Iowa’s chances of playing in the Outback Bowl on New Year’s Day may rest on the outcome of Saturday’s Big Ten Championship game. The Outback gets the third selection from the Big Ten but if Ohio State and Michigan State both make it to BCS bowls that would put Wisconsin in the Capitol One Bowl and could open the door for a trip to Tampa.

“Right now there’s a lot of uncertainty, and anybody who tells you they know where this is going with certainty is probably misleading us all, because we don’t know. So, we’re jut kinda trying to hurry up and wait as we go through the process,” according to Outback Bowl president Jim McVay.

McKay says they will be sending representatives to the Big Ten championship game as well as the SEC title game and then they will get together in their office Sunday and watch what happens with the other games and who is available. The Outback Bowl’s board of directors will then make a selection. “The great news is there are some really good deserving football teams that are going to be available in both the Big 10 and the SEC,” McVay says.

The Outback usually features a team out of the SEC East Division but there is a possibility of an invitation to a team like LSU or Texas A@M out of the west division. McVay says until they know for sure who is available, they try not to get too far ahead in the process.

McVay says things will move quickly once the final BCS standings are released on Sunday. “You need to be in the top 14 to be considered for one of the BCS at-large spots. Of course I think that could potentially be important to the Big 10 as to whether more than one team gets into the BCS,” McVay says.

Iowa has played in the Outback Bowl three times, the most recent trip was following the 2008 season.