ISU-Iowa football game up in the air

Jeff Stell

The tragic events that gripped the nation Tuesday could have a direct impact on Saturday’s Iowa State-Iowa football game to be played at Jack Trice Stadium.

Representatives from the Big 12 and Big Ten Conferences and the NCAA executive council will come to a decision this afternoon whether or not to have Saturday’s intrastate battle in the aftermath of Tuesday’s events.

The Big 12 Conference schools took part in a teleconference Tuesday afternoon, and ISU athletics director Bruce Van De Velde was part of the group representing Iowa State. One factor working in the game’s favor is the close proximity between the two schools, eliminating the need for air travel.

“There’s not a decision at this time because we’re going to wait and see what happens with the Big Ten and other conferences,” Van De Velde said. “Most of our teams that are playing this weekend are in the Midwest so they can travel by bus.”

If the game is postponed to a later date, it wouldn’t come until late November as both teams don’t have an open date for the next two months. While that is an option, Van De Velde said he didn’t want to go into detail on a possible makeup date.

“I don’t want to paint that picture because I don’t know if that’s something that will happen,” Van De Velde said. “Everything is happening very, very fast and we’ve been trying to address the issues as quickly as we can.”

The last time a Cyclone game was canceled or postponed, was in 1963 when the Cyclones season finale with Drake was canceled after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.

There are several other ISU sports teams that have competition dates up in the air. The ISU volleyball match scheduled for tonight was postponed.

A final decision will also come today on weekend events for the soccer, cross country and golf teams.