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The SEC, one of college football’s premier conferences alongside the Big Ten, recently made the move to implement a nine-game conference schedule beginning in 2026. This is a change that has been a topic of conversation for quite some time and has finally received its proper decision.
Not only do SEC schools now have to play a nine-game conference schedule, but one caveat in there as well is that the schools must play at least one nonconference Power Four each year against a team hailing from the Big Ten, Big 12, ACC, or Notre Dame.
If there are 16 member teams in the SEC and 18 in the Big Ten, could we see a college basketball-like agreement where the conferences sign a contract to play each season in nonconference play?
This is where things begin to involve the Iowa Hawkeyes and their annual Week 2 Cy-Hawk rivalry game against the Iowa State Cyclones. The first thing going against the rivalry is that it exists outside of conference play and does not receive any protection like Iowa’s rivalries against Nebraska, Minnesota, and Wisconsin.
The real kicker for the Hawkeyes and Cyclones trying to keep this rivalry alive is the potential for league-wide deals to play early-season nonconference games, which entice fans and set up big matchups. Most rivalries are played in conference play or in the season finale.
The Cy-Hawk rivalry stands alone in Week 2, and while that has long been a blessing, giving it the proper spotlight, it could also be its curse, leading to its demise.
Lastly, do the Iowa Hawkeyes and Iowa State Cyclones keep the rivalry and roll the dice that they may have an SEC team in Week 1 or Week 3, which would create a gauntlet to open up the season. Or, does the Cy-Hawk go dormant to allow the Week 2 window to be the SEC games, with Weeks 1 and 3 remaining open for early-season nonconference Group of Five teams?
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