Hawks vs the Conference

The Iowa basketball team has had their share of obstacles recently. Some players have decided to transfer for reasons outside of head coach Todd Lickliter's control, and the fan support in Carver Hawkeye Arena has brought some of the worse crowds during its history. But the Big Ten hasn't done Lickliter or its fans any favors with the advent of the Big Ten Network. The Network dictates the start time of many of Iowa's games which has resulted in home tip offs that began at 7:30 or later. This late start time has kept people at home to watch on tv. But the latest issue has to do with a basketball school that rarely sells out its own football games.

This Sunday the Hawkeyes travel to Bloomington, Indiana to take on the home town Indiana Hoosiers. Originally the game was to start at 4pm CT to be broadcast on the Big Ten Network. However there is a conflict in the Hoosier State as the NFL team just up the road, the Indianapolis Colts will be close to finishing their game for the right to represent the AFC in the Super Bowl. The move in start time is to accomodate fans of both teams. Now the Hawks and Hoosiers will tip it off at 5pm CT.

A similar situation occurred earlier this season as the Hawkeyes travelled to Champaign for a match-up with the Illinois Fighting Illini. That same night the Hawkeye football team played Georgia Tech in the 2010 Fed Ex Orange Bowl. The Iowa administration requested a change in dates to allow their fans to watch both games, but since the game's rights belonged to Illinois, there was no change in date for the basketball game.

One could argue there isn't a big difference in starting the Iowa - Indiana game an hour later, but the Hoosiers aren't the team that's travelling. This means the Hawkeyes will spend another hour in a hotel while Indiana can relax in their familiar surroundings. And Iowa will also arrive in Iowa City at least an hour later than originally scheduled. And that hour can mean much during the dead of winter. All so fans of a basketball school, who cannot sell out their own home football games, can watch the Colts in the AFC Championship game.

The Big Ten allows its network the authority to start the games whenever viewership permits, even if that means at the worst possible time for the Hawkeye fans. But when a conflicts arises, the Big Ten conference takes a step back and tells the institutions to work it out themselves, yielding the final verdict to the home team. That is what is unfair. The conference office needs to do what is in the best interest of the student-athletes and the fans as well as giving each school a fair opportunity,