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Record: 6-5, 4-4 Big Ten (4th in league)
Coach: Kirk Ferentz (third season)
Key players: QB Kyle McCann (65.5 percent completions, 1,867 yards), RB Ladell Betts (1,056 yards, 10 TDs), S Bob Sanders (111 tackles)
Season summary: The Hawkeyes, 1-10 just two years ago, continued their steady improvement under Ferentz to earn their first bowl berth since 1997. Iowa's offense clicked under McCann during a 3-0 start before both he and the team cooled down as the Hawkeyes lost four of their next five. Backup Brad Banks started seeing more time. But all that went out the window in routs of Northwestern (59-16) and Minnesota (42-24), and even a season-ending 17-14 loss to rival Iowa State has done little to temper enthusiasm in Iowa City.
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Roster
Record: 7-4, 4-4 Big 12 (T3 in South)
Coach: Mike Leach (second season)
Key players: QB Kliff Kingsbury (3,502 yards, 25 TDs), RB Ricky Williams (1,343 total yards, 18 TDs), S Lawrence Flugence (134 tackles)
Season summary: Year 2 of Leach's wide-open attack went much like Year 1, with the Red Raiders winning climbing the Big 12 ladder but still failing to compete with the upper-echelon. Behind a tough defense and the reemergence of injury-plagued star Williams, Tech scored big wins over Kansas State (38-19) and Texas A&M (12-0) but couldn't hang with Texas (42-7), Nebraska (41-31) or Oklahoma (30-13). But the win over the Aggies was enough to propel the Red Raiders to a better bowl slot.
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