Well we didn't win the BT Championship,

  • Thread starter Ian Pike Hammer
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Ian Pike Hammer

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or even second, but I'm feeling pretty good right now, how 'bout you. Get back to me after this week is over, however.
 
#5 in the country at the end of the regular season.. Yep, I'll take it.

Doing well in the BTT would be nice, but hope I'm feeling this good about two weeks from now. Either we'll be celebrating a trip to the Sweet 16, or it'll be pretty gloomy around here. Hope this team can make a good run!
 
I'm happy with the record, could have won one or two more, but could have lost a couple. The injuries are what scares the hell out of me. JW, CJ, and Nunge's injuries have really put a damper on a great stretch of basketball and my hopes for this team. It's all wait and see, but holding my breath on Garza's foul situation every game and wondering if one bump up knocks CJ out of a game sucks. We have a real unsettled situation right now, and Fran has to make some tough choices about what is really important to this team. The Big Tourney will be a bloodbath, high possibility that someone gets hurt. So many cheap shot artist players and coaches in this league who will be yelling "sweep the leg".
 
dahlhawk said:
I'm happy with the record, could have won one or two more, but could have lost a couple. The injuries are what scares the hell out of me. JW, CJ, and Nunge's injuries have really put a damper on a great stretch of basketball and my hopes for this team. It's all wait and see, but holding my breath on Garza's foul situation every game and wondering if one bump up knocks CJ out of a game sucks. We have a real unsettled situation right now, and Fran has to make some tough choices about what is really important to this team. The Big Tourney will be a bloodbath, high possibility that someone gets hurt. So many cheap shot artist players and coaches in this league who will be yelling "sweep the leg".
Click to expand...
Good stuff, Dahl.
 
I was one of the guys who had extreme worry - even pessimism - that we could do what we have just done, especially when we started down a stretch that looked remarkably like the stretch that stretched on for the rest of just about every previous season under Fran.

But for once, we don't look exhausted or disinterested or docile at this point in the season. Like others, I am concerned about our health, and wondering how in the HELL it can be one of our guys landing on someone else's shoe three straight games - and that after we lose one of our best rebounders and defensive players to what was essentially a non-contact play.

But we have a chance for once to do something special. And the time has come that we need to, not just for long-starving Hawk fans, but also for fans of the state of Iowa, who watched one of the best Drake teams in memory get shocked, one of the best Cyclone teams in memory get shocked, one of the best UNI teams that was all but in the Sweet 16 get shocked and ... OK, we're not going to go there.
 
I was just recapping Iowa's conference schedule, you could break it down like this:

Start: 6-1
One loss being to Minnesota in overtime. Possibly our worst loss.

Middle: 1-4
Losses to OSU and Illinois - no shame in that - but 0-2 against Indiana. I guess this is our maybe mythical maybe not Franuary.

Finish: 7-1
Lost to Michigan. They are good.

A very good season, all in all. Minnesota was still looking competitive at the time of our loss to them, but we really had that game in the bag, too bad we couldn't close it out. 0-2 against Indiana stings a bit. Looking at it objectively, they aren't a great team, so it would have been nice to split. Looking at it subjectively, Indiana is annoying af (they are to BB what Nebraska is to FB), so it would have been nice to beat them by a combined margin of, like, 100. Oh well, can't have everything.

In this year's Big Ten, pulling off streaks that combine to go 13-2...that's impressive. With the depth of the league this year, you would need to beat some good teams to pull that off (and we did).

I am still hoping Iowa can do something to really put a special cherry on top for the year. Obviously, you had Garza's remarkable capping of an already remarkable career but, as far as team achievements go, there is a possibility of this team being somewhat anonymous in the annals of history. Yes, those of us who watched it and really pay attention will remember for a long time how tough the Big Ten was this year and what an achievement 3rd place was...but a Sweet 16 run (Iowa's first since '99) would be a great way to really show future generations how special this team was.

Either way, I'm going to enjoy every minute. The team has been a lot of fun to watch and I know, no matter what happens, they are going to leave it all on the court just like they've done all season long.
 
Best regular season in a generation. Probably two. But, that means very little if a kid from Northwestern State banks in a 3 at the buzzer.

I am agnostic about the BTT. If we bounce early, we can chalk it up to Fran sucks in conference tourneys and frankly, the team could use some rest. If we get into the weekend, I like the idea of staying hot. But, regardless, we will be a 2 seed in the tourney and likely out West I would think.

Sweet 16 or bust.....
 
we were picked as a top 5 team at the beginning of the season. We went through a season in the toughest conference in the country. We played up to our hype a lot; we lost some head scratchers. Regular season is over months later. We are a top 5 team. Wow.
 
There really isn't a consensus reg season champ with UM pussing out. BTT and the Dance really IS where its at this season.
 

Lunardi's latest Bracket Watch:​

​

ON THE BUBBLE​

LAST FOUR BYES​

LAST FOUR IN​

FIRST FOUR OUT​

NEXT FOUR OUT​

68-TEAM BRACKET​

Moved Up

Moved Down

New Team to Bracket

Automatic Qualifier

FIRST FOUR​

  1. 16St. Peter's
  2. 16N.C. A&T
  3. 12Drake
  4. 12Colorado St.
  5. 16Appalachian St.
  6. 16Mount St. Mary's
  7. 12Boise St.
  8. 12Syracuse

REGION 1​

​

  1. 1Gonzaga
  2. 16St. Peter's/N.C. A&T
  3. 8LSU
  4. 9St. Bonaventure

​

  1. 5Florida St.
  2. 12Drake/Colorado St.
  3. 4Purdue
  4. 13UCSB

​

  1. 6Oregon
  2. 11Louisville
  3. 3Kansas
  4. 14Grand Canyon

​

  1. 7San Diego St.
  2. 10Maryland
  3. 2Ohio State
  4. 15Drexel

REGION 4​

​

  1. 1Illinois
  2. 16App St./Mount St. Mary's
  3. 8Loyola Chicago
  4. 9North Carolina

​

  1. 5Texas Tech
  2. 12Boise St./Syracuse
  3. 4Villanova
  4. 13UNCG

​

  1. 6USC
  2. 11Wichita St
  3. 3Texas
  4. 14Colgate

​

  1. 7BYU
  2. 10Rutgers
  3. 2Alabama
  4. 15Nicholls St.

REGION 2​

​

  1. 1Baylor
  2. 16Prairie View A&M
  3. 8Missouri
  4. 9UConn

​

  1. 5Creighton
  2. 12Toledo
  3. 4Virginia
  4. 13W. Kentucky

​

  1. 6Oklahoma
  2. 11VCU
  3. 3Arkansas
  4. 14Southern Utah

​

  1. 7Clemson
  2. 10Michigan St.
  3. 2Iowa
  4. 15Cleveland St.

REGION 3​

​

  1. 1Michigan
  2. 16Hartford
  3. 8Florida
  4. 9Virginia Tech

​

  1. 5Colorado
  2. 12Winthrop
  3. 4Oklahoma St.
  4. 13Liberty

​

  1. 6Tennessee
  2. 11Georgia Tech
  3. 3West Virginia
  4. 14Morehead St.

​

  1. 7Wisconsin
  2. 10UCLA
  3. 2Houston
  4. 15Oral Roberts
Edit: I gotta think Louisville is out after today's loss
 
Also would have a potential Iowa/MSU matchup in round 2. That would be kinda BS, IMO (making a 2 seed play a team that's already seen us twice in the round of 32).
 
Luftgekuehlt67 said:
Also would have a potential Iowa/MSU matchup in round 2. That would be kinda BS, IMO (making a 2 seed play a team that's already seen us twice in the round of 32).
Click to expand...

I agree on that one. I've been excited about the season and where we ended up. We have one of those teams that if we get hot shooting we can beat anyone. The defense has improved. Never going to be our strength, but good enough to beat most teams. Now it becomes critical to be locked in defensively every possession. Hoping we are full health. Some of those losses we were without a starter.

I'm very excited that this team gets to show what it can do unlike the shortened season last year. I'm beyond excited for Friday and I'll be jumping around like a kid before christmas next week. This years tournament is going to be wild.
 
Michigan State didn't help its case for even making the dance by losing to Maryland.

Maryland is helping theirs big time with their late season surge.
 
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