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Iowa will finish the B1G slate 17-1

I love the enthusiasm you Hawekeye fans have. You may have your best team ever, although some of those late 90's teams were pretty good. But there is no way you are going into Bloomington this year and beating IU. The Hoosiers have been destroying people at home. And if you give any life to the Assembly Hall crowd, lights out. I do think you have the inside track for the conference title though. Just please don't give me that 17-1 nonsense.
I'm not saying it's a guarantee.....but to say there is "no way" we can win the game....that's pretty funny :).

Tell ya what if IN wins I'll give you $100....if IA wins you give me $10000? Sound good? I mean after all...there is no way you could lose that bet. Free $100 for you with no risk right?
 
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Mostly well-presented argument, except I wouldn't rule out Wisconsin from the dance yet. They do have a tough schedule ahead, and still need a couple of wins against teams ahead of them but Wisky is not a bad team.

I also think that you aren't recognizing how significant home court advantages are in conference. Playing on the road in the B1G is seldom is easy. Teams like Illannoy, OSU, and even PSU are totally different teams at home than on the road.

One minor correction--I think we play PSU twice, not Nebby.
Correct, PSU again on Feb 17th.
 
While I like the OP's optimism, I don't see 17-1 happening. Would love it if I'm wrong though! As others have stated, we have some tough games left - @IND, WIS, @OSU, IND, @MICH - and we're hardly playing our best basketball.

3PT% and APG have been down, while TPG have been up the last few games:
Opponent 3PT % Ast/TO
Maryland 20.8% 0.82
Northwestern 36.8% 1.00
Penn State 35.3% 1.09
Season Avg. 39.7% 1.70
BIG Avg. 40.1% 1.55


Data source: http://www.hawkeyesports.com/sports/m-baskbl/stats/2015-2016/teamstat.html

This is our worst 3 game stretch of 3PT% since Notre Dame/Wichita State/Florida State. In addition to our worst 3 game stretch of Ast/TO ratio all season. Hopefully we turn these trends around fast.

Lets be honest, we caught Mich St when they were playing some of their worst bball of the season. First game, no Valentine - second game, Valentine just coming back, plus Mich St lost to NEBRASKA at home a few games later. Those two wins have somewhat inflated peoples perceptions.

Also, I believe many of you are sleeping on Indiana. I know their SOS is terrible and they haven't beaten many notable teams, but I've watched them play several times now. They look legit to me. Those games are going to be a battle!

This is just me, but I have a gut feeling we're due to drop a game we shouldn't. Too many previous seasons of Iowa bball have ingrained this in me.

I know my post sounds negative, but I really am high on this team! I remember thinking during the Lickliter years that I'd never see times like this again. Guess I'm just more cautious of the remaining schedule than others.
 
3Y3 Its ok brother. Its not negative to think we might not have the second best conference record in 46 seasons.
 
Guys..I love this Iowa team but we are not going to win the rest of our conference games. I DO feel that 15-3 is very possible if we keep playing at a high level. I do not see us winning @ Indiana and we are bound to lose another one along the way.
 
Any away game is far from a sure win. As inconsistent as Illannoy plays, they have a couple of extremely talented players who can get on a roll, if the first few go in. Combine that with subpar shooting by the Hawks and even a little home cooking from the zebras, and games can go sideways (one of Fran's favorite phrases) in a hurry on the road.
 
whoa, easy there pal........ I am not going to pretend to know who you are from a post you make, and I won't tell you what to do. But here is a nickel's worth of free advice: I would stop getting so angry about things that really are not that big of a deal.

Stender is an ISU fan who likes to come in and stir the pot. He seems like a decent guy, and he has made some good points on here before. I didn't belittle him, or cuss him up and down, or threaten to take his lunch money, I am just giving him a little shit. I am fairly confident he is waaaaay less offended about my post than you are.

It was not my intent to get you all pissed off on this fine Friday, so please accept my apology. Tell your dog I am sorry also.

Oh, also, threads that say Iowa will finish the Big Ten 17-1 do not bother me at all......I really like them. If you start a thread that says, "I am going to constructively be critical of the Hawks, and anyone that tries to have any fun in the thread will be met with a pouty-pants overreaction response from me"........well then I promise to ignore that thread.
Apology accepted but my dog.....he's not the understanding type. In fact, he's never seen a set of nuts that he didn't think would make a good chew toy. But I think w/a little more Yuengling in his bowl than usual, he could learn to accept it.
 
The List of teams that IU has played in Bloomington (I am not making this up:)): Eastern Illinois loss, Austin Pey win, Creighton win, Alcorn State win, Morehead State win, IPFW win, McNeese State win, Notre Dame win, Kennesau State win, Wisconsin win by 1 (recent loss away), Illannoy win, NW mildcats win, Minny win.

That is one good home win over a top 30ish team(ND), 2 wins over respectable teams (Creighton and Wisky), a loss to a directional Illinois school, and a bunch of wins over teams that had basically no chance to win and came to Bloomington for a pay day. In fairness, IU did just beat UM handily on the road, but they have not yet played any of the other top 5 B1G teams. They have no quality road wins, except UM.

Since IU hasn't yet played any team in the B1G that will likely finish higher than 6th, I don't think you can really tell how IU is going to do for the rest of their schedule. They are impressive when they get on a roll, but Wisonsin has shown that they aren't so impressive if you slow them down and make them play defense possession by possession.

I think the IU-Iowa games should be great games.
 
Notre Dame was on neutral court. No loss to eastern Illinois. 25 point win over Creighton, Blow out wins over OSU,Illinois , and Northwestern.
 
Notre Dame was on neutral court. No loss to eastern Illinois. 25 point win over Creighton, Blow out wins over OSU,Illinois , and Northwestern.
Sorry, IU beat Eastern Illannoy. Losses were to Wake Forest & UNLV in Maui. Blown out by Duke on the road. IU is clearly a better team at home. They tend to win big, but if you can control tempo and avoid run outs, which Wisconsin did to them, they seem to be a totally different team.

Let's beat Illannoy and then worry about the Hosers.
 
The List of teams that IU has played in Bloomington (I am not making this up:)): Eastern Illinois loss, Austin Pey win, Creighton win, Alcorn State win, Morehead State win, IPFW win, McNeese State win, Notre Dame win, Kennesau State win, Wisconsin win by 1 (recent loss away), Illannoy win, NW mildcats win, Minny win.

That is one good home win over a top 30ish team(ND), 2 wins over respectable teams (Creighton and Wisky), a loss to a directional Illinois school, and a bunch of wins over teams that had basically no chance to win and came to Bloomington for a pay day. In fairness, IU did just beat UM handily on the road, but they have not yet played any of the other top 5 B1G teams. They have no quality road wins, except UM.

Since IU hasn't yet played any team in the B1G that will likely finish higher than 6th, I don't think you can really tell how IU is going to do for the rest of their schedule. They are impressive when they get on a roll, but Wisonsin has shown that they aren't so impressive if you slow them down and make them play defense possession by possession.

I think the IU-Iowa games should be great games.

"a loss to a directional Illinois school"? Huh?
 
I would love to see the Hawks go 17-1, but odds are against it. IU is blowing teams out lately....the 25 pt run at Michigan was incredible. Yogi is one of the top 5 players in the league and that frosh center is a scoring/rb machine. They have a deep team even with blackmon out,with lots of shooters. If we win at AH, I will be very surprised.

Wisky is coming on strong also. Michigan at AA could be a loss. Hell, Illinois could be a loss. A cold shooting nite from Uthoff and Jok could result in losses in any of our road games.
 
I would love to see the Hawks go 17-1, but odds are against it. IU is blowing teams out lately....the 25 pt run at Michigan was incredible. Yogi is one of the top 5 players in the league and that frosh center is a scoring/rb machine. They have a deep team even with blackmon out,with lots of shooters. If we win at AH, I will be very surprised.

Wisky is coming on strong also. Michigan at AA could be a loss. Hell, Illinois could be a loss. A cold shooting nite from Uthoff and Jok could result in losses in any of our road games.
Normally, the odds would be against it but this year, the odds are in our favor. IU blew out Michigan but beat a horrible Minnesota team by 6, lost to an average Wiscy team, blew out two B1G bottom feeders in Northwestern and Illinois and again beat a bad Minnesota team by 6. There's nothing there to indicate that the Hawks can't go into Assembly Hall and win. IU can score but they haven't faced a defense anywhere near Iowa's. Clemmons will guard Yogi, their young big Bryant better bring his lunch box against Woody 'cuz he's going to get taken to school. Woody plays great position defense.
I'm trying not to disrespect Wiscy and Michigan but they are not good this year. If ever there was a time for Iowa to decisively win the B1G, its now. As far as winning at Asembly Hall, the Hawks have already played at some of the toughest venues in the league and won most of those games.

More than anything, I think my prediction has made people nervous and I get that. I mean, we've been star crossed in basketball before and I'm not even going to rehash that stuff. But this is this year and IMO, its the Hawks' year.
 
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IU is (for once, for a Crean team) playing great defense. Obviously having Bryant in the middle helps but OG Anonuby is Oladipo-esque. Long, athletic, springy. I can see why Fran made a late push for him. It will be a great matchup - I don't think guarantees are warranted either way.

What happens if IU and Iowa split but otherwise each win out? They'd be tied for 1st - is there a "tiebreak"? It's a bit irrelevant who is technically 1st given that there is a tournament.
 
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