Despite conference realignments and schedule changes, the popular in-state “Cy-Hawk” competition between the Iowa Hawkeyes and the ISU Cyclones is set to continue with annual athletics battles.

It’s just getting a new name.

“Iowa and Iowa State have premier athletic departments and have one of the nations greatest in-state rivalries,” said Iowa Corn CEO Craig Floss. “I am pleased to announce that Iowa Corn will expand its partnership with the Iowa and Iowa State athletic departments to include the Iowa Corn Cy-Hawk Series.”

Just moments before ISU football coach Paul Rhoads took the stage at Tuesday’s news conference, ISU Athletic Director Jamie Pollard and Floss spoke about the benefits of the event’s sponsorship by Iowa’s chief crop export promotion.

“It’s always great to have great partners and great sponsorships but it’s always more special when you can do one that I think represents the state of Iowa about as good as we can,” Pollard said.

Formerly the Hy-Vee Cy-Hawk Series, Iowa Corn takes over the title sponsorship for the intrastate competition in partnership with the Iowa Corn Growers Association and the Iowa Corn Promotion Board. The Des Moines-based grocery store chain finished up its partnership leading the series, and with the unveiling of a logo by six Iowa Corn board members, the transition was made in Ames for the fall.

“When something works well, we believe it makes sense to step it up a notch and we’re ready to take that next step, which is to go ahead with all the other head-to-head match-ups between Iowa and Iowa State, incorporating more media and a lot more information out to our fans,” Floss said.

Iowa Corn has been promoting Cy-Hawk events for the past two years, with giveaways, advertisements and prizes for fans. It plans on continuing the multi-media, multi-sport promotion while still counting points towards the series championships.

The first Iowa Corn Cy-Hawk event is the Iowa-Iowa State football game, scheduled for Sept. 10 at Jack Trice Stadium.