The2003 FedEx Orange Bowl was the 69thedition of thecollege footballbowl game, played atPro Player Stadium inMiami Gardens, Florida, on Thursday, January 2. It matched thethird-rankedIowa Hawkeyes of theBig Ten Conference and theUSC Trojans of thePacific-10 Conference. Tied at halftime, favored USC pulled away in the second half to win, 38–17.^[3]

Televised in the United States onABC, the game was part of the2002–03Bowl Championship Series (BCS) of the2002 NCAA Division I-A football season and represented the concluding game of the season for both teams.

Prior to theBCS, the New Year's Day pairings never would have occurred. The Rose Bowl normally features the champions of theBig Ten (in 2002, theOhio State Buckeyes) and the Pac-10. However, because the Buckeyes had finished No. 2 in the BCS, they were set to play in theFiesta Bowl for the national championship against theMiami Hurricanes.^[4]

The Orange Bowl had the next pick after the Fiesta, and No. 3 (#5 BCS) Iowa was chosen. TheRose Bowl had the next BCS selection. The next, best available team to choose was No. 8 (#7 BCS)Oklahoma, who won theBig 12 Championship Game, to play Pac-10 winnerWashington State in theRose Bowl. When it came time for the Orange Bowl andSugar Bowl to make a second pick, both wanted USC. However, a BCS rule stated that if two bowls want the same team, the bowl with the higher payoff has the option.^[5] The Orange Bowl immediately extended an at-large bid to the #5 Trojans and paired them with at-large #3 Iowa in a Big Ten/Pac-10 "Rose Bowl" matchup in the Orange Bowl.^[5] Rose Bowl committee executive director Mitch Dorger was not pleased with the results.^[5] This left the Sugar Bowl with #14 BCSFlorida State, the winner of the Atlantic Coast Conference.Notre Dame at 10–2 and No. 9 in the BCS standings was invited to theGator Bowl.Kansas State at No. 8 also was left out.

The Hawkeyes tied for the Big Ten conference championship withOhio State, and they did not meet this season. Iowa's only setback was a five-point loss toin-state rivalIowa State in mid-September.

On October 5, in the 300th game for USC on live television, the Trojans lost 30–27 in overtime atWashington State. The Cougars scored with 1:50 left to play to force overtime. The two tied for first place in the Pac-10, but the Cougars won the tie-breaker by virtue of the head-to-head victory. The final game of the conference season was moved to December 2, with WSU atUCLA. Originally it was thought that the Bruins would be the team playing for the Rose Bowl. A 52–21 loss to USC put the Bruins out of contention and the Trojans and Cougars in.^[6] The Cougars defeated UCLA 48–27 inPasadena to advance to the Rose Bowl onNew Year's Day; it was the final game for UCLA head coachBob Toledo, who was soon fired.

This was only the second time a Pac-10 teamappeared in the Orange Bowl; eighteen years earlier,Washington won in January1985.

First quarter

• Iowa –C. J. Jones 100-yard kickoff return (Nate Kaeding kick)
• USC –Justin Fargas 4-yard run (Ryan Killeen kick)
• Iowa – Kaeding 35-yard field goal

Second quarter

• USC – Killeen 35-yard field goal

Third quarter

• USC –Williams 18-yard pass fromCarson Palmer (Killeen kick)
• USC – Fargas 50-yard run (Killeen kick)

Fourth quarter

• USC –Sultan McCullough 5-yard run (Killeen kick)
• USC – Sunny Byrd 6-yard run (Killeen kick)
• Iowa – Maurice Brown 18-yard pass fromBrad Banks (Kaeding kick)

Source:^[7]

Source:^[7]

• 2002–03 NCAA football bowl games
• Orange Bowl
• Iowa Hawkeyes football bowl games
• USC Trojans football bowl games
• January 2003 sports events in the United States
• 2003 in sports in Florida
• Sports competitions in Miami Gardens, Florida

• Webarchive template wayback links
• Use mdy dates from March 2012
• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata