Hawks Have a Shot at a Tourney

[EddyP]

Someone has to be the voice of reason when we have someone saying our schedule is easy and we just lost to Nebraska at home. We'll have to wait until next year when we will most definitely be a #1 or #2 seed in the tourney.

 

[ssckelley]

Iowa is going to be kicking themselves for not getting one of the games from Purdue, the loss to Campbell, and the home loss to Nebraska...............just them three games and Iowa could have made the dance a bit easier then what thye got to do now!

Even if you switch one of those games people would be looking at Iowa as a potential bubble team right now. A 14-10 record looks much better to these "experts" than the current 13-11 record, especially if Iowa was sitting at 6-5 in the B1G. Iowa would be sitting in 6th place right now.

But it is what it is and no amount of crying will change the past. Hopefully Iowa can get on a roll heading into the B1G tournament. Even a NIT bid would be a HUGE step in the right direction for this program.

 

[urohawk]

If we beat Campbell and Nebraska we would have a pretty good shot at the NCAA. We would be sitting alone in fifth place with some winnable games left. Would have a good chance of going 10-8 which would probably get us in, in that scenario. Of course there are a lot of teams that could say that about several games per year. However, it has been a long time since we could say it.

The NIT would be great for this team though. Give Gatens and Cartwright at least one postseason tournament and several of the younger players more experience going forward.

 

[JRD90]

I also think the CBI/CIT tournaments require teams to guarantee a certain amount of revenue/ticket sales to enter. So it you're a big ten team hovering around 0.500 you probably don't think you can sell enough tickets to break even.

But this year Iowa should absolutely pay to play, simply to get extra experience for the younger players, and to let Gatens get a taste of post-season basketball one time in his career.

That being said, I'm still hoping for at least an NIT bid.

I would guess it has less to do with the CBI/CIT not wanting Big Ten schools in general and more that any halfway mediocre Big Ten team is already going to be playing in the NCAAs or the NIT. If you look at last year, for instance, 7 Big Ten teams got into the dance and Northwestern was in the NIT. That left only Iowa and Indiana, with 11 and 12 wins apiece, and Minnesota, who was 17-14 but had lost 10 of their last 11 games. The stink of that season was so bad that I doubt Minnesota would have accepted a CBI/CIT bid even if it was offered-- they just wanted the season to end.

You don't even technically need a .500 record to qualify for the NIT anymore (although every team they've accepted has been at least .500). The NIT is going to want a couple of Big Ten teams, and with 7-8 teams looking likely for the Big Dance, if Iowa can just win 3 of their last 7, they should be a lock along with whichever Big Ten team gets their bubble burst (probably Northwestern or Minnesota).

 

[smbhawk1]

CBS currently has 9 Big Ten teams getting in, with NW being one of the last in. NW is currently behind us in the Big Ten standings and only one up on us in the W column. We are however 3 behind them in the L column.

Not saying we will get into NCAA tourney by any means, but we are not that far out of consideration. I love the progress we are making and just enjoy the fact that we can actually discuss post season tournaments after the last few years.

 

[ssckelley]

I also think the CBI/CIT tournaments require teams to guarantee a certain amount of revenue/ticket sales to enter. So it you're a big ten team hovering around 0.500 you probably don't think you can sell enough tickets to break even.

But this year Iowa should absolutely pay to play, simply to get extra experience for the younger players, and to let Gatens get a taste of post-season basketball one time in his career.

That being said, I'm still hoping for at least an NIT bid.

This is true and it seems like Iowa is getting more and more fans at CHA. If Iowa bought their way into CBI/CIT tournament I think Iowa should get a decent gate.

 

[1977Hawkeye]

Iowa is going to be kicking themselves for not getting one of the games from Purdue, the loss to Campbell, and the home loss to Nebraska...............just them three games and Iowa could have made the dance a bit easier then what thye got to do now!

Yup - that would have us at 16-8 (7-4) right now and things would look a whole lot different.

As it is, not sure what our odds of even making the NIT are.. It's more difficult to get there than it used to be. The Hawks have a good shot at the CBI or whatever the other tournament is, though. Any post-season play this year would be welcome.

 

[GhostofBTT]

17 wins - book it.

I made a bet with a buddy before the season started. The o/u was 16.5 and I took the over.

We are sitting with 13 wins currently with home games against:

IU, Wisky and NW.

Away games against:

NW, PSU, Illinois and Nebraska.

We go 4-3 during that stretch and will finish in 7th (ahead of Minny).

How do you figure we go 4-3 in this stretch? 3-4 if we're lucky, and 2-5 is more likely.