Glad to hear it! My wife's baby shower will be that weekend, so I think I will be able to sneak away and go to that game, as no men are to attend ... I am currently being told I can anyway, but we will see, haha. This is definitely more than you asked for, but I figured you (or anyone else) can take or leave any or all of it! I will provide my Iowa City pointers first, and then for anyone as crazy as I am, my baseless and useless speculation on the game time will be below that.
IOWA CITY/GAMEDAY
Downtown --> Stadium
Downtown Iowa City is quite a walk from the stadium - about 25-30 minutes, and it feels longer walking across bridges and whatnot. With that said, you can definitely do it. There is TONS of great tailgating along Melrose Avenue (behind the south end zone) and all of the winding streets around there. There isn't really any area quite like Grange Grove where you can just show up and it's BYOB, though. Any friends in the area?? I can let you know if I end up going, haha.
Campus
As for the campus, it is my personal opinion that it's the town itself that is the draw, and the campus itself (which, unlike Champaign, is completely and totally intertwined with the city in a more hodge-podge way, for better and for worse!) is not too stunning. The Pentacrest (facing Clinton Street) is sort of Iowa's version of the Quad, and it is pretty cool with old stone buildings. However, I do not think it is as cool as the Quad at Illinois. Iowa City and Champaign are interesting in that where one excels, the other is kind of "meh" and vice versa.
Bars
For bars downtown, a lot of the "classics" you might get recommended are painfully collegey, haha. I would recommend the bars in the following ascending order:
1) If you MUST see the "college bar" vibe somewhere, the only ones I could in good faith recommend at least just checking out are DC's or Brothers - both in the Ped Mall. DC's is much more of a party atmosphere, but my not-very-crazy friends and I (all now in our 30s) never feel too out of place on a game weekend, and we have brought plenty of our parents/their friends there before, and it's never awkward or anything. Brothers is nice because it's at least big enough where you will not feel crowded. On that note, do at least walk through the Ped Mall if you're Downtown ... it's really cool, and I wish Champaign would take inspiration for its Taylor Street Alley area Downtown.
2) Joe's Place on Iowa Avenue is good for a semi-adultish party atmosphere in the Downtown area. Head up to their rooftop area if it is still open! It probably will not be crowded that time of year, and it's cool.
3) If you get a bit farther from Downtown on Gilbert Street (about a 10-minute walk from the Ped Mall), Mosley's is a cool BBQ setup with a great beer garden, The Vine is a great not-quite-dive-bar with good wings and Sanctuary is a really cool pub. They are all right next to each other.
4) My actual recommendation for bars is to just keep walking on Gilbert Street a little farther to Big Grove. It is absolutely massive, it's a really cool setup, it has a great atmosphere, the food/service/beer are all good and it's a go-to every time I am back in Iowa City visiting.
5) If you want to escape the orbit of Downtown altogether, there is an area called the Iowa River Landing that is RIGHT off of the interstate in Coralville. 30hop, the Athletic Club, Backpocket Brewing, Marquee (woodfired pizza), etc. are all right there. Much more of an adult vibe.
Food
I assume you are coming in Friday, so if you want to grab dinner somewhere...
1) For fancier environments, you cannot beat Orchard Green. It's by far my favorite restaurant in Iowa City. It is pretty reasonably priced (IMO), but it is definitely "nice." For a "vibe" comparison in Champaign, I would say Nando Milano (but different food). One Twenty Six is also good Downtown and slightly more casual. Joseph's Steakhouse is good and a cool atmosphere, but it is outrageously priced ... especially when they sell those exact same steaks at a grocery store a couple of blocks away.
2) Iowa City's Italian scene is kind of lacking, but Baroncini is good (but small), and Basta is decent. Both are Downtown.
3) For more casual food, Pullman (Downtown) has a VERY good burger. It's still a nice atmosphere, but it is not "formal."
4) As an Illinoisan and now a Chicagoan, I cannot recommend pizza in Iowa City that is better than what I have had in our great State of Illinois ... with that said, Wig and Pen (Coralville) is good thin crust, and Pagliai's is really good, too.
5) For breakfast, you cannot go wrong with Hamburg Inn or Bluebird (both just north of Downtown). Personally, I think Bluebird is better.
Iowa Fans
All jokes aside, they are great people ... but they are infinitely more "boarish" than Illinois fans. Having lived in Peoria when I was younger and then Iowa City for 20+ years and now Chicago since 2019, it has been really interesting realizing the subtle differences between Illinoisans and Iowans. I have found Illinoisans to be much more reserved and courteous vs. your more outgoing and outwardly "bubbly" Iowa people. I strongly prefer the Illinois vibe, haha. They HATE Illinois, but once a jab or two is out of the way, everyone has always been extremely nice to me ... they are PASSIONATE about their Hawkeyes, and they respect that passion from opposing fans.
GAME TIME
I am only confident that it will be 11:00 am or 2:30 pm (i.e., not a night game). However, beyond that it is a total guess, IMO. A lot will depend on if we keep winning ... if we don't have another loss heading into that game (not exactly "likely" but far from impossible if we have turned a corner!), that could be a massive game for the West. FWIW, these are the other Big Ten games that day, ranked in order of how desirable I think each will be for TV ratings:
#2 Michigan at Maryland
Minnesota at #3 Ohio State
Nebraska at Wisconsin
Rutgers at #7 Penn State
Michigan State at Indiana
Purdue at Northwestern
Those games have to fill at least some of the following spots, from what I can tell:
1) 11:00 am on FOX (Big Noon Kickoff) or 2:30 pm on FOX
2) 6:30 pm on NBC (Notre Dame is at 2:30 pm, so that slot is filled, and NBC hasn't broadcasted an 11:00 am game all year)
3) 11:00 am on BTN/FS1 or 2:30 pm on BTN/FS1
[
ABC and ESPNPN seem to be done picking up Big Ten games anymore, but they technically still could for this season...]
[
CBS is showing the SEC this week at 2:30 pm, and they are only doing two 11:00 am Big Ten games this year - October 28th and November 4th.]
The previous week (November 11th), Michigan/PSU is Big Noon Kickoff, and MSU/OSU is at 6:30 pm on NBC. So it's possible, they want to shake things up a bit? This is my wild-!!! guess for the "big two" spots that the Big Ten seems to be aggressively marketing.
11:00 am on FOX (Big Noon Kickoff): Minnesota at #2 Ohio State. Michigan and PSU will have just been on Big Noon Kickoff the previous week, and it will have been almost a month since OSU has been on the program (can't have that!!). I also think Big Noon will be spooked off by the potentially "dud" atmosphere in College Park for #2 Michigan at Maryland. Thus...
6:30 pm on NBC: #2 Michigan at Maryland. Again, I think this is mostly about getting Michigan, OSU and PSU on the big-time channels, and Big Noon Kickoff simply won't want to go to College Park, even though Michigan/Maryland is an enticing matchup. So, I think NBC picks up the scraps.
As alluded to above, I am going to assume all ESPN slots go to other conferences, especially the SEC and ACC. That leaves five Big Ten games, with only one true "prime" spot left - 2:30 pm on FOX. While Illinois/Iowa could be a huge game ... will it be that huge? FOX also has rights to the Big XII and Pac-12, and you have some really good games to pick from.
I will bet my life that CBS at 2:30 pm is #1 Georgia at #17 Tennessee, so that takes that away for ABC/ESPN. I think the ABC primetime game will absolutely be UCLA/USC or Washington/Oregon State, as 2:30 pm CST would be 12:30 pm PST and maybe a bit too early (i.e., I don't think either of those are taking the 2:30 pm FOX spot. I think the one that doesn't get that will get the late spot on ABC, so it will be back-to-back Pac-12 games. So, I think 11:00 am ABC will be Texas or Oklahoma, and the 2:30 pm spot will be for the other one so they have some Big XII action, too.
All of that babbling is to say that 2:30 pm on FOX will likely go to Penn State or a Big XII game, but it is not ENTIRELY impossible that it goes to our game with Iowa if it is going to be especially consequential for the Big Ten West. PSU gets stellar ratings, Illinois/Iowa get good ratings and Rutgers gets pretty bad ratings ... it might be a wash if FOX decides that spot is best used on the Big Ten. Long story short, I think the odds of it being at 2:30 pm are EVER so slightly higher than it being at 11:00 am.
Definitely my longest post ever.