Feeling less confident about NCAA tournament hopes

DodgerHawki said:
Good grief, man. No one gets picked anymore for the NCAA tournament for "national following" purposes. Yes, the last few teams in or out get some debate, but teams that deserve to get in get in, those that don't, don't. If Iowa doesn't get into the tournament, it will be due to the resume not being good enough.
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Sure they do. All else equal, why wouldn't you pick the team that's going to draw higher TV ratings and sell more tickets?
 


JHHawk said:
Yes, this is the biggest game of the year to date for the Hawks,imo.
It is time to start making Carver a pit for visiting teams,like at the end of last season,but without Matt Gatens bailing us out with his shooting.
Time to start beating teams that have some real talent,like ISU, at least in Carver.
Iowa's big win over IU in Carver last year is being shown on the BTN at 5 PM as a lead-in to the game tonite....we need that kind of effort tonite,without Matt and Bryce in our backcourt.
Luscious has not been great this season,but has gotten hot the last two games,so he might be getting on a roll. He started in the Final Four 3 years ago for MSU so he is no bum.
On paper, ISU has the edge in athleticism,experience,and pure talent....Hawks need hustle,determination,and a frenzied home crowd to have a shot tonite. Go Hawks.
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Agree it's biggest game of year so far for Iowa. Team needs to continue to show growth and play well against a good team. I like Fran's attitude in his PC this week. He said win or lose, they will get right back to getting better. Which is the right direction to take.

This team is likely better than last year's group, but the record at the end of the year might end up being not as good as last year. Games like tonight and the UNI game are huge in terms of going 11-2 in non-con and 9-4. At 11-2, Iowa would be in the vicinity of the bubble if they can manage to scratch together 8 conference wins. 9-4 makes it an uphill battle even to achieve a winning record overall for the season.

I'm hopeful to see Gesell step up and play well against a good opponent. Kid has some skills/ability, just needs to figure out how to play effectively against good competition. If he does, Iowa has a nice shot of winning the game.
 


McCaffrey needs another scorer and a PF before this team has a shot at the tourney. In football, one guy may not make a difference, but in basektball, one guy can be the difference. I don't think VT or WSU as teams are that much better than we are, but we had no answer for Green for VT and Early and Armstead for WSU. When the 'other' guys aren't hitting shots, those teams have go to guys that can score on their own, we do not. Sprinkle in major problems in the paint against teams with bulk and abyssmal 3 point shooting from guys who are supposed to be shooters and you get NIT at best. Add a Justin Johnson or Chauncey Leslie + Doug Thomas or Cy Tate on this team and I think we make the tourney.
 


NottiBoy said:
Of course we're better than NW, that's a given, but the BoneG is crowded and lots of teams would get picked ahead of us because we don't have their national following (or even as strong of a regional following). I'm talking Indiana, Michigan, MSU, OSU, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Purdue (if they stop sucking).
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Sounds like ISU is sending over 10k to Memphis. Better get on that bus! Wine coolers and spritzers!!!! wooohoooooo!!!
 


DodgerHawki said:
Good grief, man. No one gets picked anymore for the NCAA tournament for "national following" purposes. Yes, the last few teams in or out get some debate, but teams that deserve to get in get in, those that don't, don't. If Iowa doesn't get into the tournament, it will be due to the resume not being good enough.
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No no no, that isn't true. Depaul brings gobs of ppl. Creighton, too. Long Beach State also travels EXTREMELY well.
 


Hawkeye11en1 said:
No no no, that isn't true. Depaul brings gobs of ppl. Creighton, too. Long Beach State also travels EXTREMELY well.
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Although I disagree with Dodger's conclusion that Wisconsin and Minnesota hold any significant degree of national cachet that Iowa doesn't, I do think his statement is getting unfairly broadened. He's not saying no teams that aren't 'name brand' get into the tournament. What he's saying is that if two teams have indistinguishable records, RPIs, SOS, and quality wins/losses, that the more reputed program will get the bid. I'm inclined to agree, although it doesn't come up very often, as most teams on the bubble (usually no more than 4-6 per year) don't differ greatly in reputation.
 


Cover3 said:
Although I disagree with Dodger's conclusion that Wisconsin and Minnesota hold any significant degree of national cachet that Iowa doesn't, I do think his statement is getting unfairly broadened. He's not saying no teams that aren't 'name brand' get into the tournament. What he's saying is that if two teams have indistinguishable records, RPIs, SOS, and quality wins/losses, that the more reputed program will get the bid. I'm inclined to agree, although it doesn't come up very often, as most teams on the bubble (usually no more than 4-6 per year) don't differ greatly in reputation.
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Not sure what I think about this. While national attention plays a role, how big a role is unknown. Let's be honest, it's the NCAA tournament people will pay and watch regardless of who is playing.
 


Iowa needs to start beating teams like Wichita State and Virginia Tech if they ever hope to get into the NCAA tournament. The fact that Iowa has not lost to a "Campbell" has helped but at some point you have to start beating top 50 teams. Tonight presents another opportunity for Iowa to beat a team that may end up top 50, Iowa needs this game tonight.
 


Would love to see CHA rocking tonight. We need the home court advantage. I have a feeling it's going to be full and loud.
 












ssckelley said:
That would be nice. Gardner Webb is hard telling, Iowa would have blown them out tonight.
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WE literally destroyed them the second half. Total domination......

Wichita State, Virginia Tech and Western Kentucky are good teams and could very well be on the brink at the end of the season. Beating the Clones is a big plus......

:)
 


ISU was rated 35th by the pomeroy ratings and Iowa rated 61st
WSU is 28th
VT as of now is 67th and UNI is 73rd,. these wil all help Iowa's SOS, and if VT keeps winning theirs will go even higher
5 of the BT are in the top 15 with 4 of them in the top 10 of Pomeroy rankings. of which Iowa plays all 5 in the 1st 6 games of BT play. the only team not in the top 15 is NW and they are rated 78th
so thru the next 9 games they play 7 in the top 80 as of now. no sense worring about SOS
 


I have had zero worries about NCAA tournament. If Iowa beat UNI, then there are no more bumps until Indiana comes to town and Iowa knocks them off, same for MSU.

If Iowa can garner splits with Wisky/Minny along with the aforementioned upsets and beat everyone else they are supposed too, they are in easily. A whole lot of ifs in there, but that is what predictions are about to begin with.

The two losses Iowa has had do not hurt them at all, if VT/WSU don't fall flat on their faces in conference play; they will be those good losses that Iowa seems to never have. It will also look good on VT/WSU resumes as well, which will help Iowa in the end, granted they play well in their respective conferences.
 




ISU dropped to 37th, after losing to Iowa, and Iowa moves up to 54th
this is showing that Iowa is not a bad loss, and is improving their image in the eyes of the people that do the rankings
 




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