destination might be more of a draw for Iowa fans than the game itself.

Iowa was scheduled to play Missouri in the 202o Music City Bowl, but that game was canceled due to the Covid-19 global pandemic.

So, the Music City Bowl finally gets Iowa, and its devoted fan base.

It just seems that a rematch could’ve been avoided, but that’s what the bowl wanted.

It’s a match-up for us in Nashville that is pretty exciting,” Music City Bowl President Scott Ramsey said. “You’ve got two very loyal fan bases very accessible to our city with a Saturday, Dec. 31 game. From Iowa’s standpoint, it’s the first time we’ve ever hosted them. And in our 25th anniversary the chance to host Kentucky and while it’s their sixth time here, it’s only their second time in the last 13 years they’ve been in our game.”

Kirk Ferentz likes to say that there is no such thing as a bad bowl game, and in some respects he’s right.

The additional practices that come with earning a bowl bid are huge from a player developmental standpoint.

Kirk Ferentz is scheduled to hold a zoom conference with the media Sunday afternoon where he will address the bowl matchup, and update his changing roster.

Cade McNamara’s decision to transfer to Iowa has been the big story this week, but he won’t play in the Music City Bowl, nor will Alex Padilla.

And if Spencer Petras can’t play, that would leave redshirt freshman Joey Labas and true freshman Carson May as the only available quarterbacks on scholarship.

One of them could end up playing a role in the rematch in Memphis, although, it is a different bowl game from a year ago and a different city is hosting this year’s bowl.

Both rosters also could be impacted by injuries, and by players opting out of playing in the bowl for precautionary reasons.

So, it is just sort of a rematch, but mostly it’s just an odd pairing under the circumstances.

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