Barta: Paint the water tower

Iowa athletics director Gary Barta is on your side. He wants the giant, white water tower that looms over Kinnick Stadium all Hawkeye'd up.

He'd love to see a huge Tiger Hawk or something Hawkeye to add a little flair to the Kinnick area.

"If a petition gets signed, I'd join the fans," Barta said Monday at the Big Ten media days. "I've been a proponent of putting a logo on the water tower for some time. I've learned that it's not that simple, that there are some groups in the community who don't want a logo up there."

When Barta was hired at Iowa in 2006, a logo on the water tower was one of his first thoughts.

"If that ever gains momentum, I'll jump on board," Barta said.

Kinnick Stadium had a new FieldTurf surface put on it this summer. There is no logo at the center of the field, a conscious decision, Barta said.

"We wanted to leave it the way it's been traditionally," he said. "One of the things I heard was, 'You need to let people know where they're at.' Believe me, when people walk into Kinnick and see the new field, you'll know exactly where you're at."

The end zones are filled in with black with a gold "Iowa" and a Tiger Hawk on one end and a  "Hawkeyes" on the other.

"So far, the feedback has been terrific," Barta said.

Football facilities

In just more than the last year, three Iowa businessmen (Dale Howard, Dick Jacobsen and Bruce Rastetter) have given Iowa gifts of $5 million apiece for football facilities.

After Iowa was approved by the Board of Regents to hire architects earlier this year, the design phase has begun.

"They're talking to (head coach) Kirk (Ferentz) and staff about how many square feet do we need for this, for that, and comparing it to other facilities in the country," Barta said. "The plans aren't finalized yet."

At some point, Barta said, Iowa will need a rough estimate on a price and will have to "start going after it on a fundraising perspective." The timeline is "as soon as possible," but that's far from concrete.

Built in 1985, “The Bubble” turns 24 this year. Barta estimated its life expectancy at 15 to 30 years. Iowa will likely have a very different indoor football practice facility.

"I think it's safe to say technology has changed a lot since the early '80s, so whatever we put up won't look exactly like 'The Bubble,' " Barta said. "On the other hand, our perspective, and Kirk shares this, is that it's really just an indoor practice facility. We're not looking to have the most grand, beautiful facility in the country. We're looking for a place that's functional."

Barta said a location for an indoor football facility hasn't been decided.

Big Ten bowl shopping

The Big Ten has seven bowl contracts. The conference is locked into a BCS-affiliated bowl and the Insight Bowl for the next few years (the contract with the Insight is for eight years). After that, there might be some changes on the horizon after this postseason, Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany said Monday.

Negotiations are going on in Chicago this week.

"We've got some games that we've been -- some cities we've been involved with for pretty close to 20 years, and others have been for shorter durations," Delany said. "They've all been successful in one form or fashion, and that's why they continue to grow in value in a lot of ways.

"But there are probably three or four bowls that have visited with us that would like to break into the alignment and would like to -- and there are many within the alignment that would like to move up. So there is a good bit of competition, and we'll have to kind of figure out what was said today and what will be said tomorrow and determine where we go from there.

"But there are a number of cities that are interested."

The picks

Ohio State was the media's choice for preseason favorite. The Buckeyes will be going for their fifth straight conference title. Buckeyes quarterback Terrelle Pryor was named the league's preseason offensive MVP. Michigan State linebacker Greg Jones was voted preseason defensive player of the year.

Penn State and Michigan State were picked to finish Nos. 2 and 3. The Big Ten asks media to pick a top three and an offensive and defensive MVP.