More kickoffs announced

Iowa is on the 11 a.m. track for TV so far in 2011.

The Big Ten released TV schedules for the first three weeks of the '11 season. The Hawkeyes get 11 a.m. kickoffs in the opener against Tennessee Tech, at Iowa State (previously released) and Pittsburgh.

The Pitt game will be on ESPN or ESPN2. The last meeting between the two schools came in 2008 at Heinz Field, basically launching Ricky Stanzi's three-year run as Iowa's starting QB. (Iowa lost 21-20 in what was Jake Christensen's last stand.)

The Tech game will be televised on the Big Ten Network.

I think this will be it for the times we hear about. It'll go into that eight-day window thingie and you'll hear on the rest a week or 10 days before the game.

Here's the updated list of kickoffs:

09/03/11 – Tennessee Tech - 11 a.m. on BTN

09/10/11 – at Iowa State - 11 a.m. on Fox Sports Net

09/17/11 – Pittsburgh - 11 a.m. on ESPN or ESPN2

09/24/11 – Louisiana-Monroe - TBA

10/01/11 – Open – Relax on sofa with the clicker

10/08/11 – at Penn State - TBA

10/15/11 – Northwestern - 6 p.m. BTN

10/22/11 – Indiana - 11 a.m. (TV TBA)

10/29/11 – at Minnesota - TBA

11/05/11 – Michigan - TBA

11/12/11 – Michigan State - TBA

11/19/11 - at Purdue - TBA

Fri. 11/25/11 - at Nebraska - 11 a.m.

Sat. 12/03/11 – Big Ten Championship - TBA

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Here's the release from UI sports info:

TIMES SET FOR ADDITIONAL IOWA FOOTBALL GAMES

IOWA CITY, Iowa - - The first three University of Iowa football games this season will start at 11 a.m. CT, including the season-opening contest Sept. 3 against Tennessee Tech. Kickoff times for the first three weekends of the 2011 season were announced Tuesday by the Big Ten Conference.

The 11 a.m. start times also include the Sept. 10 contest at Iowa State and the Sept. 17 home game against Pittsburgh. The Tennessee Tech game will be televised by BTN. The Pittsburgh game will be telecast on either ESPN or ESPN2 and the Iowa Corn Cy-Hawk Series game in Ames will be carried by FSN.

Start times for three of Iowa's Big Ten Conference games were announced earlier. Those include a prime time contest (6 p.m. CT, BTN) on Oct. 15 vs. Northwestern and 11 a.m. CT start times for the Oct. 22 Homecoming contest vs. Indiana and the regular season finale at Nebraska on Friday, Nov. 25. The contest at Nebraska will be televised to a national audience by ABC.

The home contest against Northwestern will mark Iowa's only prime time appearance during the regular season. The upcoming season will mark the third straight year the Hawkeyes have hosted a prime time event. Iowa hosted Penn State a year ago and Michigan in 2009.

Iowa concludes non-conference play Sept. 24, hosting Louisiana-Monroe. Iowa is idle the opening weekend in October before traveling to Penn State Oct. 8 to open Big Ten play.

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And here's the release from the Big Ten Network:

BTN TO AIR 15 FOOTBALL GAMES DURING FIRST THREE WEEKENDS

Network to air first-ever college football tripleheaders on Sept. 10 and 17

CHICAGO – BTN will air 15 Big Ten games during the first three weekends of the 2011 college football calendar, highlighted by the network's first-ever college football tripleheaders on Sept. 10 and 17.

New in 2011, the Big Ten Conference has greater flexibility to schedule its football games throughout the day.

“The ability to schedule games with greater flexibility will enable Big Ten fans to catch more Big Ten football than ever before,” BTN President Mark Silverman said. “Airing consecutive games instead of having four to five on at once will create a much better experience for our viewers.”

BTN will kick off its football schedule with Michigan State, the defending conference tri-champion, hosting Youngstown State. The action kicks into high gear on Saturday with four games, including the season openers for Illinois, Iowa, Penn State and Purdue.

Eight of the conference's 12 teams will play their home openers on BTN during first two weekends in September.

Every BTN football game telecast will once again be surrounded by Big Ten Football Saturday, the network's pre-game, halftime and post-game show hosted by Dave Revsine and analysts Gerry DiNardo and Howard Griffith.

The Big Ten and its television partners will announce the remaining matchups and game times either six or 12 days before each game.

Overall, BTN will televise between 40 and 45 football games this fall.

When BTN is producing simultaneous football games, the network will split the feeds to allow Big Ten fans to watch the game with the most regional interest. In addition, cable and satellite providers will be able to carry the additional games via “Extra Football Game Channels.” Each week, fans can check local listings, their on-screen channel guide or www.BTN.com/channelfinder to find channel assignments for specific games.

Below is the 2011 BTN football schedule, including the previously announced primetime games. All times Eastern.

Friday, September 2

7:30pm Youngstown State at Michigan State

Saturday, September 3

12:00pm Indiana State at Penn State

12:00pm Tennessee Tech at Iowa

12:00pm Middle Tennessee State at Purdue

3:30pm Arkansas State at Illinois

Saturday, September 10

12:00pm Toledo at Ohio State

12:00pm South Dakota at Illinois

3:30pm Eastern Illinois at Northwestern

3:30pm New Mexico State at Minnesota

7:00pm Virginia at Indiana

Saturday, September 17

12:00pm Eastern Michigan at Michigan

12:00pm Southeast Missouri State at Purdue

3:30pm Miami, Ohio at Minnesota

3:30pm South Carolina State at Indiana

7:00pm Arizona State at Illinois

Saturday, September 24

7:00pm North Dakota State at Minnesota

Additional Games - TBD

Saturday, October 1

Additional Games - TBD

Saturday, October 8

7:00pm Michigan at Northwestern

Additional Games - TBD

Saturday, October 15

7:00pm Northwestern at Iowa

Additional Games - TBD

Saturday, October 22

7:00pm Penn State at Northwestern

Additional Games - TBD

Saturday, October 29

Additional Games - TBD

Saturday, November 5

Additional Games - TBD

Saturday, November 12

Additional Games - TBD

Saturday, November 19

Additional Games - TBD

Saturday, November 26

Additional Games - TBD