LUNCH LINKS HAS A NEW YORK STATE OF MIND

Hello hello hello and welcome to Black Heart Gold Pants, an Iowa Hawkeyes blog.

We have a lot to cover today! Let’s get to the obvious:

Yesterday was first day of the Early Signing Period, a new deal that lets football recruits commit to schools earlier than the previous first Wednesday in February designation.

Iowa signed between 16-18 players to its 2018 recruiting class yesterday. The reason for the 16-18 is because Kirk Ferentz says some players have signed their letter of intent, but won’t announce until February to do so with their high school teammates. Our main man JPinIC has a whole recruiting roundup for you right here.

Sticking with football, Ferentz addressed the media yesterday for bowl availability and recruiting news. For the first time in awhile, he had real news to report. What we learned:

He stressed that this is a business trip for Iowa, but also outlined some of the activities the team is participating in:

Many of our players have never been to New York City. I'm certainly not an expert on that place. I think it's going to be a great opportunity, certainly the 9/11 observatory, that visitation, the Rockettes show I've heard is really something to be seen, and just experiencing Christmas in the nation's largest city is going to be unique for our players. Looking forward to all those things.

This is a business trip for us. Our goal, our focus is to go to Yankee Stadium next Wednesday and come out victorious, so we know we have a lot of work to do. Our focus has been on that preparation during this time.

• Brandon Snyder is not traveling to the Pinstripe Bowl as punishment for his DWI a couple weeks ago. I predicted as much when the charge happened.
• Miles Taylor is traveling to the bowl game but will not participate due to injury. He was previously listed as the No. 1 strong safety in front of Amani Hooker in a depth chart released this week. We’re not sure if Hooker is back to full speed, either. Geno Stone could fill in there, other than that it’s anyone’s guess.
• Starting left tackle Alaric Jackson will not participate in the Pinstripe Bowl due to a violation of team rules. Right tackle Tristan Wirfs is sliding over, while Levi Paulsen is filling in for Wirfs on the right side. Jackson is traveling to the bowl, however.
• Toks Akinribade had surgery and won’t participate in the bowl.
• Bowl prep looks kind of fun!

Micah Hyde and Brandon Scherff made the Pro Bowl:

Iowa basketball takes on Colorado in Sioux Falls tomorrow night. We’ll have a preview for you Friday, but for now, here’s our Q&A with Ralphie Report.

Early thoughts: Iowa could be in trouble!

Other links:

• Iowa women’s basketball starting guard Tania Davis is out for the season with a torn ACL. Bad news for the Hawkeyes, who look to be perhaps the best team in the Big Ten right now.
• The signing of Tyler Linderbaum extends Iowa’s pipeline in Solon, Scott Dochterman writes.
• Passing is way down in the NFL. Kirk Ferentz literally waited out the spread offense fad.
• Kirk Herbstreit may have had a hand in two top players not committing to Ohio State.
• The story of how a Lithuanian basketball fixer lured LaMelo and LiAngelo Ball to Europe.
• Cuonzo Martin gave an opposing team a pep talk after they nearly upset his Missouri squad, for some reason.
• Dan Le Batard interviewing Rob Manfred is a must-watch.

• HAMPTON, IOWA: Where you can live out your dreams of being incarcerated, among other things.

This map is fantastic:

And that’s that. Be sure to listen to the latest episode of the Pants Party Podcast and stick with us through the holidays as we continue to cover everything Hawkeye.