Appears it is close. His record vs. Iowa is tiebreaker. If any were around the environment prior to 2010 (B1G fans, there's no fault for that as UNL was in B12), they would say Iowa had the edge in conference order at that time.
Conf. Championships: 3 ('90, '02, '04) all shared it didn't play Ohio St head to head
'BCS' bowls: 2 ('91 Rose, '02 Orange)
Also, and I know you'll say that's a bit irrelevant & that's fine, but Wisconsin didn't beat Iowa from 1977- 1996. 0-17-1. That certainly helped with perception over the years where teams stood.
No the tie breaker is Barry won Rose Bowls Iowa hasn't since 1958 or 59.
And we're comparing Alvarez arriving in Madison not prior... So your changing your agenda.