Turns out Badger and Hawkeye football fans won’t have to wait too long to renew their rivalry.
The Big Ten revealed the 2013 and 2014 conference schedules yesterday and Wisconsin is set to play Iowa again at Kinnick Stadium on November 2, 2013. The following year, the two teams will meet again at Camp Randall Stadium, but this time the game will serve as both school’s respective Big Ten conference openers.
Wisconsin defeated Iowa 31-30 in their last meeting which occurred this past season in Iowa City to regain the Heartland Trophy. The Hawkeyes had won the previous two meetings (in Madison in 2009 and in Iowa City in 2008).
The Heartland Trophy was introduced in 2004. The Hawkeyes won that initial contest and came away victorious again in 2005. The Badgers, however, won the next two meetings in the 2006 and 2007 seasons. Overall, the two teams have shared an incredibly balanced rivalry with the overall series record tied currently at 42-42-2.
The Big Ten decided not to protect the annual rivalry game between the two schools, a move that was admittedly difficult, but the newly released schedules will bring the UW-Iowa matchup back after just a two year break.
As a member of the newly-formed Leaders division, Wisconsin will play Ohio State, Penn State, Purdue, Indiana and Illinois every year. The battle for Paul Bunyan’s Axe against border-rival Minnesota is UW’s one and only protected cross-division rivalry that will also take place each season.
In addition to Minnesota, UW will play two schools from the Legends division each year, starting with Nebraska and Michigan State in 2011 and 2012. Those schools are then replaced by Iowa and Northwestern in the 2013 and 2014 schedule.
The other member of the Legends division is Michigan, and Wisconsin won’t meet the Wolverines in the regular season for at least the next four seasons. But the two programs could potentially meet in the Big Ten Championship Game where the winner of each division will play for the conference title. The Big Ten Championship Game is being introduced in accordance with the Legends and Leaders divisional set-up during the upcoming 2011 season.
The Big Ten also revealed that each team will have two bye weeks during the conference portion of the schedule.
