Iowa Senator Tweets Congratulatory Message to Hawkeyes on Big Ten Championship Win — There's Just One Problem

Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst tweeted her congratulations to the Iowa Hawkeyes football team on their "big win" Saturday night — except the team lost to Michigan State.

"Congrats @hawkeyefootball on the big win! #big10 #B1GFCG #iowa," the tweet, which has since been deleted, initially read.

Image via Twitter @PTNetherton

The tweet was published around the same time as the game ended — with the No. 5 Spartans beating the No. 4 Hawkeyes 16 to 13 in the Big Ten Championship game. According to the Des Moines Register, the tweet was deleted approximately 10 minutes later.

In a subsequent tweet from Ernst's account, the erroneous tweet was blamed on a "staff error."

Sorry for staff error. @hawkeyefootball had a great season. Extraordinary effort tonight.

— Joni Ernst (@SenJoniErnst) December 6, 2015