Iowa football's kickoff time vs. Penn State announced for Oct. 9

Hawk Central

The Iowa Hawkeyes gather before the game against the Penn State Nittany Lions in their alternate uniforms at Kinnick Stadium.

IOWA CITY — In what could be a top-10 (or even top-five) college football showdown, Penn State vs. Iowa has a kickoff time.

The Oct. 9 game will has been assigned a 3 p.m. CT start time at sold-out Kinnick Stadium and will be televised by Fox.

The announcement came Saturday ahead of 3-0 Iowa's home matchup with Colorado State.

That Hawkeyes entered Saturday ranked No. 5 in the Associated Press poll and No. 6 by the coaches; Penn State (which beat Villanova to improve to 4-0) was No. 6 by AP and No. 8 by the coaches.

The Nittany Lions have won in their last three trips to Kinnick — 38-14 in 2012, 21-19 in a 2017 thriller decided on the final play and 17-12 in 2019. Iowa snapped a six-game losing streak overall against Penn State with last year's 41-21 win in State College, Pennsylvania.

Fox's "Big Noon" Pregame Show will also set up shop in Iowa City before the Oct. 9 game, which is sold out. The kickoff time means university-operated lots will be opened at 9 a.m. The Ohio State vs. Maryland game will air at 11 a.m. CT and lead into the Hawkeyes-Nittany Lions showdown.

Of course, there's no guarantee both teams enter Oct. 9 undefeated. Iowa travels to Maryland for a Friday-night matchup Oct. 1; Penn State hosts Indiana on Oct. 2.

Hawkeyes columnist Chad Leistikow has covered sports for 26 years with The Des Moines Register, USA TODAY and Iowa City Press-Citizen. Follow @ChadLeistikow on Twitter.