The "Heroes Game" between Iowa and Nebraska will remain on the Friday after Thanksgiving for the near future.
The two schools petitioned Big Ten administrators to keep the game on that day, and they were granted approval of that proposal on Tuesday. The Cornhuskers and Hawkeyes played the past two seasons on Friday but were scheduled to play on Saturdays this season and in 2014.
The 2013 game now will be moved to Friday, Nov. 29, in Lincoln. The 2014 game will take place on Nov. 28, though where it will be held depends on what league officials decide to do with the schedule for that season.
The schools announced that the Big Ten also approved that the game will be held on the Friday after Thanksgiving beyond 2014.
“We’re excited about playing our annual football game with Nebraska on the Friday after Thanksgiving for a number of reasons,” Iowa athletic director Gary Barta said in a release. “This provides the student-athletes who have already lost the opportunity to spend the holiday at home with their families two days away from football. In addition, the Friday television window provides great exposure for our program. We greatly appreciate the adjustments in schedules that our fans, and those who help us stage the game in Iowa City every other year, will have to make.”
“Playing on the day after Thanksgiving is a great Nebraska football tradition that we look forward to continuing,” Huskers athletic director Shawn Eichorst said.
Playing on that day should increase TV exposure for the game, which has been broadcast on ABC the past two years and won't have to compete with Ohio State-Michigan the following day. Both schools wanted this series to be played on Fridays, and it's an easy day for fans to remember each year. It's not the easiest day for some fans, especially students, to travel to games and there will be some fans upset that they can't go shopping on Black Friday.
But the two programs now have an identifiable day to go with their young trophy game. Now they just need some truly great games to make it something everyone can look forward to each year.