CEDAR RAPIDS – This past Saturday, when Coe College hosted only its second ever playoff game, two major record holders were in attendance.

TV9′s John Campbell tells the story of Jared Kuehner, who broke two of the school’s all-time receiving marks Saturday, and Carey Bender, a former Kohawk (and NFL player), who was in attendance watching his alma mater play ball.

Northern Iowa's Nate Buss, left, drives to the basket as North Dakota's Brandon Brekke, right, fouls Buss in the second half of an NCAA college basketball game Saturday, Nov. 17, 2012, in Cedar Falls, Iowa. (AP Photo/The Waterloo Courier, Matthew Putney)

The University of Northern Iowa may not be spending Thanksgiving at home, but traveling to the Bahamas isn’t a bad alternative. The Panthers will play three games in three days – starting on Thursday – in the Battle for Atlantis.

The tournament involves eight teams – all of which are ranked in the AP Top 25 or are receiving votes.

“The quality of the teams that are there; playing three games in three days, that’s the most exciting part of it. I’m looking forward to how competitive it’s going to be, and what that means when you’ve got 40 minutes against a team that’s got really good players and is really well coached,” Coach Ben Jacobson said.

Senior guard Anthony James will make his season debut after being suspended the first three games for a violation of team rules. Not only will James see the floor, but Jacobson said on Monday that James will start in place of Matt Bohannon.

“AJ’s excited and anxious to get back out on that game floor. He brings a different level of experience to our team than Matt does. Having been here into his fifth year now, his communication and his understand of what we’re doing, that’s going to help our team,” Jacobson said.

“Just having him back with that starting group and that group of guys that’s been in the rotation, you can already see the impact. There’s no question he’s ready to get going.”

UNI tips off the tournament against No. 2 Louisville on Thursday at 8:30 p.m.

San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick (7) runs away from Chicago Bears defensive end Julius Peppers (90) and defensive tackle Nate Collins (93) during the third quarter of an NFL football game in San Francisco, Monday, Nov. 19, 2012. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Colin Kaepernick passed for 243 yards and two touchdowns in his first career start in place of the injured Alex Smith, and the San Francisco 49ers whipped the Chicago Bears 32-7 on Monday night in a highly touted NFC showdown that hardly lived up to the hype.

Kaepernick threw touchdown passes to Vernon Davis and Michael Crabtree, and Kendall Hunter ran for a 14-yard TD as San Francisco (7-2-1) jumped out to a big lead by scoring on each of its first four possessions — with Aldon Smith wreaking havoc on the other side of the ball with five sacks.

Jason Campbell, the other quarterback in this matchup of backups for two division leaders, threw a 13-yard touchdown pass to Brandon Marshall in the third quarter but was sacked five times and threw two interceptions in his first start since October 2011 for Oakland.

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa – The cast of “On Iowa Live” returned Monday night with a new episode, and the guys welcomed former Iowa State Cyclone Kyle Knock to the show to talk about the ‘Clones becoming bowl eligible. Plus, Saville – and The Gazette’s Mike Hlas and Marc Morehouse – talked about the Big Ten’s expansion to include Maryland and Rutgers (and beyond?). Scott Dochterman also called in from Cancun, where he’s covering the Iowa men’s basketball team, to talk about Iowa Hoops.

The show airs live on KCRG 9.2 every Monday at 6:30 p.m. and is available online every week right here at KCRG.com/sports. If you have questions for the guys, tweet them at @KCRG_Sports with the hashtag #OnIowaLive

Part 1 – The panel talks about the Big Ten’s expansion, as Maryland announced its agreement to join the conference in 2014. Plus, the guys talk about Iowa-Nebraska and the Hawkeyes’ loss to Michigan:

Part 2 – The guys welcome Kyle Knock to the show, talk about Iowa State and quarterback Sam Richardson, plus they take some questions from the crowd:

Part 3 – Scott Dochterman calls in to talk Iowa hoops, and the guys wrap up the show by talking about how they think Iowa’s season finale with Nebraska will go on Friday:

RYAN – A 9-year-old girl was killed and six other people were injured Saturday afternoon in a two-vehicle collision at an intersection just west of Ryan.

Lauren Blanchard of Coggon died of injuries suffered in the crash, and three family members were among the injured.

Robbie Blanchard, 41, of Coggon, was driving west on County Highway D47 about 1:40 p.m. Saturday when a northbound car driven by Lucas Kinney, 19, of Manchester, failed to stop at a stop sign and struck the minivan driven by Blanchard, according to the Iowa State Patrol.

Robbie Blanchard, Amy Blanchard, 37, and Taylor Blanchard, 6, all of Coggon, were taken to St. Luke’s Hospital in Cedar Rapids for treatment of their injuries, the State Patrol said.

Also injured were Kinney and two passengers in his car, David Kounse, 23, of Central City, and Anthony Buisman, 21, of Manchester.

Kinney and Kounse were transported via Airlife helicopter to University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics in Iowa City, and Buisman was taken by ambulance to the Regional Medical Center in Manchester, according to the State Patrol.

No condition reports were available last night for the six injured people.

Maryland head coach Randy Edsall reacts to a call in the 3rd quarter of a college football game against Florida State at Byrd Stadium in College Park, Maryland, on Saturday, November 17, 2012. The Florida State Seminoles defeated the Maryland Terrapins, 41-14. (Mark Gail/MCT)

In the months since Nebraska joined the Big Ten, commissioner Jim Delany had been fond of mentioning “tectonic plates” when the subject of conference expansion came up.

It was his go-to line and why not? It sounded smart and funny. Who doesn’t want to sound smart and funny?

The Big Ten’s plates did a backflip Monday and might have a cartwheel in mind on Tuesday.

The University of Maryland became the 13th member of the Big Ten, school officials announced Monday afternoon. The announcement capped six weeks of negotiations. The Maryland Board of Regents vote wasn’t unanimous, but it passed and the Big Ten Council of Presidents accepted Maryland’s bid this morning.

Delany said the move was made under the premise “bigger is better and richer.”

“We watched different conferences move out of their region,” Delany told ESPN.com. “The SEC moved into Texas (Texas A&M) and Missouri, the ACC moved into Pennsylvania (Pittsburgh) and Indiana (Notre Dame) and New York (Syracuse).

“It made us think: Are we vulnerable? What has been our advantage over time? Great institutions, great demographics. We started to think: What are the possibilities? We came to the conclusion: If there were opportunities there, we should explore them.”

The Terrapins, turtles that live in fresh or brackish water, is slated to join the Big Ten for the 2014-15 academic year. Delany conceded that Maryland isn’t a national brand, but that doesn’t mean it’s stuck in brackish water.

“I just believe they have real upside,” Delany said. “I recognize in the last couple years they haven’t been as competitive. We’re not always going to be able to add a member that has got a nationally relevant, top-tier program like Penn State and Nebraska. If that’s the litmus test, then there wouldn’t be a lot of expansion around the country.”

Maryland, a charter member of the ACC since 1953, does have the issue of the $50 million exit fee the conference passed this summer. Maryland president Dr. Wallace D. Loh, a former provost at the University of Iowa, said that would be a discussion between the school and the ACC. He wouldn’t put a dollar amount on it.

Rutgers is expected to follow the Terrapins and will announce its own move from the Big East to the Big Ten, possibly as early as Tuesday. A Scarlet Knights move would give the Big Ten 14 members. Rutgers’ Board of Governors held a regularly scheduled meeting Monday in New Brunswick, N.J.

Delany said, “Today is Maryland’s day and I won’t have any other comment on expansion today.”

Will the Big Ten stop at 14? “We’ll see what happens around the country,” Delany said. “If the shift continues, I can tell you we’ll be strategic about responding to it.”

Delany said the first volley for this move was when the Big Ten and Pac-12′s deal to play one non-conference football game against each other fell through this summer. It didn’t have anything to do with Notre Dame agreeing to join the ACC in every sport but football.

“It’s multiple institutions in multiple parts of the country moving into multiple regions,” he said. “It really wasn’t Notre Dame. It was pretty clear to me that Notre Dame for a long time wanted to maintain its independence, and as that’s a matter of fact, I knew there wasn’t a possibility for us to add Notre Dame.”

This move gives the Big Ten a foothold in eastern TV markets. According to this post by Sports Illustrated’s Pete Thamel, that could mean as much as $200 million annually on the high end.

From the post: “There are an estimated 15 million available households in the New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington D.C. markets. If the Big Ten Network got on basic cable in all those places, which is an enormous long shot, the per-household figure by the time Rutgers and Maryland joined the league would project in the neighborhood of $1.25 per month. That would equate to about $200 million per year.”

The Big Ten will, essentially, be betting on itself to drive TV demand in eastern markets that are largely professional sports markets. When Ohio State, Michigan, Penn State and Nebraska start showing up in Maryland and New Jersey on a regular basis, there will be buzz.

“The Big Ten Presidents and Chancellors are pleased to welcome the University of Maryland to the Big Ten Conference,” said COP/C Chair and University of Iowa President Sally Mason.  “The University of Maryland is one of the premier public research universities in the country and represents a natural alignment with our other member institutions.”

This will open up new recruiting fields for Big Ten schools. Iowa has been hitting New Jersey since Hayden Fry’s early years in the 1980s. Running back Ronnie Harmon and defensive end Leroy Smith came from New Jersey to help make Iowa a Rose Bowl contender.  This season, Iowa has four players from Maryland and two from New Jersey on its roster.

When the Big Ten added Nebraska in 2010, the conference was split into the “Legends” and “Leaders” divisions. The goal was competitive balance, Delany said. Right now, the bluebloods are split with Michigan and Nebraska in the Legends and Ohio State and Penn State in the Leaders.

Big Ten athletics directors will address realignment possibilities in 2013. A nine-game conference schedule is back on the table, Delany said.

A possible divisional alignment leaked out of Maryland on Monday.

It had Maryland and Rutgers in the Leaders Division, with Illinois shifting over to the Legends. Iowa is a five-hour drive from Illinois. The two schools haven’t played since 2008.

The historical conference heavyweights remained in separate corners. Delany said he likes the “Honoring Legends, Building Leaders” concept, but that will be up for discussion.

Perhaps more Big Ten schools jump into the gear and apparel business with Under Armour, which is run by Maryland grad and former Terrapins walk-on special teams player Kevin Plank.

Delany said the “Big Ten” name will remain. He explained that it carries a brand recognition that supersedes the conference’s head count.

LEADERS

Penn State

Maryland

Rutgers

Ohio State

Indiana

Purdue

Wisconsin

LEADERS

Michigan

Nebraska

Iowa

Illinois

Michigan State

Minnesota

Northwestern

The “On Iowa” podcast, with Scott Dochterman and Marc Morehouse, returns on a big news day, as Maryland announced it will leave the ACC and join the Big Ten Conference starting in 2014.

Plus, with Scott in Cancun – to report on the Iowa men’s basketball team – he talks about Iowa’s huge comeback win over Gardner-Webb and what the Hawkeyes can expect from the tournament in Mexico.

As always, you can listen to this episode here on TheGazette.com or you can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes.

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Iowa's Melsahn Basabe and Onzie Branch of Gardner-Webb struggle for a rebound during the first half at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City on November 17, 2012. (Cliff Jette/The Gazette-KCRG TV9)

CANCUN, Mexico — Zach McCabe’s family came to Mexico to help him celebrate his 21st birthday. Eric May’s parents, extended family, grandmother, girlfriend and her family also arrived in Cancun.

Mike Gesell’s parents are at the Moon Palace Resort, as is Devyn Marble’s mother. It’s almost a family reunion for the Iowa men’s basketball team as it takes part in the Cancun Challenge.

But it’s no party. There are no side trips scheduled. Lights out is at 11:30 p.m. The Mayan ruins will have to wait past Wednesday night — if ever — before it receives black-and-gold basketball visitors.

“This is a business trip,” Iowa Coach Fran McCaffery said. “After we play, on Thursday, we’ll be able to do some things potentially, but I’m not sure what that’s going to be yet. Between now and the time we play, it’s business.”

Iowa (4-0) had a scare Saturday night against Gardner-Webb, trailing by 23 points before coming back to win by nine. It’s the largest comeback by the program since at least 1996, and the school continues to research its archives to see where it ranks.

“That was a good wake-up call for our team,” May said.

The team got another one at 3 a.m. Sunday for its flight to Mexico. McCaffery has preached hydration since his arrival, but he also found another distraction at an all-inclusive resort.

“You go to a restaurant and you just eat and you just get up and leave,” McCaffery said. “There’s no prices, so you can overeat. You can order room service. So you want them to eat, because you want them to replace the calories they’ve lost, but we also don’t want them to overeat.”

Iowa’s experience at the Paradise Jam Classic two years ago helped shape the team’s business-first mantra in Mexico. Tthe team lost two of three games and some of the players took the trip less seriously than expected.

“As a freshman we all thought it was a vacation and time to get away or whatever,” McCabe said. “Unfortunately we found out that’s not how it is.”

“I just think we were a new group, a young team,” Marble said. “I’m not saying we didn’t play to the best of our ability, but at the time we didn’t really know too much else. I think this is going to be a much better trip basketball-wise and the resort is nice. But I think we’re just ready to play now.”

While the players have met with their families and enjoyed some carefree moments at the resort, they’re dialed in on basketball. Iowa’s first opponent, Western Kentucky, is 2-1 and its only loss was in overtime. The Hilltoppers advanced to the NCAA tournament last year. Iowa will play either DePaul or Wichita State on Wednesday. Three years ago the Shockers beat Iowa by 17 at the CBE Classic in Kansas City.

“For the most part, I’ve been to my room to the court to the film room since I’ve been down here and the same with all of us,” May said. “We haven’t been down here jumping around on the beach. It’s business until it’s over.”