Well, there are two ways to spin this.

Iowa is featured on this week’s edition of Sports Illustrated as one of its regional covers. That shows that Iowa is certainly getting some national love, even though the story is about how the team isn’t getting love as a national title contender.

But the other side of the coin — and one that is sure to be said by many Iowa fans — is that the Sports Illustrated “cover jinx” will surface when the Hawkeyes square off with Nebraska on Friday.

Either way, here’s a look at the Iowa cover, which features tight end George Kittle:

Michigan State is also one of the teams featured in the Albert Chen story on new title contenders.

The following locations will receive the Iowa cover: Missouri, Indiana, Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin, Iowa, Nebraska, South Dakota, North Dakota, Minnesota.

You can bet that won’t sit well in the state of Nebraska.