Thursday, November 27, 2014

Happy Thanksgiving #Hawkeyes #Jays #Cornhuskers #Panthers

Cedar Rapids, IA -- We have reached the point in the athletic calendar where College Football is winding down and College Basketball has tipped off another regular season.

Happy Thanksgiving to all!

The Iowa Hawkeyes (7-4, 4-3 B1G West) will host the Nebraska Cornhuskers (8-3, 4-3 B1G West) on the gridiron of Kinnick Stadium on Black Friday. It will be a 11 a.m. start televised on ABC.

Both, the Iowa and Nebraska basketball programs are off to a slower start with each experiencing a loss already on the books. Iowa is 4-2, while Nebraska is 3-1.

In football, some Hawkeye fans and even more Cornhusker fans are getting restless, tired and frustrated with their head coach's lack of high success. Neither Kirk Ferentz or Bo Pelini have won a conference title in the last ten and seven years, respectively. Ferentz did win in 2002 and 2004 at Iowa. Pelini is enjoying his seven year itch at Nebraska.

Remember, change for the sake of change often doesn't bring fruit in the Heartland. The Hawkeyes and Cornhuskers will enjoy their border way on Black Friday. Iowa won last year in Lincoln 38-17, but haven't won at Kinnick over Nebraska in 33 years.

At the present time, neither is ranked in the Top 25 in either sport.

Both will be heading south for the bowl season, but this game was hopefully for a division title on the line, but will have to wait for next season?

The B1G West title will be determined Saturday, as Minnesota @ Wisconsin is played for Paul Bunyan's Ax. The winnet will earn a date in the Big Ten title game with Ohio State. We expected the Golden Gophers to win, but with RB David Cobb's injury, the Badgers are likely in a good position for a date with the Buckeyes.

Creighton men's basketball is off to a 5-0 start, as head coach Greg McDermott turned 50 on Tuesday night with the Jays' fifth win of the season. Last week's win over then #18 Oklahoma at CenturyLink placed the Jays at #23 in this week's AP Poll.

With only one returning full-time starter, senior PG Austin Chatman, the new look Jays have seen five different players step up to lead the Creighton scoring chart in five straight games. Last year, NCAA player of the year Doug McDermott lead Creighton in scoring in all but three games.

The Jays men's soccer team beat Oregon State on Sunday to advance to the Sweet 16 of the College Cup. The women's volleyball team is still playing, after a successful Big East season.

Iowa State football plays West Virginia on Saturday at Jack Trice for Senior Day. It has been a long journey a 2-8 season and zero Big 12 victories. Time is running out, but the Cyclones won the Cy-Hawk Trophy, so Life's Good for Paul Rhoads and his program in Ames.

Iowa State (3-1) men's basketball is in good hands with coach Fred Hoiberg. The Cyclones fell to Maryland in Kansas City ahead of Thanksgiving.

The Cy-Hawk Game will be in Iowa City in December. Creighton at Nebraska will be another good intra-state basketball game coming in December. Both games will be televised by the Big Ten Network.

The University of Northern Iowa Panthers open the FCS Football Playoffs in the UNI-Dome hosting Stephen F Austin. The winner travels to Illinois State in the next round of the Playoffs.

On the hardwood, the Panthers are 6-0 and appear to have a good unit for the 2014-15 season. The Panthers received 17 votes in the latest AP Basketball Poll. They are coming off a 61-42 victory over Northwestern in Mexico on Wednesday night.

The smell of Thanksgiving is in the air, as the Detroit Lions continue the tradition of the NFL on this Holiday hosting the Chicago Bears (5-6) indoors. However, it is the Green Bay Packers (8-3) that now lead former Hawkeye Jim Caldwell's Lions in the NFC Central Division.

Enjoy the turkey and the festivities everyone!

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