Despite a No. 3 vs. No. 4 matchup between Iowa and Penn State this week, in addition to history in the making for the Big 10, College GameDay will be in Austin, Texas this weekend for No. 6 Oklahoma vs. No. 21 Texas.
It makes sense, with Fox owning the primary broadcasting rights for the Big 10, Oklahoma-Texas basically being an SEC game and with GameDay having previously been in both State College, Pennsylvania for Penn State-Auburn and in Ames, Iowa for Iowa-Iowa State, but there aren’t often Top 4 matchups in any given college season — until the College Football Playoff at least.
And College GameDay hasn’t been to Iowa City since Sept. 30, 2006 — an Ohio State win over Iowa.
The game is also historic for the Big 10 conference since one of Ohio State or Michigan will not feature in a Top 5 Big 10 matchup for the first time since 1962, courtesy of ESPN stats guru Chris Fallica. No. 3 Minnesota beat No. 5 Wisconsin, 14-9, in 1962 for the last contest between Top 5 Big 10 teams that didn’t include the Buckeyes or Wolverines.
Barring any unforeseen changes in the AP Poll, next weeks Penn State/Iowa game will be the first regular season Big Ten game between two Top 5 opponents without Ohio State being one of them since 1997 Michigan at Penn State.
— Chris Fallica (@chrisfallica) October 3, 2021
With Saturday afternoon’s Top 4 matchup not being covered by College GameDay, Fox’s version, Big Noon Kickoff, will be coming to Iowa City with its crew of Matt Leinart, Reggie Bush, Rob Stone, Bob Stoops and Brady Quinn.
Penn State-Iowa is slated for a 4 p.m. kickoff Saturday at Kinnick Stadium, with Joel Klatt and Gus Johnson on the call.
