Facebook fans “race” to Black Friday

LINCOLN, Nebraska - Despite tickets being sold out for Black Friday's Iowa-Nebraska football game, any fan unable to attend can at least show their loyalty on Facebook.

The University of Iowa is competing for school spirit in a Facebook fan race with the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Dubbed, the "Race to Black Friday," the page with the most fans by kickoff on November 25 wins.

Thanks to a similar fan race between Louisiana State and Texas A&M universities in 2009, Eric Page, assistant director of university creative services, said he thought a friendly competition between the two schools would be a fresh update from the last online dash, and particularly to welcome Nebraska to the Big Ten. He also noted that last spring, both schools ranked 11th and 12th in the Big Ten - as far as Facebook fans are concerned.

Both schools are monitoring the counts daily, and are posting graphics on their fan pages that show numbers, Page said. As of 9:14 a.m. Friday, Iowa was trailing with 43,761 fans to Nebraska's 43,782, but it has been a great, big back-and-forth since the beginning.

"This has been a fun collaborative project for both schools, and the rivalry is decidedly friendly," said Lin Larson, director of university creative services.

Larson said both sides have been good natured, and the comments have been fun to read.

One user, Kelly Ungs, posted: "Come on everyone, click on like again for the Hawkeyes to beat the huskers!"

Page noted that since this is the first time Iowa is playing on Black Friday, and the game has been billed as a rivalry, "Just added fuel to the fire," he said.

"Pride is on the line, but, really, it's a win-win because both schools come away with a much more robust audience on Facebook," he said.

Kickoff starts at 11 a.m.