Iowa State Football Hosts In-State Opponent December 1

Talk about an odd confluence of circumstances.

Iowa State football had to cancel its season-opening game against South Dakota State this year due to weather, which left them needing a replacement game to fill the space on their schedule. NCAA rules state a 12th game was required.

It was later announced that the Cyclones would take on "University of Incarnate Word" on Saturday, December 1, if ISU didn't qualify for the Big 12 championship, which was also to be held that day. That didn't happen, but something else did. Incarnate Word qualified for the playoffs in its own FCS division. Back to square one in Ames.

It's been announced that 7-3 Drake has stepped in as the opponent on Dec. 1 for the 6-4 Cyclones. It's hard to call them in-state "rivals" as it's a game that hasn't happened since 1985, but it's one that sounds a lot more appealing for fans. All tickets for the originally scheduled South Dakota State and Incarnate Word games will be honored.

[Via Gazette]