Iowa

Iowa football’s Kirk Ferentz on new College Football Playoff: ‘I’m excited about them’

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1 year ago

August 9, 2024

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Iowa football’s Kirk Ferentz on new College Football Playoff: ‘I’m excited about them’

The College Football Playoff format is expanding to 12 teams for the 2024 season, up from four teams in past years.

Iowa football head coach Kirk Ferentz on Friday was asked about this significant change during his press conference at Hawkeyes media day, and he praised the move for how it will allow more teams, and potentially Iowa, to avoid being “irrelevant” come the postseason.

“I guess the goals change a little bit because now, you know, playoffs are a little bit more doable, if you will … ” Ferentz said. “I will say this about the playoffs — I am excited about them. Excited is a strong word, but I’m happy about it. I thought it was not good, not necessarily healthy, for college football to go to four (teams), and last year is a good example.

“We’re all arguing about who’s four, who’s five. Used to be arguing about two and three … I guess my problem with what we’ve been doing is whenever that stupid show comes on in October, the playoffs show, if you’re not in that top-10 discussion, then you’re irrelevant. And I just think we missed the boat in college football, me personally. And so at least now, I assume when that show comes on, they’ll talk about 20 teams instead of 10 teams, and that’s good. That’s healthy. And I think the more teams they talk about, the better, because there’s so many good stories across the country.

“So that was my problem (four-team format), and I guess we’re gonna go to, what, 14 or 16 next? So if we’re gonna open up it up, might as well open it up … But if we get the chance to play them, nobody’s gonna complain. I promise you.”

More: Iowa football: What coach Kirk Ferentz said in his press conference during media day

The College Football Playoff was created after the 2014 season and has featured four teams over the last nine years.

Iowa has never made the playoff, with its closest finish coming in 2015 as the Hawkeyes ended the season ranked No. 5 in the country.

Gus Martin is a Digital Producer/Content Director for The Des Moines Register. Follow him on X at @GusMartin_DMR.

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Iowa

Iowa State University to host public presidential finalist forums

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10 hours ago

October 28, 2025

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Iowa State University to host public presidential finalist forums

Finalists for Iowa State University’s presidency will come to campus next week to meet with stakeholders and introduce themselves to the public in the hope of being selected for the role. The Iowa Board of Regents announced Tuesday that three of the four finalists recommended by the ISU Presidential Search Committee have accepted invitations to […]

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Iowa farmers who lost soybean sales to China now fear new hit to cattle

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1 day ago

October 27, 2025

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Iowa farmers who lost soybean sales to China now fear new hit to cattle

After several years of losing money on cattle, Burleen and Pete Wobeter thought this would finally be the year things turned around. Their Iowa farm also grows corn and soybeans — crops that have been hit hard by the trade war with China — but cattle had been a bright spot so far in 2025. As Lana Zak reports, their backup plan was threatened when President Trump announced plans to increase beef imports from Argentina.

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The non-sports reason comedian Nate Bargatze picked BYU to win over Iowa State

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2 days ago

October 26, 2025

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The non-sports reason comedian Nate Bargatze picked BYU to win over Iowa State

Despite their perfect record and No. 11 ranking, the BYU Cougars were the underdogs heading into Saturday’s game against the Iowa State Cyclones.

But that had no bearing on the predictions from ESPN’s College GameDay crew.

Citing a consistently impressive showing from true freshman quarterback Bear Bachmeier, among other strengths, Desmond Howard, Nick Saban, Pat McAfee and Kirk Herbstreit all picked BYU to win over Iowa State.

Special Collector’s Issue: “1984: The Year BYU was Second to None”

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And so did celebrity guest picker Nate Bargatze — but for an entirely different, non-sports related reason.

Nate Bargatze picked BYU to win over Iowa State

When it came time for Bargatze to weigh in with his prediction for the BYU versus Iowa State game, the comedian didn’t even hesitate.

“This is a business decision right here,” he said with a smile. “I’ve got four shows in Salt Lake City. BYU, baby!”

Bargatze chose wisely. After a rough start, the Cougars went on to pull off another win on the road, defeating the Cyclones 41-27 and remaining undefeated at 8-0.

When does Nate Bargatze come to Salt Lake City?

Bargatze’s “Big Dumb Eyes” world tour comes to Salt Lake City in December.

The comedian will perform four shows at the Delta Center Dec. 4-6.

He previously did four shows at the Eccles Theater in 2022 and three shows at the Delta Center in 2023. Bargatze spoke to the Deseret News at that time about the popularity of clean comedy in Utah.

“You always heard (Jim) Gaffigan and (Brian) Regan could go there,” he said in 2023. “You heard, ‘If you’re clean, you do really great in Salt Lake City.’ … I actually now have a lot of close friends that live in Salt Lake City. And I actually end up there a lot.”

During one of his 2023 Salt Lake shows, Bargatze called Utah the “clean comedian’s Hollywood,” per Deseret News. That show overlapped with the 193rd Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and the comedian thanked the crowd for sharing the weekend with him, as the Deseret News reported at the time.

Nate Bargatze hosts the 77th Emmy Awards on Sunday, Sept. 14, 2025, at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles. | Danny Moloshok, Invision via the Associated Press

“The crowds were so good,” he later said of the Salt Lake City shows, per Deseret News. “You have dreams of it happening like this, but every single time it’s overwhelming.”

Bargatze’s upcoming shows at the Delta Center come just a few months after he hosted the Emmys for the first time — a major moment in his career that he put his own stamp on with a $100,000 plan to keep acceptance speeches short.

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