Ben Hutchens | Quad City-Times

CHICAGO — An agreement is taking shape to extend the Cy-Hawk football rivalry. 

Iowa athletic director Beth Goetz confirmed with the Quad-City Times on Tuesday at Big Ten Football Media Days in Chicago that she and Iowa State athletic director Jamie Pollard have spoken and are working toward finalizing a deal. 

The sides have discussed a four-year extension running through 2031, which would keep Cy-Hawk in week two of the football season and continue the home-and-away pattern the series is on. 

“In terms of exact timing (of when the deal will be finalized), I don’t know, but I think we’re in agreement on what we want to do, and so now we’ll just be finalizing contract components,” Goetz said. 

Right now, Cy-Hawk football is under contract for only 2026 and 2027. The agreement was signed on Nov. 14, 2022, by Pollard and former Iowa athletic director Gary Barta. This year, Iowa State plays at Kinnick Stadium on Sept. 12.

Changes in the college football calendar have been something both sides have had to work through to plan their schedules. 

“The only nuance, as we were sort of looking at that, is that the college football schedule has changed, and now you have week zero, and so just how we align schedules overall, and I think it took us a little bit of time just to sort of explore how we’re both handling that independently,” Goetz said. 

Playing Cy-Hawk in week zero instead of the traditional week two was discussed. 

“We talked a little bit about exploring week zero,” Goetz said. “I think there’s a couple things. Is that too early in terms of what general fans are thinking? Are they ready for that game? Are they still taking vacation? Those dates are going to get a little bit earlier in the years to come. So, I just think it makes sense for us to stay where we are.”

Iowa leads the all–time Cy-Hawk football series with a 47-25 record, although ISU has technically won the past three matchups after Iowa’s 20-13 win in 2023 was vacated for tampering violations. 

New ISU football coach Jimmy Rogers said in June that it is important to continue playing the Cy-Hawk rivalry.

“I hope that that game doesn’t end,” Rogers said. “Regardless of the result, it’s good for the state of Iowa. And I think it’s awesome to have that for your players because that’s what they grew up watching: Rivalries in competitive atmospheres and a pageantry about college football. I hope that that game stays in place for sure.” 

Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark called out-of-conference games “critically important” for Big 12 schools last month. He acknowledged the possibility of increasing the number of conference games from nine to 10 and where Big 12 teams finish in the College Football Playoff are “interconnected variables” with how teams build schedules.

Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti said Tuesday that he gets the sense that people in the Big Ten Conference work hard to preserve rivalry games. 

“Our institutions are figuring out how they want to play, and there’s obviously a long history of that game,” Petitti said. “Beth is responsible for making those decisions. It’s an important rivalry in the state. It means a lot. I think what we want to do in the league is allow and encourage and have a system that allows our schools to make those decisions and play.”