This year's College Football Playoff race has a distinctly Iowa flavor.
Two of the major contenders for the four playoff spots are No. 5 Iowa and No. 7 Oklahoma. Their head coaches, Kirk Ferentz and Bob Stoops, both worked together as assistants on the 1983 Hawkeyes staff. Another member of that staff: Wisconsin athletic director and influential playoff selection committee member Barry Alvarez.
Maybe we shouldn't be surprised that three key figures in the playoff chase converged at one time in Iowa City. It's hard to find many places in college football that don't trace their way back to Iowa and Hayden Fry.