Big Ten: How to Watch Showdown of Unbeatens Between Iowa, Maryland on Friday Night

A rare Friday night Big Ten game has something more rare — a battle of unbeatens in October between No. 5 Iowa and unranked but getting close Maryland under the lights in College Park.

COLLEGE PARK, Md. — It isn't often that the rare Friday night game in the Big Ten is a showdown of unbeatens, but that's what we get tonight when 4-0 Iowa travels east to take on 4-0 Maryland.

The nationally televised game should get a lot of eyeballs in this window to themselves. Iowa is ranked No. 5 in the country, and lots of people really want to see if they're that good. They've beaten two ranked teams — at least when they played them — in Indiana and Iowa State. 

Maryland has had the much easier schedule thus far, but its season-opening win against West Virginia was impressive. They won their one league game over Illinois, but weren't very impressive doing it. They'd like to change that perception.

This is their second Friday night game in three weeks, with the first one at Illinois. Maryland coach Mike Locksley isn't happy about the scheduling.

“At some point, maybe we’ll get full membership so we don’t have to do this.” Locksley said, according to a Tweet from Sports Illustrated’s Ross Dellenger.

The only time Maryland played Iowa in College Park, the Terps defeated the Hawkeyes 38-31, on Oct. 15, 2014. Maryland rallied from an early 14-point deficit for what was the Terps' first-ever Big Ten victory at home. 

If Maryland can pull out the victory, it will start the season 5-0 for the first time since 2001 and it will be the first time they've ever started Big Ten conference play 2-0.

The last time they beat a top-five team was on Oct. 30, 2004, when they knocked off No. 5 Florida State.

Maryland has never beaten a top-10 opponent since joining the Big Ten, and has lost all three home games against highly ranked foes. Two of the losses have been ugly, a 62-3 loss to No. 6 Ohio State in 2016, and a 66-3 loss to No. 10 Maryland a year later. 

There was one great game, a thrilling 52-51 loss to No. 9 Ohio State in overtime in 2018. So the Terps know this is a golden opportunity.

“I feel like it’s a big opportunity for our program,” Maryland quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa said. “At the end of the day, Coach [Mike Locksley] always talks about just keeping the main thing, the main thing, and that’s just focusing one day at a time.”

Iowa beat Indiana 34-6 in the season opener on Sept. 4. Maryland hosts the Hoosiers on Oct. 30 in College Park.

Here's how to watch:

How to watch Iowa at Maryland Friday night

• Who: Iowa Hawkeyes at Maryland Terrapins
• When: 8 p.m. ET
• Where: Maryland Stadium, College Park, Md.
• TV: FOX Sports 1
• Stream: Watch FuboTV
• TV Announcers: Tim Brando (play-by-play) and Spencer Tillman (analyst). 
• National Radio: XM 83 / Sirius 83
• Radio Announcers: Johnny Holliday (play-by-play) and Steve Suter (analyst).
• Point spread: Iowa is a 3-point favorite over Maryland on Friday afternoon, according to the SIsportsbook.com website. Bettors have been watching this line all week, because it fluttered between 3.5 and 4 points earlier in the week.
• This year's records: Iowa 4-0, 1-0 in the Big Ten; Maryland 4-0, 1-0 in the Big Ten.
• Last season's records: Iowa 6-2; Maryland 2-3
• Rankings: Iowa is ranked No. 5 in both the Associated Press and Coaches polls. Maryland is not ranked, but is receiving votes in both polls.
• Weather: According to weather.com, it's going to be a beautiful October night in College Park, with clear skies and a temperature of 60 degrees at kickoff.

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