7-2 and has beaten everyone
Let's get to Sunday Hawks
Let's get to Sunday Hawks
Iowa vs. Their half of the bracket in Indy....
- Thread starter 2432Hawk
- Start date
It honestly is the best BTT draw we’ve gotten under Fran. Avoided Michigan, MSU, PSU, and Maryland.. I’d rather play Illinois/Wisco than all those teams.
Still, I’ll be surprised if we beat Minnesota. Last time I got excited about a BTT run we lost to Northwestern in the first round.
Still, I’ll be surprised if we beat Minnesota. Last time I got excited about a BTT run we lost to Northwestern in the first round.
A tourney run really comes down to that first game, and either establishing momentum, or coming out flat and shutting it down mentally with the bigger tourney on the horizon..............
Remember when we caught MI flat a couple of years ago? Took them into OT and almost won it. MI regrouped and went to the Final Four. Al least we'll get a team that had played 24 hours earlier as our first game.
I really don't understand the posters worrying about our draw. Looks like an ideal bracket setup for Iowa without having to face the physical playing teams that seem to give Iowa problems...Purdue and MSU to name two. And why the hand wringing about Minny?!? We have beat them twice this season and they are an underperforming team that has faltered all season long at the end of games...not just our matchup with them. And don't throw out that "it's hard to beat a team 3 times" crap.
Quite frankly, as bad as NW Is, I wouldn't count them out as a loss to the gophers. Give me where Iowa is in the bracket vs where Penn State is considering we didn't garner the double bye.
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Having to beat Minne 3 times this year is a tough call. Agree that if we can get by them, we have a good draw but that first game is troubling.
Exactly. If you dont win that first one there is a very slim chance you win the second. It all comes down to doing good sport.
Such a tired myth......It is the mantra the teams that have been beaten two times throw out.
Show me proof.
I wouldn't count on the Goofers beating the Mildcats. BTT is hard to predict, but like the OP, I really like our positioning.
I just want the 6... whatever it takes to stay away from 7 or 8
I did look it up. It's a myth. I just wanted you to back up a statement you made that a lot of posters lazily throw out there this time of year just because it has been repeated so many times.
According to STATS LLC., there have been 981 similar matchups across Division I college basketball over the past 10 seasons. The teams entering the third game 2-0 are a combined 710-271 (.724 winning percentage) in the third meeting.
"So over a 10-year period in college basketball including almost 1,000 games, the team that won the first 2 games won the third meeting 72.4% of the time".
Again, this is the expected mantra of the team and it's fans that has been beaten the first two times......It should not be the mantra of the team or it's fans that has won 2 straight times.
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Chill out. I didn’t say it never happens just that it’s difficult. If it’s Minnesota that Iowa plays Thursday I can tell you it’s not going to be a cakewalk just because Iowa has beaten them twice this season.
I never said anything about it being a cakewalk. There are no cakewalks in the Big Ten. And I never said anything about our potential matchup. I simply said the oft used phrase you threw out there was a myth and gave you proof.
And concerning our potential matchup, I am not convinced MN wins the first game. And if they do, they have to turn around in 24 hours and play again, against a team that has beat them twice. I like those odds.
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Wisconsin is the hottest team in the conference. Penn State is the coldest. I’d rather play PSU.
You evidently don't remember how Iowa did last year in the BTT.
Blew out Illinois and then came back to lay a turd against a rested Michigan. That first game takes a lot out of you, Minnesota is in the same boat as Iowa is in....they have a short bench and with less then a day to rest before they have to play us, the rested team has the distinct advantage...that goes for Northwestern if they happen to take down the Gophers on Wednesday...
Even though it was against Nebraska, it’s concerning to see a shooter like Kalscheur go 8/11. Hopefully that doesn’t carry over to Thursday.
Minnesota is a lesser version of Iowa. Don’t think they pose many matchup problems, but they have some high end talent.
Illinois is tough because they throw out two point guards plus a combo guard in Frazier. We can’t really stop them from going downhill without packing in the zone. Transition defense will be the key, but it’s been far too inconsistent this year.
Our defense versus Wisconsin might be the most comfortable I’ve felt through B1G play. That being said their defense frustrated us. It’ll be interesting to see if they play Luka different if we make it that far.
Minnesota is a lesser version of Iowa. Don’t think they pose many matchup problems, but they have some high end talent.
Illinois is tough because they throw out two point guards plus a combo guard in Frazier. We can’t really stop them from going downhill without packing in the zone. Transition defense will be the key, but it’s been far too inconsistent this year.
Our defense versus Wisconsin might be the most comfortable I’ve felt through B1G play. That being said their defense frustrated us. It’ll be interesting to see if they play Luka different if we make it that far.
I'll play devil's advocate:
Winning % dropped from 100% from the first two games to 72% with the third game. Is that significant? Seems like it. I don't know. You don't think so. Others might argue that it is.
I'd like to know more about inside the stats. I'll bet a vast majority of the games where 1 team went 3-0 were huge mismatches (not just Duke beating Georgia Tech 3 times, but like Gonzaga beating San Diego 3 times or Murray St beating SIUE 3 times), and the games between 2 teams that are fairly competitive with each other are closer to 50%. Again, I don't know.
My point is that I suspect that there is more truth to the "hard to beat a team 3 times" theory than your listed statistics might suggest.
I completely agree with everything. Iowa avoids what I consider the best team in the conference (Maryland), the team with the B1G refs in their pockets (MSU), and the two teams local to the BTT site that made them look bad this year despite not being as good (Ind and Purd). Not to mention that they wouldn't potentially meat their BTT nemesis (Mich) until the semis.
What does this mean? Based on Iowa's history of the BTT under Fran, it probably means a gigantic colon-blow-sized turd on Thursday. Maddening.
At least wait until after the game for the "maddening" to set in,... sheeeeeeeeesh.
I swear to God people would bitch if Iowa had to play the winner of Minnesota and let's say in Illinois after a double bye. The reason a 2nd round game is tougher than the opening round is because the worst four teams are playing in round 1. If we wanted an easier 1st round game then I guess the team should have sucked just a little bit more! You can be as negative as you want about it being harder to beat a team for the third time. I choose to believe if we beat them twice there is no reason to expect a different outcome.
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