New Guy

Maybe the new guy in Iowa City will be a big winner. Maybe not. Lots of hot Mid-Major coaches are now TV analysts or hawking sneakers, too.

Like recruiting, hiring coaches is a total crapshoot. 2/3 don't work out.

Peter

Cash

CU has no cash to fire Hawkins, but enough to can the WBB coach.

Then again, the buyouts are different by a factor of 20, but the income difference is a factor of 50.

Gotta look like you are trying.

Peter

Opportunity

Bring on Goliath.

Peter

Hustle trumps Talent

I guess having 3 McDonald's All-Americans isn't enough to beat Northern Iowa. I'm sure KU will just go out and find a couple more.

They have a funny habit of either making the Final Four or flaming out early. There's a sportswriter metaphor about having a tank full of racing fuel and instability, but I'm not going to work too hard for it.

I shed no tears for KU. Better fire Self, clearly he's in over his head.

Good thing they have football to fall back on.

Peter

Goblas

Keeler nails SUI hoops.

Too bad we're on the cusp of needing our own Johnny Orr. Again.

Peter

Brackets

Since I have a soft spot for basketball Schools that don't play Big Time Football, here are my Final Four teams:

Butler
Temple
Villanova
Kansas (wah-wah-wahhhhhh)

It's been a few years since I've been able to make that joke.

Peter

"Hello, My Name Is"

Good thing Greg and Co. buys name tags by the gross.

Can you play right away? Call now- operators are standing by.

Peter

Money=Success

Money helps in hoops, too:

NYT: Big East Winners Spend More Than Losers

Some of those numbers aren't far from lots of DI football budgets.

I must be old, because I remember when DePaul and St. Johns were basketball powers.

Peter

Big News

ISU finished last 7 of the last 8 years in the B12 All-Sports rankings. This year we're fifth, so its all good, apparently.

While I think Jamie has done a good job on the whole, does data like that get brought up at his annual review? What should our expectation be? I guess when you have the smallest budget last place isn't surprising.

Anyone who doesn't think the rest of the league would dump us in a second should consider that little factoid.

BTW- We're also keeping our basketball coach.

Peter

Anti-Choke

A heck of a win for a team that had given up on its lame duck, in-over-his-head coach.

Peter

Sorry Fellas

That was a choke.

Rather symbolic of the season as a whole, unfortunately.

Peter

Snakebit

Shoot 45%? Check
Crush your opponent on the boards? Check.
Make some threes? Check.

Look at the ISU half of the box score and one would think they won. Wrong.

Of course CU would be outplayed in every possible way, but shoot an impossible percentage to eek out a home win.

Figures.

Peter

Cutthroat

A scenario for Big 1011 expansion nobody is talking about: dumping Northwestern and Iowa.

Really- if one is trying to build a Super Conference for maximum eyeballs, Iowa has neither the population base or national interest to be a big TV draw. If you are going to have a football school from a small population state, trade Iowa for Nebraska. Huskers vs. Ohio State/Michigan/Penn State every year? Ratings bonanza!

NW doesn't have the alumni base or local interest, despite being in Chicago. That's what you get for having academic standards.

Iowa fan is smug looking at Iowa State's long-term prospects, but if you take the dispassionate view, all they have is being a legacy.

(I know, it would never happen. Just saying.)

Peter

Finish

For once, our Cyclones put the game away late. Amazing what happens when you shut down a team that was otherwise scoring at will.

At least the men have tied the football team for B12 wins this season, something I didn't expect would be such a milestone in August. So it goes.

The difference between the #9 and #10 vs. #11 or #12 in the tourney is huge.

Peter

Bury him, I guess

 If Ron Maly has given up on Greg, then I guess its over.

Then again, Ron gave up on Rhodes after two games, so take his obituary writing at your own risk.

Peter

The Impossible Happens Again

Iowa State has clinched their third HyVee Cy-Hawk trophy.

Given that Iowa City has every advantage- Huge budget, a win-at-all-costs mentality compared to Ames, 3:1 fan advantage, adoring media, etc, etc, Iowa State should never win this trophy. Never.

The fact that they are running .500 in this "contest" is hysterical, and shows who knows how to get more bang for their buck.

Considering ISU did this the hard way- by losing the football game, and the 3 points that go with it- is even more remarkable.

Granted, Iowa fan doesn't care about this thing. As long as they thump ISU in football and wrasslin', all is well.

It's still fun to win the unwinnable.

Peter

Finding A Way

When your last 10 minutes is a collection of bad shots, missed free throws, ole' defense and butterfingers ball handling, the refs are not going to bail you out.

They tend to favor the team that plays like it knows what it is doing.

Just sayin'.

Peter

Fadeaway

Greg certainly isn't mailing it in- good to see him get on the refs.

If Brackins never shoots another fadeaway jumper, it will still be too many. The dude can draw a foul on every shot attempt if he want to.

Show some stones.

Peter

Boom

Beating the #11 team by 24 doesn't suck. Using 16 threes to do it was fun, too.

Good luck in Lincoln, ladies.

Peter

Poachers

Now the target is Colorado.

Cyclone fans need to cross their fingers and toes on all of this realignment talk. We are one departure away from being the northern outpost of Conference USA or eastern end of the Mountain West.

It wouldn't end well for us, friends.

Peter