All of a sudden - losing 4 of the last 5 seems possible

[lightning1]

But this year isn't over, so you can't count it...yet.

It really doesn't matter to me either way. The coaches and the players are the ones that have to deal with it. Uthoff's legs are the biggest problem that I see.
I'm resigned to the fact that I'll probably never live to celebrate a BIG basketball title. I can live with that.

 

[STILLBUSTER]

Comparing these National Championship teams from mid-Feb (which is when Iowa began looking somewhere between out of sorts and out right bad).

1997 Arizona W, L, W, L, WWW, LL; that's 5-4 finish before the dance.
2003 Syracuse L (UConn on 2/10), WWWWWWWW, L (UConn 2nd round BigEast tourney); that's 8-2 finish before the dance.
1989 Michigan L(at Minny), W, L(at #9 Indy), WWWWW, L(1st round of BTT vs. #4 Illannoy); that's 6-3 finish before the dance.
2013 Louisville L(at #25 Domers) and didn't lose another game; that's 10-1 finish before the dance (really bad example)
1988 Kansas WWWW, L(vs #6, Duke), L(at #4 OK), WWWW, L(KState, 2nd round Big8 tourney); that's 8-3 finish before the dance.
2011 UConn L, WW, LL, W, LL, WWWWW(winning BigEast tourney); that's 3-5 finish to reg season and 8-5 finish before the dance.

So, over the past 30 years, you offer 6 examples of teams "with strings of bad losses" at the end of the year. Out of your 6 examples, 4 don't even meet that criteria because, 1) they had sporatic losses amidst impressive strings of W's, or 2) their losses were against top 10 teams, not bubble or worse teams. Of the remaining 2 comparable examples (AZ & UConn), neither had more than 2 losses in a row, both finished with winning records leading up to the dance and only 2011 UConn - is on par with what Iowa is currently doing (losing 3 of 4) but was able to turn it around and have a good run.

Of course, the Hawks' season has yet to play out but let's also not just dismiss that history is overwhelmingly stacked against them turning it around.

 

[PCHawk]

UCONN was a mess before the conference tournament. They lost their last game by 40 I think and weren't even going to get an at large bid.

 

[PCHawk]

I believe you intended this to be a positive - to ask people to show a little appreciation for Iowa's moments - but, in the big picture, it really comes off as sort of McCarney-esque, in a "bowl champion" sort of way. I mean, in the end, if over-achievement is the goal, Minnesota and Penn State should be praised for their respective upsets as much as Iowa's mid-season championships.

Nonetheless, I actually did talk about Iowa's over achieving quite a bit here
http://hawkeyenation.com/forum/show...all-and-take&p=1496063&viewfull=1#post1496063

and here
http://hawkeyenation.com/forum/show...the-question&p=1496120&viewfull=1#post1496120

Now, I referenced it in the context of the entire season -- the one that actually goes through early March and the 2nd one that starts in mid-March -- so, adding that perspective seems to tick most off 'round here.

Fact is, I'm right there with everyone in appreciating Iowa's over-achieving moments. Between 2015-16 football and basketball, it's been an unprecedented run of over-achievement. It's just that, as usual, it's short-lived and fleeting.

It's the plight of being an Iowa fan - premature, jacked-up elation.

I was mostly joking but there was some truth to it. We were always a bubble team or a little better so you can look at it 2 ways. Did we under achieve at the end of the year or were we over achieving at the beginning. To say over achieving early means nothing is saying it doesn't matter if we stayed on the bubble all year or had an extremely fun year because of a 10 game stretch in the middle.

Would you have rather went 7-3 or 6-4 over that stretch like we probably should have? If we did that, we almost certainly beat Penn State because we would be fighting for a tournament spot and they wouldn't be playing "up" because their opponent was a top 5 team. We were a team that started average, over achieved, then ended average. How is that not better than a team that started averaged and stayed average all year?

 

[BigD]

I hope the seniors can re-group and rally the younger guys around them and stem the tide. They need to get their mojo back before the BTT and NCAA tournament.