OK, assuming we make the tourney...

How will we fare?

  • One and done

    Votes: 11 19.0%

  • Two and out

    Votes: 29 50.0%

  • Sweet 16

    Votes: 10 17.2%

  • Elite 8

    Votes: 1 1.7%

  • Final 4

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Championship game

    Votes: 1 1.7%

  • National Champion

    Votes: 6 10.3%
  • Total voters
    58
  • Poll closed .
I

Ian Pike Hammer

Guest
how far can we go? 6 straight wins and you are the National Champion.
 
I figure two and out, with Sweet 16 as our absolute ceiling. As a 5 to 8 seed, we can beat pretty much anyone that is a 9 to 12. The second game, against a 1 to 4 seed, would be the challenge. Getting past THAT game would be a tall order, IMO. But...IF we WERE to get past Sweet 16, it takes a great deal of "luck", "intangibles", and a WHOLE lot of "etc." and "miscellaneous".

Come late March, it's a lot more about "momentum" and "chemistry". It also doesn't hurt if you get a few built-in perks like never leaving your region, or having officials--both on and off the court--recognize and like you.

A JBo or Joe W. can get hot and carry a team for a couple games. A duo like Garza/Cook, especially if another "big" can ramp it up, can make a team look a lot better than many expect. When the rest of the team matches that intensity and concentration, a team can go pretty deep.

Still, anything beyond the second weekend is always awesome if you are seeded anything 6 or lower. Unless I'm very wrong, this team isn't a 4- or 5-seed, at least right now. But you can't rule it out if things go our way the rest of conference season and BTT. Go 12 wins or better and make at least the semis of that, and you're potentially looking at about a 5- or 6-seed (other conferences depending, of course). A lot of "blue blood" teams get a 2- or 3-seed with 8 losses. Best case for an Iowa with 8 losses is probably 6- or 7-seed, MAYBE a 5-seed if we reach BTT Final.
 
It's too hard to say. It depends on our seed which obviously determines the quality of our first and second round opponents.

Assuming the Hawks end up in that 7-10 seed range, then 2nd round is probably as far as they go. That's my official vote.

If they can sneak into the top 5 seed range, then the 2nd round game becomes more of a coin flip. Then you're likely playing a 1-2 seed in the Sweet 16, which is probably the end of the road.

Obviously upsets can turn a region upside down and then anything can happen, though.

The ncaa tournament can be a fickle thing..
 
It’s going to be a tough ride. We need 6 more wins to guarantee a tournament bid. That means we have to win all of the games we are expected to plus 1 on the road against a decent team or 1 at home against a good team. If we do that I think we win a tournament game also.
 
I think you obviously hope for a lot more....but today....i'd expect two and out. Im open to changing that philosophy if we can beat Purdue/Wisky/Michigan/Michigan State/Indiana....win 2 against those teams and ill believe there's a chance at more. If we are looking 7,8,9,10 seed, that second round against a 1/2...i dont see it happening today. Hope im wrong. Usually takes good defense to hang with a 1/2.
 
All this talk just means Iowa's going to lose to Illinois today and we're all going to go back into panic/fire Fran mode
 
I voted one and done for now. It will all depend on matchups and of course seeding.

I’d like to see us get at least a 6 seed to avoid the 1/2 seeds.
 
ibahawkeye said:
I voted one and done for now. It will all depend on matchups and of course seeding.

I’d like to see us get at least a 6 seed to avoid the 1/2 seeds.
Click to expand...

We can get a GENERAL idea of our seed by our ranking, tho this certainly ain't written in stone.
The top 4 teams in the AP/coaches poll get #1 seeds, 5-8, #2 seeds etc... We're gonna move up a couple of spots in the polls b/c teams ahead of us lost, maybe to around #20. That's the equivalent of a 5 seed, [roughly], tho I think we're sitting at a 6/7 seed right now.
We have a rough schedule ahead including MIch. St., Maryland [16-3,5-1] and Mich.
It's all about winning and finishing strong.
 
You left out:

This is a FM coached team, don't count your horses yet.

This is a FM coached team. How could you ever get a read.

The NCAA is very unpredictable.
 
I will say 2 and out.
NCAA tournament you need good/great guard play. We have to tools, it just comes down to playing our game, and hope we dont have a bad game from 3
 
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