The biggest factor in Iowa’s favor as well as the largest deterrent is the young, raw talent of the Hawkeyes. The best player on the team is no doubt a dynamic sophomore, Tyler Cook. At 6-9, the forward out of Saint Louis flashed looks of high potential consistently throughout his freshman year. Tyler Cook’s effect on the game cannot always be shown in his stat lines; however, Cook’s impacts every possession, regardless of his possession of the ball.

Jordan Bohannon, Isaiah Moss, and Brady Ellingson will be dominating the guard spots as sophomores and juniors. Bohannon and Moss can both score off the dribble and distribute to make plays at will, even as mere sophomores. Ellingson, however, will be more of a pure point guard. With the powerhouse Tyler Cook at forward, clear leaders at guard slots, and depth at both forward and guard positions, Iowa Basketball will be successful if McCaffery can find a large player to play in tandem with Cook.

This large X-factor for Iowa will be the freshman center for the Hawks, Luka Garza. The 4-star recruit out of Washington DC will play the role which could put Iowa over the top. The 6-11 has already grabbed 18 boards through two games with 27 points in addition. In recent memory, Iowa loses the rebounding affair on a strikingly consistent basis. In addition to the young Garza and Cook, the returning Big Ten Conference 6th man of the year award winner, Nicholas Bear, will jump start the young Hawkeyes whenever needed. With a deep set of young big men behind Garza, Baer, and Cook, the rebounding deficit will improve moving forward.

Another reason for the jump into March Madness will be the schedule for the young Iowa team. With the only notable non-conference opponents coming on the road against both Virginia Tech and the rivaling Cyclones, wins will be racked up quickly prior to conference play. Iowa also draws one of the weakest schedules in the Big Ten Conference. The Hawkeyes will not travel to ranked opponents in #2 Michigan State, #20 Purdue, and #19 Northwestern.

Iowa will also not travel to rival Wisconsin and will only play Michigan State, Maryland and Indiana once. The Hawkeyes will reach 20 wins before the final stretch of the season. Three of the final five games will

play on the road with the last two facing ranked opponents. With an easier schedule than most, even if the young players do not improve in the expected ways, Iowa will rack up at least 22 wins before the Big Ten Tournament in the Madison Square Garden.

The graduation of Peter Jok will also allow the Hawkeye basketball squad to acquire a bid to the NCAA Basketball Tournament. Jok made up the core of last year’s team, leading the Big Ten in scoring. However, Jok also lead the team in shots taken. Despite leading in points, Jok shot a 7^th team best shooting percentage to return for it, behind the likes of Tyler Cook, Nicholas Baer, Ahmad Wagner, and others.

Contrary to popular belief from mainstream sports analysts, Iowa will benefit from the absence of Peter Jok for multiple reasons. Iowa will not be reliant on a one-man effort with multiple people getting involved. A team is much easier to stop with one man scoring instead of a team. The spacing of the floor will also be nicer for shooters with the best player in Cook playing in the post instead of Jok playing around the 3-point arc. All in all, Peter Jok is an absolutely great player; however, Jok’s presence hurt the team more at times than not.

Due to the young raw talent of the Hawkeyes in addition to lucky breaks in scheduling and an ability to involve more players than in years past, the 2017 Iowa Hawkeye basketball team will not only return to the NCAA Tournament for the fourth time in five years, but will chance running at Sweet Sixteen for the first time since the 1998-99 season. The next game for the 2-0 Hawkeyes will come against Grambling State on Wednesday, November 16^th at 7:05 pm CST at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

The post Spoilers: Hawkeyes Dance in March appeared first on KRUI Radio.

Now that Iowa State’s historically bad football team is ranked, do we pull for them to succeed?

The Cyclones haven’t felt a national ranking since 2005. They claimed the final slot in the AP Top-25 poll this week after defeating Texas Tech. This Iowa State team has accumulated five wins and only faltered twice.

Thankfully, one of those losses came to the Hawkeyes. The other at the hands of Texas in a game where quarterback Jacob Park threw the tantrum of a century. Realistically, Iowa State is a an overtime loss and an earlier quarterback change from being undefeated.

That is a stretch to make for a team that still has two losses but put all of this is perspective. Iowa State has played seven games and only lost twice. Let that sink in.

Those in black and gold have two common reactions to the Cyclones recent success.

And oh how they differ.

First of all, there are those who believe once Iowa has defeated Iowa State they no longer matter until the early fall matchup comes around again. These typically find it in their heart to root on the Cyclones on days they don’t play.

In all reality, what does pulling for them really do. One is in the Big Ten, the other the Big 12. A majority only pay attention when it is a cy-hawk battle in football, basketball, or wrestling. Does it really impact Iowa if they do bad?

The answer is no.

Especially if Iowa beats Iowa State, pulling for them can only help the Hawkeyes strength of schedule. Plus it legitimizes the rivalry in the nation’s eyes. A sweeping opinion is that the game, at least in football, is a burden to Iowa.

This is a simple, when Iowa State is good the rivalry is better as well. In hindsight, Iowa’s win in Ames could be their most impressive victory.

The other option, which seems to be more non-Iowa residents, is that Iowa State favor has no place in Iowa City. They’d like to see a winless season every year. They have been nearly satisfied in recent years.

This idea leaves no room for anything cyclone. Not in football, not basketball, and not in any sport. These are the die-hard Iowa State haters. They embrace the rivalry like those would see the Iron Bowl in Alabama.

In their eyes, regardless of circumstances, Iowa State must lose to Iowa and finish last in the Big 12. There is no room in their heart for a Cyclone.

It is a question that confuses many Hawkeye fans. When Iowa is good, it doesn’t matter. This year though, while Iowa currently boasts three losses, ignoring Iowa State is impossible. Fans are left with a moral dilemma, how to handle Iowa State being good.

Iowa State faces top-five ranked Texas Christian in Ames. Do you cheer for Iowa State?

The post How to Think About Iowa State appeared first on KRUI Radio.

The 2017 edition of the Iowa Corn Cy-Hawk Trophy Game did not disappoint whatsoever. The newest rendition of the rivalry game will go down as a classic battle between two hated rivals. While the game started off to a relatively normal 14-10 score at the halftime break, the pace quickly heated up in the second half.

A slow start did not deter either team from pouring on the points in the following half. Both offenses threw the other’s defense out of the game in the second half. This being despite the fact that Iowa came into the game with a nationally renown defense; only allowing Josh Allen and the Wyoming offense to only 3 points.

Prior to halftime, Stanley and the Iowa offense reestablished itself with a 91 yard, 10 play drive that ended with a Stanley to VandeBerg for a 17 yard touchdown. Matt VandeBerg missed majority of last season with a broken foot; this was his first touchdown catch following the injury.

With 7:21 remaining in the third quarter, Iowa took a commanding 21-10 lead with another 94 yard, 11 play drive. The drive was capped off with Wadley hurdling over the pile on the goal line for a 1 yard touchdown. However, Iowa State responded quickly, effectively, and immediately with 21 unanswered points, going up 31-21 with 11:46 remaining in regulation.

Jacob Park would throw for 347 yards and four touchdowns by the end of the game with Nathan Stanley throwing for 333 yards and five touchdown to battle. Following the 21-0 Cyclone run, the Hawkeyes would strike back and would eventually tie the game.

In the post-game interview, Iowa Head Coach Kirk Ferentz spoke on the fourth quarter rally, saying, “The one thing we did all day offensively — we responded. They took the lead there, they just hit us with everything there in the second half. Our guys responded a couple more times.” And respond the Hawks would. The Hawkeyes were challenged again as Iowa State would attempt put the game away with a 38-31 lead with 4:36 remaining.

The thriller continued as Iowa would march back 81 yards in 7 plays to tie the game. Stanley completed a short pass across the middle to Wadley to tie the game for overtime. “It was a dog fight,” said Wadley, “We knew we were going to get their best effort.”

A dog fight perfectly describes the classic Ames matchup which took place on September 9th. However, the match would end in overtime. The Iowa defense showed up to force an Iowa State field goal which set up Stanley and the Iowa offense to take home the Cy-Hawk trophy.

Akrum Wadley ended the game with a strong statline, with 118 rushing yards and a touchdown on 28 attempts. Wadley also caught 72 passing yards and another touchdown on 4 receptions. Stanley and Wadley both needed large outputs to match Park with future NFL wideout Allen Lazard and Junior Hakeem Butler.

Next week, Iowa State travels to play Akron at 11 am central time on CBS Sports. The Iowa Hawkeyes return to Kinnick Stadium to take on the North Texas Mean Green on September 16th at 2:30 central time on ESPN2.

The post Iowa, Stanley “Ames” Past Iowa State appeared first on KRUI Radio.

CBS reviled the field of 68 Sunday afternoon, leading most college basketball fans around the country to fill out their brackets. Each fan hoping to win their work pool, or the much more unlikely option, having a perfect bracket.

The name of the tournament speaks for itself, the tournament is unpredictable. The odds to accurately predicting a flawless bracket are about 1 in 9.2 quintillion.

Even with such unpredictability, there are a couple themes stand true about who is likely to be making the trip to Glendale for the Final Four. Year after year, the tournament is complete madness but the road to the Final Four is more simple than it would seem.

Veteran Guards Win Championships

Over the last ten years the team that cuts down the nets features a star, usually veteran, guard. Half of the last ten years Final Four Most Outstanding Players were upperclassmen. Add the Russ Smith and Payton Siva from Louisville’s win in 2013 to the mix as well.

Last year, Villanova’s Ryan Arcidiacono led his team through the gantlet NCAA tournament to their first National Championships since 1985. Coach Jay Wright touted Arcidiacono’s leadership skills, even saying he was a mini version of himself.

Arcidiacono scored 16 points in the championship game but was highlighted by the assist to Kris Jenkins that led to the buzzer-beating shot. Graduating a year ago, Villanova will be without Arcidiacono.

Villanova, among others, features a veteran guard. One that can assist is leading their team through the NCAA tournament.

Josh Hart, a senior for Villanova, is averaging just over 18 points-per-game, leading the team to their number-one seed in East Regional. Not only will his experience in college help but playing on the biggest stage last year won’t hurt.

Hart, a shooting guard, is at the mercy of sophomore Jalen Brunson leading the offense. Brunson and others still are able to find their leader to put on the points for the Wildcats.

Two other veteran shooting guards on power-conference teams have the ability to lead their squad deep into the tournament. UCLA’s Bryce Alford and Duke’s Grayson Allen both have experience on the big stage, Allen won the national championship in 2015.

Alford is playing for his father, Steve, who won the national championship in 1987. Now head UCLA coach, Steve played guard in college as well.

UCLA’s guard play is among the best in the country, featuring Alford and super-star freshman Lonzo Ball. Between the two, UCLA leads all teams averaging over 90 points-per-game.

Midwest Region number-one Kansas also has a two headed monster. Senior Frank Mason III and junior Devonte’ Graham, who alternate at point-guard. As a result, Mason and Graham account for around a fourth of the team’s points.

Mason is among the nation’s top scorers and that is something that is unlikely to change once tournament play begins. He is averaging 20 points-per-game this season.

Conference rival and Big 12 champion Iowa State is a slightly less likely championship contender. Despite being a five-seed, the Cyclones senior Monte Morris holds similar qualities to the above named guards.

Morris leads Iowa State is scoring and has played a key role in the Cyclones peaking at the right time. Morris isn’t the only veteran guard, three of his teammates that rank second, third, and fourth in scoring are also senior guards.

While Iowa State might not be Villanova or Kansas, they could be a team to watch.

Some lower seeded teams aren’t necessarily looking to raise the trophy in Glendale. Their hopes are to win just a game. Having a guard with a hot hand makes that all the more possible.

Winthrop senior Keon Johnson is top-ten in Division I with over 22 point-per-game. His Winthrop Eagles are a 13-seed and will play Butler but that isn’t anything to stop a player shooting 40-percent from behind the arch.

Making over a fourth of Winthrop’s points, Johnson will be an under the radar senior guard to watch on the first weekend.

Don’t Underestimate Anyone

It’s easy to pick by the seeds, and chances are that will result in a solid bracket. Since 2010, 62-percent of top-four seeds have advanced on to the sweet-sixteen. Fairly good odds with as many upsets that due happen.

Each year there are a group of teams that shake up the field and make it further than anyone expected. Whether 15-seed Florida Gulf Coast advancing to the regionals or George Mason making the Final Four, crazy things happen.

Last year was Syracuse, and it very well could be again, that made the Final Four as a double-digit seed. Teams like Wichita State, Butler, and VCU have recently advanced to the final weekend.

Other times it’s an early round upset that busts a bracket. Most times those are harder to predict. Trying to selected a low-seed that will take down a perennial power, it isn’t easy.

Year after year it seems that a 12-seed will knock-off a 5-seed. In the last five years, multiple 5-seeds have fallen each year except 2015.

Often the 12-line corresponds with the bubble. The teams assigned a 12-seed are either the last of the at-large or the best of the small automatic bids. This year that line includes UNC-Wilmington, Nevada, Princeton, and Middle Tennessee.

All four of the 12-seeds will be dangerous in the second round. Each squad boasts a factor that cannot be ignored.

UNC-Wilmington ranks top-five in offensive efficiency. Nevada’s Marcus Marshall averages just under 20 points-per-game. Princeton enters the tournament on a 19 game winning streak. Middle Tennessee, one year removed from upsetting 2-seed Michigan State, returns nearly their entire roster from last years’ team.

Even though the seeds are high, the Big Ten schools tend to show up when it matters. Michigan sits on the seven-line and Wisconsin an eight-seed.

Major conference schools that feel they are seeded low will show two different outcomes. Some will roll over and others will go out with something to prove.

The Big Ten, as a conference, is seeded lower than in the past. In addition, the committee also left out three teams form the big dance: Illinois, Iowa, and Indiana. Watching how the Big Ten will respond could present an entertaining tournament.

When All Else Fails, Pick a One-Seed

A one-seed has never lost in the first round of the NCAA tournament. It’s been close recently, Arizona and Gonzaga both narrowly escaping with single digit wins. The closest a 16 has ever come is one point.

The field features three number-one-seed teams from major conferences and one from a small mid-major. Villanova, Kansas, and North Carolina out of power basketball conferences are the odds on favorites to head to Glendale. Gonzaga, the West Coast Conference champions, have the best record of any team in the tournament.

Villanova and Kansas could face intriguing matchups in the third round. 8-seed Wisconsin is one win from Villanova and 9-seed Michigan State the same distance from Kansas. Both teams played in the Final Four two years ago.

North Carolina, the one-seed in the South Regional, has been the third most talked about school of the region. Both ESPN and CBS thought higher of Kentucky and UCLA out of that bracket than the Tar Heels, despite their regular season ACC title.

Multiple teams, all seeded anywhere from one to three, could have been on the one-line. UCLA, Duke, Kentucky, and Oregon could all make a run at the Final Four.

Look for the high seeds to be strong, even with as crazy as the year has been. The one-seeds have history on their side.

The post What to Look for in March Madness appeared first on KRUI Radio.

For Iowa, scoring started early as senior running back Mark Weisman lowered his helmet on Iowa’s second drive to put the Hawkeyes up early. Mick Ellis provided the point after try making the score 7-0.

The Cyclones answered in the second quarter on a 47-yard field goal from Cole Netten. The Hawkeyes were then able to capitalize before halftime as Jake Rudock ran five yards into the end zone, making the score 14-3 at halftime

The Cyclones were too much for the Hawkeyes in the second half.

E.J. Bibbs snagged a highlight pass from quarterback Sam Richardson, trimming Iowa’s lead to 14-10 in the third quarter.

Iowa State scored once again, this time in the fourth quarter, as Richardson found DeVondrick Nealy, on a 27-yard touchdown pass. This gave the Cyclones a 17-14 lead early in the fourth.

Iowa was able to tie up the game as Marshall Koehn connected on a 44-yard field goal.

With a 17-17 tie, the Cyclone offense controlled the ball for the remainder of the fourth quarter. Netten booted a 42-yard field goal with under ten seconds left in the fourth, ending any hope of an Iowa Hawkeye comeback.

The Hawkeyes tried to reestablish their running game against Iowa State. The return of Brandon Scherff, who many had doubted would play, added hope to the Iowa offense.

Senior Mark Weisman led the Hawkeyes on the ground with 16 carries for 49 yards. Iowa finished with 44 carries and 129 yards on the ground as a team. All of Iowa’s touchdowns came off of rushing attempts.

Jake Rudock provided the aerial attack as he went completed 16 of 24 attempts for 146 yards and one interception. He was able to find seven different receivers on the day, with Damon Bullock and Tevaun Smith catching four passes to lead the Hawkeyes.

Sam Richardson put together a nice game for the Cyclones. Richardson completed 25 of 27 attempts for 255 yards. He also tossed a pair of touchdowns, one that gave the Cyclones the lead before Iowa tying field goal. Richardson connected with eight wide receivers on the day.

The ground game was something that the Cyclones struggled with throughout the game. With 26 attempts, Iowa State rushed for only 82 yards.

A big loss for Iowa came in the fourth quarter when wide receiver, Jarvis West, took a hit from Jordan Lomax. Lomax was flagged for targeting and ejected from the game. By rule, Lomax will miss the first half next week against Pittsburgh.

The Iowa Hawkeyes will look to bounce back as they travel next week to take on the Pittsburgh Panthers who are 3-0 on the season. The kickoff is slated for 11 a.m. and can be heard on 89.7 KRUI or krui.fm.

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