Non-conference schedule official

Hawkalum2002

Hawkalum2002

Well-Known Member
And we don't have much margin for error, a lot of 300 plus teams on there, maybe worse than last years.

http://www.hawkeyesports.com/schedule.aspx?schedule=424

I predict 10-3, a loss in the tourney (needs to be Cincy or it'll be a bad one), at VaTech and then either ISU or Colorado. I have us 9-9 or 10-8 in conference (playing Michigan twice being the tricky one for me, if their transfers are as good as I think they are, they won't drop as much as some expect, but we could sweep them if they are down) so any preseason slip ups to a bad team and we'll be playing in the BTT to try and beat the bubble again. I said at the end of last year we were still another year away from the dance, presuming Cook stays as a junior, so my personal expectations are similar to last year. But should make for an interesting ride to see if the bullish optimism most folks have is more accurate than the national pundits expectations thus far.

What predictions have you got for the non-conference record?
 


Hawkalum2002 said:
And we don't have much margin for error, a lot of 300 plus teams on there, maybe worse than last years.

http://www.hawkeyesports.com/schedule.aspx?schedule=424

I predict 10-3, a loss in the tourney (needs to be Cincy or it'll be a bad one), at VaTech and then either ISU or Colorado. I have us 9-9 or 10-8 in conference (playing Michigan twice being the tricky one for me, if their transfers are as good as I think they are, they won't drop as much as some expect, but we could sweep them if they are down) so any preseason slip ups to a bad team and we'll be playing in the BTT to try and beat the bubble again. I said at the end of last year we were still another year away from the dance, presuming Cook stays as a junior, so my personal expectations are similar to last year. But should make for an interesting ride to see if the bullish optimism most folks have is more accurate than the national pundits expectations thus far.

What predictions have you got for the non-conference record?
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I haven't studied it. How many 300+ teams are on there?
 




Belmont Abbey College, really? What Harry Potter University wasn't available? That's an embarrassing schedule in some respects. We better beat ISU and VATech.
 






WinOneThisCentury said:
Belmont Abbey College, really? What Harry Potter University wasn't available? That's an embarrassing schedule in some respects. We better beat ISU and VATech.
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And it puts a lot of pressure to win those ISU and VATech games. Lose those then wins over only #297 or whatever, selection committee will not like us. And they would be right.
 


WinOneThisCentury said:
Belmont Abbey College, really? What Harry Potter University wasn't available? That's an embarrassing schedule in some respects. We better beat ISU and VATech.
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The first two are just exhibition games, although playing Harry Potter sounds like a tough one with the magic and all! But a far cry from playing Augustana two years ago when we lost (although we played it like an exhibition game and they played it like the real deal in the first half or we'd have clobbered them like we did the last ten minutes before they got their buzzer beater to hold us off).
 






That's pretty underwhelming. Hopefully some of those teams perform better than we hope otherwise it's going to hurt our RPI quite a bit.
 


I don't really mind the weak non-conference schedule this year. Iowa is still very young, and they need the minutes to see what they really have. Remember, at the start of last season Dom Uhl and Christian Williams were starters. Fran didn't really know what he had in some of the younger guys and that will be the case again this year with Garza, Nunge...even Moss/Dailey/Kriener/etc.

10-3 is a pretty realistic record for this nonconference schedule. VT and ISU are road games. Colorado is a Neutral game as are the Cayman games where Iowa could meet up with a very good Cincy team. So their top opponents are all away from home which won't hurt their resume if they lose.
 


Buying games is tough in CB - most teams have several games against horrible competition - some work it better than others. Iowa I will admit seems to have issues rigging it in their favor. But, the fact is, most years the B1G is good enough for this to be a non factor. Oh, and you CAN'T LOSE your buy games either.
 








ArvadaHawk said:
the conference schedule home games are pretty good and we get a lot of the big guns at home or home/away.

http://www.hawkcentral.com/story/sp...-ten-basketball-opponents-revealed/525312001/
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That's a favorable schedule for sure. On the other hand we don't have many opportunities for big road wins which probably places more of a premium on beating ISU or VT in the non conference. It sounds like the committee is going to place more of a premium on the road wins.
 




I wonder how hard it is to get the RPI 100-200 schools to play at CHA. I'd bet it's not easy. They know they are going to lose so they'd probably rather lose to a brand name like MSU, KS, NC, WI, Duke, FL, KY, etc. There also aren't many in our backyard like there are on the coasts and in OH, MI and IN. Maybe they try and can't get the home only matchups. UNI requires a reciprocal game.
 


NikeHawk21 said:
That's a favorable schedule for sure. On the other hand we don't have many opportunities for big road wins which probably places more of a premium on beating ISU or VT in the non conference. It sounds like the committee is going to place more of a premium on the road wins.
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that's true, but if we can take care of business at home and if we can get 3-5 roadies, we could be looking at a top 4 finish in the B1G. We'd be in the dance.
 


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