Downtown Matchup: Downtown Iowa City vs. Downtown Lincoln

Click here to learn more about downtown Iowa City

While turkey-lovers everywhere begin to prep for a week of food, family and feeling fat, the 21st ranked Cornhuskers are prepping for their final home game of the season against the Iowa Hawkeyes. The Hawkeyes, hailing from Iowa City, come to Lincoln with a 7-4 record and have the same conference record (4-3) as the Huskers who are now 8-3 overall after a loss to #18 Michigan last week. Iowa has beaten two of the opponents that Nebraska has lost to (Northwestern and Michigan), but has also lost to three teams Nebraska has beaten (Minnesota, Penn State and Michigan State). Iowa replaces Colorado in the longstanding tradition of the Huskers playing the day after Thanksgiving. The newly implemented rivalry game between NU and IU will be referred to as the Heroes game, where each year the teams will play for the Corn Bowl trophy, made by downtown Lincoln specialty store Bob Stephens and Associates. 

Iowa City is the sixth largest city in Iowa and is the former capital of the state. It was ranked #2 on the Forbes list for Best Place for Small Business and Careers, just behind Sioux falls, South Dakota. It’s home to many locally owned businesses including the widely renowned family diner Hamburg Inn No.2. Along with being featured on an episode of The West Wing and Modern Marvels, The Burg (as it’s come to be known) has proved to be a regular stop during the Iowa Caucuses and has been visited by former presidents Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton, along with many other presidential candidates. Their famous pie shakes (a milkshake with a slice of pie blended in) got recognition from The New York Times for their unique and delicious flavor.

Nick Arnold, the Executive Director of the Downtown Association of Iowa City, will be watching this Friday’s game and says they can’t wait for all the fans to come to Iowa City for next year’s game.

“Downtown Iowa City is the retail and entertainment heart of the community. Populated by locally owned boutiques, restaurants and shops, it offers something for everyone. We are excited to host the Huskers in 2012 and look forward to creating the best border rivalry in the Big Ten. Go Hawks!”

Husker and Hawkeye fans looking for something to do in downtown Lincoln before and after the game, as well as over the weekend can check out our downtown event calendar.

As we did the past few weeks with Fresno, Seattle, Laramie, Madison, Columbus, Minneapolis, East Lansing, Evanston, State College and Ann Arbor, we continue to look at the cities of our Husker competitors to see how Lincoln sizes up. Below is a comparison of the city of Lincoln and Iowa City and their respective downtowns.