Excitement levels…
- Thread starter LarryMullenJr.
- Start date
We have Iowa women's basketball. Egads. If Clark continues this year what she has accomplished in her previous 3 she will be considered the most sensational player in history.
The NCAA record book is waiting for her stat lines. Let's hope the injury bug stays put, her teammates give her needed support, and Bluder lets her play the minutes needed to set records.
The NCAA record book is waiting for her stat lines. Let's hope the injury bug stays put, her teammates give her needed support, and Bluder lets her play the minutes needed to set records.
Have had Fran burnout since Iowa crapped the bed in the NCAA game vs Richmond. Best team Iowa has had since 1986 and they pissed it away. Even the year before was a let down since they looked bad against Grand Canyon and horrible against Oregon.
Can't wait to get thru with the Big +, and Peacock crap, and get the season underway.
BirdistheWord
HB Legend
I hate to break it to folks, but by the looks of the Big Ten schedule as a whole Peacock was a very high selection in the "pick order" for games. Peacock is carrying some of the better conference games this coming season just by pre-season prognostications. It's not really just going to be the "crap" games.
I see Michigan St. on Feb. 20, and Alabama St. Nov. 10. But it probably gets worse next year. Peacock sucks.
Honestly, Iowa doesn't have many Peacock games mostly due to the perception that Iowa is going to be down this year. If you look at the slate that Peacock got, it's a lot of the premium games--IU/Purdue, Michigan/MSU, MSU/Wisconsin, Purdue/Illinois, etc. There's a reason Purdue has the most games being played on Peacock--NBC must have gotten a high pick; I'm guessing right behind CBS and big Fox. Peacock also got some of the better home non-conference games too.
My apathy toward Fran and Iowa basketball started about 5 years ago. Many times I don’t even know when they are playing. I can speak for many, many of my Hawk friends in Des Moines. We RARELY even mention the BBall program and none of us even tinker with the idea of going to Carver. That’s the reality of an average program with an average coach who is allowed 13 plus years of average results (he’s won only about .500 conference games)…
He has peaked at Iowa. This is as good as it gets and if you are okay with “this” being the best - then so be it. I enjoy seeing new guys on the roster but at end of day it is still Fran basketball…
Maybe Beth G will demand a little more from some coaches … and not let them settle into life long contracts with little incentive. Gary Barta did Iowa no favors.
With the “new” Big 10 we will fall even further behind … other programs are and will continue, getting better … in the new Big 10 we will be “average” in football and bottom 3/4 in basketball.
Longevity in a job is “nice…” However, when you’re allowed to continue in that same job for years and years with little push from management to get better - you can become complacent. Kirk “owned” Barta… There’s was little pressure from Gary and this is why KF sometimes thinks he is bigger than the program and doesn’t need to be held accountable for his decisions or answer the tough questions…
I’m rambling … but yeah … the “success?” we’ve enjoyed under Kirk and Fran has reached its peak…
We are only 3 seasons removed from a season where Iowa spent all year ranked in the top 10 and received a 2 seed in the tournament. The only other time Iowa got a 2 seed in the NCAA tournament was Davis' first year in 86-87 with BJ and Roy. And yeah, we all understand that losing to Oregon taints that season for Fran, but let's use a little bit of common sense in saying that a top-10 regular season finish is way above "average".
And FWIW, fans were saying the same things about Bluder 10 years ago too. She spent 15 years here without a 2nd weekend in the tournament. Now we've made the 2nd weekend 3 of the last 4 tournaments and made it to the title game.
And as much as I hate to admit this, the reality is that the outside perception of Iowa basketball is that it's a bottom 5 job in the Big Ten. And unless the basketball NIL improves drastically and the university changes how much money they pump into the program, that perception isn't going to change. That perception has a massive impact on the coaching candidates we get and it has a huge impact on if any of those coaches actually stick around once Iowa experiences any success. Just look at what happened to Shrewsberry this offseason--he left Penn State for a marginally better basketball job in Notre Dame even though PSU offered to match his contract. He supposedly sighted that PSU's NIL program was so far behind in the Big Ten that it wasn't realistic to continue to compete.
I’d say it’s loaded in terms of depth of the league, but you’re right it’s not loaded at the top. There’s probably eight or nine teams that could finish anywhere from 3rd to 10th or 11th. Could see one of the top two teams fall to the second level and we’ll likely see a team from level 2 compete for the B1G Conf Championship. Let’s just hope it’s not Illinois or Wisconsin.
Every night will be a battle for this Iowa team. PSU and Minn should be the easiest of games but far from a gimme.
My excitement level is pretty normal for basketball, probably around a an 8 or 9. Just a different reason to be excited this season and that’s for all the new pieces.
If and when Beth starts demanding more from the Iowa basketball team beyond qualifying for the NCAA Tournament eight out of 10 seasons, she better be ready to start spending some money on them. Iowa Basketball far exceeds its ROI from a winning stand point. Iowa is 34th (2022), 36th (2021) in money spent on basketball overall and 9th (2022), 10th (2021) in the B1G. Iowa finished well above those rankings on the court both nationally and in the B1G.
We already know that any NIL money that’s not specified already goes towards football.
I'll say a 3. Flatline Fran is a road to nowhere. Nothing of consequence ever happens. I'll watch because of Pavlovian conditioning, but I expect nothing of significance accomplishment wise.
