While the Big Ten and Pac-12 are eliminating games in preparation for a 2020 season, Iowa State is adding them back. In a release on Tuesday, the Cyclones announced they have added Ball State to their schedule for Sept. 12 in Ames, replacing the annual game against Iowa.
The Cy-Hawk series was canceled, of course, when the Big Ten announced earlier in July that it was eliminating nonconference games from the schedule. Since that game was slated to be played at Iowa, Iowa State will now play its first four games at home before playing at Kansas on Oct. 3.
The newly-announced game is big for Ball State, too, which lost out on games against Michigan and Indiana. A third game against Maine has been postponed as well.
Big 12 leaders have been largely silent about their plans for the season until recently. Commissioner Bob Bowlsby said his conference will attempt to play all 12 games with university presidents willing to wait at least two more weeks before making any kind of changes to the contrary. Iowa State's new game falls in line with that thinking. Meanwhile, Oklahoma has moved up its opening week game against Missouri State to Aug. 29.
