Phil Steele has become the E.F. Hutton of college football national gurus. For those of you who don’t remember the company’s world-famous commercials back in the 1980s, E.F. Hutton touted its stock market success and left you with a simple phrase: “When E.F. Hutton talks, people listen.” Well, Phil Steele has that kind of clout, [...]

  Kirk Ferentz has been head coach for the Hawkeyes for 14 years now. That’s a long time and that’s a lot of great stories. Bob Sanders rings out. Robert Gallery isn’t bad, either. Certainly, Nate Kaeding, Colin Cole and Pat Angerer. I’m not going to go over them all (Abdul Hodge/Chad Greenway). There’s no [...]

Big Ten basketball lacks the schedule intrigue of its football counterpart partly because all league schools play one another at least once during the season. But clearly there are basketball rivalries that rise above the rest, and there are questions as to whether they automatically are played twice each year. Purdue and Indiana come to [...]

The “On Iowa” podcast with Marc Morehouse and Scott Dochterman breaks down the intense debate surrounding college football’s postseason, the current bowl structure and the potential for additional conference realignment with Gazette columnist Mike Hlas. We also answer your Twitter questions. To listen to this podcast, click on the side or below icon or download [...]

  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 [...]

  Ten things that have happened since Iowa played Illinois on Nov. 1, 2008: 1) Obama elected — Coincidentally, the renewal (six years after) will be played the Saturday before the next presidential election. 2) The economy crashed — Mainly, the housing bubble burst. Who knew, right? 3) The Chicago Blackhawks won a Stanley Cup [...]

  Bob Bowlsby still isn’t quite in his new job as Big 12 commissioner, but the league made a move Friday that will shape Bowlsby’s tenure. The Big 12 and SEC announced that it would pit the two teams in a New Year’s Day Bowl beginning in 2015. The initial deal is for five seasons. [...]

The Big Ten’s realignment process produced one key casualty among the league’s football rivalries: Iowa-Wisconsin. The schools had played 72 of 74 years before the Big Ten added Nebraska as its 12th member for the 2011 school year. When the league split into two divisions based not on geography but competitive equality, the Iowa-Wisconsin rivalry [...]

  Score one for Iowa offensive coordinator Greg Davis and his Texas connections. When the former University of Texas OC was hired at Iowa in February, he immediately heard from around 20 Texas prep coaches interested in his new ties. That appears to have helped the Hawkeyes land Corsicana (Texas) Mildred quarterback Nic Shimonek, who [...]

  Day 1 of the Big Ten spring meetings: Ohio State athletics director Gene Smith said he didn’t think a national semifinal played in Columbus, Ohio, in 5-degree weather in December was good for college football. He said college isn’t pro. OK, fair opinion. Day 2 of the Big Ten spring meetings: Conference commissioner Jim [...]