A Hawkeye-Husker Thanksgiving. It has a nice ring to it, though it will take some time getting used to watching Iowa football over the Turkey Day weekend.

As it relates to me, that weekend has always been a time to sort of decompress from the work of the football season, sit back and watch some great games from around the nation.

LSU-Arkansas and Texas-Texas A&M come to mind. There are others, but usually any football game will do just fine, as long as I get to sit back and enjoy it. Now, starting this season actually, the Iowa & Big Ten football season will extend to Thanksgiving Saturday.

That’s OK; many of you have to work on Saturday, too.

Covering an Iowa-Nebraska game that weekend? Not too shabby. Because I think this game has a chance to become something Iowa fans come to cherish. I think that will be the case for Husker fans as well.

Don’t take my word for it, have a look at what Tom Shatel of the Omaha World Herald had to say about the Thanksgiving Day set up between Iowa and Nebraska from his September 2nd column. Please take the time to give this link a click to read Shatel’s item, as there is more Iowa-Nebraska commentary in it.

You heard it here last: Huskers and Hawks will be a better rivalry than Nebraska vs. Oklahoma. Yes, I said it. For one thing, it will be a true rivalry. Iowa-Nebraska will never have the national implications that OU-NU did or be the must-see national TV game every year…. But NU-Iowa will have what the old red rivalry never did: true emotion. Did I mention hate? Nebraskans and Iowans never knew how much they disliked each other because they never had reason to pay attention to one another. The Big Ten gave them that reason last night. Now, they’ll not only play, they’ll play for the right to win a division — one that looks imminently doable with Michigan in Rich Rodriguez mode.

This is going to be a grocery store rivalry. That’s where you bump into your rival standing in the checkout line. You never saw many Sooners in Omaha. Nebraska-Iowa will be 24-7-365. It will be hot. It will be intense. And it will be great fun. A real rivalry, with real bruises, emotional and otherwise. This will be the true blood rivalry that Nebraska has never had. Putting the Hawkeyes at the end of the schedule will only enhance a sweet fall soundtrack of woofing over state lines. Question: If Oklahoma-Nebraska was such a good rivalry, why did OU walk away from it? Answer: In the end, one side cared more than other. Interstate 80, from Lincoln to Iowa City, goes both ways…..

I feel the same way Shatel does, and have since June 12th, the day Nebraska was officially a member of the Big Ten, for most of the reasons Shatel cites.

Some people say that rivalries develop over time, that you can’t just throw two teams together and create something over night.

In the case of Iowa-Nebraska, I don’t think that will be the case. Certainly not in central and western Iowa.

Speaking of western Iowa, this is big for them. I have gotten the feeling through the years that Hawkeye fans living there have felt a bit overlooked, or hardly thought of…they are farthest from Iowa City and they aren’t near any of the larger Iowa cities or media markets.

However, this pitting of the Hawks and Huskers puts them on the front lines. Gary Barta and the Iowa Athletic Department may spend more time in western Iowa, to rally the troops, to thank them for fighting the good fight at their offices, barbecues and Omaha talk radio shows.

Forgotten and left out no more.

For those of us that live in central Iowa, get ready to see more Nebraska flags, window dressing and Husker shirts than you ever have before. Get ready for water cooler smack that could make the Iowa-Iowa State talk you have experienced seem like friendly banter.

Iowa-Nebraska may get mean spirited from the get go, because fans from both programs see themselves with an inflated status compared to what the rest of the nation may think of them. Hey, I include myself in this. I am proud to be an Iowa fan and love the Hawks. I think Kirk Ferentz is the best head coach in the nation and believe Iowa has done more with less blue chip talent than any program over the past decade.

The rest of the college football nation might not know the difference between Ames and Iowa City, unless they have visited each location. Even then, they still get it wrong sometimes. However, Iowa fans and Nebraska fans take pride in their own and when you pit that pride in a head to head week long build up it should be a blast.

Having the Iowa-Iowa State rivalry in September with a Nebraska game to end the regular season? Good stuff. Shaping your thanksgiving holiday plans around an Iowa-Nebraska football game? Excellent.

Iowa will have to work something out on student tickets for this game. Several students will go home for the holiday weekend. A system should be put into place where the students can turn those tickets back in for some kind of refund or voucher and then those tickets can go to other Iowa fans that would like to go to this game, preferably by late October. Or, give the students the option to purchase a season ticket plan that does not include the Thanksgiving weekend game. But those are details for someone else.

For me, the game is the thing…a great new tradition will begin next year and hopefully it’s something that grows and grows for the rest of my lifetime and beyond.

Iowa vs Nebraska, Thanksgiving Weekend…a veritable football feast in the Heartland.

Tags: hawkeye football, Hawkeye Nation, hawkeyenation.com, Iowa football, Jon Miller, nebraska, rivalry