HawkeyeDrive.com

A trip to Maryland and the resumption of a rivalry with Illinois highlights the Iowa Hawkeyes’ new 2014 Big Ten football schedule released by the conference on Thursday.

Iowa’s first Big Ten game in 2014 will take place on Sept. 27 when it plays at Purdue, marking the third trip in four seasons to West Lafayette, Ind. (the Hawkeyes visit Ross-Ade Stadium on Nov. 9 this year). After a bye week, Iowa will then play at home against Indiana on Oct. 11. The Hoosiers originally were not on the 2014 schedule originally put out two springs ago.

Then on Oct. 18, the Hawkeyes will play their first Big Ten game against Maryland at Byrd Stadium in College Park, Md. It will be the Terrapins’ third league game. Iowa has two byes in the month of October, before the home game against Indiana and after the game at Maryland.

November features three home games, including Northwestern making a third trip to Kinnick Stadium in four years on Nov. 1. The Hawkeyes then play back-to-back road games against Minnesota and Illinois on Nov. 8 and Nov. 15, respectively. The game at Minnesota will mark Iowa’s fourth visit to TCF Bank Stadium in five years, while the contest against the Fighting Illini will be the Hawkeyes’ first game against Illinois since the 2008 season.

Iowa’s schedule then concludes with a pair of home games that will intrigue the Hawkeye faithful as Wisconsin and Nebraska both visit Kinnick Stadium. The Nov. 22 contest against Wisconsin will be the second consecutive trip to Iowa for the Badgers, who were originally slated to play Iowa at home in 2014. The finale against Nebraska is set for Nov. 28, which will be Black Friday next year.

Below is the new complete 2014 schedule for Iowa, including non-conference games:

2014:

Aug. 30 – vs. Northern Iowa

Sept. 6 – vs. Ball State

Sept. 13 – vs. Iowa State

Sept. 20 – at Pittsburgh

Sept. 27 – at Purdue

Oct. 4 – BYE

Oct. 11 – vs. Indiana

Oct. 18 – at Maryland

Oct. 25 – BYE

Nov. 1 – vs. Northwestern

Nov. 8 – at Minnesota

Nov. 15 – at Illinois

Nov. 22 – vs. Wisconsin

Nov. 28 – vs. Nebraska

HawkeyeDrive.com

The Big Ten has not made an official announcement, but single plays have been determined for conference play during the 2013-14 season.

Iowa head coach Fran McCaffery, who was in Chicago for the Big Ten’s spring meetings this week, told the Cedar Rapids Gazette’s Scott Dochterman on Tuesday the Hawkeyes’ single plays would consist of home games against Nebraska and Purdue and road contests at Indiana and Penn State. Last season, Iowa went a combined 4-4 against these four opponents.

From there, other Big Ten schools’ single plays began to leak via Twitter — either by teams’ beat writers or the teams themselves. Single plays used to span over two seasons so teams played everyone home and road at least once over a two-year span. With Maryland and Rutgers joining the Big Ten in 2014, these single plays are for the 2013-14 season only.

Below is a list of all 12 teams’ single plays for the 2013-14 season (Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, Northwestern, Ohio State, Purdue and Wisconsin have all officially announced single plays. Media outlets covering Indiana and Michigan have confirmed both teams’ single plays. Process of elimination was used to determine the remaining three — Michigan State, Minnesota and Penn State):

Iowa: Home – Nebraska, Purdue; Away – Indiana, Penn State

Illinois: Home – Michigan, Purdue; Away – Minnesota, Northwestern

Indiana: Home - Iowa, Ohio State; Away - Minnesota, Purdue

Michigan: Home - Northwestern, Penn State; Away - Illinois, Ohio State

Michigan State: Home - Minnesota, Nebraska; Away - Purdue, Wisconsin

Minnesota: Home - Illinois, Indiana; Away - Michigan State, Nebraska

Nebraska: Home - Minnesota, Wisconsin; Away - Iowa, Michigan State

Northwestern: Home - Illinois, Penn State; Away - Michigan Ohio State

Ohio State: Home - Michigan, Northwestern; Away - Indiana, Wisconsin

Penn State: Home - Iowa, Wisconsin; Away - Michigan, Northwestern

Purdue: Home - Indiana, Michigan State; Away - Illinois, Iowa

Wisconsin: Home - Michigan State, Ohio State; Away - Nebraska, Penn State

HawkeyeDrive.com

Pat Ingram asked for and was granted a release from his scholarship and will transfer, Iowa head coach Fran McCaffery announced in a release sent by the UI on Tuesday.

Ingram was a freshman who appeared in 19 games off the bench for the Hawkeyes last season and was one of five members of Iowa’s 2012 recruiting class. In three years under McCaffery, Ingram is only the second player to transfer from Iowa.

“Patrick is a tremendous person who was an integral part of our program last season,” McCaffery said in a statement. “Patrick indicated that he wants to be closer to home and we have granted his request. We wish him the best in his future endeavors.”

As a result of Ingram’s departure, Iowa now has four scholarship shots it can fill for 2014 and will play with 12 scholarship players out of a possible 13 next season. The Hawkeyes return nine scholarship players who played last season, plus two players who redshirted in freshman Kyle Meyer and Wisconsin transfer Jarrod Uthoff, who walked on to Iowa last year and will be on scholarship for three years beginning with the 2013-14 season. The lone member of the 2013 class is incoming freshman Peter Jok.

HawkeyeDrive.com

Iowa will play host to Notre Dame on Dec. 3 as part of the Big Ten/ACC Challenge, the two conferences announced Wednesday. This upcoming 2013-14 season will be the first for the Fighting Irish in the ACC after having spent 18 years as a member of the Big East for all sports except football.

The storyline with this match-up surrounds Iowa head coach Fran McCaffery, who spent 11 seasons as an assistant at Notre Dame under both Digger Phelps and John McLeod. His wife Margaret also played for the school’s women’s basketball team in college. The Fighting Irish were in last year’s NCAA tournament as a No. 7 seed and lost in the second round to 10th-seeded Iowa State.

After losing 95-79 at Virginia Tech last season, Iowa has lost seven straight games in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge, a streak dating back to 2006. The Hawkeyes’ last Big Ten/ACC Challenge win came during the 2005-06 season, a 45-42 win over North Carolina State at home. Iowa’s last game against Notre Dame came during the 1990-91 season, a 77-68 for the Fighting Irish in the Preseason NIT.

Among other Big Ten/ACC Challenge match-ups announced Wednesday include Michigan playing at Duke, Michigan State playing host to North Carolina, Indiana playing at Syracuse in a rematch of a Sweet 16 match-up from last season and Ohio State playing host to soon-to-be Big Ten member Maryland.

Iowa’s entire non-conference schedule for the 2013-14 season will be announced at a later date. The Hawkeyes will participate in the Battle 4 Atlantis, as well as play a home game against Nebraska-Omaha, a road game at Iowa State, and their Big Four Classic match-up in Des Moines will be against Drake.

HawkeyeDrive.com

After having one prime time game at Kinnick Stadium each of the past four seasons, the Iowa Hawkeyes won’t be playing any home games under the lights in 2013.

The Big Ten Network announced its slate of 12 prime time games for the upcoming 2013 season, none of which featured Iowa. The Hawkeyes are coming off their first losing season since 2006 after going 4-8 in 2012.

One possibility still remains for a night game this season when Iowa plays at Iowa State on Sept. 14. However, the last time the Hawkeyes and Cyclones met in prime time at Jack Trice Stadium was back in 1999, Kirk Ferentz’s first season as Iowa’s head coach.

Over the next two months, seven kickoff times will likely be announced. The Big Ten’s next announcement will consist of schools’ Homecoming games, as well as Iowa’s Black Friday showdown at Nebraska on Nov. 29. The Hawkeyes’ Homecoming game is Oct. 5 against Michigan State and Iowa is the Homecoming opponent for both Minnesota (Sept. 28) and Ohio State (Oct. 19) this season.

In addition to those four conference games, there will be Iowa’s first three games of the season — the first two at home against Northern Illinois and Missouri State that will be announced by the Big Ten, and the contest at Iowa State, which the Big 12 will announce at a time still to be determined.

HawkeyeDrive.com

Jerry Strom, who has served as Iowa’s director of basketball operations for the last 31 years, announced his retirement from the program Monday afternoon. This news was first reported by The Cedar Rapids Gazette’s Scott Dochterman and later confirmed by the UI.

Strom spent 33 years at Iowa, with the first two being as a graduate assistant under then-Iowa head coach Lute Olson. He then was promoted to the director of basketball operations role in 1983. During his tenure, Strom’s duties included handling the Hawkeyes’ scheduling and helping coordinate the team’s travel. He also oversaw Iowa’s now-defunct Hawkeye Challenge, which took place annually for 26 seasons (1982-83 until 2007-08).

“For the three years we worked together, his contributions were beyond exceptional,” Iowa head coach Fran McCaffery said in a statement. “He’s part of the Iowa basketball family forever.”

HawkeyeDrive.com

The Iowa Hawkeyes will take part in the Battle 4 Atlantis during Thanksgiving weekend after originally being scheduled to play in the Great Alaska Shootout around the same time. Iowa’s participation in the Bahamas tourney was first reported Thursday afternoon by CBS Sports’ Jeff Goodman minutes after the Great Alaska Shootout announced UW-Green Bay had taken the Hawkeyes’ place in their tourney.

The Battle 4 Atlantis is a three-day tourney that starts Nov. 28 (Thanksgiving Day) and takes place at the Atlantis Resorts located in Paradise Island. Joining the Hawkeyes down there will be Kansas, Tennessee, USC, UTEP, Villanova, Wake Forest and Xavier. Iowa took a spot in the tourney field left vacant by Michigan State after the Spartans chose to instead play in the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic.

Of these teams, only Kansas and Villanova made the NCAA Tournament this past season. Villanova lost in the second round to North Carolina, while Kansas lost in overtime to Michigan in the Sweet 16. Tennessee was in the NIT along with Iowa, but lost its first round game to Mercer.

No bracket has been revealed yet for the Battle 4 Atlantis. Minnesota and Northern Iowa both participated in last season’s tourney, which was won by Duke and also featured last season’s national champion, Louisville.

In addition to these three games, the Hawkeyes’ non-conference schedule currently consists of a home game against Nebraska-Omaha, a road game at Iowa State and a contest against Drake in the 2013 Big Four Classic at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines. Iowa will also have a game (likely at Carver-Hawkeye Arena) that is part of the Big Ten/ACC Challenge.

HawkeyeDrive.com

Former Iowa kicker Nate Kaeding announced his retirement from the NFL on Thursday after playing nine seasons in the league. The news of Kaeding’s retirement was first reported by Pat Harty of the Iowa City Press-Citizen and comes one month after signing as a free agent with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

During his four-year Hawkeye career, Kaeding played in three bowl games and was part of the 2002 squad that won a share of the Big Ten title with eventual national champion Ohio State. As a sophomore, the Coralville native made the game-winning field goal in Iowa’s 19-16 victory over Texas Tech in the 2001 Alamo Bowl. In 2002, Kaeding won the Lou Groza Award, which is given annually to college football’s top kicker and he was first-team all-Big Ten during both his junior and senior seasons with the Hawkeyes.

Kaeding was a third-round selection of the San Diego Chargers in the 2004 NFL Draft. The pick San Diego used on the Iowa City West High product was acquired as part of a trade with the New York Giants that involved quarterbacks Eli Manning and Philip Rivers.

During his eight-plus years in San Diego, Kaeding was named to two Pro Bowls and was named first-team All-Pro in 2009. He reached the postseason five times in his first six seasons and was part of three playoff wins over that stretch. During the 2007 season, the Chargers reached the AFC Championship Game where they lost 21-12 to New England. All 12 of their points in that game came courtesy of Kaeding’s leg.

Injuries over the past two NFL seasons to his knee and groin led to the end of Kaeding’s tenure with San Diego last fall. He was picked up by the Miami Dolphins late last season and appeared in their final two games.

As of Thursday, Kaeding retires as the NFL’s fourth-most accurate kicker all-time, converting on over 86 percent of his field goal attempts.

HawkeyeDrive.com

The Big Ten made new formats for football divisions and scheduling official Sunday afternoon as its Council of Presidents and Chancellors unanimously approved decisions of splitting divisions into an East and West and eventually going to a nine-game conference schedule in 2016.

According to the release sent out by the conference, the divisions will take effect next year when Maryland and Rutgers become official members. As previously reported by ESPN last week, each division will feature seven teams with Iowa being placed in the West.

Starting next year, Iowa will play six games every season against Illinois, Minnesota, Nebraska, Northwestern, Purdue and Wisconsin. The Hawkeyes will have two games against teams from the East division in 2014 and 2015, and then three opponents starting in 2016 when the schedule goes to nine games.

In the same release sent Sunday, Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany said six prior discussions were held by league athletics directors between the months of December and March. Maryland and Rutgers both announced their intentions to join the conference last November.

“The level of cooperation and collaboration was reflective of what we’ve come to expect from this group of administrators, who have worked extremely well together on a number of complex matters over the past several years,” Delany said in a statement. “We are all looking forward to ushering in this new era of Big Ten football.”

Another key detail regarding the nine-game schedule is with the unbalance of four home games versus five home games. All teams in the East division will have five home games during every even-numbered year, starting with 2016, while every team in the West division gets five home games every odd-numbered year starting in 2017.

As that pertains to Iowa’s annual game against Iowa State, the format allows the Hawkeyes to continue playing seven home games at Kinnick Stadium per season if they desire. Iowa is scheduled to play Iowa State at Kinnick Stadium in 2016 and then play at Jack Trice Stadium in Ames during the 2017 season, when the current deal on the rivalry is set to expire.

HawkeyeDrive.com

Former Iowa defensive back Micah Hyde was drafted by the Green Bay Packers in the fifth round of the 2013 NFL Draft on Saturday. The Packers used the 159th overall pick on Hyde, who was the only Hawkeye taken in this year’s draft after six Hawkeyes went off the board each of the past three years.

Hyde was a three-year starter at Iowa, spending the majority of his collegiate career at cornerback. He did start two games at free safety during his junior season before switching back over to corner. Last season, the Fostoria, Ohio native was a team captain and went on to win the Woodson-Tatum award, given annually to the Big Ten’s top defensive back.

“He’s a smart kid. He’s a tough kid, a willing tackler,” Packers cornerbacks coach Joe Whitt, Jr., told the Green Bay media Saturday afternoon. “He’ll be able to go in and play the nickel, play outside at the corner if he has to.

“He understands football. That’s one thing that I really like, bringing guys in that have a high football I.Q.”

His selection made him the seventh defensive back to be taken from Iowa in the last six years, a stretch dating back to when Charles Godfrey was picked by Carolina in 2008.

This marks the third time in four years Green Bay has selected a Hawkeye player in the NFL Draft. The Packers used a fourth-round selection last year on former Iowa defensive tackle Mike Daniels and in 2010, former offensive tackle Bryan Bulaga was taken 23rd overall.

2013 NFL DRAFT:

Round 5 (159th overall) — Micah Hyde, CB, Green Bay Packers

UNDRAFTED FREE AGENTS:

James Vandenberg, QB, Minnesota Vikings

Matt Tobin, OL, Philadelphia Eagles

Keenan Davis, WR, Cleveland Browns