Bowl-eligible Hawkeyes treat 'every game like a playoff game'

IOWA CITY, Ia. – For the Iowa football program, losses tend to raise more eyebrows than wins.

So there was little celebrating Saturday when the Hawkeyes became bowl-eligible for the 13th time in 14 seasons.

"I'm not going to lie, it feels good right now," linebacker Quinton Alston said. "We're just trying to get to a warmer climate, a championship game."

The Hawkeyes (6-2 overall, 3-1 Big Ten) qualified for college's football's postseason by notching their sixth victory against Northwestern.

They've failed to appear in a bowl game just twice since kicking off the 2001 season, finishing 6-6 in 2007 and 4-8 in 2012.

The Big Ten now has seven teams available to bowl selection committees this season.

"It's a significant stepping stone, in the right direction," running back Mark Weisman said. "You can't get to seven wins until you get to six.

"We have higher aspirations … but no wins come easy. You enjoy every win you can get."

Alston also sees this as a starting point.

"Six wins just gets you the bus in front of the building," he said. "We've got to keep treating each game as a playoff game and we'll move the bus."