LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — For the second straight year, Nebraska will go into its last regular-season game playing for nothing more than a best possible bowl bid. The Cornhuskers (8-3, 4-3) were eliminated from the Big Ten West race with Saturday’s 28-24 loss to Minnesota. They’ll enter Friday’s game in Iowa City trying to avoid losing a third straight game for the first time since 2008.

Nebraska squandered a 14-point halftime lead at home against Minnesota a week after it was blown out 59-24 at Wisconsin. The manner in which the Huskers have lost their last two games has a segment of the fan base grousing about the direction of the program under coach Bo Pelini.

The Huskers are 9-6 in Big Ten games the last two years, with none of those wins against teams that finished the season above .500 in conference play. Iowa (7-4, 4-3), which beat the Huskers in Lincoln last year, played Wisconsin tough in a 26-24 loss Saturday.