Iowa will either be in 5th place alone or tied with Wisconsin based on how Iowa plays at home against Illinois! Much better than ab nticipated at the start of Feb!
Men's Big10 expectation
- Thread starter MadToxicologist
- Start date
Considering there were a few on this board thinking we'd wind up worse than Michigan (and after losing at home to them, it's hard to blame such folks), yes this year's team has been a great surprise.
Define "cupcake". Once you get past Purdue, there is very little that separates most of these teams and Iowa's record vs the bottom of the league is proof of that.
I wouldn't automatically consider a loss to Purdue as a sure thing. Keep in mind, OSU took them down a couple of weeks ago which - along with a new coach - seemed to energize that program bigtime.
But the team to watch out for in the B1G Tournament is Nebraska ----- nobody is talking about them much and they have some decent talent and coaching, And yes, I know I'll get blistered on this site for saying this but just call them as I see them.
We don't matchup well with Purdue because we don't have 7ft banger that can keep Eddy further away from basket or bother his shot and we don't have depth to backup Freeman. WE got outrebounded by 20 the last time we played Purdue...I don't see that changing and you can't get stops without rebounding the miss. So I think beating Purdue would be a 5% type probability.
Nebraska can beat anyone in B1G if they are hitting their 3's. The center Mast they got out of the MVC is a lot better than Krikke....guy defends and rebounds better and can hit the 3. They live and die by the 3, so if they're hot they win and if not, it is a crapshoot for them. Their home crowd was big advantage...they won't have that much in BTT
I'd like to see a summary of Fran's B1G tournaments. I think he's lost the 1st game maybe 9 or 10 times in past 13 years going by memory. Based on past performance, I'd not expect a run, but it would be great if they did.
This team does seem different from some of his past teams---they do pretty well on the road and they have a few guys that have improved a lot as season has gone along so they are a lot better now than they were to start the season. Dembele, Freeman, Dix, Harding, Pryce were not factors at start of season---I don't recall a Fran team with that many contributors emerging by end of the season. It has to be FRan's deepest in quality Freshman class ever at Iowa. Add in Perkins has made huge strides at PG...night and day difference between the current Iowa team and the Iowa team that opened with Loss vs Michigan.
Nebraska has been a terrible road team, I would love to get them in the BTT. Don’t want OSU because they have talent and are trending. I don’t think we can beat Purdue, just a terrible matchup.
This team has improved tremendously from when I saw them in San Diego, give Fran some credit. Best guard combo he has had and everyone says you win tournaments with guards. I think we can win some games. In the BTT AND the NCAAs absent a terrible draw.
This team has improved tremendously from when I saw them in San Diego, give Fran some credit. Best guard combo he has had and everyone says you win tournaments with guards. I think we can win some games. In the BTT AND the NCAAs absent a terrible draw.
Yeah, they have all the necessary components to make a run in the BTT. They just have to find the magic away from Pinnacle Bank
Arena.
I believe he had a visit to Iowa scheduled before Krikke was on the radar but ended up committing to Nebraska right after BK committed to Iowa.
Iowa probably finishes no worse than 4th with Mast and could have been as high as 2nd.
I remember at the time being confused that Fran wasn't trying to get both of them considering he had the room but he was still after a couple other guys at the time too.
A win against Illinois and finishing fourth seems ideal for our NCAA tournament hopes. No chance to pick up a bad loss, a beatable Northwestern or Wisconsin (I think they're the most likely 5s?) for another good win, and then we can gracefully lose to Purdue.
I think this is a team that can make a surprisingly deep run if its on the opposite side of the bracket for Purdue. I think ending up the 6 seed with Nebraska (or even better, Northwestern) as the 3 would be a pretty good set up for a deep run. I wouldn't be shocked to see us lose to Illinois this weekend, and then get to the Big Ten semifinals as the 6 seed with another matchup vs Illinois deciding if they make the tournament.
I think this is a team that can make a surprisingly deep run if its on the opposite side of the bracket for Purdue. I think ending up the 6 seed with Nebraska (or even better, Northwestern) as the 3 would be a pretty good set up for a deep run. I wouldn't be shocked to see us lose to Illinois this weekend, and then get to the Big Ten semifinals as the 6 seed with another matchup vs Illinois deciding if they make the tournament.
I will be cheering for Purdue tomorrow for sure. It would totally take out Illinois from winning the conference and for the BTT they would still more than likely be a 2 or a 3 seed (no real difference between those). Either way they will know by our game if they have a shot at catching Purdue (and if they do they are the 1 seed) or not. Purdue finishes up at home against Wisconsin.....so even if Illinois beats Purdue, then Purdue needs to lose to Wisky for Illinois to be playing for something relative to BTT seeding.
That being said, I am sure they don't want to dropping any games heading into the NCAAs.
That being said, I am sure they don't want to dropping any games heading into the NCAAs.
Iowa wins against IL and avoids a really bad loss in the Big and they will be in.
Iowa will likely be more fun to watch than in recent years based on effort and sound play.
Iowa will likely be more fun to watch than in recent years based on effort and sound play.
