Iowa has had the best of luck with these kinds of stories. Just this year, the Kinnick Wave captured the hearts and minds of the nation, even winning the annual Disney Spirit Sports Award. But, if you had the chance to be at the Purdue-Iowa slaughter at Carver, the annual Chris Street reminded the Iowa faithful of why we love sports.

January 19^th, 2018 marks the 25^th anniversary of the passing of Hawkeye legend Chris Street. Street lived out his dream, even if it was marked short. The legend of Chris Street was never about his stats. Street’s passion was such a high intensity that the only thing you’d be able to do is be in awe. And smile. Chris did that a lot, another level of the legend. Not only did Street have an unparalleled passion for the game, but his lovable personality and magnetic smile was equally a force to be reckoned.

Iowa fell in love with Chris Street because Street was Iowa embodied. Street had the “Iowa Nice” personality commonly found in the Hawkeye State and held the tenacity of the court that is a by-product of his tough, blue collar work ethic. But, more than anything, Chris Street woke up everyday wanting to do nothing more than to play basketball for his Hawkeyes. The University of Iowa released a video and showed the same video during halftime of the Purdue-Iowa contest one day after the 25^th anniversary of his passing. The following link goes to the inspirational tribute: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=48dGMn_muYk.

The game prior to and following the Chris Street tribute did not have the match the intensity of the Iowa legend. Purdue put Iowa out of the game in the first ten minutes of the first half and merely poured on the point. Making the game seem like nothing more than a morning stroll, the Boilermakers sliced through the soft Iowa defense on its way to a Big10 record in most 3-pointers in a game. 20 shots fell out to 33 attempted from beyond the arc for the third nationally ranked Purdue squad. Iowa could and would not come close after taking an early 3-0 lead in an eventual 87-64 loss.

Purdue will be taking their talents back home to West Lafayette, Indiana in a matchup against Michigan on Thursday, January 25^th at 6 pm CST. The next game for the Iowa comes with another tribute to Chris Street. However, in this Tuesday contest against the hated Wisconsin Badgers, Iowa will be wearing the Gold jerseys. Iowa faces Wisconsin on January 23 in Carver-Hawkeye Arena at 6 pm CST.

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Today at 12:30 p.m. EST (11:30 a.m. CST), the selection committee will reveal the top 16 seeds for the upcoming NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament. This will be the first time the selection committee has ever released any rankings before Selection Sunday in March. The seedings will represent where the committee believes teams stack up against one another at this point in the season.

These rankings will not be final, seeing that there is still a whole month of basketball to be played before Selection Sunday on March 12. The reveal is a new attempt to spark debates and stir up conversations between fans and basketball analysts alike.

“We are excited about giving the fans a glimpse to what the men’s basketball committee is thinking at this point of the season and creating a buzz as we look toward Selection Sunday,” NCAA Tournament Chairman Mark Hollis told CBS Sports.

Starting at 11:30, CBS will air a 30-minute program revealing the top 16 seeds and where they are placed, followed by an in-depth analysis of the selection committee’s reasoning. The show will also include a review of the rest of the field of 68 and a glance at potential bubble teams who could find their way into the tournament by season’s end.

The show will feature Hollis, as well as host Greg Gumbel, analysts Clark Kellogg and Seth Davis, and CBS Braketologist Jerry Palm.

Most fans that have watched college basketball for the majority of the season can probably guess who the top 11 or 12 teams will be, but there may be some surprises when the four-seeds are announced. Someone will get snubbed, but that’s the joy of this whole process. It’s only February, and if you’re even being considered for one of the top four seeds, you’re probably in good shape.

Picking the top 16 teams in the country isn’t as easy as it sounds, especially with all of the parity in college basketball this season. Just last Saturday, six of the top nine teams in the AP poll lost, which caused quite a shakeup in the rankings just seven days before the sneak peak.

Here are my projections for who will be the #1 seeds at 11:30 a.m. CST:

EAST REGION: VILLANOVA

23-2 overall, 10-2 Big East

Week 14 rankings – AP: 2 RPI: 2

Jay Wright’s squad is one of the more experienced teams in the league this season, after returning nearly the whole starting lineup from last years National Championship team. With just two loses on the season, both on the road to Big East Conference opponents, it’s not crazy to think that this team could be the number one overall seed come Selection Sunday. The Wildcats are lead by senior Josh Hart, who averages 19.2 points per game (PPG) and 6.6 rebounds per game (RPG), both team highs. The John R. Wooden Award Top-20 finalist, senior Kris Jenkins, and sophomore Jalen Brunson make up one the most dynamic ‘”big threes” in college basketball, and based on what they showed us last March, the Wildcats are poised to make another deep run in the big dance.

SOUTH REGION: KANSAS

21-3 overall, 9-2 Big 12

Week 14 rankings– AP: 3 RPI: 3

Per the usual, the Jayhawks are on top of the Big 12 conference yet again, and their top five players are as good as any five players any other team fields. Led by Wooden Award Top-20 finalist Frank Mason III, Kansas has as much talent as anybody in the college game. Four players – Mason, Josh Jackson, Devonte’ Graham, and Svi Mykhailiuk – average double figures, and all four can get their shots off whenever they please. Bill Self’s guys are 3-2 this season when facing teams in the AP Top-25, including a 79-73 road win at Kentucky’s Rupp Arena during the Big 12-SEC Challenge. Lack of depth could prove to be the downfall of the Jayhawks come tournament time, but in February, Kansas’ starters are doing enough to elicit them getting a #1 seed.

WEST REGION: ARIZONA

22-3 overall, 11-1 PAC-12

Week 14 rankings – AP: 9 RPI: 9

Yes, I know Oregon just blew them out in Eugene. Yes, I know Gonzaga is unbeaten and took them down in December. No, I don’t care. This was probably the hardest region to decide on, but I still think the Wildcats are more prepared for the tournament than are the Ducks and Bulldogs. In the loss to Oregon last week, the Ducks made 65.2% of their field goals and 64% (16-of-25) of their threes. No one beats Oregon in that game. At the moment, Arizona owns a one-game lead over Oregon in the PAC-12 standings, and a slight edge in my February top 16 predictions. However, if Gonzaga runs the table and enters Selection Sunday without a loss, Mark Few’s Bulldogs will likely get the #1 seed. Arizona’s Lauri Markkanen averages 15.6 PPG, and the 7’0 freshman from Finland can score in the paint and from behind the arc. He is the x-factor for Sean Miller’s first place Wildcats, and if sophomore Allonzo Trier starts getting back into a rhythm after returning from suspension, the Wildcats will be a team no one wants to see in March.

MIDWEST REGION: WISCONSIN

21-3 overall, 10-1 Big Ten

Week 14 rankings – AP: 7 RPI: 16

Again, not an easy region to pick a top seed, but Wisconsin quietly fits the bill. The Badgers have established themselves as the team to beat in the Big Ten Conference, and they have slowly but surely climbed the rankings this season to where they have a legitimate chance to crack the top five next week in the AP if they can handle Northwestern on Sunday at the Kohl Center. Greg Gard’s team has only lost three times on the year, all three times to AP Top-25 teams, and twice on the road. The 59.8 PPG they allow is good enough for 4^th in all of Division I basketball, and they themselves boast one of the best individual talents in the game. Ethan Happ, another Wooden Award Top-20 finalist, averages 14.7 PPG and 9.1 RPG, and seniors Bronson Koenig and Nigel Hayes are playing some of the best basketball of their stellar careers. This Badgers team hasn’t made a ton of noise nationally, but something tells me everyone will know about this team next month.

REST OF THE FIELD

2-seeds: Gonzaga, North Carolina, Oregon

3-seeds: UCLA, West Virginia, Kentucky

4-seeds: Florida State, Louisville, Baylor

The post Who’s In? Spoiler Alert, You Probably Already Know appeared first on KRUI Radio.

By Mark Freie

IOWA CITY, Iowa – Michigan State Spartans senior guard Travis Trice poured in 25 points as the Spartans defeated the Iowa Hawkeyes 75-61 on Thursday night in Iowa City.

The night for Iowa Hawkeyes (11-5, 9-2) as the Hawkeyes went into halftime with a 39-28 lead. Iowa senior Gabe Olaseni provided a spark off the bench as he scored 15 first-half points going 7-7 from the free throw line. The Hawkeyes went 12-14 from the free throw line in the first half. However, the Hawkeyes were unable to match their strong first half performance as they were limited to 22 second half points and shot just 3-10 from the line. Hawkeye junior Jarrod Uthoff recorded a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds.

“[Michigan State] got some energy from the fact that they were playing good defense,” Hawkeyes coach Fran McCaffery said. “The disappointing thing is whenever you play a team, you hope you can do a better job on their good players. They have three elite guys and that’s who hurts us. That’s disappointing.”

However, Michigan State (11-5, 2-1) had a strong second half response as they erased an 11-point deficit, silencing the crowd inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

The Spartans displayed a three point barrage shooting 8-9 from behind the arc in the second half.

21 of Trice’s 25 points came off three point shots. Trice shot 3-4 in the first half and 4-4 in the second half from behind the arc. Adding into the mix was junior guard Denzel Valentine with 18 points and Branden Dawson who recorded a double-double with 14 points and 15 rebounds.

“Give Iowa credit they took it to us after the first six or seven minutes of the game,” Spartans head coach Tom Izzo said. “We feel very fortunate to beat this team on the road under the circumstances.”

The Iowa Hawkeyes will four days to prepare for the Minnesota Golden Gophers on Tuesday, January 13 in Minneapolis. The Gophers will travel to Ann Arbor to face the Michigan Wolverines on Saturday, January 10 before hosting the Hawkeyes.

The post Spartans rain threes, washout Hawkeyes 75-61. appeared first on KRUI Radio.

IOWA CITY, Iowa – University of Iowa president Sally Mason made news earlier this week when she sounded off on her alma mater.

Mason, who graduated from the University of Kentucky, told The Des Moines Register about her concerns.

“I’m not proud of my alma mater, that has a wonderful record of winning basketball championships, with students who stay one year to play basketball and are done — the one-and-done,” Mason said

While John Calipari and the Kentucky Wildcats look to run rampant through the 2014-2015 college basketball season, questions regarding the legitimacy of the one-and-done remain constant.

The current NBA collective bargaining agreement was established in 2005. After expiring in 2011, the CBA was approved in December 2011 without a change to the NBA Draft age limit.

The rules indicate that all drafted players must be 19 years old during the calendar year.

Prior to the age limit, there would be a handful of guys who took the jump immediately from high school to the NBA.

I will admit that it has been exciting to see guys become NBA legends immediately after cutting their high school graduation cake.

Let’s face it, Kobe Bryant, Kevin Garnett and LeBron James aren’t walking across high school graduation stages every spring.

With concerns about both the talent and education of players, the NBA and NCAA have started to rethink their strategies.

NBA commissioner Adam Silver has stressed his desire to push the NBA’s age limit from 19 to 20. Silver has met with NCAA president Mark Emmert and NBA owners to discuss ways that ease the transition from college to the NBA.

While some argue that many one-and-done players and high school graduates have succeeded professionally, the NBA should be concerned about the product they are putting on the floor. The speed of the game, shot clock length changes from 35 seconds to 24 seconds, and officiating changes are all major adjustments for rookies in the NBA.

One suggestion, is that players would benefit from the NBA Development League more than a required two-year college career. The NCAA must take their own interests into account as well.

It’s no secret how much money collegiate basketball brings in. The loss of collegiate athletes to NBA D-Leagues would potentially diminish the product in college basketball programs across the nation.

If an age change is in the horizon, the NBA and NCAA must work together. A two-year rule for college players may help provide better on-court experience and in-school education for athletes.

Many wonder how high of a priority education stands throughout collegiate sports programs.

Reports surfaced about the athletes from the University of North Carolina taking bogus classes, resulting in an NCAA investigation.

While it’s tough to judge the intent that athletes have when choosing a college athletics program, a quick eye test can lead you to wonder if college athletics have become a forced step in becoming a professional athlete.

Mason boldly referred to college teams as “farm teams for professionals.”

Is this true? Has the landscape of major collegiate sports transformed into an NCAA money pit, with complete disregard to education?

While the NBA mulls raising the age limit, fans and sponsors will continue to pour money into college basketball each year.

It’s time to start answering the questions about the legitimacy of college sports. What makes a one-year college athlete an amateur, when they are attending solely to become a professional athlete?

The interesting part is that pay-for-play has not even been discussed. Will professional leagues be asked to foot some of the bill for these athletes? I don’t see that going over too well.

Sports, both college and professional, need to look at how their up and coming talent makes its way into their respective leagues.

Change is coming to college athletics. It’s time to start caring about all aspects of collegiate sports. From the classroom to the playing field, nothing must be left unnoticed.

The post One and Done: College Basketball’s Questionable Culture appeared first on KRUI Radio.