No longer is a rivalry between Nebraska and Iowa just a good idea.

Thanks to Nebraska's shift to the Big Ten, the geographical neighbors will meet every year now.

With the game scheduled to be played on Thanksgiving weekend, maybe this will be the foe that satisfies Husker fans' hunger for a rival to replace Oklahoma in a way that Colorado never really did.

"I think it's going to be awesome," said Jim Blaha, a Nebraska fan living among Iowa fans behind enemy lines in Council Bluffs. "Basically one side or the other is going to have to shut up."

Iowa fans could potentially find this a more intriguing rivalry than their Floyd of Rosedale Trophy game with Minnesota. Or battling for the re-redesigned Cy-Hawk Trophy with Iowa State.

"It's a border war, and they should have been playing every year anyway," said Bob Needham, an Iowa fan living in Omaha. "And I think it's going to be bigger than those (other Hawkeye rivalry) games because it will be more evenly matched."

Best-case scenario for fans of each team: total domination of the series.

But it wouldn't be bad if the consolation prize winds up being a rivalry that grows into the equal of Ohio State-Michigan, Auburn-Alabama, Texas-Oklahoma and, yes, Huskers-Sooners from another era. It could turn into the kind of rivalry that not only riles up the fan bases but also makes the nation stop and take notice every year.

Memorial Stadium in Lincoln and Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City are about a five-hour drive apart (Nile Kinnick, Iowa's 1939 Heisman Trophy winner, played his senior year of high school football at Omaha Benson). Despite their proximity, Iowa and Nebraska have met only 51 times in football and just six times since 1946.

For Iowa, the results haven't been good very often — though the Hawkeyes can still savor their 10-7 upset in 1981, which came a year after a 57-0 humiliation in Lincoln.

Those are the kinds of turnarounds and surprises that can spice up a series — especially when the teams play annually.

Nebraska has won the three meetings since — 42-7 in 1982, 42-7 again in 1999 and 42-13 in 2000.

The last two matchups, though, were at the start of the Kirk Ferentz era in Iowa. The Hawkeyes have since become more regular Big Ten and national contenders. In fact, since 2002, Ferentz has guided Iowa to a 78-36 record, while Nebraska — the powerhouse program of the 1970s through the 1990s — has gone 73-44.

The Huskers slipped dramatically from 2002 through 2007 and are only now beginning to emerge again under Bo Pelini. Iowa had a disappointing 2010 but matched the school record of 11 wins in 2009.

No one expected Iowa to win back in 1981, but the Hawkeyes wound up sharing the Big Ten title that season. Nebraska recovered from the early-season loss and wound up winning the Big Eight.

For the first time since 1982 (when Iowa finished third in the Big Ten and Nebraska again won the Big Eight), both teams expect to be close to high tide when they play this season. The expectation is that this will be a high-stakes game nearly every season.

"I think it's awesome," Nebraska center Mike Caputo said. "They're our neighbors. There's always a little tension there. There's a lot of Iowa fans in Nebraska and a lot of Nebraska fans in Iowa. It's going to be a helluva game."

As a Millard North graduate, Caputo knows players on both sides of the line. Millard North has been prime recruiting ground for Iowa, which has plucked several starters from the west Omaha school.

That includes Iowa freshman defensive back Cole Fisher, who'll be part of a house divided when the teams play. Fisher's brother, Sean, is a Nebraska linebacker. Their father, Todd, is a former Nebraska defensive back.

"It'll definitely be a fun game, just like the Colorado game was the day after Thanksgiving," said Sean Fisher. "That's a fun time to play — you're one of the few things to watch on TV that day. As close as we are geographically, it should be fun.

"And from a family standpoint, it's going to be great."

The Fisher brothers and their teammates spend little time thinking about the Nov. 25 game in Lincoln — Sean said he hadn't spoken much with his brother about the game. Fans are the ones who tend to get a little ahead of themselves.

Just ask cornerback Shaun Prater, the Omaha Central product who is an All-America candidate for Iowa.

"Every single call is . 'What day is that Iowa-Nebraska game? Are you going to be able to get me tickets?'" Prater said of talking to family and friends.

"It's going to be a big hassle trying to find tickets for everyone. I know I'm going to get calls from people who didn't get tickets. I'm going to try my best — make sure you put that (in the paper)."

Nebraska tight end Ben Cotton went to high school in Ames, Iowa. And even there he said, just down the road from Iowa State, loyalties to Iowa or Iowa State were split.

Cotton said he enjoyed seeing the state become riled up the week of the game, and he sees the same potential during Iowa-Nebraska week.

"It's going to be one of the best (rivalries) in the country over the years," he said.

While a couple of Nebraskans are typically on the Iowa roster each year, Iowans playing for Nebraska are a little more rare — Cotton was Nebraska's first scholarship player from Iowa since 2001, and he followed his father, Husker offensive line coach Barney Cotton, to Lincoln.

The schools figure to butt heads in recruiting a little more often, like they did for 2008 recruit Riley Reiff. The offensive tackle from Parkston, S.D., committed to Iowa, then to Nebraska, then back to Iowa when Nebraska changed coaching staffs.

"I didn't really know where I wanted to go, but in the end I'm glad . I made the right decision," Reiff said.

"We know about them; we know they've got a good team and a good tradition. They're going to be a good opponent, and I'm excited that they're joining the Big Ten."

Ferentz has been fielding Husker questions for more than a year now, since Nebraska left the Big 12 for the Big Ten to set up the annual series. While trying to downplay the significance of one game of 12 on the schedule, he also sees the potential for a scintillating series.

"It's pretty much a constant they're going to have a good team," Ferentz said. "That's one of the reasons they were so attractive in the expansion talks. . There are a lot of great stadiums and environments in our conference. Now we've added one more. I think it's going to be a great thrill for all of us to be associated with that game."

Slightly fewer than 3,000 University of Iowa graduates live in Nebraska, and a little more than 4,000 University of Nebraska alums call Iowa home.

But it goes beyond that. So many live in one state and work in the other — or have changed addresses but not allegiances. Cars with Nebraska license plates have Hawkeye license plate holders and bumper stickers. Husker flags wave proudly in Iowa.

Blaha, the Nebraska fan in Council Bluffs, probably sums it up best for both sides.

"I'm optimistic," he said. "But eating crow wouldn't be easy."

Contact the writer:

402-444-1027, rob.white@owh.com

twitter.com/RWhiteOWH

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