After one of the craziest weeks I can remember, it is finally official; Nebraska has applied and been accepted as a new member of the Big Ten. The official word broke around 1:30 midway through Nebraska's Board of Regents meeting that Nebraska would be applying...it was a unanimous decision. A few hours later, the Big Ten chimed in accepting Nebraska's application...also unanimous. None of this was very surprising though. We have "known" for days that this was coming. That's not to say though, that it wasn't exciting news (because I am very excited for Iowa to play Nebraska). And, there was actually some new information to come out today.

Phil Steele released is ranking of 2010's toughest schedules on his blog the other day. He uses his power rankings and looks at the number of home and away games each team is playing. Iowa comes in with the 35th toughest schedules, which seems about right to me. They have a number of quality opponents, but get them all at home. The thing that really jumped out at me though, was that Steele ranks Iowa State's schedule as the toughest in the nation. They do have a tough schedule this year...Iowa and Utah in non-conference games, plus they play at Texas and at Oklahoma.

I am not that good at photo editing (actually I'm quite bad), but here's my attempt at a rivalry trophy for the Iowa vs. Nebraska game. I present the Corn-Hawk Trophy.


I'm sure there are some readers out there that can do better. If you have any good ones, post them in the comments (you'll just have to upload your picture somewhere else first then just post the link and the image will be attached).

And so it begins...With only 87 days left until the Iowa Football season begins, it's time to start dissecting the year ahead. First up is the Eastern Illinois Panthers.

The Game

Opponent: Eastern Illinois
Location: Kinnick Stadium, Iowa City, IA
Kickoff: 11:05 - September 4, 2010
TV: Big Ten Network

The Basics

Location: Charleston, IL
Head Coach: Bob Spoo
Mascot: Panther
Conference: Ohio Valley Conference (I've never heard of it either)
2009 Record: 8-4 (6-2)

You have probably seen both of these before as they have been floating around the internet. But, they are just too awesome to not post. First of all, if you haven't visited the recently revamped gohawks.com, do so now. There's some good content on there, but the real prizewinner is the intro video. Here it is on YouTube:


The second is fantastic in a completely different way. A little bit of schadenfreude and a lot of hilarity...the boys at Wide Right and Natty Light offer up an amazing Craigslist ad for Iowa State. Wanted: New Athletic Conference. Unfortunately the original was flagged and removed from Craigslist, but if you visit their blog you can see a screenshot.