116 3rd St SE
Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52401
Catching up...
I've been on vacation.
Still, I had a pretty good discussion via Twitter over the merits of the Black Friday game with Nebraska. I think most are for it, see the opportunity for a national TV game and realize that, yes, Iowa has to win a few of these to make it a rivalry. The "no" votes fall along the lines of the logistics of playing a Friday game. It essentially 86's a student presence (or stresses it with Thanksgiving break). Also, a lot of Iowa fans simply aren't used to it and don't like change. I can't blame them for that.
Nebraska has a 20-year headstart on the Black Friday tradition. It will take time for it to take hold with Iowa fans. Or not. The changing Big Ten landscape assumes you'll change right along with it.
If you don't like it, don't go. If enough people feel that way, it'll change.
Here's the release from Iowa:
IOWA CITY, Iowa – The Administrators Council of the Big Ten Conference has approved the Iowa and Nebraska recommendation to move the Saturday, Nov. 30, 2013 football game to Friday, Nov. 29, and to schedule the annual Hy-Vee Heroes Game on the Friday after Thanksgiving in 2014 (Nov. 28) and beyond. The approval was announced Tuesday by the Big Ten.
The third annual Hy-Vee Heroes Game will take place Friday, Nov. 29, 2013, in Lincoln. Start time and television information will be released at a later date. The teams met on the Friday following Thanksgiving in both 2011 (Lincoln) and 2012 (Iowa City).
“We're excited about playing our annual football game with Nebraska on the Friday after Thanksgiving for a number of reasons,” said Gary Barta, UI's director of athletics. “This provides the student-athletes who have already lost the opportunity to spend the holiday at home with their families two days away from football. In addition, the Friday television window provides great exposure for our program. We greatly appreciate the adjustments in schedules that our fans, and those who help us stage the game in Iowa City every other year, will have to make.”
The Cornhuskers and Hawkeyes met in the Hy-Vee Heroes Game on Black Friday in each of the past two seasons, with Nebraska winning 20-7 in 2011 in Lincoln and 13-7 last November in Iowa City. Both games were televised by ABC. The Hy-Vee Heroes Game has raised $20,000 for the American Red Cross over the last two years.
Nebraska holds a 28-12-3 advantage in the series. The teams have met just eight times since 1946.
Iowa and Nebraska met eight consecutive years (1891-98) on Thanksgiving Day, with those eight games played in either Omaha or Council Bluffs.
For whatever reason, I really missed WR signee Derrick Willies track credentials.
Last year at Rock Island (Ill.) High School, Willies won the Illinois Class 3A 110-meter high hurdles (14.02 seconds) and finished second in the 300-meter intermediate hurdles (37.75 seconds).
Willies will run track again this spring.
MAC and Sun Belt ESPN schedule for next fall (we're a ways off, but you can see the outline of football, especially with spring practice kicking into gear).
2013 MAC and Sun Belt Schedule as of March 1 (additional selections will be announced):
Date
Time (ET)
Game
Network
Thu, Sept 12
TBD
Troy at Arkansas State
ESPNU
Thu, Oct 3
TBD
Western Kentucky at Louisiana-Monroe
ESPNU
Tue, Oct 15 or Wed, Oct 16
TBD
Louisiana-Lafayette at Western Kentucky
ESPN or ESPN2
Tue, Oct 22 or Wed, Oct 23
TBD
Louisiana-Lafayette at Arkansas State
ESPN or ESPN2
Thu, Oct 31
TBD
Louisiana-Monroe at Troy
ESPNU
Tue, Nov 5
8 p.m.
Bowling Green at Miami (Ohio)
ESPN2 or ESPNU
8 p.m.
Ohio at Buffalo
ESPN2 or ESPNU
Wed, Nov 6
8 p.m.
Central Michigan at Ball State
ESPN2
Thu, Nov 7
TBD
Troy at Louisiana-Lafayette
ESPNU
Tue, Nov 12
TBD
Ohio at Bowling Green
ESPNU or ESPN3
TBD
Buffalo at Toledo
ESPNU or ESPN3
Wed, Nov 13
TBD
Ball State at Northern Illinois
ESPN2 or ESPNU
TBD
Miami (Ohio) at Kent State
ESPN2 or ESPNU
Tue, Nov 19
TBD
Kent State at Ohio
ESPN2 or ESPNU
TBD
Buffalo at Miami (Ohio)
ESPN2 or ESPNU
Wed, Nov 20
8 p.m.
Northern Illinois at Toledo
ESPN2
Tue, Nov 26
7 p.m.
Western Michigan at Northern Illinois
ESPN2
Fri, Dec 6
8 p.m.
Marathon MAC Championship Game (from Detroit)
ESPN2
Here's the start and finish dates for each Big Ten school for spring football:
Leaders
Pro Day
Start
Finish
Prospectus
Signing Day
Thu., March 7
Tue., March 5
Fri., April 12
Mon., March 18
Sat., March 2
Sat., April 13
Fri., March 8
Tue., March 5
Sat., April 13
Mon., March 11
Mon., March 18
Sat., April 20
Fri., March 1
Tue., March 19
Sat., April 13
Wed., March 6
Sat., March 9
Sat., April 20
Legends
Pro Day
Start
Finish
Prospectus
Signing Day
Mon., March 25
Wed, March 27
Sat., April 27
Thu., March 14
Sat., March 16
Sat., April 13
Wed, March 13
Tue., March 19
Sat., April 20
Mon., March 4
Tue., March 26
Sat., April 27
Thu., March 7
Sat., March 2
Sat., April 6
Tue., March 5
Wed., Feb. 27
Sat., April 13
Fans of the Nebraska Cornhuskers cheer for their team following their victory over Iowa Hawkeyes in their college football game Friday, Nov. 23, 2012 at Kinnick Stadium. (Brian Ray/The Gazette-KCRG)
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