Fun Facts: Iowa-Illinois, Willie Nelson and Abe Lincoln

Iowa-Illinois. Two states separated by a river. Will we ever come together? Let's hope not. That would mean the Mississippi had dried up.

Now that's been clarified, here are the Hawkeyes-Illini Fun Facts:

1. Illinois head coach Lovie Smith is a native of Big Sandy, Texas.

2. Big Sandy won three straight state high school football championships when Smith played there.

3. Big Sandy is the home of Circle M Crawfish.

4. Ten years ago, Smith coached the Chicago Bears to the Super Bowl. Since then, the Bears are 73-80.

5. Illinois has 13 players from Florida, 11 from Ohio, and 4 from Chicago. It has one player from Iowa, senior tight end Andrew Davis of Marion. The Hawkeyes have 16 players from Illinois.

6. Iowa has a cornerback named Desmond King. Illinois has a wide receiver named Desmond Cain.

7. Illinois, which is 3-7 and has been outscored by 98 points, nonetheless has outscored its opponents in the second and third quarters over 10 games.

8. Texas Tech (473.1) averages 142.9 more passing yards per game than Iowa (171.2) and Illinois (158.1) combined.

9. Illini linebacker Hardy Nickerson graduated from Cal-Berkeley last season. His father is Hardy Nickerson, the 16-year NFL linebacker who is now Illinois' defensive coordinator. Young Nickerson has 338 career tackles.

10. Illinois has used 27 first-time starters in 2016, more than any other team in the nation.

11. The lllini's coaching staff has a total of 56 years of coaching in the NFL, more than any other staff in college football.

12. For the second year, Illinois games are broadcast in Mandarin Chinese through FightingIllini.com. There are over 4,500 students from China at the school.

13. Illinois has players named Gimel President and Tre Nation.

14. The first Farm Aid concert was held at Illinois' Memorial Stadium in 1985. What a lineup it had. Included were mainstays Willie Nelson, John Mellencamp and Neil Young, as well as Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, B.B. King, Bob Dylan, Loretta Lynn, Billy Joel, Roy Orbison, Bonnie Raitt, Tom Petty, John Fogerty, Carole King, Joni Mitchell, Kris Kristofferson, Lou Reed, Merle Haggard and Glen Campbell.

15. Farm Aid was at Iowa State's stadium in 1993. Nelson, Mellencamp, Young and Cash were there, too, as well as Ringo Starr, Lyle Lovett and Martina McBride.

16. Rick Pizzo will be the BTN's sideline reporter for this game. In his Twitter profile, he says he believes in craft beer, good bourbon, hot wings, and true friends. Hopefully, friends who have antacids.

17. One hundred and fifty-three years ago today, President Abraham Lincoln delivered the Gettysburg Address. Illinois is the Land of Lincoln.