In 1979, the football locker room at Iowa was painted an unusual color. Former Hawkeye head coach Hayden Fry had the staff paint the room pink. Staff painted pink walls and put in pink lockers, pink urinals, pink sinks, and pink carpet.

Fry, who had a psychology degree from Baylor, surmised that a pink locker room would give his team a psychological advantage. After having read that pink has a calming effect on people, Fry believed that it would soften his team’s opponents.

Unfortunately for the Hawkeyes, the psychological experiment didn’t work on Saturday. Iowa fell to No. 4 Michigan, 27-14 in Kinnick Stadium. Not only did the pink plan not work, but it also backfired spectacularly when the Wolverines fully embraced it, waving pink towels on the sideline.

For the Wolverines, the pink locker rooms didn’t have an impact on their performance either, having dominated the Hawkeyes from the 1st quarter. DE Mike Morris said he even “liked” the color. The edge rusher was a looming presence in the backfield for the Wolverines, recording 2 sacks in the game.