Iowa, in a nice touch for the visiting team, painted the visitors locker room pink.
Kinnick Stadium is well known for its
pink visitors' locker rooms, a tradition started by emeritus Iowa coach
Hayden Fry. Believing that pink would put opponents in a "passive mood", and because he thought that some believed pink was a "sissy color", Fry had the visiting locker rooms decorated completely in the color pink.
"One thing we didn't paint black and gold was the stadium's visitors locker room, which we painted pink. It's a passive color, and we hoped it would put our opponents in a passive mood. Also, pink is often found in girls' bedrooms, and because of that some consider it a sissy color."
The pink locker room tradition has been continued with the newly renovated locker rooms, which include everything from pink urinals to pink lockers. Controversy flared during the 2005 season when a visiting law professor, along with other university faculty and students protested the pink coloration as demeaning to women and homosexuals.
Despite these protests and with lots of student support, however, the locker room remains pink.