eveningnewsteam
Well-Known Member
When you are trying to break through and get to the ncaa tournament, you need to seize the opportunity Iowa had yesterday.
Hawkeyes Come Up Short, Fall to Indiana
- Thread starter JonDMiller
- Start date
When you are trying to break through and get to the ncaa tournament, you need to seize the opportunity Iowa had yesterday.
sportstalent
Well-Known Member
They will have plenty of other opportunities, I promise.
RocknRollface
Well-Known Member
No kidding.
What they need to do is beat the teams they should, that will have far more impact than any one game against the good teams.
They will get some against the other tourney bound teams, they did more than enough times last year with a team that wasn't half as good. What they have to do this year that they did not last is to avoid let down games against the basement.
sportstalent
Well-Known Member
If Iowa does what they need to do and win 7 or all 8 games against PSU/Nebby/Purdue/NW their tournament chances improve greatly. I think the MSU game will be a game Iowa needs to win and the game against Illinois at home. It will not be easy, but there are games out there. A split with Wisky and that is 10-11 wins.
eveningnewsteam
Well-Known Member
They will, but that was a BIG opportunity they had in front of them. They have to start winning those games for the program to break through
Iowa plays many top 25 teams, even top 10. If they don't win the first game against the #5 team, let it go. If they lose all of them and they lose by 10-20 points each game, then you might have a point. But it was the first conference game and they played Indiana who was the #1 team for quite a while.
I understand your point but Iowa wasn't going to jump from the last team to make it into the NIT to beating top #5 teams in less than 9-10 months, but with that said heck they still almost won, a little better shooting and they could have won that game.
sportstalent
Well-Known Member
It was the first game in conference play.
Iowa has already started this conference season better than the last five seasons, they have shown a pulse, stark contrast from when they played a competent team to start out. They will be fine.
I lean toward the theory that you only get a handful of upset opportunities in a season,and this was a prime one the way that IU shot. The rest of the year, Iowa only gets 3 more ranked opponents at home... MSU,Minny,Ill...and Ill probably will not be ranked by the end of the year when we play them.
I highly doubt we beat any ranked teams on the road...so the real chances probably now boil down to beating MSU and Minny at home....beating IU would give us some cushion...now we have to beat MSU and Minny..or probably settle for the NIT,which is what I expect.
I highly doubt we beat any ranked teams on the road...so the real chances probably now boil down to beating MSU and Minny at home....beating IU would give us some cushion...now we have to beat MSU and Minny..or probably settle for the NIT,which is what I expect.
activebadger
Banned
Indiana is a good team and Iowa played them tough. Michigan is the best team in the BIG and I'd put Minnesota, Illinois, Ohio State and Indiana behind them. Indiana has never played good defense while Crean has been at Indiana, never. Minnesota is A LOT better than I thought they'd be. I thought Illinois' shooting would cool down but it looks like they'll just be a good shooting team this year and they have a ton of athletes. OSU misses Sullinger but not as much as I expected, ton of athleticism on that team too.
Iowa just might be a good matchup for Indiana. Didn't you guys beat them last year? I'd say the much better evaluation of your program will be against Michigan. If you keep it respectable against UM then I'd say you've got something but if you lose by 15-20 then that would be more telling.
Won't know much about these BIG teams until they are about 5-6 games into the BIG. Wisconsin opens with Penn State and Nebraska and if we start 2-0, it is pretty much meaningless. Win at home and split on the road. That's the formula for any team. Can't drop too many at home in conference or it's an uphill battle.
eveningnewsteam
Well-Known Member
I agree, but ****. It would be easier to take if Indiana came in and just outclassed Iowa, but that was not the case. The Oglesby pass, if Mccabe can knock down one of those 3s, etc.........It was right there to get an enormous win in front of the country. ****!!!!!!...............alright Im over it, on to the next one.
Tmoney12
Well-Known Member
Didnt read #troll
sportstalent
Well-Known Member
I can't argue anything you are saying, but lets have some perspective, conference play is 18 games, that is a long schedule. Iowa still has to beat the teams they are supposed to and at most, that is 8 wins and it is not going to get them in. If Iowa can hold serve at home the rest of the season, they go to the tournament. If they lose one more game at home they go to the NCAA tournament.
Yeah, Iowa had a ton of opportunities, but they played so poorly to start the game and had so many opportunities to get the crowd rocking, they didn't. What they did do, if and only if they go on to have a good season, was gain some respect in the eyes of the committee, the eye test if you will. Now if Iowa goes to Michigan and plays under 10 much/most of the way again a respectable loss, if they win I may pee myself, anyway then they have to beat MSU. Maybe not "have" to beat them, but it may be a must win as I said earlier the most wins they can get against the "bad" competition is 8 and that isn't enough.
What Iowa has to avoid though and it hasn't been this way in the past is the really bad loss at home. It just can't happen, no matter how many good wins they can pick up. I think really bad losses in conference play to terrible teams hurt more than bad non-conference losses. Just take a look at VT the last few seasons and why they haven't made the tourney even though "we beat Duke/UNC."
Tmoney12
Well-Known Member
This is a sign of us being back
bws258
Well-Known Member
I was wholly unimpressed by IU or UM in the few games I've seen ... sad day for the NCAA that these teams are top-5 material. Then I am sitting there in CHA on Monday watching Iowa play at a meh B or C level, and they still nearly beat IU.
sportstalent
Well-Known Member
Umm, ok
