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The Daily Iowan WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 9, 2024
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Expanded conference, expanded opportunity
DAILYIOWAN.COM
The Big Ten’s adoption of four PAC-12 teams offers a chance for regional styles to prove themselves amid increased travel within the larger conference. Matt McGowan Pregame Editor
matt.mcgowan@dailyiowan.com
Washington football safety Kamren Fabiculanan was fielding questions with ease. Sitting at the podium inside Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, the well-dressed and bespectacled Fabiculanan delved into how the Huskies were responding to their new head coach and defensive coordinator. Fabiculanan But when asked by a Daily Iowan reporter how many cities in the state of Iowa he could name off the top of his head, the safety kept his answer succinct. “Iowa. That’s it,” he said with a smile. Hailing from Camarillo, California, the defensive back grew up more than 1,800 miles from Kinnick Stadium. A trip from his Washington campus to the Iowa Pentacrest is a 27-hour drive. For most of his life, Fabiculanan had no reason to know anything about Iowa or the Midwest. For his first five years with the Huskies, the senior most likely viewed the Big Ten as a potential bowl game opponent — not a conference foe to prepare for every week. Yet such is the case in the 2024-25 college football season, where former PAC-12 squads Washington, Oregon, USC, and UCLA will compete in an 18-team Big Ten Conference complete with a longer season, more travel, and a plethora of unfamiliar experiences. Football and Olympic sports student-athletes, coaches, and administrators
INSIDE
are left to navigate this new landscape and embrace it for its challenges but also its unprecedented opportunities.
From Power Five to Power Four The additions of the four West Coast schools started on June 30, 2022, when USC and UCLA were granted admittance to the Big Ten via a unanimous vote by conference presidents and chancellors. The two schools would officially make the transition on Aug. 2, 2024.
Jarmond
For UCLA Athletic Director Martin Jarmond, the national stage of the Big Ten offered student-athletes a way to capitalize on their name, image, and likeness. “We want to position our student-athletes at UCLA to be the best and to be in a position of strength,” Jarmond said in a 2022 interview on SportsCenter. “We have 119
BIG TEN | 2A
Roaming water buffalo safe in JoCo Phil the water buffalo has since been relocated to a farm sanctuary. Evan Watson News Reporter
news@dailyiowan.com
New era, same fan base Iowa women’s basketball retains its loyal fan base despite losing four beloved figures. SPORTS | 1B
PHOTOS: Dropping the ball Iowa’s expected 35-7 loss to Ohio State. SPORTS | 4B
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A water buffalo that was freely roaming through the backyards of residents in Des Moines just one month ago has found a new home at the Iowa Farm Sanctuary near Oxford, Iowa. Named Phil, the water buffalo lives there with two other water buffalo, Jane and Sal, who were all to be slaughtered by an Iowa resident with a history of mishandling livestock. Phil escaped confinement during transit, and public outcry landed him and the others in Johnson County. However, water buffalo are not prevalent in the state of Iowa. The Iowa Farm Sanctuary is a nonprofit farm animal rescue shelter that provides lifetime housing to the animals it rescues. The farm is located northeast of Oxford and has been open since 2015. The sanctuary hosts both public and private farm tours and scheduled visits in a seasonal format. Their visiting period ends in mid-October. They care for various farm animals, including pigs, chickens, sheep, an elderly ram, and others. When Phil escaped confinement in Des Moines, he was featured in several publications while the Des Moines police and Blank Park Zoo attempted to track him down as he wandered through residential areas and parking lots. Iowa Farm Sanctuary Executive Director Shawn Camp said Phil was found in a bank parking lot. Phil’s then-owner had informed the police and the public that Phil was a dangerous animal, so when police encountered him, they
Jordan Barry | The Daily Iowan
Lead volunteer and educator of the Iowa Farm Sanctuary Kevin Recknor scratches Phil the water buffalo’s chin inside a barn near Oxford, Iowa, on Sept. 25. The Iowa Farm Sanctuary provides a safe haven to rescued and neglected farm animals.
reluctantly shot the animal, Camp said. Phil was hit slug-round right behind his front left leg. He wandered away, and those in search of Phil believed he was dead, she said.
Two days later, Phil was spotted, and Iowa State University called the farm sanctuary. Once
PHIL | 3A
Mediterranean restaurant opens in Old Capitol Mall
The new addition, Zolly’s Grill, replaced the now-closed Bollywood Grill. Madelyn Ambroz News Reporter
news@dailyiowan.com
Zolly’s Grill is officially open and on the rise in Iowa City. Zolly’s Grill — a new Mediterranean-American fusion restaurant — celebrated its opening in the
Old Capitol Mall on Sept. 21. The family-owned restaurant replaced Bollywood Grill, which closed earlier this year. The business is run by Sarabjit Singh and his sister Annie Sood. Before joining the restaurant industry, the two helped with their family gas station in Waterloo, Iowa, and later sold it for a hotel business. However, they wanted to get into some-
thing more fast-paced and personable. Singh said the hotel business was more of a “slow, sit-in-place kind of job,” and he quickly knew that was not what he wanted. The restaurant offered a more engaging feel that he strived for. “We’re very people oriented and very
ZOLLY’S | 3A