Why FOX snubbed Minnesota-Iowa for this week’s 'Big Noon Kickoff'

The Minnesota-Iowa matchup felt made for FOX’s pregame show, but the network chose to head to Indiana instead.

Minnesota place kicker Dragan Kesich (99) kicks a field goal at Kinnick Stadium on Saturday, October 21, 2023 in Iowa City. | Lily Smith/The Register / USA TODAY NETWORK

Rather than head to Iowa City for what promises to be a great game Saturday between Minnesota and Iowa, FOX has decided to take its "Big Noon Kickoff" show to Indiana.

The pregame show, featuring Rob Stone, Brady Quinn, Urban Meyer, Dave Portnoy, Mark Ingram, Matt Leinert, and Chris Fallica, will be in Bloomington, Ind., ahead of the Big Ten battle between No. 3 Indiana and unranked UCLA.

While Indiana is one of the best teams in the country and UCLA has won three straight after starting the season 0-4, the game at Kinnick Stadium this week will feature a pair of 5-2 teams who are both 3-1 in the conference. Plus, Iowa is coming off a thrilling win over Penn State, and the Gophers are fresh off a dominant win over No. 25 Nebraska.

So why head to Indiana? Fernando Mendoza is a Heisman candidate for the undefeated Hoosiers, who are one of the best stories in college football. That's intriguing enough to bring the show to town, but UCLA has stolen the hearts of fans after three consecutive wins following a brutal start that led to the firing of head coach DeShaun Foster.

UCLA's upset of Penn State on Oct. 4 started the Nittany Lions on a three-game losing streak, and the Bruins have since toppled Michigan State and Maryland.

Meanwhile, we found out Sunday that the Minnesota-Iowa game starts at 2:30 p.m. CT Saturday and will be televised on CBS.

BLOOMINGTON WE'LL SEE YOU NEXT SATURDAY 🔥🎉

Big Noon Kickoff will be LIVE at 10am ET ahead of @IndianaFootball's matchup with @UCLAFootball at 12pm ET on FOX 🙌 pic.twitter.com/Yv33MaCOzs

— Big Noon Kickoff (@BNKonFOX) October 19, 2025

The game between the Gophers and Hawkeyes is huge. If Minnesota can pull out a victory on the road, they'll be 6-2 overall and 4-1 in the conference. With a home game at Michigan State on deck, the Gophers would have a great opportunity to get to 7-2 overall and 5-1 in the Big Ten ahead of a Friday night game at No. 8 Oregon on Nov. 8.

In a dream world, the Gophers win out and finish 10-2 overall and 8-1 in the Big Ten. That would surely put them in the College Football Playoff.

More realistically, the Gophers lose at least one more game (the Oregon game screams loss).

Unfortunately, the Gophers don't have another home game on the schedule with a strong enough opponent to lure a national show like "Big Noon Kickoff" to the Twin Cities. But with a win, the Gophers could be featured for the Nov. 8 game in Eugene against the Ducks.