Some perspective on losses this year …

[AuroraHawk]

Iowa’s losses this year:
Purdue - 3 seed (road)
Illinois - 4 seed (home)
Iowa State - 11 seed (road)
Wisconsin - 3 seed (road)
Rutgers - 11 seed (road)
Purdue - 3 seed (home)
Penn State - not in tournament (road)
Michigan - 11 seed (home)
Illinois - 4 seed (road)

Nothing embarrassing about that list. Games that you would have preferred for Iowa to win? Absolutely … but to borrow a phrase from Kirk Ferentz … “that’s basketball.” Fun ride this year.

 

[Underscore2]

Most every unbiased analysis I've seen mentions Iowa as anywhere from under seeded to hugely under seeded, based on almost every stat since first part of Feb. Midwest region primed for a shadowy dark horse to just rip through it.

 

[FWIW4922463]

Good post, except for the reference to that other coach . . . the one who won't make changes like Fran made midseason that changed everything.

And more about the losses: @ Rutgers was by 2 points literally gifted by the ref; @ PSU was in double OT, again gifted by the ref; @ Illinois was by 2, and let's just say the refs didn't help and Iowa had its poorest FT shooting game of the season. In the home loss to Michigan, Iowa missed a 3 with 30 seconds to go that would have tied it.

The Hawkeyes earned everything this year and never caught a break until JBo's bank shot to beat Indiana. They still are due plenty of good luck, and having that in your pocket never hurts in the NCAA. But come what may, this brand of Hawkeyes will do everything possible to come out on top. When the going gets tough, these Hawkeyes just get tougher. It's quite a group, and we should be pleased to have such young men wearing the Hawkeye jersey.

BTW: Yes, it seems clear that a team being picked by almost everyone as having a legit shot at the Final Four is seriously underseeded. But again, these Hawkeyes are determined to prevail no matter what. So win those first two games, and then let's all party in Chicago like it's 1980.

 

[Rudolph]

They lost just enough games to piss us all off and have us all bitchywhiney. Basically trolling is prior to deciding enough is enough.

Iowa State, the day Iowa played them, was playing top-4 seed basketball.

 

[paladinhawk]

Midwest region primed for a shadowy black and gold dark horse to just rip through it.

fify

 

[AuroraHawk]

Playing amateur psychologist … I would prefer not seeing all of these “talking heads” name Iowa as a trendy pick. I like it just fine when they are considered an underdog and maybe they play with a bit of a chip on their shoulder.

 

[jamesvanderwulf]

Playing amateur psychologist … I would prefer not seeing all of these “talking heads” name Iowa as a trendy pick. I like it just fine when they are considered an underdog and maybe they play with a bit of a chip on their shoulder.

I commented in one of the other threads, they were setting the pins up for the haterz...