When will this end?

At what point does SUI again stop scheduling in-state schools in athletics? It's just embarrassing for them.

They earn nothing from the games. When they win, they will be criticized for not winning by enough. If they lose, the sports world reacts with "What is wrong?" horror. 2005 is another perfect example. Football got dumped by an ISU team that peaked in September and needed 6 weeks to get back on stride. Basketball looked to be Top 10 worthy until UNI and ISU appeared on the schedule. Now a cloud of questions surround the team, as it has 3 of the last 4 years.

Steve Alford has shown during his career that he can focus his team on the big goals- like Big 10 Championships- but they stumble over the pesky teams that don't understand their place in the basketball universe: UNI, ISU, Northwestern, and St. Louis come to mind. Second rate programs daring to battle with Top Tier programs like Iowa. Don't they know who they are?

The simple solution is to just stop scheduling teams that are beneath Iowa's abilities. UNI and ISU are not worthy a date with Iowa. The don't have the fan base, the money, the stadium size or the coaching talent that Iowa has.

In fact, the whole Cy-Hawk trophy concept should be scrapped. It simply brings Iowa down to the level of trade schools like ISU. We stated flat out last spring that the Cy-Hawk Trophy is an award that ISU should never win. If you are Iowa, why would you make a big deal out of something that should never happen? Why not have a trophy competition with Wartburg? It is just as likely Wartburg would win the series as would ISU.

The sooner Iowa realizes how damaging their scheduling of in-state schools is to their Championship prospects, the better.

Peterclone