The Hawkeyes and the Holiday Bowl have been circling each other during bowl selection season for several years.

For a variety of reasons it hasn’t worked out in previous seasons, but this year, in the final year of the Holiday Bowl’s agreement with the Big Ten, it finally did.

Iowa will face USC in the annual game played in San Diego on December 27th. The game will be broadcast on FS1 with a 7 p.m. kickoff (central time). The Trojans are 8-4 this season and finished 7-2 in league play. They have won their last three games and five of their last six.

This will be the 10th meeting between Iowa and USC on the football field and the second in a neutral site. The Trojans hold a 7-2 edge in the overall series with Iowa’s two wins coming in 1950 and 1961. The two schools played four times in the 70’s, including three consecutive games from 1974-76. The last meeting between Iowa and USC took place in the 2003 Orange Bowl, where USC pulled away for a convincing 38-17 victory on Miami.

This will be Iowa’s fourth trip to the Holiday Bowl. The game in San Diego was founded in 1978 with a representative from the Western Athletic Conference being paired with an at-large opponent. Iowa was selected to play in the game for the first time in 1986 and returned once again in 1987.

The Hawkeyes defeated San Diego State 39-28 in 1986 and then squeaked by Wyoming 20-19 in 1987. Rob Houghtlin won the 1986 game with a 41 yard field goal as time expired and in 1987, Iowa blocked a field goal in the final minute to hold on for the victory.

In 1991, the Big Ten officially became affiliated with the bowl game in San Diego and Iowa returned once again to play BYU. The Hawkeyes and the Cougars played to a 13-13 tie in the game.

The Big Ten stayed affiliated with the Holiday Bowl until 1994 and then moved to a contractual relationship with the then Big 8 (and eventually Big 12 conference). Eventually in 1997, the Holiday Bowl became a game between the Big 12 and the Pac 10, which also eventually moved to 12 schools.

In 2014, the Big Ten replaced the Big 12 as far as an opponent for the Pac 12 in the annual late December game. That six year contract comes to an end with this match-up, so it’s fitting that the Hawkeyes will be back in San Diego once again.