No. 12 Illinois Pulls Away from Iowa

NorthKCHawk said:
If Iowa wins the next three, they will be even in Quad 1, 2, 3 games, which is sort of the mendoza line for consideration. They would also collect two more Quad 1 wins, which are huge. They would also be above .500 in a power conference. Even sweeping the rest of the regular season might not be enough though as you noted, but another quality win in the conference tourney might sneak them in.

That said, I don't see a sweep. Gotta be real. They have 3 tough games left. I just want to see them play high level basketball for the next 4-5 games and then take that play into the NIT. They could make some noise given how well they are playing of late.
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That is what I don’t get. Beating Minnesota was a Quad 1 victory two days ago, and now that the Gophers got wrecked by Nebraska, that Quad 1 victory goes away. Iowa destroyed Seton Hall early in the year and they are now just one spot behind them in the NET rankings, and frankly, their resume is a lot better.

I don’t think the 20-win mark is the magic elixir that will get Iowa into the tournament
 
trj said:
That is what I don’t get. Beating Minnesota was a Quad 1 victory two days ago, and now that the Gophers got wrecked by Nebraska, that Quad 1 victory goes away. Iowa destroyed Seton Hall early in the year and they are now just one spot behind them in the NET rankings, and frankly, their resume is a lot better.

I don’t think the 20-win mark is the magic elixir that will get Iowa into the tournament
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I remember a few years ago nebraska racked up quite a few wins and got left out of the tournament. But their conference schedule was crazy weak. They played all the bottom teams twice and the tip teams once. They also had a shitty non conference. We will have played the top 3 teams twice (unless nebraska finishes ahead of wisconsin). Either way, schedule wise we are in better shape than nebraska was that year. They might have had 22 wins or so tho. Can't remember exactly.
 
InGoodCo said:
Right, that's what I meant when I said win all 3, you're probably in but losing to Ohio State, Maryland, Indiana or whoever they draw for the first game would make me sweat on Sunday. Could be in play in game scenario in that situation -- which I would take.
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Me too. In a heartbeat
 
trj said:
That is what I don’t get. Beating Minnesota was a Quad 1 victory two days ago, and now that the Gophers got wrecked by Nebraska, that Quad 1 victory goes away. Iowa destroyed Seton Hall early in the year and they are now just one spot behind them in the NET rankings, and frankly, their resume is a lot better.

I don’t think the 20-win mark is the magic elixir that will get Iowa into the tournament
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From what a read, and as I mentioned above, the starting point is a team's record against Quad's 1, 2, and 3. If that record is not at least at .500, it is highly unlikely you make it. I think Iowa is 2 games down there, so they need to at least go 3-2 moving forward (2-1 finish and 1-1 in tourney) just to get to that starting point. After that, Iowa would likely have a not great record against Quad 1, but a pretty decent record against Quad 2. It would come down to comparing and contrasting those 5-7 teams that are all in similar boats.

What Iowa would have going for them would be a trend line of its good wins coming at the end of the season. While the committee says body of work is what matters, how you finish could be the differentiator. The committee wants a strong field and upsets and cinderellas are what make March Madness the greatest show in sports for a month. All things being equal, a team on the come is more attractive than someone limping across the line.

First things first, win tonight or this is all academic.
 
This is fun. Unless Iowa loses the next two, we'll basically have a month of tournament type basketball, which started with the comeback win against Wisconsin.

Man, if they can knock this next one back, it gets really exciting. Going to Evanston on a mission.

Get that one, and we'd set up for the most anticipated game (men's game, at least) in Carver in years.

Essentially Iowa-Illinois would be a play in game. 15,000 on senior night, a Sunday evening. Iowa's best rival over the last 40 years. I think most likely a bid would come down to that game.

Anyone got keys to an '89 Blazer they'd be willing to jingle during Illinois' free throws?
 
Being on the bubble with a few games to go was about as much as I hoped for at the beginning of the season. This squad came a lot further than I expected. There is more talent to this team than I thought going into the season. If bubble/NIT is the floor for Fran at this stage of his coaching tenure, the MBB is in pretty good shape right now.
 
NorthKCHawk said:
They need to replace Krikke in the portal no matter what. If TP comes back they are otherwise set. If not, I think Iowa should bring in another PG because there is not one in the incoming class. I like Dix and Harding enough at the PG that I don't think PG is as critical if TP does leave. Mulvey and Bowen need to move on, so there should be a schollie or two open.
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Frans O really really needs a stud PG to be able to maximize how good they can be but he's had a hell of a time finding one. Either they can't shoot very well and can defend (Gessel) or they can shoot but aren't big/quick enough to defend well (JBo) So with what they have going on he definitely needs to be looking for his unicorn. If he can find/land one is always another story.

Yeah Bowen I think is gone. He's probably going to go back closer to home I would think. He's gotta be seeing the writing on the wall and I don't see why he'd want to repeat a season like this for himself. He's not even played the last game or two at all I don't think. So yeah unless something drastic happens with a guard getting hurt I don't see Fran playing him much down the stretch.

Mulvey should leave but where's he gonna go? Down a level? I thought after last yr he might but instead he redshirted. So maybe he still will leave but he has a Deacon Hill kind of feel to me where he's so bad that he doesn't have anywhere else to go so he'll end up sticking around... Difference being Fran will keep him burried on the bench as a waste of a scholly and not play him like KF does Hill.
 
rschneider said:
Regardless this team has kept me interested throughout the season. Fresh air watching these kids grow.
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When KF goes 7-5 it seems so tragically boring given his style of play. When Fran has a rebuilding year its still fun to watch because man they get the ball up and down the floor. A 91-85 loss in MBB had a lot of action. A 9-6 loss in football? Not so much.
 
InGoodCo said:
Iowa is in the predictive first 8 out as of now, they absolutely can still play themselves in without winning the B1G tournament. It matters what Iowa does, but what everyone else does matters to. Keep an eye on any of these teams over the next 2 weeks. If Iowa can get to .500 in the B1G and be the 7 seed or higher, I think one BTT game gets them in.

Need these teams to not do well to end their season

Virginia WON
Providence LOST
Gonzaga
Texas A&M LOST
Nova Won
Utah
Colorado Won
Butler LOST
Ole MIss LOST
Kansas State WON
Cinci LOST
Pitt LOST
Drake WON
Oregon currently losing

Iowa is pretty much in the same boat as all of these teams - NOT all of them are going to finish strong - some will play their way in, some will play their way out. Iowa can definitely still play their way in.
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Virginia WON
Providence LOST
Gonzaga
Texas A&M LOST
Nova Won
Utah
Colorado Won
Butler LOST
Ole MIss LOST
Kansas State WON
Cinci LOST
Pitt LOST
Drake WON
Oregon currently losing

Oh and Seton Hall is on the bubble as well and LOST

Im telling ya. NW is not deep, they’re beatable. If Iowa can get a W on Saturday, they’ll get a literal week to watch all college basketball lose games around them before they get a crack at a Q1 finale. Things so far are setting up well for Iowa
 
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InGoodCo said:
Oh and Seton Hall is on the bubble as well and LOST

Im telling ya. NW is not deep, they’re beatable. If Iowa can get a W on Saturday, they’ll get a literal week to watch all college basketball lose games around them before they get a crack at a Q1 finale. Things so far are setting up well for Iowa
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A win also gives fans one more week of interest in other games and hope.
 
Butler has a 5 game losing streak
getty_185552333_187331.jpg
 
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