JonDMiller
Publisher/Founder
A little of this and a little of that but all Hawkeyes
When the Big Ten announced it's new divisions on Sunday as well as confirming a nine-game conference schedule beginning in 2016, the first thing i did was look at Iowa State's schedule to see if their 5 home/4 road schedule matchup up with Iowa's since we knew Iowa would have four Big Ten home and five Big Ten road games in 2016. A quick look showed that it did and that pretty much meant the annual CyHawk Showdown between Iowa and Iowa State on the gridiron was saved, if Jamie Pollard and Gary Barta were to be believed about each side's interset in playing in that game.
Mike Hlas wrote that he was happy to see this game continue. I'm mostly OK with it. I wouldn't consider myself ambivalent but would call myself reluctantly pleased it will go on. I still feel that Iowa has far more to lose as a program than Iowa State has to gain by being a part of this series, I think the majority of football fans in the state would vote for this series to continue. If the majority of fans want it, then I certainly don't have any objection worth arguing about.
One thing I saw in Mike's column did jump out at me that I would not mind arguing about:
"Wisconsin opens its 2015 season by playing Alabama at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas. Television accepts that matchup. The Badgers have been going to Rose Bowls."
Mike was making the argument for Iowa to continue playing Iowa State in football, so I get that. Wisconsin will be playing Alabama to open the 2015 season, which is a marquee match up for them.
That said, Wisconsin has been one of the weakest scheduling Big Ten 'powers' in recent years. The Badgers typically have one game against teams from a BCS conference, but those teams have been Washington State, Oregon State, Arizona State, North Carolina, etc. If they knew Oregon State was going to rise up, I doubt they would have scheduled the game. They haven't scheduled an opponent like Alabama in...well....maybe ever. I wouldn't argue too hard with Mike about this, because he's one of my favorites and it would be a silly thing to argue about. Still, I don't like seeing Wisconsin get credit for anything other than what they deserve credit for.
Rick Brown of the Des Moines Register has been following the Iowa coaches around at various I-Club stops this spring and recently attended the Boone County I-Club event where Fran McCaffery spoke.
Brown asked McCaffery what he thought of the Big Ten's changes and asked if he thought the league might go to divisons in basketball. McCaffery didn't think so and did say it was possible the league could play more than the 18 conference games per year it plays right now.
18 games in this league seems like the right number...it's a meat grinder to begin with and to add more games to slate almost seems like punishment for the players. It would be good for the fans, or at least this fan thinks more Big Ten hoops would be preferred to games against Drakkar Noir State.
Brown also asked McCaffery if Iowa was pulling out of the Great Alaskan Shootout in exchange for a trip to an event in the Bahamas.
McCaffery didn't address it, but given the fact that Rick Brown wrote the item and raised the question I am inclined to think that's what may happen. A spot has opened up as Michigan State will now play in a different event.
Per the article, here is the field Iowa would be joining if it switched events: Kansas, Tennessee, Wake Forest, Villanova, Xavier, Southern California and Texas-El Paso. That would be compared to this field in Alaska: Iowa, Alaska-Anchorage, Denver, Harvard, Indiana State, Pepperdine, TCU and Tulsa.
McCaffery may be looking to get his team into a higher profile event. Kansas is going to be rebuilding but will still have talent. In fact, there are a lot of names in that one who provide some good recognition but may not have the bite of years gone by.
When the Big Ten announced it's new divisions on Sunday as well as confirming a nine-game conference schedule beginning in 2016, the first thing i did was look at Iowa State's schedule to see if their 5 home/4 road schedule matchup up with Iowa's since we knew Iowa would have four Big Ten home and five Big Ten road games in 2016. A quick look showed that it did and that pretty much meant the annual CyHawk Showdown between Iowa and Iowa State on the gridiron was saved, if Jamie Pollard and Gary Barta were to be believed about each side's interset in playing in that game.
Mike Hlas wrote that he was happy to see this game continue. I'm mostly OK with it. I wouldn't consider myself ambivalent but would call myself reluctantly pleased it will go on. I still feel that Iowa has far more to lose as a program than Iowa State has to gain by being a part of this series, I think the majority of football fans in the state would vote for this series to continue. If the majority of fans want it, then I certainly don't have any objection worth arguing about.
One thing I saw in Mike's column did jump out at me that I would not mind arguing about:
"Wisconsin opens its 2015 season by playing Alabama at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas. Television accepts that matchup. The Badgers have been going to Rose Bowls."
Mike was making the argument for Iowa to continue playing Iowa State in football, so I get that. Wisconsin will be playing Alabama to open the 2015 season, which is a marquee match up for them.
That said, Wisconsin has been one of the weakest scheduling Big Ten 'powers' in recent years. The Badgers typically have one game against teams from a BCS conference, but those teams have been Washington State, Oregon State, Arizona State, North Carolina, etc. If they knew Oregon State was going to rise up, I doubt they would have scheduled the game. They haven't scheduled an opponent like Alabama in...well....maybe ever. I wouldn't argue too hard with Mike about this, because he's one of my favorites and it would be a silly thing to argue about. Still, I don't like seeing Wisconsin get credit for anything other than what they deserve credit for.
Rick Brown of the Des Moines Register has been following the Iowa coaches around at various I-Club stops this spring and recently attended the Boone County I-Club event where Fran McCaffery spoke.
Brown asked McCaffery what he thought of the Big Ten's changes and asked if he thought the league might go to divisons in basketball. McCaffery didn't think so and did say it was possible the league could play more than the 18 conference games per year it plays right now.
18 games in this league seems like the right number...it's a meat grinder to begin with and to add more games to slate almost seems like punishment for the players. It would be good for the fans, or at least this fan thinks more Big Ten hoops would be preferred to games against Drakkar Noir State.
Brown also asked McCaffery if Iowa was pulling out of the Great Alaskan Shootout in exchange for a trip to an event in the Bahamas.
McCaffery didn't address it, but given the fact that Rick Brown wrote the item and raised the question I am inclined to think that's what may happen. A spot has opened up as Michigan State will now play in a different event.
Per the article, here is the field Iowa would be joining if it switched events: Kansas, Tennessee, Wake Forest, Villanova, Xavier, Southern California and Texas-El Paso. That would be compared to this field in Alaska: Iowa, Alaska-Anchorage, Denver, Harvard, Indiana State, Pepperdine, TCU and Tulsa.
McCaffery may be looking to get his team into a higher profile event. Kansas is going to be rebuilding but will still have talent. In fact, there are a lot of names in that one who provide some good recognition but may not have the bite of years gone by.
