Lots of speculation. Will it be formally announced today?

This team was certainly going to have some growing pains. Tennessee is not going to the last team to expose weaknesses. Every player on the team has to get better for the Hawkeyes to have a 20 plus win season. Still, undue pessimism at the point is to sell this team and the coaching staff far too short! Next game is Wednesday night…

This isn't surprising but jesus ****ing christ. The man is a nut. I'm curious how many animal carcasses he'll leave in random places or take home during the next 4 years.

I’d imagine most of the Iowa State players will play in its bowl game. On the flip side, I see Miami being gutted for the game. Transfer portal, leaving for the draft, sitting out cuz they’re pissed they didn’t make the playoffs, and an overall lack of interest in playing Iowa State (take a look at social media… there’s absolutely zero buzz out of Miami or its fans about playing ISU). That said, I see Iowa State winning this one big.

Wondering the same about Iowa - Missouri. Neither really had a chance at the playoffs, so other than a few star players (KJ, etc), I’m thinking a lot of starters will play. Or no? I’ll say Iowa by 4.

I gots me 1 Abe Lincoln!

How ‘bout you?

I am a fan of high rye and high proof bourbons. I have the means to get what I want within reason. "Within reason" is different for everyone including me and my wife. I have multiple bottles in my cabinet that are in the $150-$200 range and a couple more than that.

Right now, I'm on the lookout for a bottle of Little Book Edition 1 "The Infinite". The msrp is $200 with secondary markets selling it for double that. I'd probably be willing to go to $300-$350. My wife doesn't understand that at all. What would you be willing to pay for a single bottle?

I'm a couple miles from the airport. I'm used to that when I'm in Tucson and Boise as the two airports combine. That's not normal for Eastern Iowa Airport.

They were headed East under the clouds. Anyone in the QC? Shooting down drones?

WHO: #3 Iowa State Cyclones (7-1)
WHEN: 6:30 PM CT (Thursday, December 12, 2024)
WHERE: Carver-Hawkeye Arena (Iowa City, IA)
TV: FS1 (Cory Provus and Bill Raftery)
RADIO: Hawkeye Radio Network (Gary Dolphin, Bobby Hansen)
MOBILE: foxsports.com/mobile
ONLINE: foxsports.com/live
FOLLOW: @HawkeyeBeacon | @IowaHoops | @CBBonFOX | @IowaonBTN
LINE: Iowa State -5.5 (total of 159.5)
KENPOM: Iowa State -5 (Iowa State 69% chance of winning)

After a two-game appetizer of Big Ten action, Iowa returns to non-conference play for a few more weeks -- and faces its toughest test of the season so far: #3 Iowa State, 7-1 on the season and looking every bit the part of a Top-5 team. The game is also the annual CyHawk clash, of course, which hasn't featured many close games of late.

Since an 84-78 Iowa State win in 2018, no CyHawk game has been decided by less than 14 points (a 98-84 Iowa win in 2019). Last year was one of the most lopsided, with Iowa State rolling Iowa, 90-65, in Ames. The Hawkeyes have won four-straight games over the Cyclones in Iowa City, by an average of 18.8 points per game.

MORE HERE:

Iowa City is canceling a $1.3 million project that would have improved the Riverside Drive pedestrian bridge and spiral ramp at Iowa Avenue after no contractors bid on the project.



Construction on the project was scheduled to start in the spring of 2025 and end later in the summer. The rehabilitation project would have included improvements to the concrete on the bridge and ramp, expansion joint rehabilitation, as well as a new handrail and lighting.


A 2019 report found concrete spalling and exposed reinforcement on the bridge. The proposed project planned to improve the aesthetics of the bridge while also addressing concerns about the state of the concrete.




City Manager Geoff Fruin said the city has no structural concerns with the current bridge and will continue to evaluate the future of the bridge in the coming years while performing ongoing maintenance on the structure.

Minimizing travel impacts​

The deadline to bid on the project was Oct. 4, but the city extended the deadline after no contractors bid on the project. The decision to cancel the project was made earlier this month after the city gathered feedback from project contractors.


“The project schedule and work limitations were quite stringent as the City was aiming to minimize impacts on all modes of travel during construction,” Fruin said.


The pedestrian bridge, which crosses a busy Riverside Road, connecting the University of Iowa medical campus with the main campus, would have been closed for the entirety of the project. Additionally, one lane of traffic would be closed at times during the construction period.





ADVERTISING


“As we explored other approaches to the project, we concluded that in the short-term that changes to the construction approach that could attract more contractors to bid on the project, would have had too significant of impacts on travel in that region,” said Fruin.

Shared maintenance responsibility​

The Iowa Department of Transportation, University of Iowa and City of Iowa City share responsibility for the maintenance of the pedestrian bridge.


The DOT is responsible for 50 percent of all maintenance costs associated with the bridge, while the city and university are each responsible for 25 percent.


Iowa City would have spent approximately $325,000 on the pedestrian bridge rehabilitation project.

Other pedestrian bridge will be studied​

A similar pedestrian bridge down the road also may undergo future work.


Preliminary work is underway to replace Iowa City’s Burlington Street Bridges, which cross the river east of Riverside Drive, one eastbound and one westbound. A 2021 inspection reported the bridges were in “poor” condition and “structurally deficient.” The cost estimate for the project is $30 million.


A consultant, Cedar Rapids-based HDR, is studying the bridges to offer a preliminary design for their replacement. Iowa City, the University of Iowa and the Iowa DOT are working together on the project.


As part of the study, the spiral pedestrian ramp and bridge at Riverside Drive and Burlington Street also will be examined. The current ramp — whose design is similar to the bridge at Iowa Avenue — is not compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act.


A preferred design for the Burlington Street Bridges project is expected to be finalized in 2026.

I've seen updates for several days on this story, and it looks like the police are making progress. Multiple people have reported that while driving a night they came upon debris in the road, and had to swerve to avoid hitting it. In one case the driver could not successfully avoid the debris and wound up in a ravine. Each driver reported a man walking up to them after the accident. The immediate speculation being that the man was putting the debris into the road to cause the incidents.
https://www.wowt.com/2024/12/18/sea...estigation-into-bennington-crashes-continues/

Please tell me he's better than this and will be a good contributor this year.... but he looks terrible on both ends of the floor now

With Florida announcing the return of Napier. Auburn doing the same with Freeze and South Carolina getting it together with Beamer. It looks like the once anticipated moves not looking to occur, or at least with top shelf programs like Florida, USC, and Notre Dame. We may be in a position where more guys like Cignetti aren't going to be moving up.

With NIL and the new expanded playoff, this might be the norm. If Cignetti can win at the Ferentz clip with the compensation, it may be more secure than a place like Ohio State. Ryan Day has never won less than ten games outside of 2020. He's on the hot seat. Sherron Moore is guiding a gutted Michigan team to at least a bowl appearance and he's getting roasted.

Dan Mullen got fired at Florida, he had a top 15 ranked squad and recruiting class. But he was deemed a failure. If Indiana can make the playoff, Cignetti is an all-time great at Indiana. In Ann Arbor or Columbus he's got to make it every year and he better win the whole thing by year three. If he's making the dough and doing what Campbell is doing at Iowa State, it's got to be a great lifestyle.

Then again, Florida, USC and Penn State may open up next year. They've got pressure, resources, history and are just better programs. Eventually they're gonna rebound and the man who does that is going to be heralded as superstars.

It's de ja vu all over again. The Hawkeye WR room has been a national laughing stock for more than 5 years now. While players and coaches have come and gone, the lack of talent at the WR position remains

Bostick. When hyped but unproven WR Jacob Bostick announced he was leaving Iowa and transferring to talent rich Texas A&M after receiving big $, fans were left scratching their heads. Did A&M see something in the guy that Ferentz never did? After all, the guy had high expectations going into last season, yet finished the year with ZERO receptions. It turns out, after six games in the SEC, Bostick has a grand total of...ONE catch for 14 yards. It came at the end of a blowout win against an FCS school. Bostick likely would have had his union card at Iowa by now and been starting this year.

Vines. What about Iowa's other WR to jump ship after last season, Diante Vines? Vines played way more than he should have last year with mixed results. He had 12 catches for the Hawks and something like 14 drops. Like Deacon Hill, Vines realized he had no business playing Big 10 football and ultimately transferred down a level to Old Dominion. This year, Vines has 20 catches for 190 yards. He too would likely be starting for the Hawks this year.

Kasper. Then there's Kyler Kasper. The 4 star legacy recruit had Iowa in his final 2 schools out of high school. He ultimately chased the $ and the high powered offense and picked Oregon. Unfortunately for him, lots of 4 star WRs go to Oregon and Kasper wasn't utilized at all during his first two years. Iowa was desperate for talent at WR those years, so during this past offseason, there were rumors Kasper was thinking about transferring to Iowa for playing time. He ultimately stayed put at Oregon. So how is he doing in his 3rd year with the Ducks? He is 9th on their WR depth chart and has a grand total of...1 catch. He too would likely be starting at Iowa.

Brecht. Brecht was a 4 star guy who never lived up to his football potential. Rather than endure another year with Brian Ferentz calling plays last year, he opted to focus on baseball. In this, his senior year, Brecht likely would have been the team's primary WR. While Brecht was drafted by the Colorado Rockies organization, he does not have any pro stats yet.

Johnson. Believe it or not, Kaegan Johnson, who started at WR for Iowa way back in 2021, is still playing college ball. Oddly, it appears he peaked his freshmen year at Iowa, where he had 18 catches for 350 yards. In six games this year as a senior at Kansas State, Johnson has 14 catches for 161 yards. He's their team's second leading receiver.

Bruce. Arland Bruce should still be a senior in still in college. He too started for the Hawks as a freshmen in 2021, where his career peaked with 25 catches for 209 yards. He had a sophomore slump, left the program to get away from the Brian Ferentz offense, then was embroiled in the gambling scandal.

Not all WR recruits turn out to be stars. But it's mystifying just how bad Iowa's eye for talent & retention is at this position. Unfortunately, with the Cade McNamera 100 yrd per game passing attack, and Iowa's worst coach/recruiter Budmeyer responsible for recruiting and coaching all new WR talent, the future is anything but bright.