So, can Iowa be fball AND bball school?

LSimbolo

LSimbolo

Well-Known Member
Of course it can - it has been before. For almost all of the 80s and most of the 90s. But besides 2004-2005 and 2005-2006 school years we really haven't had a school year where both were good since 96-97.

Historically what have been the best academic years for Hawkeye FB and BB? I just brainstormed back to Hayden coming and came up with the following list off the top of my head:

81-82 (Rose Bowl - good Bball)
82-83 (Peach Bowl - Sweet 16)
86-87 (Holiday Bowl - Elite 8)
87-88 (Holiday Bowl - Sweet 16)
90-91 (Rose Bowl - NCAA 2nd Rd)
91-92 (Holiday Bowl - NCAA 2nd Rd)
95-96 (Sun Bowl - NCAA 2nd Rd)
96-97 (Alamo Bowl - NCAA 2nd Rd)
05-06 (Outback Bowl - B10 Tourney Title)

I guess of that list, I'd say 86-87 wins, with 87-88 second. Did 1950's Final Four appearances coincide with Rose Bowls?

84-86 had very good FB and reasonable Bball (with NCAA 1st Rd losses). 04-05 was similar.
 
Did my own research, and no the Final Fours and Rose Bowls were not during same years:

54-55 (Final Four, but FB not good)
55-56 (Final Four, but FB not good)
56-57 (Rose Bowl, but BB not good)
57-58 (FB Good, BB not good)
58-59 (Rose Bowl, but BB not good)

60-61 (FB Good and BB Good) FB 5-1/8-1 and BB 10-4/18-6 (B10 title in FB, 2nd in BB)
 
It's a no brainer.

Of course, Iowa can be both and has been. All we need is a basketball program and voila, we are there.
 
as long as we are good in football
it's the sport i love the most
it's the sport that makes the most money
it's the sport i love the most
it's the sport i have season tickets to
it's the sport i dvr every saturday
 
Absolutely! The two are not mutually exclusive. We already have a good football program, and we are already paying a basketball coach something like $1.2 million per year and building a new practice facility. We are now putting the funds into both programs necessary to make them both good. It's just a question of having the right coaching staffs in place.

I remember having some pretty darn good football and basketball teams in the 80's, and also in parts of the 90's.

Did we not go to both the Rose Bowl and the Final Four in 1980?
 
There are few schools in the nation that have sustained excellence in both schools....excellence might be a tough word to use, because its hard enough to maintain excellence in one program.

Michigan basketball did it in the 1980's and 1990's. Iowa football was pretty darn salty in the 80's and most of the 90's as one person pointed out. Ohio State is in the midst of a decent hoops run, and they have been close to doing this, too.

Traditional basketball schools Kansas, UNC, Duke, Indiana, Kentucky have not had sustained success in football as long as I have been alive...they have flashed in FB a year here or there, but nothing sustained. UCLA had a good run of being good at both, but that has waned on the football field.

Texas is in the midst of a pretty good run right now, and Oklahoma was there in the 1980's and 1990's...Nebraska has not been consistently good in hoops in my lifetime...

So the success that Iowa had in the 1980's and 1990's in both sports was not something that was common. It's more common, if you are going to be very good in one sport, to struggle in the other. Perhaps financial commitment to infrastructure and facilities is a part of that...can't say for sure. Perhaps the passion of the fanbase is another part of it...Iowa fans have always had passion to spare, but it's tough to keep rolling it out there when there has been very little return for that investment. Unrequited passion can lead to apathy in short order.
 
Don't forget the Florida Gators had some success at both football and basketball this decade. Sometimes both programs get the right players at the same time.
 
Well I just had to delete a post I just made...I was about to call Jon out for saying Nebraska has been consistently good in hoops in his lifetime, then I realized I forgot to read the word "not".

Reason for deletion:Im an idiot
 
But anyway, I digest...it is possible to be good at both but not likely anytime soon. College BBall is changing rapidly with one and doners hording together at a small number of select schools, of which Iowa is not one...
 
It comes down to how much money a school has to spend on athletics and right now the Iowa basketball program isn't carrying it's weight.
 
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