IT'S NOT PLAGIARISM IF YOU LINK TO IT IS COACH OF THE YEAR

Yesterday, Kirk Ferentz was named the Woody Hayes Coach of the Year by the Touchdown Club of Columbus. From the official release:

The Woody Hayes Award, named for former Ohio State coach Woody Hayes, has recognized the nation's top coach each year since 1977. The award is voted on by the Touchdown Club's committees consisting of coaches, sportswriters, and former players. This is the first time Ferentz has won the award.

The award will be presented at the 61st Touchdown Club of Columbus Awards on Feb. 6, 2016 in Columbus, Ohio.

Now, it's worth noting that there are approximately ten or so coach of the year awards including the AFCA Coach of the Year, AP Coach of the Year, Eddie Robinson Coach of the year, etc. Usually, when people talk about the Coach of the Year Award they are referring to the Walter Camp Coach of the Year Award, which is handed out in early December. Ferentz is a finalist for the Eddie Robinson Award and the George Munger Award (Maxwell Football Club) but the Walter Camp doesn't list finalists, so it's a wait and see.

And contrary to popular belief, no, you do not have to punch or choke a player to be eligible for the Woody Hayes Award.

WANT TO GO TO THE ROSE BOWL? SELL A KIDNEY.

Per Kevin Trahan over at the mothership, tickets to the Rose Bowl are 3 times more expensive than any other bowl. See here:

Tickets for the Iowa-Stanford Rose Bowl are 3 times more expensive than any other bowl. https://t.co/y5XnI15zgx pic.twitter.com/dP12EmoRRb

— SB✯Nation CFB (@SBNationCFB) December 7, 2015

I also heard that tickets went for sale on Ticketmaster yesterday at 10:00 AM. They were sold out in seconds. Literally, seconds. Demand is high:

At 2 p.m. there were already 39,500 requests in for UI's 22,000 Rose Bowl tickets.

— Mark Carlson (@markwcarlson) December 8, 2015

So good luck getting there guys. I think I'll go buy a new TV or something and just watch it on my couch.

CONTRACT TALK.

It's well known that Kirk Ferentz's contract expires in 2020 and as next year is 2016, we're getting to the point where extensions have to get brought up for recruiting purposes. As in: What do you tell a kid when you're recruiting someone and your contract expires before they graduate? For those of you moaning and groaning, no worries. The talks are on hold at least until after the Rose Bowl.

BULLITZ:

• Say what you will about Paul Rhoads but when he wasn't throwing embarrassing tantrums on the sidelines he did seem like a decent enough guy. So when you see that he wrote letters to multiple high school coaches thanking them for their interactions and assistance during his tenure, that doesn't come as much of a surprise.
• Did you know Iowa hasn't faced a guy like Christian McCaffrey this season? You know what Christian McCaffrey hasn't faced this season? A defense like Iowa's.
• Iowa State students are already lined up for tomorrow night's contest against Iowa. Something something Super Bowl.
• ESPN's Big Ten blog has the Rose Bowl as their third best Big Ten bowl game behind the Cotton and Fiesta Bowls. Personally, I think the Rose Bowl should be ahead of the Fiesta Bowl simply because it's called the "BattleFrog Fiesta Bowl." BattleFrog? Like, BattleToads?
• Hammer and Rails thinks Iowa is the fourth-best team in the Big Ten right now.
• The Big 12 instituted a new rule requiring teams to play at least one Power 5 team as part of their non-conference schedule. This is undoubtedly due to Baylor getting away with playing the likes of SMU, Lamar, and Rice this season. The greater ramification of this rule is that it's not likely that Iowa is going to be escaping from the Cy-Hawk Series anytime soon.

SWAG

Oh, and here's the bowl swag for this year's bowl games. For the Rose, Iowa players will get a "Gift suite; Fossil watch; Ogio backpack; New Era fitted 59 Fifty cap." They're still giving out Fossil watches? Is it the year 2000? The saddest gift is the custom made cowboy boots awarded by the Arizona Bowl. Y'know, the bowl game that is matching two conference teams in Nevada and Colorado State? And isn't even being televised on national TV?

We have too many bowl games. There, I said it.

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

BREAKING: Energy announce 16-Time World Champion Ric Flair to headline Pro Wrestling Night on Jan. 15. pic.twitter.com/kk0EGo6fYk

— Iowa Energy (@iowaenergy) December 8, 2015