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Dream draw for March

truehawkfan45

All-Conference
Jan 13, 2020
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Under Fran, it feels like we’ve never gotten a favorable draw, always playing a tough first rounder & then running into a second round opponent that’s either best on their line or under seeded.

Lady Lucky has to come around at some point, right? If we get a decent draw, this team is absolutely capable of making it to the weekend.

Would love to see us climb to a 6 seed, and play a soft 3 seed like Providence for a chance at the sweet 16.
 
11 seed would be good. Play a 6 seed, win and play a 3 seed. Yes, a 6 seed would be better, but to get that Iowa will have to play lights out through the BTT.
 
Beat Nebraska and NW, then get 1 more (MSU, Mich, Ill) and a 6 might be within reach.

Right now a 6 or 7 seed in the B1G Tournament - means they will play a higher seed in R1, then probably a 2 or 3 in RD2.
 
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That 8/9 line just sucks. You either have to win out, or very close to it, to get to a 7 or go 3-2 1-1 and maybe get a 10. Although at this point Kansas is projected as a 1. Iowa can beat them. They aren’t nearly as formidable as past years plus their big guy isn’t a scary beast monster
I think 3-2, 1-1 gets Hawks to the 7 line. But I'm with _08, just get in. You have to make the Dance to be relevant/continue positive momentum with the program.

Oh and the dream draw is also a team who shoots like OSU did on Saturday.
 
Get in and go west!! Portand w/ Gonzaga #1 seed Iowa 8/9. This would be my dream matchup since i will be there !!
 
That 8/9 line just sucks. You either have to win out, or very close to it, to get to a 7 or go 3-2 1-1 and maybe get a 10. Although at this point Kansas is projected as a 1. Iowa can beat them. They aren’t nearly as formidable as past years plus their big guy isn’t a scary beast monster
Exactly. Data shows it’s better to receive a 11-13 seed if you’re goal is the Sweet 16.
And I’ll say, I would take the Hawks in any matchup with a 5/6 seed right now.

The only teams that I think we would have no shot against are Gonzaga, Nova, and maybe Kentucky.. but UK would have to shoot well to beat us and they aren’t that great of a 3pt shooting team.
 
Iowa has seldom received any favors in the NCAA matchups. Dr. Tom's teams seemed to play Duke in the second round on a regular basis. And there's no doubt that other than a handful of teams, how you do in the NCAA is largely determined by matchups. Maybe this will be that odd year when those fall in Iowa's favor. That would be fun.
 
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Iowa has seldom received any favors in the NCAA matchups. Dr. Tom's teams seemed to play Duke in the second round on a regular basis. And there's no doubt that other than a handful of teams, how you do in the NCAA is largely determined by matchups. Maybe this will be that odd year when those fall in Iowa's favor. That would be fun.
No doubt, in the 90's Iowa got stuck with Duke a few times and Kentucky as well. And then last year they played a double digit seed who got a first round bye! That's some bad luck.

I'd say the Hawks have no chance against Gonzaga, Arizona, Kentucky, Auburn, and Nova, the rest are beatable on a good/bad day.
 
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I think 3-2, 1-1 gets Hawks to the 7 line. But I'm with _08, just get in. You have to make the Dance to be relevant/continue positive momentum with the program.

Oh and the dream draw is also a team who shoots like OSU did on Saturday.
The dream draw is a bunch of 0-31 teams that get lined up like how the WCC does their tournament and Iowa rolls all the way to the National Championship. :D
 
Under Fran, it feels like we’ve never gotten a favorable draw, always playing a tough first rounder & then running into a second round opponent that’s either best on their line or under seeded.

Lady Lucky has to come around at some point, right? If we get a decent draw, this team is absolutely capable of making it to the weekend.

Would love to see us climb to a 6 seed, and play a soft 3 seed like Providence for a chance at the sweet 16.
I had this same thought. It is all about matchups and ours have been tough. I disagree about Providence....I would not want to play them this year.
 
I had this same thought. It is all about matchups and ours have been tough. I disagree about Providence....I would not want to play them this year.
They were just getting throttled by a bad Butler team and needed a miraculous late comeback to barely scrape out a win. They play everyone close but the Big East is down this year. Iowa could run them out of the gym if a handful of scenarios were to play out - given we would have the highest pick in the upcoming NBA draft + tons of tournament experience from guys logging big minutes. It’d be a reverse of our Oregon matchup from last year, we’d be playing the role of the Ducks.
 
It is disheartening to face an Elite8 type team in 2nd round, that I agree.

However, didn't UNI draw a good Kansas team in 2010 and beat them? I think they are last team from Iowa to make a sweet16 appearance and they did it as a low seed.

If you have to worry about finding the right matchups then you don't have a well constructed team that can play the different styles you ineveitably will face in NCAA. You are eventually going to have to beat a giant anyway if you want to make a run.

I think this year's team is a at least capable of pretty good defense and they have a star in Keegan Murray that can create his own shots. Yes, if Iowa gets lucky, this could be a sweet16 team, though I am not betting on it.
 
It is disheartening to face an Elite8 type team in 2nd round, that I agree.

However, didn't UNI draw a good Kansas team in 2010 and beat them? I think they are last team from Iowa to make a sweet16 appearance and they did it as a low seed.

If you have to worry about finding the right matchups then you don't have a well constructed team that can play the different styles you ineveitably will face in NCAA. You are eventually going to have to beat a giant anyway if you want to make a run.

I think this year's team is a at least capable of pretty good defense and they have a star in Keegan Murray that can create his own shots. Yes, if Iowa gets lucky, this could be a sweet16 team, though I am not betting on it.
The odds of making A S16 as an 8/9 is under 10%. So, yeah, matchups matter
 
Iowa has seldom received any favors in the NCAA matchups. Dr. Tom's teams seemed to play Duke in the second round on a regular basis. And there's no doubt that other than a handful of teams, how you do in the NCAA is largely determined by matchups. Maybe this will be that odd year when those fall in Iowa's favor. That would be fun.
Some specifics: (1987 to present)
Losses to High Ranked Blue Bloods
#1 UNLV
#1 Arizona
#2 Duke
#1 Duke
#3 Arizona
#1 Kentucky
#1 UConn
#2 Kentucky
#2 Gonzaga
#2 Villanova
#2 Tennessee

Some of the less impressive losses
#5 NC State (we were a 4)
#5 Wake ( we were a 4)

#14 NW St. (We were a 3)
#11 Tennessee (We were also an 11)
#7 Oregon (we were a 3)

The only #4 or better teams we have beaten ( '87 or later)
#4 Arkansas
#4 UNLV
 
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It is disheartening to face an Elite8 type team in 2nd round, that I agree.

However, didn't UNI draw a good Kansas team in 2010 and beat them? I think they are last team from Iowa to make a sweet16 appearance and they did it as a low seed.

If you have to worry about finding the right matchups then you don't have a well constructed team that can play the different styles you ineveitably will face in NCAA. You are eventually going to have to beat a giant anyway if you want to make a run.

I think this year's team is a at least capable of pretty good defense and they have a star in Keegan Murray that can create his own shots. Yes, if Iowa gets lucky, this could be a sweet16 team, though I am not betting on it.

They did, but that UNI team was loaded with oversea talent and guys who had been playing together for 4+ years.
 
If Iowa wins out then makes the semis or better in the BTT, that could get them a top 4 seed.
 
I agree.

But many posters on here live or die based on making the Sweet 16. It is apparently the Holy Grail of Iowa Basketball.
If you’re under 30 years old you likely don’t remember Iowa ever advancing past the second round. You’ve also seen countless regular season championship teams get bounced in the first or second round (see Illinois last year). A sweet 16 birth is far, far more valuable than a regular season chip IMO. You play for March and the tournament, simple as that.
 
If you’re under 30 years old you likely don’t remember Iowa ever advancing past the second round. You’ve also seen countless regular season championship teams get bounced in the first or second round (see Illinois last year). A sweet 16 birth is far, far more valuable than a regular season chip IMO. You play for March and the tournament, simple as that.
Well, I'm waaaay over 30, and I have to disagree with you. I covet a regular season B1G championship above a Sweet 16, especially if it's not a shared title. Winning the best conference in the nation is better than being in the top 16 nationally IMO.

Now, a B1G championship vs an Elite 8? Hmmmmmmm ....... ;)

I guess I would have to go with the E8, as long as I'm promised the Hawks don't get thumped by 20 trying to get to the FF .:)
 
I agree.

But many posters on here live or die based on making the Sweet 16. It is apparently the Holy Grail of Iowa Basketball.
Definitely not the Holy Grail of Iowa basketball, but Im so tired of Iowa not advancing to the second weekend. It would extend the season by at least a week and give us something to look forward to. Similar to the week leading up to the Big Ten title game for football, but hopefully a much better game in the Sweet Sixteen. The tournament is always a blast but really sucks when your team never seems to make any sort of a run.
 
Definitely not the Holy Grail of Iowa basketball, but Im so tired of Iowa not advancing to the second weekend. It would extend the season by at least a week and give us something to look forward to. Similar to the week leading up to the Big Ten title game for football, but hopefully a much better game in the Sweet Sixteen. The tournament is always a blast but really sucks when your team never seems to make any sort of a run.
I agree. Making a run in the Dance is about as good as it gets. I still have great memories of friends gathering to watch Lute's 1980 Hawks slice up the field.
 
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my whole philosophy this year is not to sweat the seeding. I’ve done that too many times and been totally let down(see last year)
From now on it’s just get into the dance and see what happens . Expect to lose but be pleasantly surprised if they win.
 
Told y’all about Providence, massive fraud. Right now Lunardi has us playing UAB and winner of Vermont/Providence… I would do a lot of things for that draw…
 
my whole philosophy this year is not to sweat the seeding. I’ve done that too many times and been totally let down(see last year)
From now on it’s just get into the dance and see what happens . Expect to lose but be pleasantly surprised if they win.
Someone has seen spiderman
 
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There's no doubt seeding is huge, but it's more luck than anything. Everyone knows who was hot yesterday but it's just a guess as to who will be hot tomorrow.
 
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