On Iowa Daily Briefing 4.24.12 -- Dress code

HEADLONG HAWKEYE

Nearly forgot about the throwback deal. Yes, for the third time that I can remember, Iowa will have throwback uniforms.

It'll be the 1921-22 vintage honoring Howard Jones' 7-0 teams from 1921 and 1922, which included winning all five Big Ten Conference games each season. Iowa more than 40 points three times in 1921, including 41 points in consecutive wins over Minnesota and Indiana in November. The Iowa defense allowed just 36 points on the season, posting three defensive shutouts (Illinois scored two points).

It only took Iowa 80 years to repeat the undefeated Big Ten feat, rolling an 8-0 record in 2002 and tearing down the goalposts in the Metrodome, the greatest act of fandom I have ever witnessed.

Here are some of the stars from that team: Quarterback Aubrey Devine, defensive back Gordon Locke and end Lester Belding earned consensus All-America honors during their playing careers. Devine, Locke and lineman Fred “Duke” Slater were named to Iowa's All-Time team in 1989, while Belding was named Special Mention on defense.

Those earning All-Big Ten first team honors in the two seasons included Slater, Devine, Locke, Belding, linemen John Heldt, Chester Meade, Paul Minick and George Thompson, and end Max Kadesky. There were no second team honors at the time.

Howard Jones went on to coach in five Rose Bowls for . . . USC, where he won four national titles. According to Wikipedia (and who the heck knows), Jones' wife didn't dig Iowa City and he wanted a contract that allowed him to leave town during the offseason. Conflict ensued and Jones booked.

Hawkeye people, was this the moment? Is Jones' departure what kept Iowa from being a Michigan or Ohio State? Probably not. Iowa the state still would've been a lightly populated mostly farm economy facing the powers from the Rust Belt. Still, makes you wonder.

Here are the pertinents for the 1921-22 throwback:

Helmet

Old gold, matching gold on jersey and pants. Gray facemasks

Front bumper will say IOWA. Back neckline will say '21-22 Big Ten Champs

Jersey

Black body, old gold semicircle under arms, white numbers front and back, no player name

Pants

Old gold, matching old gold on jersey

Shoes

Black shoe, black laces, silver Nike swoosh

Socks

High game sock, all black

I'll defer judgment until I see the whole set of gear.

As you know, Iowa has done this twice before.

I really liked these (2004 vs. Kent State):

These were OK, but thought they ended up too Steelerish (2010 Ball State):

You know this is going to spark the uniform debate.

Everyone seems to want one of those Nike Pro Combat deals. Everybody used to want an Ed Hardy T-shirt.

Iowa's uniforms are classic. You know what Iowa, Wisconsin, Ohio State, Michigan, Penn State and Nebraska will wear game in and game out. Michigan State? Don't know. Northwestern? I think the "N" is there to stay. Purdue? Illinois? Minnesota is likely to change uniforms at halftime.

But I am a 45-year-old. These uniforms are for the athletes. It gives them a voice in how they look. It doesn't help them win games, but having their voice heard probably matters more than we think.

If you think it doesn't matter, check this video from Ohio University last season. These guys were genuinely jacked for their black jerseys. (Complete with a Johnny Cash soundtrack.)

Cool unis? Sense of empowerment? Either way, you can't can that kind of reaction.

Interesting stuff. If I were in Kirk Ferentz's shoes, yeah, why not? Maybe make them play for it. Yes, it erodes tradition, but everyone knows what the traditional unis look like. Maybe they'd sell a few extra jerseys in the process.

LINKED IN

-- From Columbus Dispatch longtime Ohio State beat writer Tim May, a look at Ohio State's spring game.

-- Here's ESPN.com Big Ten blogger Brian Bennett's look at Penn State's spring game.

-- Denard Robinson is a senior, so the Wolverines took a look at two for the future in their spring game, writes Kyle Mienke of AnnArbor.com.

WIDE WORLD OF LINKAGE

-- In 2012, season tickets to Iowa football games will cost $2 less than season tickets to Michigan games. Of course, the Hawkeyes have seven home games and the Wolverines but six.

Iowa's price is $388, by the way.

This Detroit News story has the ticket prices for every Big Ten school. An 8-game ticket at Ohio State goes for $560. But you can get low-end season tickets at Illinois and Purdue for under $100.

-- Even though Michigan plays Massachusetts, Tom Dienhart of BTN.com ranks the Wolverines' 2012 nonconference schedule the hardest of all Big Ten teams.

He has good reasons. Namely, Alabama in Texas, and Notre Dame in South Bend.

Iowa? Well, that's Dienhart's 10th-toughest (or 3rd-easiest) non-con slate. With Northern Illinois, Northern Iowa and Central Michigan, the Hawkeyes certainly lead the conference in directional foes.

-- Iowa's football team plays two Mid-American Conference teams this year. The MAC, Michael Weinreb writes in this Grantland.com story, "exists both within the power structure of big-time college football and yet stands entirely outside of it."

The story is built around Akron, which has won two games over the last two seasons, and its new coach. That's Terry Bowden, formerly of big-time college football.

-- You won't see Iowa offensive tackle Riley Reiff listed as low as the 26th pick of the first round in anyone's NFL mock draft. Or is that mock NFL draft?

Anyway, Greg Cosell of NFL Films has Reiff No. 26, to the Houston Texans. That isn't where he thinks Reiff will go, it's just how he rates players "based on my film study and my sense of team needs."

Cosell has Robert Griffin III has his No. 1 pick, by the way. And he says the best player in the draft isn't Griffin or Andrew Luck, but running back Trent Richardson.

-- For those who think this flap with the Jarrod Uthoff transfer will do Bo Ryan's Wisconsin basketball program irreparable harm, Jeff Potrykus of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says guess again.

"... the PR black eye is akin to one of those fake tattoos you purchase at a summer festival," Potrykus writes. "Unlike the real deal, they fade quickly and without pain."

-- Courtney Love has committed to the Nebraska football program.

Seriously.