Hey! Some actual news regarding Iowa football. Believe it or not, the 2021 college football season is just a hair over three months away -- we've just gotta make it through summer to get there. But in the meantime we now know when over half of Iowa's games next fall will kick off, and/or what TV channel they'll be airing on.
| DATE | KICKOFF (CT) | OPPONENT | LOCATION | TV |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SAT 9/4/21 | 2:30 PM | INDIANA | Iowa City, IA | BTN |
| SAT 9/11/21 | 2:30 PM | IOWA STATE | Ames, IA | ABC |
| SAT 9/18/21 | 2:30 PM | KENT STATE | Iowa City, IA | BTN |
| FRI 10/1/21 | 7:00 PM | MARYLAND | College Park, MD | FS1 |
| SAT 10/2/21 | -- | PENN STATE | Iowa City, IA |
FOX / FS1 |
| SAT 10/16/21 | 2:30 PM | PURDUE | Iowa City, IA | -- |
| SAT 10/30/21 | 11:00 AM | WISCONSIN | Madison, WI | -- |
| FRI 11/26/21 | 12:30 PM | NEBRASKA | Lincoln, NE | BTN |
Hope you like 2:30 PM kickoffs! (As I get older, I find myself very appreciative of mid-day kickoffs. You don't have to worry about getting too early, nor do you have to deal with a day's worth of anxiety before the game even kicks off -- not to mention how late some of those night games end.) Of course, kickoff times are also subject to change. It's a little eyebrow-raising that the Wisconsin game is already (at least tentatively) locked in for an 11 AM kickoff -- but if both teams are perched near the top of the Big Ten West standings in mid-October, that start time might get pushed back a few hours.
The Maryland game was moved from a Saturday game to a Friday night kickoff earlier this week. That and Iowa's now-traditional Black Friday game with Nebraska are the only non-Friday games on the slate this year.
These four games have no kickoff/TV time information as of yet.
| DATE | KICKOFF (CT) | OPPONENT | LOCATION | TV |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SAT 9/25/21 | -- | COLORADO STATE | Iowa City, IA | -- |
| SAT 11/6/21 | -- | NORTHWESTERN | Evanston, IL | -- |
| SAT 11/13/21 | -- | MINNESOTA | Iowa City, IA | -- |
| SAT 11/20/21 | -- | ILLINOIS | Iowa City, IA | -- |
At present, Iowa has no night games scheduled for Kinnick Stadium. That would be a departure from the trend over the last 10+ years, which has seen Iowa regularly host at least one night game per season. If you're looking for possibilities this year, it looks like there are pretty much two choices: 9/25 against Colorado State or 10/2 against Penn State. Fox is likely waiting to see if Iowa (and Penn State) emerge through the first few weeks of the season unscathed before determining whether to give that game a primetime slot. Iowa has hosted a few non-conference games in primetime in years past, so Iowa may try to lock in Colorado State for a late start this year, given the uncertainty around the PSU start time. The other two home games -- Minnesota and Illinois -- are in mid/late November, which makes them exceedingly unlikely for late kickoffs.
Finally, if you're looking to plan your apparel for a given game, three of Iowa's seven home games have associated color gimmicks:
- 9/18: Kent State (Gold Rush Game)
- 10/2: Penn State (Black and Gold Spirit Game)
- 11/13: Minnesota (Black Out Game)
Iowa will certainly be hoping the Penn State game is a later kickoff, because the black and gold striping effect looks much at night than during the day. You can probably bet on some uniform tweaks for the Minnesota game. Iowa has often worn modified uniforms for black out games in the past -- and that game is also identified as the Military Appreciation Game (in honor of Veterans' Day), so if nothing else we can probably expect to see the stars-and-stripes tigerhawk logo that day.
Thoughts on the schedule? Do you prefer early starts? Mid-day starts? Night starts?
