[ColoradoTree]

I mean, I see what SeattleTree and others are saying, because beating last year's national champs (with much of the same roster back) would be impressive.  That said, I think any such perception bump would be relatively small, and more importantly, fleeting.  It wouldn't push us above the championship game loser, and wouldn't even push us above the semifinal game losers (if those games are close).  So in terms of rankings, I think we might actually gain more by an impressive win over Iowa than a narrow win over Ohio State. But for me, it comes down to this:

1. I married a Hawkeye, and going to the Rose Bowl is on her father's bucket list, so not only do I get to go to the game now that we're playing Iowa, but I gain massive son-in-law and husband points. 

2. Ohio State is a more dangerous team than Iowa.  We are thus far more likely to beat Iowa than to beat Ohio State.  I'm not terrified by what Iowa would do to our defense, though I expect them to run decently well against us.  But if Ohio State is on, then they're good enough to put up 40+ points on our defense.  (That was a decent Michigan defense on whom OSU just hung 50.)  Iowa doesn't have the firepower to do that. 

In sum, I like winning Rose Bowls.  I particularly like winning Rose Bowls that I personally attend.  Thus, I have no misgivings at all about this game, and couldn't be more thrilled about the matchup. 

As to the national perception stuff: if we win, we'll be a top 5 team at the end of the year.  Right now, we have a top 10 recruiting class, and I'm not aware of any players that are deciding between us and the Buckeyes for whom a Rose Bowl win might be decisive.  Our roster will have the same players on it next year regardless of whether we beat Iowa or Ohio State.  Our (brutal, away-heavy) schedule is the same.  If we're a 1-loss Pac-12 champ next year, we're in the playoff.  We've been part of the playoff discussion for several weeks now, and the refrain has been how hard our schedule is, how good we look, and how we'd deserve to make the playoff over (hypothetically) 1-loss Clemson, 1-loss ACC champ UNC, 1-loss Ohio State, and 1-loss Iowa, not to mention a 2-loss SEC champ Florida or 2-loss Alabama.  Since Oregon, we've been the top-ranked 2-loss team.  Forgive me, but I think we did pretty darn well in the national perception contest this year. 

[ColoradoTree]

I mean, I see what SeattleTree and others are saying, because beating last year's national champs (with much of the same roster back) would be impressive.  That said, I think any such perception bump would be relatively small, and more importantly, fleeting.  It wouldn't push us above the championship game loser, and wouldn't even push us above the semifinal game losers (if those games are close).  So in terms of rankings, I think we might actually gain more by an impressive win over Iowa than a narrow win over Ohio State. But for me, it comes down to this:

1. I married a Hawkeye, and going to the Rose Bowl is on her father's bucket list, so not only do I get to go to the game now that we're playing Iowa, but I gain massive son-in-law and husband points. 

2. Ohio State is a more dangerous team than Iowa.  We are thus far more likely to beat Iowa than to beat Ohio State.  I'm not terrified by what Iowa would do to our defense, though I expect them to run decently well against us.  But if Ohio State is on, then they're good enough to put up 40+ points on our defense.  (That was a decent Michigan defense on whom OSU just hung 50.)  Iowa doesn't have the firepower to do that. 

In sum, I like winning Rose Bowls.  I particularly like winning Rose Bowls that I personally attend.  Thus, I have no misgivings at all about this game, and couldn't be more thrilled about the matchup. 

As to the national perception stuff: if we win, we'll be a top 5 team at the end of the year.  Right now, we have a top 10 recruiting class, and I'm not aware of any players that are deciding between us and the Buckeyes for whom a Rose Bowl win might be decisive.  Our roster will have the same players on it next year regardless of whether we beat Iowa or Ohio State.  Our (brutal, away-heavy) schedule is the same.  If we're a 1-loss Pac-12 champ next year, we're in the playoff.  We've been part of the playoff discussion for several weeks now, and the refrain has been how hard our schedule is, how good we look, and how we'd deserve to make the playoff over (hypothetically) 1-loss Clemson, 1-loss ACC champ UNC, 1-loss Ohio State, and 1-loss Iowa, not to mention a 2-loss SEC champ Florida or 2-loss Alabama.  Since Oregon, we've been the top-ranked 2-loss team.  Forgive me, but I think we did pretty darn well in the national perception contest this year.