Some sort of Iowa football alternate uniform is happening

CHICAGO — Iowa football will wear an alternative uniform this season. Head coach Kirk Ferentz didn't get into the when, but he's seen the uniform and ...

'It's alternative,' Ferentz said Monday from Big Ten media days.

He was asked if there's one on the table.

'I think it's in a box probably somewhere,' Ferentz quipped. 'I've seen the decision. It could get uncorked somewhere along the way.'

Beyond the sarcastic defense mechanism — Ferentz threw in that he's fond of Iowa's uniform as it is — this is progress. In 2015, Ferentz dropped the hint at Big Ten media days about alternative uniforms and they happened against Minnesota. This still could be a troll move, but Ferentz seemed genuine.

'I like what we've got, but I get it,' he said. 'It's kind of like the Tiger Hawk (the UI put the Tiger Hawk logo at the midfield of Kinnick Stadium this summer). Everybody seems to be enthused about that and it was well received, so hey, I think it's great.'

So, alternative uniforms are coming at some point.

'I'm not a total curmudgeon,' he said.

Friday night football not taking hold

Northwestern was scheduled for a pair of Friday night home games this year and it wiggled out of them.

Northwestern did that.

Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany said last winter that the Big Ten would be playing on Friday nights beyond the smattering of Friday nights it already has on the schedule around Labor Day weekend. This was in the wake of the league signing media rights deals with Fox and ESPN that total $2.64 billion for the next six years. TV wants a place to put all of that content, and it looked like it was going to be an occasional Friday night.

Coaches aren't on board. Players don't feel right about taking the spotlight from high school football. Petitions have been started in Iowa to keep Friday night Kinnick games from happening.

'I think it's fair to say there's been pushback,' Delany said wryly.

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Iowa guard Sean Welsh is from Springboro, Ohio. He knows the weight of high school football in his state, which is mined regularly by dozens of colleges for football talent. He also knows there's this thing called Ohio State Buckeyes.

'I grew up in Ohio,' Welsh said. 'High school football in Ohio is pretty big. I think if the Buckeyes were playing on a Friday night, there wouldn't be anybody at the game. I think it takes away from high school football.'

The concept isn't going away. Purdue will host Ohio on Sept. 8 and Nebraska will travel to Illinois for a Friday night game on Sept. 29. Delany acknowledged the pushback, but he also didn't give an inch, instead focusing on 'mitigation.'

'We've worked to mitigate by very early selections,' Delany said. 'I think you'll see selections probably in October preceding the season, No. 1. And No. 2, to work with the high school athletic executive directors to mitigate.'

Big Ten back in business with FCS

In 2015, the Big Ten banned its schools from scheduling FCS nonconference opponents. Contracts could be played out, but there could be no FCS schools added to future schedules.

This also was when the league was selling its latest TV deal. No FCS and adding a ninth conference game were moves made to attract big network bidders. It worked. The contract is signed. Fox's entire crew is here in Chicago. Famed golden pipes play-by-play voice Gus Johnson will be here doing interviews.

And that FCS ban? Forget about it.

Delany said Monday that it's cool for B1G schools to add FCS schools on future schedules. There is a term to this. Big Ten teams that have four conference home games on their schedules will be permitted to add one FCS opponent in those years.

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For Iowa, that means it could add an FCS school to its 2020 schedule. Iowa already had Northern Iowa on the books for 2018. The Hawkeyes will have five B1G home games next year and in 2019. With FCS teams out of the mix, the market for FBS non-conference opponents for B1G schools shrunk and the price went up. Iowa will pay Middle Tennessee State $1.4 million for a home game in 2019. Delany said the league picked up on that and wanted to make it easier for schools that needed three FBS opponents.

'If you look at the national landscape, we have a number of conferences that are 13, 14, 15 (FCS) games,' Delany said. 'So, we'll probably still have the least number (of FCS schools on B1G schedules), but we'll probably have a moderate number in the area four to seven going forward.'

l Comments: (319) 398-8256; marc.morehouse@thegazette.com