Wednesday Scrambler Adds Opponents

Well, well, well, would you look at that — finally, the marquee non-conference Hawkeye football game we’ve been waiting for!

While it would be nice if that sentence was able to be written with legitimacy, this is a Kirk Ferentz/Gary Barta-led program, so instead we get none other than Conference USA power Middle Tennessee State. Joy! The Lightning round out Iowa’s 2019 schedule, which includes other non-con foes Miami Ohio and Iowa State.

Assuming first-round NFL money hasn’t lured him from Iowa City, it’ll be the third game of quarterback Nate Stanley’s senior season.

As Mike Hlas notes, the Lightning will be paid handsomely to play at Kinnick — only $450,000 shy of Sergio Garcia’s Masters takeaway, to be exact. They’re not the world’s most profound program — an 8-5 record last year with a loss to host Hawaii in the Hawaii bowl — but are a respectable opponent. At least by the Ferentzian school of scheduling.

Head coach Rick Stockstill hasn’t had a losing campaign in his last five tries, but has yet to finish with more than eight wins in that stretch. Right in the sweet spot.

In case you’re wondering about future opponents — what other Hawkeye happenings are there? — Iowa gets Wyoming and North Texas next season, followed by UNI and NIU in 2018. Iowa State is, for better or worse, on the schedule for the foreseeable future.

As long as that’s the case, we’re getting September dandies like these.

You’ll probably hear more about this around these parts soon, but Jarrod Uthoff’s putting together a nice little finish to his season with the Dallas Mavericks. He poured in 12 points and grabbed nine boards in Sunday’s win over the Suns, going 4-of-8 from the field and 2-3 from beyond the arc.

In Tuesday’s loss to Denver, the Cedar Rapidian played 20 minutes, scoring five on 2-2 shooting (1-1 from 3) and collecting three boards and four assists.

His 17.8 minutes over his last five games are a good sign moving ahead, here’s to hoping Uthoff plays well against Memphis tonight in the finale and has a strong summer. We want that contract for you, Jarrod!

A first in Wednesday Scrambler history — two sections on hoops! Southern Utah was added to the schedule earlier this week in an early-season matchup. We’ll likely get some more scheduling news on the hoops front in the near future, so be sure to keep your eyes peeled for that.

Going to keep doing this during the downtime — a few miscellaneous nuggets to chew on and get you through the day.

• Mitt Romney did, in fact, have ‘binders full of women.’ Not real women, but women’s résumés, cover letters, and the like. And that was talking politics.
• Playoff hockey is back! *Shameless plug alert* you can check out all of SB Nation’s NHL coverage over at the NHL page. Tonight we have NY Rangers at Montreal, Boston at Ottawa, Columbus at Pittsburgh, St. Louis at Minnesota, and San Jose at Edmonton.
• The Hawkeyes had a budget surplus of $6,025 on the Outback Bowl trip. I’m refraining from making a joke about that not going to the players, but encourage you to give your best shot in the comments.
• Obligatory: the Cubs get their rings in observance of their World Series crown tonight. I will be in attendance. Tears will be shed.
• The Indians got their AL Championship rings Tuesday.