TV-wise, 5 p.m. is good slot for Iowa-ISU football

In terms of what an all-day party it's going to be for the Iowa-Iowa State football game in Ames on Sept. 14, maybe 5 p.m. isn't the ideal time slot. Unless you're one of the partiers.

Television-wise, though, it looks like a pretty good slot for the two teams to get an audience beyond Council Bluffs, Clinton, Cresco and Creston.

So far, the only other nationally televised games I see that start at 5 p.m. (Central time) that day are Washington vs. Illinois and Central Florida at Penn State on the Big Ten Network. Ohio State plays at California an hour later on Fox.

The last hour of the big-big-big Alabama-Texas A&M game on CBS will coincide with the first hour of Iowa-ISU on Fox Sports 1 (currently Speed). The first hour of Notre Dame-Purdue on one of the ESPN platforms will coincide with the last hour of Iowa-ISU.

Still, it isn't like all the games you bump into in the 11 a.m. or 2:30 p.m. time slots.

If you count this as a night game -- and you should -- Iowa State's first four games will be at night. They're Northern Iowa and Iowa at home, Tulsa on the road, and Texas at home.

If you count this as a night game -- and you should -- it's Iowa's only home game.