Big Ten Approves Nebraska-Iowa for Black Friday

The Big Ten Conference has approved Nebraska and Iowa's request to play their annual rivalry game on the Friday after Thanksgiving for the foreseeable future.  This day, known as "Black Friday" because it is busiest shopping day of the year, is widely associated with bargain-hunting customers flooding stores at the early hours of the morning for Christmas merchandise rather than for college football.  2013 will mark the third consecutive year that the Nebraska-Iowa game, officially known as the "Hy-Vee Heroes Game," will be played on Black Friday.  Both teams have met 43 times since 1891 and Nebraska currently leads the series 28-12-3.  This year's game will be held in Lincoln on November 29th.  Iowa City will host the game in 2014. 


More information can be found at http://www.fbschedules.com/

Updated: Big Plans at Texas A&M

May 1, 2013 Update:  Earlier today ESPN reported that Texas A&M has approved a $450 million plan to renovate and expand Kyle field's seating capacity by at least 20,000.  Construction is scheduled to begin later this year and when it is completed in 2015, Kyle Field will be the largest stadium in the Southeastern Conference with a capacity of 102,500.   More information can be found here:  http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/9233122/texas-aggies-approve-plans-seat-more-100000-sec-largest-stadium

May 2, 2013 update:  More information, including interviews, a rendering of what the new stadium will look like, and a proposed construction schedule can be found at this website from Texas A&M:  http://www.aggieathletics.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=27300&ATCLID=207507161


Move over, Neyland!  Texas A&M has just unveiled a $450 million proposal to renovate Kyle Field.  A&M's ambitious plans call for expanding Kyle Field's capacity from 83,000 to somewhere between 93,000 and 103,500 seats.  If Texas A&M decides to go with the higher end of this estimate, College Station may soon be home to the largest stadium in the Southeastern Conference.  Neyland Stadium, at the University of Tennessee, is currently the SEC's largest facility as well as the 3rd largest football stadium in the country (Only Michigan Stadium and Penn State's Beaver Stadium are larger).  The proposed renovations are expected to take three years and work is scheduled to begin after the end of the 2013 regular season.  CBS Sports's Matt Hinton describes how the renovations will proceed:


           Initial plans call for the enclosure of the south end zone (currently open) by two levels:
           On the upper level, 12,000 new seats with the potential for adding more in the future; on the
           lower level, space reserved for "an area for press, interviews, 12th Man Productions, computer
           operations, football locker room and recruiting room." In addition to the expanded capacity,
           construction will reportedly involve demolition of the entire west side stands and press box,
           as well as parts of the east side to make way for private suites and two existing buildings near
           the stadium. The field will also be lowered approximately seven feet and moved
           approximately 18 feet to the south, to allow room for additional seating.*


More information about this story can be found at the following sites:


* http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball/blog/eye-on-college-football/21743255/

http://www.sbnation.com/college-football/2012/9/25/3407160/texas-am-football-stadium-expansion-kyle-field

Ohio State Honors Woody Hayes

Yesterday, Ohio State University unveiled an 8-foot tall bronze statue of Woody Hayes outside the athletic center that bears his name.  Hayes, who served as Ohio State's head football coach from 1951 to 1978, won five national championships for the Buckeyes (1954, 1957, 1961, 1968, and 1970), thirteen Big Ten Conference titles, and accumulated a 205-61-10 record (238-72-10 lifetime).   Besides his tenure at Ohio State, Hayes also served as head football coach at his Alma Mater Denison (1946-1948) and two seasons as head coach at Miami of Ohio (1949-1950).  The last decade of his head coaching career featured the famous "Ten Year War" against Michigan, a program coached by one of his former assistants, Bo Schembechler.  Despite all of his accomplishments, Ohio State ultimately fired him after he punched Clemson player Charlie Bauman during the 1978 Gator Bowl (a game OSU ultimately lost, 17-15).  Hayes was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1983 and he spent the last years of his life in Columbus teaching and mentoring students as a member of the campus's Navy ROTC faculty.  Hayes died of a heart attack on March 12, 1987, and today marks the 100th anniversary of his birth.  More information about today's story and Hayes's long coaching career can be found at the following links:

http://www.cleveland.com/osu/index.ssf/2013/02/8-foot_woody_hayes_statue_plac.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woody_Hayes

Happy Valentine's Day Everybody!!