Wait, so you mean we’re still projected to make the tournament?
Only a 98.6% chance as of this morning, so it’s time to burn it all down
This team is done, no NCAA
- Thread starter HawkeyeGenius
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Only a 98.6% chance as of this morning, so it’s time to burn it all down
Iowa is 7-6 in Quad 1 & 2.
Iowa only has one Quad 3 & 4 loss or bad loss. Minnesota or Maryland must have moved into a Quad 2 loss.
This team is still very much in the tournament.
Iowa only has one Quad 3 & 4 loss or bad loss. Minnesota or Maryland must have moved into a Quad 2 loss.
This team is still very much in the tournament.
On paper, today, sure. Have you seen the remaining schedule? It’s ovaaaah.
I've said for a long time, these rankings mean diddly until the season is over. Ben looked tired yesterday and so did the team. Two games out west, stop over in Iowa for one, trip to east coast then back for a Saturday game. Five games in two weeks plus the travel. Tough duty.
Why as bad as yesterday looked you can't get too caught up in it. Maybe a bit off topic but I commented in another thread that this super sized conference has some issues and breaking things down regionally seems the answer. Money grab by all the players but it won't seem viable as costs rise and there may become less money to grab.
I'm not sure about the "tired" angle. I think this is more to do with the reality. I mean just watching the Purdue athletes in comparison to what we have. I don't mean on TV, I mean live.. that initial sight is enough to put this in context. Holy ****.
We had an edge, in terms of some of the key players knowledge of the system and each other, at the beginning of this season. We need more than that now, and this roster is limited in that type of upside. Will be interesting for sure. Making the NCAA tournament given what we had to start with, and work with, in this league, this year.. would be astonishing.
Really only need to beat Penn St and Ohio State to make the tournament.
It's not the loss per se, it's the way Iowa played--not aggressive, not confident, no energy--just the opposite of how they were playing and how they have to play in order to compete. Hell, they did everything but beat Purdue @ West Lafayette. They were 3-point dogs yesterday, but the wheels came off before the first cone was served. The first sellout in a long time, and Iowa couldn't even compete. The second half was a waste of time. Might as well have forfeited at halftime if that's the best you can do.
Maryland, before a tiny gathering, showed fire and confidence in beating Iowa easily enough. And their season is going nowhere. There are many ways to lose, and the way Iowa lost yesterday was just plain ugly and unacceptable.
Correction: And Fran would lose to Miami of Ohio.Agreed
And then we’ll lose to Miami of Ohio
Looking at the remaining games, I don't see how they make the tourney. Maybe they win @ PSU, but PSU has played pretty well in some games, and Iowa seldom plays well at Happy Valley. Otherwise, it's OSU, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Nebraska twice. That looks like 1-5 or 0-6 more likely than not. I mean you can play really well and still go 1-5, 0-6 against that schedule. Iowa has its back against the wall. Will they come out fighting or give up . . .Wait, so you mean we’re still projected to make the tournament?
Those odds are ridiculous when you look at Iowa's remaining schedule. There's not ONE game on there that is a sure win, no, not even @ PSU (see Maryland). Chances of going 1-5 or 0-6 are excellent. Even if they play well, that could easily happen. Right now I'd say Iowa has little to no chance of making the NCAA, something I never would have even suggested a week or so ago.
We make the tourney, IMHO. Ben has to change how this offense moves and moves the ball, think he will. We are undersized and underskilled at most positions in BIG games. We have to bring a lot more energy and especially defensive energy every nite, that to me is our chance to win in the BIG going forward.
"Only"? I'm not confident Iowa can win another game. No gimmes left, no, not even @ PSU.
It's a good thing they play the games
2 games ago people were talking about getting up to a 5 seed.
2 games later and we are losing out and jumping off bridges.
Better for sure beat Ohio State and Penn State. I see Maryland is getting ready to lose to Rutgers.Wait, so you mean we’re still projected to make the tournament?
I'm glad you see the writing on the wall. Iowa HAS to beat Ohio State and Penn State plus one more and I don't think it'll happen.
At least Iowa reach a level to say a couple losses are 'falling apart' I suppose.
I think Ben is going to realize quickly that Iowa simply does not have the NIL backing that comparable Big Ten programs have, and even schools in its own state are ahead. The resources are not there. That is on the athletic department. In this era, you are buying rosters whether people want to admit it or not. If you do not invest, you do not compete. It does not matter how sharp you are with X’s and O’s if you do not have the Jimmy’s and Joe’s to execute. Either Ben was given bad information about the level of support he would have, or someone on his staff failed to raise the red flag during roster evaluation. At this level, that gap shows up fast.
Explain Nebraska. Not every school is buying rosters. It’s a bad excuse. (FWIW I despise NIL and what it’s done to college sports)
When teams make u look bad and you have to play perfect to win the answers are usually speed/quick, length and strength.
We are kinds D2
Maybe the team is simply Missouri Valley Conference level competing in the Big Ten.
Recruiting can change that in fairly short order.
We got our balls kicked around at MSU and everyone thought we were going to have a rough year. **** games happen. I bet we go 3-3 to finish the year
Losing to a team with a losjng record, followed up by being down 27 at one point yesterday on your home court against a team you almost beat on the road.. Yeah, that's definitely not a trend in the right direction.
As I said, a couple of games isn't enough for me to say it's a trend, but I'm definitely concerned about the way they lost yesterday. I can accept a competitive defeat, but yesterday was not that.
Exactly. And the reason? The last 3 games Iowa has played poorly, worse than at any other time all season. They managed to win one of those three (NW), but lost to a weak Maryland team in front of a small crowd on the road, and then came home to the first sellout in a couple of years and looked awful--no energy, no confidence--despite playing a Purdue team they had led for most of the game and taken to the wire @ West Lafayette.It's a good thing they play the games
2 games ago people were talking about getting up to a 5 seed.
2 games later and we are losing out and jumping off bridges.
"A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds." Ralph Waldo Emerson said it, and what he means is that it's foolish to maintain your position on an issue in light of new, contradictory evidence. So yes, my opinion, and that of many other Iowa fans, has changed based on the evidence we're seeing from the Hawkeyes. There is no rationale that, right now, suggests Iowa can do better than 2-4 the rest of the way, with 1-5 or 0-6 more likely. That's why, yes, it's time to freak out . . . at least it is if you're paying attention and take off your black-and-gold glasses.
This is the sad but logical conclusion based on the evidence rather than on wishful thinking.
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The MSU game didn't change my opinion of Iowa basketball. It was Ben's first Big Ten game. It was at one of the toughest places to win in all of college basketball, partly because it's usually 8 on 5. What's happening now is a very different animal. It's at the end of the year, not the beginning, and a pattern has emerged that says Iowa is outta gas, that the Hawkeyes have hit the wall.
You might be right. But there's no good reason to believe Iowa is capable of going 3-3 to finish the season. Could it happen? Sure. They could go 6-0. But look at the trend. Look at the opponents: Nebraska twice, Michigan, Wisconsin, Ohio State, and @ Penn State where even good Iowa teams usually play poorly in front of a crowd of friends and family.
I still think Ben is the perfect coach for Iowa. I still think he'll have the Hawkeyes in the upper echelon of the conference on a regular basis. But I'm also beginning to think the Drake+ roster he's using now has hit the wall. They were able to battle for a long time, but the Big Ten grind seems to be too much, and there's nothing anybody can do about it. If the season were over now, Iowa might be okay. But facing six more games against some of the best teams in the country, not just the Big Ten, looks like it may be too tall a mountain to climb. I hope I'm wrong. I'll be hoping for a turnaround, but reality needs to be acknowledged, even if it ain't pretty, even if it ain't what we had hoped for.
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I'm not disagreeing this team is not what it needs to be to compete in the Big Ten... yet we still have a winning record. Coaching is a huge part of that.
God some Iowa fans are petulant, dimwits. They want Fran back. You can’t overcome that type of mental limitation.
This just isn’t true. No Iowa doesn’t have a Mark Cuban donor. But the men and women’s program will have enough resources to compete. They won’t be as well funded as some, but will be able to get good players.
It's a good thing they play the games
2 games ago people were talking about getting up to a 5 seed.
2 games later and we are losing out and jumping off bridges.
People tend to think that making the dance is more difficult than it really is,.. Plays out like this every year.
We're going to lose more games,.. We're also going to make the tournament.