JonDMiller
Publisher/Founder
If Iowa plays against Kansas in the Battle 4 Atlantis Tournament in November, the Hawkeyes will have played seven games against teams ranked in ESPN's Jason Ford's preseason Top 25 poll, linked here. Ford moved Kansas up from the 'fringe of the Top 25' to 5th after the nation;s #1 recruit, Andrew Wiggins, committed to Kansas on Tuesday.
Wiggins would be this year's #1 draft pick if he could turn pro, but rules prohibit players making the leap from high school to the pro's. He's already projected as the #1 pick next year, which is a draft class that is considered much better than this year's class.
Here are those teams and number of games:
#3 Michigan State (2)
#5 Kansas
#8 Ohio State (2)
#10 Michigan (2)
Scott Dochterman of The Gazette tweeted on Tuesday that Iowa's single plays in the Big Ten for this coming season will be at Penn State and Indiana and home against Purdue and Nebraska.
That means home and home series against Wisconsin, who will probably be a preseason Top 25 team. Iowa will also play a home and home against Minnesota, but the Gophers will be down this coming year from where they were a year ago due to the losses of Williams and Mbakwe on the inside.
Getting Purdue at home is a good break for Iowa as they may be challenging for an NCAA bid this coming year. Iowa will also play Northwestern and Illinois in a home and home series this coming year and both of those teams are being pegged for near the bottom of the league, although Iowa has just a couple of wins at Illinois since 1987.
You will be hard pressed to find a team who plays a tougher Big Ten schedule than Iowa will play next year. This is after Iowa played the 'easiest' Big Ten schedule in 2013-2014.
Iowa could be 10-8 or 9-9 in the Big Ten next year and be a much better team than they were this past season, given the strength of that schedule.
We know one thing right now; Iowa will not miss the NCAA tournament next year due to a low RPI. If they matched their 20-11 record from 2012-2013, they will be dancing.
Wiggins would be this year's #1 draft pick if he could turn pro, but rules prohibit players making the leap from high school to the pro's. He's already projected as the #1 pick next year, which is a draft class that is considered much better than this year's class.
Here are those teams and number of games:
#3 Michigan State (2)
#5 Kansas
#8 Ohio State (2)
#10 Michigan (2)
Scott Dochterman of The Gazette tweeted on Tuesday that Iowa's single plays in the Big Ten for this coming season will be at Penn State and Indiana and home against Purdue and Nebraska.
That means home and home series against Wisconsin, who will probably be a preseason Top 25 team. Iowa will also play a home and home against Minnesota, but the Gophers will be down this coming year from where they were a year ago due to the losses of Williams and Mbakwe on the inside.
Getting Purdue at home is a good break for Iowa as they may be challenging for an NCAA bid this coming year. Iowa will also play Northwestern and Illinois in a home and home series this coming year and both of those teams are being pegged for near the bottom of the league, although Iowa has just a couple of wins at Illinois since 1987.
You will be hard pressed to find a team who plays a tougher Big Ten schedule than Iowa will play next year. This is after Iowa played the 'easiest' Big Ten schedule in 2013-2014.
Iowa could be 10-8 or 9-9 in the Big Ten next year and be a much better team than they were this past season, given the strength of that schedule.
We know one thing right now; Iowa will not miss the NCAA tournament next year due to a low RPI. If they matched their 20-11 record from 2012-2013, they will be dancing.
