Iowa State football: Kickoff times announced vs North Dakota State, Kansas State

Iowa State football’s first two games of the season and the homecoming game have received official kickoff times and TV network/online assignments.

Here’s the early season slate that’s been finalized:

• The first two games of the season, against North Dakota State and Kansas State, will kickoff at 11:00 AM Central time and will be televised on FOX Sports 1. They will also be streamed live on FOX Sports Go.
• The homecoming game against a rare non-conference opponent, Toledo on October 11th, will be broadcast on Cyclones.tv and simulcast on Mediacom cable.

Obviously, there will be two things about this announcement that will make fans irate. First is the early kickoff times making fans get up at about 5:00 AM to get ready to tailgate. Second is a game only being available on the online subscription service, especially during the season instead of usually being the first game of the season.

To sell the product, Cyclones.tv will get one football game a year, and generally it will be the least anticipated home game that’s not a conference matchup. Despite being in the FCS, there’s been tons of national attention on North Dakota State by winning the division for three straight years. FOX Sports would much rather show that game instead of the Cyclones’ home game against the Rockets.

The only other game that will definitely get a kickoff and date before the season begins is the contest at Iowa. It will be on Big Ten Network with a likely kickoff time of either 11:00 AM or 2:30 PM Central time.