Iowa's future schedules

The Big Ten released football schedules for the 2015-16 seasons today.

Here's the release from Iowa with some thoughts following:

2015-16 BIG TEN FOOTBALL SCHEDULES ANNOUNCED

IOWA CITY, IA – The University of Iowa's Big Ten Conference football schedules have been announced for the 2015 and 2016 seasons. Schedules for all 12 league schools were release today by the Big Ten Conference.

The league slate has Iowa opening conference play with a home game in each of the two seasons. The Hawkeyes will not play Indiana, Ohio State or Wisconsin either year. Iowa does not play Ohio State, Illinois and Wisconsin this year and won't play Illinois, Indiana or Penn State in 2013-14.

Iowa opens the 2015 league schedule Oct. 3 and 10 with successive home games against Northwestern and Michigan State. Road contests at Purdue and Minnesota follow. Illinois and Michigan are the other Big Ten home games in 2015. Other league road contests are Penn State and Nebraska. The open week is Nov. 14.

The Hawkeyes open at home against Minnesota on Oct. 1, 2016. Other home games that year include Purdue, Penn State and Nebraska. League road games include Michigan State, Northwestern, Illinois and Michigan. The bye week is Nov. 12.

The Nebraska games are currently set for Saturday dates, following Thanksgiving, in the 2013-16 time frame. That could change. The Iowa and Nebraska athletic directors will meet following this year's game at Kinnick Stadium to determine if a Friday game, following Thanksgiving, is still in the best interests of both schools.

Iowa's football schedules for the 2013-16 time frame are listed below.

Aug. 31 Northern Illinois

Sept. 7 Missouri State

Sept. 14 at Iowa State

Sept. 21 Western Michigan

Sept. 28 at Minnesota

Oct. 5 Michigan State (HC)

Oct. 12 Open

Oct. 19 at Ohio State

Oct. 26 Northwestern

Nov. 2 Wisconsin

Nov. 9 at Purdue

Nov. 16 Open

Nov. 23 Michigan

Nov. 30 at Nebraska

Aug. 30 Northern Iowa

Sept. 6 Ball State

Sept. 13 Iowa State

Sept. 20 at Pittsburgh

Sept. 27 Open

Oct. 4 at Wisconsin

Oct. 11 Open

Oct. 18 Ohio State

Oct. 25 Purdue

Nov. 1 at Michigan

Nov. 8 at Northwestern

Nov. 15 Minnesota

Nov. 22 at Michigan State

Nov. 29 Nebraska

Sept. 5 Illinois State

Sept. 12 at Iowa State

Sept. 19 Pittsburgh

Sept. 26 North Texas

Oct. 3 Northwestern

Oct. 10 Michigan State

Oct. 17 at Purdue

Oct. 24 at Minnesota

Oct. 31 Illinois

Nov. 7 at Penn State

Nov. 14 Open

Nov. 21 Michigan

Nov. 28 at Nebraska

Sept. 3 North Dakota State

Sept. 10 Iowa State

Sept. 17 Central Michigan

Sept. 24 TBA

Oct. 1 Minnesota

Oct. 8 at Michigan State

Oct. 15 Purdue

Oct. 22 at Northwestern

Oct. 29 at Illinois

Nov. 5 Penn State

Nov. 12 Open

Nov. 19 at Michigan

Nov. 26 Nebraska

 -- The "TBA" in 2016 is a BCS date, I believe. Could Iowa jump into the Pac-12 derby a year early? Why not? Just do it, says that one Pac-12 school. My predictions for that are an Arizona school or Washington (where Iowa AD Gary Barta once worked).

-- Iowa's Black Friday game with Nebraska comes up for discussion after this season. Will it stick on Black Friday? I think so, but I also think Iowa has to beat Nebraska to keep the slot. It's a featured position and the league is going to want a competitive rivalry to showcase. Ball's in Iowa's court.

-- I vote to take all FCS schools except for Northern Iowa off the schedule. That's just me crazy talking, though.

-- The only other neutral site opportunity I see is Northern Illinois again at Soldier Field in '13. I don't see that happening.

-- Let me just register my complaint on no Wisconsin-Iowa for 2015-16. Losing battle. Decision's been made. Still sucks.

-- It's about damn time for an Iowa-Illinois game. At least there's no talk of a traveling trophy for this border war, which will be renewed, finally, in 2015, a six-year stretch with no Iowa-Illinois. Now, no one really has made any noise about the absence. Logistics don't seem to mean a thing in the NU-Big Ten, either. (Wisconsin is about three hours from Iowa City, and Illinois is around five-ish. Doable drives.)

We're left to scratch our heads, and that's really it. The league has changed and will remain changing. There will be some breakage. Everything is different and remains dynamic.