Voice of the Hawkeyes Board

Is it 9 (Eastern) yet?

I think Dan Dakich does a pretty good job as the color commentator, but as a former coach, I think he sticks up for coaches too much at times. IMO, the main reason he was pointing out those calls that didn't go Northwestern's way was to lend support to Bill Carmody, whose job is in jeopardy. He also repeatedly points out negative plays that aren't the coach's fault, blaming the players instead. That's fair to a certain extent, but it's the coach's job to recruit players that can execute those plays, to develop the players on the roster to the point where they can execute those plays and to put the players in position to maximize their talents. It isn't always so black and white that, if a player doesn't execute, it's solely his fault.

Predictions for the game? I think Iowa ultimately loses 71-66 and settles for a deep run to Madison Square Garden in the NIT.

I'll go Iowa over MSU 62-59. Should have beat them at Carver, I think we get it done tonight! Force some turnovers and get out and run a little. Marble goes for 14, White for 13 and Gesell chips in 9. Ogelsby hits two 3's and the Hawks get a HUGE WIN!!! I like to be optimistic fellas!. On Iowa and Go Hawks!

Agree to disagree. the way I broke it down, those 3 would have scored over half of Iowa's points. That would be enough. MSU only scored 62 points against Iowa last time. I look for a similarly scored game.

Just 3 of Iowa's 11 losses are to teams that won't make the NCAA tournament. VT, Nebraska, and Purdue.

if the refs allow msu to hand check (or forearm check) iowa's ball handlers it'll be sparty by a dozen. if not, it'll be close.

I'll predict that I'm going to be on TV, again today, from the BigTen tourney.
Sat near Phil Haddy and the crew, last nite.
Chicago.........that Toddlin town..........hopefully, a Big Hawkeye victory party tonight.

Do any of the talking heads even mention that Devyn did NOT play in our first meeting with MSU ?

ps. You guys might want to follow my Twitter feed from the United Center.

Good point, I was just thinking at-large bids but you're right.

I think this should definitely be mentioned. We should have beaten them without, arguably, our best player.

I'd be surprised if any Iowa fan argued otherwise.

This is what pisses me off though.

La Salle lost to Butler today in though tournament and will still most likely get in (unless more upsets).

I am not a huge fan of mid majors getting in over teams over power conferences. They have a couple quality wins agaisnt Butler and VCU but thats it, in my eyes. They have some horrible losses CCSU, Bucknell, Charlotte, Xavier, Umass. It just pisses me off a team like Iowa could be left out while a team like this gets in.