 The Hawkeyes entered the game with wins in five of their previous six games, highlighted by an upset of #3 Penn State, and an overall record of 8–4 (5–3 Big Ten).Junior running back Shonn Greene earned consensus First-team All-American honors and received the Doak Walker Award.The Gamecocks dropped their final two regular season games and entered the Outback Bowl with an overall record of 7–5 (4–4 SEC).