Unless you are like my parents and your only source of Iowa Football news comes from this blog (hi Mom and Dad!), then you already know that Iowa will play in one prime time game this upcoming season against Northwestern. I do have some thoughts on the matter though, so I'm posting about the old news.

First the important stuff:

What: Iowa vs. Northwestern
When: 6:00 PM, October 15, 2011
Where: Kinnick Stadium, Iowa City
TV: BTN

Thoughts:

I didn't predict any night games on the schedule, but that was before I knew that the B1G wanted to put each team in a prime time game at least once. After being snubbed by ABC/ESPN, I figured that homecoming against Indiana would be the best bet for a late BTN game. However, Northwestern makes a lot of sense.

Iowa fans' feeling towards Northwestern is more annoyance than antipathy. But there is definitely enough tension there to make this match up interesting. The Wildcats have had Iowa's number the past few years and have had a knack for taking out the the Hawkeye's star offensive player on questionable hits (Shonn Greene and Ricky Stanzi). Plus, this is probably the best non-November home game on the schedule (you could also argue Pitt, but the home slate this year is just weak).

I also like the 6PM start. The game will get over around 9:30 instead of 10:30, but there will still be ample time before the game to tailgate. And, though there probably won't be much interesting in the game outside the two team's fan-bases (and maybe part of the B1G footprint), it might draw some eyes of fans waiting for the 7:00 games on ABC/ESPN after the 2:30 games are over.

And, hopefully the night game will amp up the crowd and will help propel the team to victory. Because nobody wants to lose to Northwestern again...seriously.