Michigan State-Iowa kicks off at 4 p.m. on Sept. 30; U-M game time in limbo

EAST LANSING – One more kickoff time is set. The big one could be finalized next week.

Michigan State will kick off its Big Ten opener against Iowa at 4 p.m. on Sept. 30 at Spartan Stadium, and the game will be aired on Fox for the second straight week. The Spartans and Notre Dame play at 8 p.m. this Saturday on Fox.

Kickoff time for MSU’s game at Michigan on Oct. 7 could be released next Monday. Kevin Pauga, MSU’s assistant athletic director for administration, said last week on WVFN 730-AM in Lansing that TV networks have a 12-day window to make the decision about what time to set game times.

Night games are no longer predetermined before the season under the Big Ten’s new network contracts, unlike in previous years. However, the networks also can use a six-day window to set kickoff times and broadcast information in some instances.

“Until that point, we won’t really know much of anything,” Pauga said. “Television has the ability to kind of wait and see what happens over the next couple of weeks. I’m sure that’ll come into play as to how things play. Admittedly, we’re as in the dark as everybody else. … It could be at night, it could be in the afternoon. We’ll find out.”

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Contact Chris Solari: csolari@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @chrissolari. Download our Spartans Xtra app for free on Apple and Android devices!