One month ago, the College Football world told itself that the 4-team playoff would be filled with ease once again. At the time, the SEC, ACC, Big 10, and Big 12 conferences each presumed to be represented by their champion. Only the Big 12 conference’s presumed representative is the same as prior with the top of the rankings left to chaos. Oklahoma continues to hum past the remainder of the Big 12. The following list withhold the schools who were in the top 6 a month ago and still are today: Alabama. That’s it. The cast of teams surrounding the dominant

Alabama squad has shifted a great deal week by week. However, the phrase of “dominant” cannot be attached to Nick Saban’s team following last weekend’s contest. Upsets shake the world of College Football once again.

Throughout the previous month, the shapings of the playoffs have begun to take form. No team outside of Wisconsin and Central Florida makes out of the regular season unscathed. #1 Alabama fell to #6 Auburn in the Iron Bowl. The same outcome befell #2 Miami as they lost to an unranked Pittsburgh. Just two weeks prior, #9 Washington fell. #1 Georgia steamrolled #10 Auburn and #3 Notre Dame exposed by #7 Miami.  #6 TCU battles and loses to #5 Oklahoma. And lastly, #6 Ohio State received a beating in Iowa City to the unranked Hawkeyes.

Penn State fell off the planet after being ranked second in the nation a month earlier before losses against #6 Ohio State and #24 Michigan State. Upsets have completely ravaged the top 10 of the College Football rankings week after week.

Playoff Ramifications

Despite all of these upsets eliminating teams from playoff contention, eight teams still have a chance at making the playoffs. This amount of teams is the highest by such a large margin in the history of the playoffs. The following teams are currently contending for the top 4 spots: Clemson, Oklahoma, Wisconsin, Auburn, Alabama, Miami, Georgia, and Ohio State. Among these, there are no certains. None whatsoever. Here are all the likely possibilities.

If Clemson, Oklahoma, Wisconsin, and Auburn all win in their respective conference championship games, each of them will compete for the playoffs in no particular order. This particular scenario plays out with Alabama being the first team out of the playoffs. Alabama losing to Auburn head to head and Auburn winning the SEC championship defends this scenario. If Clemson loses, Miami will make the national semifinal game in Clemson’s place. If Wisconsin or Oklahoma lose, however, the outcome may not be so simple. Alabama may take one of those places, so Ohio State or even potentially Georgia could retain the spot. If Auburn loses to Georgia, Georgia simply replaces Auburn in the playoffs. However, of all these contingencies, as a lifelong sports fanatic since birth and self-proclaimed expert since, the following is my prediction for the playoffs.

#1 – Auburn. After beating Georgia and Alabama in three weeks with both teams being ranked one at the time and defeating a #7 Georgia again in the upcoming week in the conference championship, Auburn rises the number one slot in the playoffs.

#2 – Clemson. First, this Saturday, Clemson will defeat Miami for the ACC Championship. Second, I cannot put Clemson at number one in the nation for only two reasons. Syracuse and schedule strength. The lone loss in Clemson’s repertoire is facing Syracuse. A loss against Syracuse is inexcusable. Despite Clemson defeating Auburn in a head to head matchup and Auburn having two losses to Clemson’s one, Auburn has proven in the last three weeks and will continue to prove once again this week that Auburn is the hottest and the best team in the nation.

#3 – Oklahoma. The Sooners hold strong in a rematch against TCU in the Big 12 Championship game and retain their previously given slot from the College Football Playoff Committee. Oklahoma deserves to be in the Playoffs but does not own the resume to be placed higher than here.

#4 – Alabama. The Big 10 will miss out of the playoffs for the first year. A two-loss Ohio State Big 10 champion will not make the playoffs as a two-loss Big 10 champ in Penn State missed out on the playoffs in 2016. Wisconsin has not faced a single worthy opponent all year and Ohio State has faced Oklahoma and Penn State as well as rivalry games against Michigan and Michigan State. The Big 10 will do as the Big 12 has done multiple times and beat itself out of the playoffs. This leaves Alabama to enjoy a rematch of the Iron Bowl against Auburn in the National Semifinals on New Year’s Day.

This Saturday will without doubt deliver with multiple conference championship throughout the day. Oklahoma-TCU at 11:30 CST on FOX. Georgia-Auburn at 3:00 CST on CBS. Clemson-Miami at 7:00 CST on ABC and Wisconsin-Ohio State at the same time on FOX. Each of these games will determine College Football Playoff selections with the official ranking show occuring on Sunday, December 3rd at noon.

The post Chaos Brews for College Football Playoff Committee appeared first on KRUI Radio.

Iowa showed us first hand how hard football can be.

The Hawkeyes looked lethargic for the second straight week as they dropped their home finale to the Purdue Boilermakers 24-15.

“Told our team you win as a team, you lose as a team, and certainly tonight that’s the case,” said head coach Kirk Ferentz. “We lost as a football team.”

Mistakes cost the Hawkeyes big time in this one.

On the first Purdue possession, Iowa forced the Boilermakers to punt from their own 40-yard line, but Amani Jones and Nick Niemann met in the backfield, resulting in a roughing the kicker call. Purdue maintained possession and later scored on a D.J. Knox five-yard touchdown reception.

The roughing call was the first of six penalties called on the Hawkeyes. Most penalties were costly, including a couple false starts that stalled drives.

In the second quarter, a pooch punt from Stanley pinned the Boilermakers inside their own three, and senior Nathan Bazata recorded a sack-safety on Purdue quarterback Elijah Sindelar. Iowa trailed 7-2 at the time, and it marked the third straight game in which the Iowa defense scored before the offense.

Purdue kicked off from the 20 and the ball bounced out of bounds near the Iowa 30. By rule, the ball was placed 30 yards from the point of the kick at the 50.

The Hawkeyes took advantage of the field position and marched on a nine-play scoring drive. Stanley found Matt VandeBerg on fourth and five for a gain of 18 that set up a two-yard touchdown run for Akrum Wadley.

At the half, Iowa led 9-7, even though the offense had not looked great.

The Hawkeyes elected to receive the game’s opening kickoff and go into the wind in the first and third quarters, allowing them to get the wind to finish the game. This gave Purdue the wind to start they third quarter. The Boilermakers found a matchup they liked and exploited it.

Manny Rugamaba lined up against Purdue senior wide receiver Anthony Mahoungou most of the first half, and Purdue was adamant on not throwing the ball towards Josh Jackson. Instead, Sindelar targeted Mahoungou three straight plays.

Rugamba allowed an 11-yard catch, was flagged for pass interference, and then was beat deep for a 42-yard touchdown pass. Purdue led 14-9.

After the Iowa offense went three and out, Colten Rastetter’s short punt set Purdue up at the 50. Sindelar stayed away from Jackson and targeted Mahoungu again.

Michael Ojemudia lined up on Mahoungou to start the drive, but again, Mahoungou had the upper hand and beat Ojemudia for a 35-yard gain. Looking for answers, defensive coordinator Phil Parker sent Matt Hankins out to cover Mahoungou. Two plays later, Sindelar connected with Mahoungou for a 16-yard touchdown pass.

In just over three minutes of game clock, the Boilermakers had taken full advantage of one matchup. In a flash, they led 21-9.

“They’re a wide open offensive football team,” Ferentz said. “The real issue is we gave up some deep balls. And you can’t win doing that either, giving up big plays.”

After the series, Jackson was sent to the right cornerback position to guard Mahoungou, but the damage was done.

The Hawkeyes would struggle on offense and not muster anything in the third quarter. The offense did not score until Stanley hit Noah Fant for a six-yard touchdown completion with less than four minutes remaining in the game. Iowa trailed 24-15 and failed to covert the two-point try.

Purdue recovered the on-side kick attempt and ran out the clock to secure the victory.

The offense has gone completely missing since the 55-point output against Ohio State. Frustration was felt inside Kinnick Stadium on Saturday. Fans booed on a few occasions, and even let out some sarcastic cheers after first downs.

You’ve probably never seen so few fans at a game in Kinnick. Most fans were gone before the midway point of the fourth quarter.

The Boilermakers’ defense is better this year than it has been in years past. They gave Stanley and the Iowa offense trouble from start to finish.

“It’s tough to prepare well for every single look that they have, especially when they have so many of them,” Stanley said. “They played really well all day.”

After the offense gained just 66 yards of total offense last weekend at Wisconsin, the Hawkeyes offense did a little better this week – it’d be hard to do worse – but still looked discombobulated. The Hawkeyes totaled just 14 points on offense and finished with 258 total yards of offense.

It has seemed for the past two weeks that energy was lacking from the Iowa sideline. Players and coaches couldn’t pin it down though. The team showed no signs on dropping off in practice either of the past two weeks.

“No, I haven’t seen anything,” Josey Jewell said. “I thought we practiced pretty well. I thought this week went well.”

It’s also impossible to blame just one position group for the loss. On offense, four different receivers recorded a drop, failing to take advantage of the few opportunities they had for yardage.

Special teams was as frustrating as ever, and it merely started with the early penalty from Jones and Niemann. Rastetter averaged just 29.7 yards on his six punts, albeit, most were into the wind. Regardless, the rugby-style punts couldn’t get much carry.

On the return end, VandeBerg misplayed a couple of punts again today, including a fourth quarter punt that he made a diving attempt on. He couldn’t hold on, and it set up a field goal for the Boilermakers after they recovered it.

“I thought I could field it cleanly, and obviously I was wrong,” VandeBerg said.

The offensive line has also seen better days. Stanley was sacked six times for a loss of 44 yards. Failing to recognize the blitz packages – of which, Purdue has many – led to the demise.

In all, it was just a rough day at the office, and a difficult way to say goodbye to so many impactful seniors.

“Its tough,” Jewell said. “It just shows you have to come out every week. Any team can do anything.”

With just one more game on the schedule, a Black Friday matchup with Nebraska, the Hawkeyes say they’re ready to turn their attention to the Cornhuskers in the short week.

“Your body is going to have to be physically ready,” Jewell said. “Definitely going to need a lot of sleep this week to stay on task. The thing is we don’t have school so guys should be able to put that extra time in.”

Iowa (7-5, 3-5) and Nebraska (4-7, 3-5) will kick off on Black Friday at 3:00pm CST on Fox Sports 1.

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1. Iowa in November is a very scary thing

Entering the game, Iowa had won three out of the last four match-ups against AP Top 5 teams, the lone loss to Penn State earlier this year. One team that has always seemed immune to Kinnick’s “voodoo” is the Ohio State Buckeyes. The Buckeyes have only lost in Iowa City once in the last 30 years, losing in 2004, 33-7. What has always seemed as an easy road trip, turned into a house of horrors on Saturday for Urban Meyer and company. The Hawkeyes set the tone right away with Amani Hooker’s pick-six on the first play of the game. Nate Stanley was at his finest, completing 20 of 31 passes for 226 yards and five touchdowns, including one with Sam Hubbard grasping for his ankles.

Someone forgot to tell Nate Stanley that Sam Hubbard is a feared pass-rusher. #CoolCalmCollectedpic.twitter.com/6QqXABEQhS

— Brent Yarina (@BTNBrentYarina) November 6, 2017

Iowa’s defense made their presence known against Heisman-contender J.T. Barrett and made him look like a third-string quarterback for most of the day. Joshua Jackson had one of the most dominant games an Iowa defensive back has had in a long time. Jackson recorded three interceptions for the Hawkeyes, the last one possibly being a candidate for “Catch of the Year” in College Football.

Another one.

And this latest @HawkeyeFootball interception by Joshua Jackson might be the Pick Of The Year: pic.twitter.com/arsEEViZ84

— Big Ten Network (@BigTenNetwork) November 4, 2017

November has always been the time that Kirk Ferentz coached Iowa teams perform at their best. Anyone who draws the Black and Gold in November should at the very least have great respect for them. Iowa travels to Madison on Saturday to face the undefeated Badgers, Paul Chryst will have to have his troops ready for the Hawkeyes.

2. Michigan State is back

Following the Spartans surprising 3-9 finish in 2016, many didn’t expect the Mark Dantonio and company to improve much in 2017. But as he’s done for most of his career in East Lansing, Dantonio has proved the doubters wrong. The Spartans are 7-2 following their upset win over #7 Penn State in a game that featured a three hour and 22 minute lightning delay. Those who stuck around saw freshman kicker Matt Coghlin drill a 34-yard field goal, dashing any remaining hope of Penn State’s playoff hopes.

Slip ‘N Slidin’ Spartans.

Go Green, Go White, let’s Go Home. @MSU_Football edges No. 7 Penn State with Matt Coghlin’s game-winner: pic.twitter.com/wIpxh7b8jh

— Big Ten Network (@BigTenNetwork) November 4, 2017

Michigan State quarterback Ben Lewerke was slinging the ball left and right, completing 33 of 56 passes for 400 yards and two touchdowns. Junior receiver Felton Davis III had a monster game with 12 catchers for 181 yards and a touchdown, clearly becoming Lewerke’s favorite target. The Spartans next travel to Columbus to take on a beat up Ohio State team that is essentially a de facto division title elimination game. It should be a heavyweight fight for sure come Saturday.

3. Northwestern is Clutch

Another week, another overtime win for Pat Fitzgerald’s crew in Evanston, this time stunning Nebraska at Memorial Stadium. With their win over the Huskers, Northwestern became the first school in college football history to win three consecutive overtime games. All four Wildcat touchdowns came on the ground, as senior running back Justin Jackson carried the load for Northwestern. Jackson finished with 31 carries for 154 yards and a touchdown. Quarterback Clayton Thorson finished with two rushing touchdowns, along with throwing for 243 yards.

Once again, Tanner Lee struggled for Nebraska. While he did throw two touchdowns, Lee also fired three interceptions, two of them going to Northwestern safety Kyle Quiero. The Husker running game was stagnant once again as running back Devine Ozigbo finished with 23 carries and 72 yards. Nebraska only finished with 112 yards rushing as a team. But this Northwestern team showed that they can answer the bell when called upon, as Thorson was able to lead the drives that tied and ultimately won the game. The Wildcats take on a stingy Purdue team next Saturday at Ryan Field.

The post Big Ten Football: Week 10 Takeaways appeared first on KRUI Radio.

Ranked third in the AP poll and sixth in the College Football Playoff race, the Ohio State Buckeyes came to Kinnick Stadium for the first time since 2010. Having won each of the last five games over Iowa and 13 of the last 14, they had to feel good about being a 20.5point favorite.

The final score? 55-24.

The winner? Not the Buckeyes.

Donning alternate uniforms for the blackout, the Hawkeyes played a complete game in every capacity – offense, defense, and special teams – as they not only knocked the Buckeyes down, but knocked them out cold.

From the game’s first play, you knew something was up. Amani Hooker picked off Ohio State quarterback J.T. Barrett and took it back 30 yard for a pick six.

Seven seconds gone. Seven Hawkeye points.

“It certainly helped and got our fans even more juiced up,” said Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz. “They were ready to go.”

Barrett responded, and led the Buckeyes down the field on the next possession, hitting Terry McLaurin for a 29-yard touchdown pass.

The teams traded field goals and were tied at 10 after one quarter.

From that moment on, a switch was flipped, a switch nobody knew the Hawkeyes had.

Iowa outscored Ohio State 21-7 in the second quarter and took at 31-17 lead to the locker room. Nate Stanley through three touchdown passes in the quarter, one to T.J. Hockenson and two to Noah Fant.

The second pass to Fant came with less than a minute before halftime and was set up by an interception from Josh Jackson.

Ohio State, who boasts one of the most productive and efficient offenses in the country would get going though, right? Surely the second half would be better.

Not the case. In fact, it was worse.

“You’d better be playing with your foot on the gas because these guys can close the gap pretty quickly, and I think our players understood that,” Ferentz said. “It’s one of those things that if you’re not going full speed, this thing could change quick.”

The Buckeyes failed to score in the third quarter, as Barrett and the offense couldn’t crack the code that was the Iowa defense. Each team punted twice before the Hawkeyes marched into Buckeye territory half way through the period.

On fourth and three at the Ohio State 20, the Hawkeyes trotted out the field goal unit. With an audible, kicker Miguel Recinos was split out wide with the offensive line. Only long snapper Tyler Kluver and holder Colten Rastetter were left in the middle of the field.

Rastetter took the snap and immediate fired it right back to Kluver, who had raced straight up field past a defender. The “pole cat” play gained 18 yards and set up Iowa at the 2.

On the next play, Stanley found Hockenson in the end zone for six, pushing the lead to 38-17 with just under seven minutes to play in the quarter.

On the play, an Ohio State defender had fallen at Stanley’s feet and latched on to his left leg. Stanley settled, and fired across his body to Hockenson, showcasing the arm strength.

“That’s just part of being a quarterback, sometimes you have to make plays when they’re necessary,” Stanley said. “T.J. made a great adjustment. He saw it, he put his arm back inside, and I trusted that he would be able to wall off that defender and make a play.”

There was no looking back at that point. Iowa’s defense forced four Buckeye punts in the third quarter and allowed just 22 yards of offense.

The rout that nobody saw coming was on.

Showing no signs of letting up, the Hawkeyes scored on the first play of the fourth quarter. Stanley hit Drake Kulick with a two-yard pass for the fullback’s first career touchdown.

So Iowa. Five touchdown passes, four to tight ends, one to a fullback.

Stanley finished the day completing 20 of his 31 passes for 226 yards and five scores.

The Iowa defense was no kinder to the Buckeyes than the offense. Jackson intercepted Barrett twice more in the quarter. First Jackson ripped a ball away from Buckeye receiver Austin Mack, then with just under 10 minutes to play, Jackson made an acrobatic one-handed catch that you’ll be seeing on highlight reels for the rest of the season.

At the start of this week, Jackson was being talked about as a potential first round NFL draft pick. His performance against a stout Ohio State team may have solidified that. Jackson leads the FBS with 20 passes defended and leads the Big Ten with five interceptions.

Barrett entered the game with a 25-1 touchdown-interception ratio, the best in the nation. He was picked off four times Saturday.

Recinos added a field goal, and Toren Young scored his first career touchdown to put the finishing touches on the 55-24 blowout victory.

Ohio State did find the end zone once in the second half. Barrett found Johnnie Dixon for a 22-yard score that was set up by a failed fake punt run from Rastetter.

When it was all over, the swarm was on. Fans piled onto the new Kinnick turf for a party at the tigerhawk.

“Last time I experienced that was Michigan, it was a similar feeling,” Jackson said. “It’s always good to have those feelings for later on in life, that’s something I’ll probably always remember.”

More importantly, no gear was lost.

“I kept my helmet on and strapped it up super tight,” Stanley said.

In last season’s upset win over Michigan, Iowa quarterback C.J. Beathard had his helmet stolen during the swarm. It was paraded downtown for pictures, a tradition that Stanley would not allow to continue this season.

To see Iowa play that well against Ohio State is nearly inconceivable. The Hawkeyes have been known to play well at Kinnick – they’ve won four of their last five home games versus top five teams – but blowing out Ohio State?

“I didn’t think it was going to be a blowout,” Hooker said. “We knew we could win, we just wanted to come out and fight.”

While the team knew they could compete and play well, even they didn’t think they would have such a dominating performance.

“I definitely thought it was going to be a close game not matter what, whether we won or lost,” Josey Jewell said.

The Hawkeyes outgained the Buckeyes 487-371, holding Ohio State 200.3 yards below its season average.

Fifty-five points is the most Iowa has ever scored against Ohio State, and the 31-point victory is largest margin for Iowa against Ohio State. It’s the most points Iowa has scored versus a ranked opponent since beating No.19 Texas 55-17 in the 1984 Freedom Bowl.

A night no one in Iowa City will soon forger further cements the legend that is Kinnick Stadium in October and November.

Do you have title hopes? Don’t bring them to Kinnick. They won’t make it out alive.

Iowa (6-3, 3-3) travels to Madison next week to take on a top-10 and undefeated Wisconsin (9-0, 6-0) team on ABC/ESPN.

The post Iowa Dominates No.3 Ohio State on Unforgettable Night appeared first on KRUI Radio.

As you would expect, Iowa and Minnesota slugged it out all night long, but the Hawkeyes took command early and never looked back.

Iowa retained possession of the coveted Floyd of Rosedale Trophy with a 17-10 win over Minnesota on Saturday, the 13^th Iowa win in the last 17 meetings.

Coming off a lackluster offensive performance last week in Evanston, the Hawkeyes came out firing on their first possession. Going against the grain, the Hawkeyes elected to receive first after winning the coin toss.

The Hawkeyes started the first drive with three consecutive completions to three different receivers and moved all the way to the Minnesota 28. Akrum Wadley capped off the drive with a 12-yard touchdown run to give Iowa an early 7-0. Just 2:23 had come off the clock.

Then, as quickly as it had showed up, the Iowa offense disappeared.

Seven more drives ensured for Iowa in the first half. They resulted in five punts, four three-and-outs, an interception on the first play of a drive, and a fumble with 44 seconds left in the half.

After going 80 yards on the opening drive, the Iowa offense totaled just 86 yards of offense the rest of the half.

“It just comes back to execution stuff,” Nate Stanley said. “It just tailed off a little bit.”

On the other side of the ball, the Hawkeye defense showed up yet again. They bent, but refused to break for the eighth straight game.

Minnesota’s offense worked a couple of decent drives and got to within striking distance just twice. The Gophers attempted a fake run on fourth-and-goal from the Iowa seven, but Demry Croft overthrew his tight end Nate Wozniak and the defense forced a turnover on downs.

Later, Josh Jackson tipped a pass intended for Rashad Still, and Jake Gervase came down with an interception in the end zone.

The Hawkeyes got close to scoring again before halftime, but a James Butler fumble at the Minnesota 21-yard line halted the drive.

At halftime, the score was a 7-0 Hawkeyes. Aside from the first five Iowa plays, the teams could not possibly have been more evenly matched.

Even though the offense stumbled in the first half, the Hawkeyes came out of the locker room and put together another good drive to start the third quarter.

Stanley led the Hawkeyes on a 67-yard drive and capped it with a 45-yard touchdown pass to Noah Fant. The deep ball nearly reached press box heights.

“I think we got a call from the FAA on that one,” Kirk Ferentz joked after the game.” We didn’t have clearance.”

Many fans could finally let out a deep sigh of relief after Stanley connected with Fant. At least once a week, Stanley seems to overshoot the big tight end on a deep route, but this time was different.

“You give yourself some more room for error on a ball like that,” Stanley said. “Especially with the struggles that we’ve had early in the year, it’s something we’ve worked on in practice, and it transferred over to the game. “

Much like the first half, the Hawkeyes failed to get much else rolling after the first drive of the half. The next three drives resulted in three-and-outs.

The Gophers finally found the end zone in the opening minutes of the fourth quarter on a one-yard touchdown run from Kobe McCrary. The score pulled the Gophers to within a touchdown.

Miguel Recinos added a field goal for the Hawkeyes two drives later, narrowly connecting on a 32-yard field goal to make it 17-7 in favor of the Hawkeyes.

On the next Gophers drive, Emmit Carpenter hit a 33-yarder to make it 17-10.

The Gophers had one last shot with 1:21 on the clock, but Croft was sacked by Anthony Nelson on fourth down to secure the trophy game victory.

Defense made the difference for the Hawkeyes yet again. The Gervase interception and two turnovers on downs stand out, but so too does the play of corner back Josh Jackson.

Jackson entered the game with a Big Ten-leading 11 pass breakups and added four more in the victory. Jackson was targeted seven times and only allowed one catch for nine yards.

On offense, the return of James Butler seemed to open up options for the offense as well. Butler rushed for just 28 yards on 11 carries, but having him allowed Wadley to stay fresh. Wadley finished with 70 rushing yards and a touchdown.

“Having James back in there is big for us, especially on those tough yardage downs,” Stanley said. “He can get up in there and make some hard yards.”

Moving forward with a little bit of momentum, the Hawkeyes (5-3, 2-3) will have tough tasks each of the next two weeks.

First, Ohio State will come to Kinnick, fresh off an impressive, comeback victory over second-ranked Penn State. Then, the Hawkeyes will travel to Camp Randall to play a likely 9-0 Wisconsin team in the Heartland Trophy game.

Game time for next week’s game against the Buckeyes (7-1, 5-0) is set for 2:30pm and can be seen on ESPN networks.

The post Hawkeyes Top Gophers, Retain Floyd of Rosedale Trophy appeared first on KRUI Radio.

“Dynasty” is term loosely tossed around to describe successful teams after championship runs. In most modern sports, the talent pool has proven too deep to have a classic, 20^th-century, dynasty such as the 50s Yankees, 60s Celtics or 90s Cowboys. Those squads dominated and left little question as to which team was the best in their respective eras. While that same scenario may not exist in all major United States sports, we can garner at least a debate.

In this piece we will dive into the top dynasties since the first season post-2000 started of each major sport between the college and professional levels and decide which recent squad has had dominated its respective sport the most. There are rules that will be followed.

1. There will be a qualified team picked out of each individual sport before jumping to a final debate on who is the king of kings.
2. One team must be chosen out of each major sport – college football, men’s/women’s basketball, baseball, wrestling, volleyball, MLB, NBA, NFL and NHL.
3. Seasons that are currently in progress (2014-15 college hoops, NBA, NHL) are not included. For example, Kentucky’s current undefeated record in college hoops cannot be applied to their opportunity to be considered college basketball’s top dynasty on the men’s side.
4. Dynasty is a term used far too often. Are the Seahawks a dynasty because of how great their defense is in the past two years? No, because Seattle struggled through a lot of down seasons beforehand. In this piece, a dynasty will be defined as “Dominating a respective sport, while simultaneously competing for championships to the tune of being the greatest team in the discussed era.”
5. A team must consistently be in championship contention, but in order to be a dynasty in this span – a team must have won at least a single title.
6. I cannot compare teams between sports, as that will happen in the follow up article, where I will rank the selections from each league.

Let the games begin.

NBA

The NBA has always had a lack of parity.  We may no longer be limited to just the Lakers and Celtics, but the situation is still heavily lopsided.

Starting in the 2000-01 season, just three out of 14 Western Conference champions haven’t been named either the Los Angeles Lakers or the San Antonio Spurs. The Dallas Mavericks made two Finals appearances, and the Oklahoma City Thunder briefly showed up before being ousted in five by the LeBron James-led Miami Heat.

The Eastern Conference has been more diverse, but less successful. Seven teams (Philadelphia, Brooklyn, Detroit, Miami, Cleveland, Boston, and Orlando) have won the conference, but just three (Detroit, Miami, Boston) have managed to end the postseason with a victory.

The Heat have an impressive five title appearances and three championships to make a case for a potential top-NBA dynasty in the last 14 seasons. However, they fall well short of the Western Conference rivals from California and Texas.

The Spurs have a cumulative regular season record of 804-328 (.710), a postseason tally of 129-80 (.617), and four championships in five appearances since 2000. Their worst record in that span is 50-32 in 2009, and yet they still made it to the Western Conference Semifinals. Gregg Popovich has led this team to being easily the most consistent of all NBA squads in this era.

Los Angeles, albeit currently in its lowest moment in franchise history, also has an argument to be the representative for professional hoops. While their 690-442 (.610) overall regular season mark is well below San Antonio’s, their post season record of 108-66 trumps the Spurs. In six Finals appearances, the Lakers have taken home four titles – equal to the Spurs. If the 1999-2000 season and the first third of the Shaq-Kobe three-peat were included, my final decision may not have been…

Top Dynasty of the 21^st century: San Antonio Spurs. The Spurs, led by a long-time coach and familiar players, have (somehow quietly) been one of the most consistent teams in all of American athletics. Their YMCA-style of play may not captivate casual audiences with oohs and awes, but their record says all that is needed. The Lakers have missed the playoffs as many times (two) as the Spurs have missed the second round. The ability to avoid down years is what makes the difference. San Antonio and Los Angeles have the same highs, but the Spurs have yet to hit a low this century.

Honorable mention: Los Angeles Lakers, Miami Heat

NFL

Baltimore, New England, Pittsburgh and the New York Giants have all won multiple titles since Super Bowl XXXV, thus obviously deserving of recognition in this analysis. Tampa Bay, Indianapolis, New Orleans, Green Bay and Seattle will also be included as to compare all Super Bowl victors.

Looking based simply off of this, the answer is penciled in. Let’s engrave it in stone with this next chart. I gave every team a point total for each category – the top team receiving nine points and the bottom receiving one – (regular season win percentage, total postseason wins, postseason win percentage, division titles and Super Bowls). The point total depended on where a team finished in each respective section.

Top Dynasty of the 21^st century: New England Patriots. New England swept the board in each measurable category. It’s hard to tell if they’re farther ahead of the pack than Tampa Bay is behind. Tom Brady and Bill Belichick have created a dynasty and are two absurd catches from having six Super Bowls in this span, including the Brady-Randy Moss 2007 combination that was the best team in NFL history to not win it all.

NHL

The NHL has experienced more parity than its professional counterparts this century. Ten teams have won a Stanley Cup in the last 13 occurrences (plus the 2005 lockout season). The Boston Bruins, Pittsburgh Penguins, Anaheim Ducks, Carolina Hurricanes, Tampa Bay Lightning, New Jersey Devils and Colorado Avalanche have all taken home one championship, while the Los Angeles Kings, Chicago Blackhawks and Detroit Red Wings all have a pair of titles. To avoid confusion in the following chart, the NHL did away with ties during this span and therefore the records will be Win-Loss-Overtime Losses-Ties.

  We have seven categories (Stanley Cups, playoff appearances, playoff series victories, postseason wins, postseason win percentage and regular season win percentage and points). The best team in each category will receive 10 points and the worst will pick up just one. In order to put a stronger emphasis on advancing in the postseason, playoff series victories will count as a point for each accumulated. This should counteract disciplining teams for advancing on to tougher rounds just to be swept.

Top Dynasty of the 21^st century: Detroit Red Wings. Outside of postseason win percentage, Detroit swept the board since 2000. Its 17 postseason series victories is even more impressive when factoring in the lockout season and the fact that no other franchise has more than a dozen. Despite parity among Stanley Cup victors, Detroit has easily been the most consistently dominant in all of professional hockey. Not much of an argument can be made for any other squad from this chart, and therefore none are honorable mention worthy.

Men’s college basketball:

After a relatively easy start, we reach what might be the most complicated of all sports we list. College basketball is about as random as they come (see odds of making a perfect bracket). Of course, Kentucky seems like an obvious choice after winning a national title in 2013-14 and going undefeated so far in 2014-15 (void). Don’t let fresh tastes discount distant memories.

Recent impressions can’t influence this decision, but the Wildcats have enough beyond that to make a pretty decisive statement. A 369-124 overall record is tough to argue with. What’s even harder? Twelve NCAA Tournament appearances, eight Sweet Sixteens, three Final Fours and a 1-1 record in the championship. Take away the two seasons Billy Gillispie coached Kentucky to a 40-27 overall record with zero NCAA Tournament victories and an NIT berth, and the Wildcats may blow the competition out of the water.

One team has been so remarkably consistent in its conference that it’s impossible to leave off this list: The Kansas Jayhawks.

After transitioning from a Hall of Fame coach, Kansas found a fate much simpler than Kentucky. Bill Self took over Roy Williams’ squad and didn’t miss a beat.

Williams’ last three seasons resulted in a 42-6 conference record that was overshadowed by a Sweet Sixteen, Final Four and a championship appearance. Since? Self has given the Jayhawks a 325-69 mark with a 151-31 stretch in the Big 12.

Self’s initial tournament resume left much to be desired with two first round exits sandwiched between a pair of Elite Eight showings. That turned around quickly with Kansas’ lone national title during this span in 2008.

Kansas boasts similar marks to Kentucky, with one extra championship loss thrown in, and its down years were first round exits over being completely left out.

So how about ex-Jayhawk coach Williams’ new squad – North Carolina? The Tar Heels have two national titles and another Final Four on their record and they may not even be the best dynasty in their own state.

Recent 1,000 game winner Mike Kryzewski’s Duke Blue Devils are.

Duke has a pair of national titles, has appeared in the tournament in each covered year, and has lost in their opening matchup just three times. Their conference dominance may not be as high as a team such as Kansas, but the competition is relatively stellar each season.

The Blue Devils hold an absurd 412-87 (.826) record in this span. So it has to be them, right?111

Let’s head over to Big Ten country where Tom Izzo is standing by for a quick lecture on postseason play. Michigan State, although missing its 1999-2000 national championship by just one season, has made nine Sweet Sixteens, five Elite Eights, four Final Fours, and has won one title. They haven’t missed the tournament a single time, and have been eliminated before the Round of 32 just four times.

What about UConn’s three title runs? Florida’s star-studded squads? Kentucky’s heated-rival Louisville? We need a way to rank these teams accordingly as to put all bias aside and assign an overall score. Postseason play in college basketball has always taken precedence over any other measurement of success. Here is the scoring chart to decide the top NCAA Tournament team since 2001’s tournament when solely considering those whom have a title to their name in this span:

Round of 64 loss: 0 points
Round of 32 loss: 1 point
Sweet 16 loss: 2 points
Elite Eight loss: 4 points
Final Four Loss: 8 points
Championship loss: 12 points
Championship: 16 points

NCAA Tournament champions results since 2000-01 March Madness: Kansas 68, UConn 67, Duke 59, North Carolina 56, Florida 55, Kentucky 55, Michigan State 51, Louisville 44, Syracuse 37, Maryland 30.

Shockingly, outside of its three titles runs, UConn only scored 19 points on this scale. The Huskies fell just a point shy of claiming this all important statistic in pushing forward to choosing men’s college hoops’ most dominant dynasty of the 21^st century. Despite just one title, consistency overcame roller coaster levels of postseason success and your winner is…

Top Dynasty of the 21^st century: Kansas Jayhawks. Not only has Kansas (almost surprisingly) performed as the top overall team in March Madness, but it also has the most eye-popping accomplishment. I’m going to type this out to make it even more drastic: Kansas has won at least a share of (ahem) back to back to back to back to back to back to back to back to back to back regular season Big 12 championships. That’s 10. Read that out loud and you’re likely to need to catch your breath. This isn’t Kansas playing in the Summit League or intramural athletics – this is a major conference with a tough road to the top every season. Ten?! In a row? And just for the record, it’s also 12 of 13, but who’s counting? The Huskies have a legitimate argument when it comes to this discussion due to three incredible runs to the championship, but Kansas has been a more consistently feared team. Welcome to a new postseason tournament, Jayhawks. Let’s see who else is joining you.

Honorable mention: Duke, UConn

Women’s College Basketball

I went from one of the more difficult sports to choose to what might be the easiest. UConn women’s hoops is out of this world. Seven championships since the turn of the century. Average margin of victory in those title-winning contests? 15.4 points. That’s 15 points better than the second best team in the country. Talk about a talent gap. I can’t put into words how unbelievably incredible the Huskies’ overall record has been, so I’ll leave two simple numbers on its own.

486-38.

That’s a .927 winning percentage.

I could play myself in checkers and not win 93 percent of the time.

Connecticut has missed out on the Sweet Sixteen in this span only…well, they haven’t. And just once were they limited to that. On top of the Sweet Sixteen and seven titles, the Huskies have made two Elite Eight appearances along with four Final Fours. Therefore, your clear cut winner without any hesitation is…

Top Dynasty of the 21^st century: Connecticut Huskies.

College Wrestling

If the 70s, 80s and 90s were included, this wouldn’t even be a competition. The Iowa Hawkeyes took home 20 titles from 1975-2000. Despite those all being out of the picture, Iowa is still in contention for the 21^st century title post-Dan Gable. The Hawkeyes have three titles to their name, which comes shy of Penn State and Oklahoma State, who put together four each. With the overall team title competition so close, our answer comes from individual championships. The Nittany Lions have nine, Hawkeyes 13 and Cowboys 18.

Oklahoma State’s 2005 season was the best of the era, fielding five individual champions in 10 weight classes, and scoring 153 points – best since the 1997 Hawkeyes scored 170. Therefore the winner is…

Top Dynasty of the 21^st century: Oklahoma State Cowboys. The Cowboys are tied for the lead in titles, have the best overall team of the era and can claim having the most individual titles. They may be fortunate to wrestle outside the Big Ten, but national titles don’t lie.

Honorable Mention: Iowa Hawkeyes, Penn State Nittany Lions

MLB

Four teams have won multiple titles since 2000 – the Red Sox (three), Giants (three), Yankees (two) and Cardinals (two) – to give a clear starting point when trying to declare the top 21^st century dynasty of professional baseball.

It’s clearly visible that this is a dead heat. You know the drill. In order to decide, I assigned a point total to each stat category. The top finisher in each category – World Series victories, division titles, regular season winning percentage, playoff appearances, total playoff wins and postseason playoff winning percentage – receives four points, followed by three for second place and so on. I also gave teams an extra point for each playoff series they won. The final tally came out as followed:

Top Dynasty of the 21^st century: St. Louis Cardinals. Any fan of one the final four teams can state a statistic on how their team deserved to be the one represented. New York dominated the AL East. Boston and San Francisco won a third World Series and were more efficient in the postseason when they did make it. None of that jumped out the way this did:

The Cardinals took the cake with 16 postseason series victories.

That’s out of this world consistent. The Yankees came close, carried by consistently owning the division crown, whereas the two teams that take advantage of playoff appearances the most, Boston and San Francisco, found themselves looking up.

Honorable Mention: Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees, San Francisco Giants

College Volleyball

Some of these don’t take much time. Penn State has six championships, including two 38-0 seasons. USC, Stanford, Nebraska, Texas and UCLA have had strong programs, but none have approached the dominance by the Nittany Lions. Let’s just get to the point. Without a hint of doubt, your winner is…

Top Dynasty of the 21^st century: Penn State Nittany Lions.

College Baseball

Unlike most of the other sports in the discussion, the full 2000 season is included since it began post-millennium. Texas, South Carolina and Oregon State all have a pair of titles, with nobody else claiming more than one. Naturally, only those three are in consideration. However, the Beavers have only made four CWS appearances compared to six for South Carolina and eight for Texas. Typically that would lead one to believe that the answer is obviously the Longhorns.

Take a look at overall winning percentage: Texas is 661-294 (.664) in this millennium, lagging considerably behind the Gamecocks at 713-289 (.712). So what do we value? Winning more regular season games against what is typically stronger competition, or taking overall postseason play? The latter carries more weight. Here is how each team fared in NCAA Tournament play with its overall statistics tallied at the bottom.

Top Dynasty of the 21^st century: Texas Longhorns. In what ended up being the closest contest of any sport so far, Texas prevailed because of one statistic: CWS appearances. South Carolina may hold a relatively significant advantage in regular season record and have a slim lead in postseason record, but they couldn’t get the job done in enough Super Regionals. One could argue that Texas’ lows were below South Carolina’s, but they consistently made the trip to Omaha and that familiarity with getting to the final eight put them over the edge.

College Football

Alabama, Ohio State, LSU, and Florida all have multiple FBS championships to their names, while Appalachian State and North Dakota State have dominated the FCS level well enough to be included in the discussion. USC vacated one of its two national championships and will not be considered. As we’ve come to find out, tables can be really useful when measuring statistics of multiple teams. Unfortunately, college football has more variables than most so let’s compare like it is 2000 (and we’re using WordPad).

Alabama: The Crimson Tide are the only team in this span with three FBS national title victories. Their overall record takes a hit because of 21 vacated wins, but stands at 116-57, including a 6-5 bowl mark – which is also hindered by one vacated victory and two seasons in which ‘Bama was ineligible for the postseason. They have garnered three SEC titles and five SEC West crowns – most of which have come under Nick Saban. The pre-Saban era was somewhat dark for Alabama, which had a (now shocking) 3-8 season in 2000. The loss of 21 victories could really come back to bite the team that is likely the first one on everybody’s college football power shortlist.

Florida: Florida boasts two national titles (thanks, Tebow) complemented by a 137-56 overall record. If Alabama had kept its wins, Florida would be one game ahead in the loss column and tied with the Tide for overall victories. In bowl play, Florida has a lackadaisical 7-6 mark. They have picked up three SEC Titles and have headed the SEC East four times.

LSU: Consistency in a more than tough conference is what could separate LSU from the group. Like every team on this list besides Alabama, the Tigers have a pair of national championships. Their overall record of 151-45 is only topped by Ohio State. They’ve won nine bowl games compared to six losses and have not missed out on the postseason. They’ve picked up four conference titles and five SEC West titles along the way to top both Florida and Alabama in those areas.

Ohio State: Surprised to see a Big Ten team here? You shouldn’t be. Despite a negative stigma built around the conference in recent years, Ohio State has been among the most dominant teams lately. The Buckeyes’ 157-36 overall record is hard to argue with. An 8-7 bowl record with a few postseason embarrassments could be improved on. What really couldn’t be is a sensational seven conference titles – which reasonably would be eight if not for a postseason ban on a 12-0 squad in 2012. The Buckeyes may not have the numbers to claim best of this century now, but with Urban Meyer pulling the strings, it might not be too long until they do.

North Dakota State: If we were only talking about the last four years, the Bison would breeze through the competition. Their 63-3 record with four national titles is, well, absurd. Before that? North Dakota State swiftly comes back to Earth with a more reasonable, but still strong, 74-40 mark. Did you already do the math? That’s an overall record of 137-43

…and I should probably mention they have a 20-2 postseason record.

20 wins. Two losses.

The Bison made the move from Division II to FCS in this time period and were ineligible for postseason play in multiple 10-1 seasons, otherwise they very well could have added to that title total. Which, quite frankly, is a little scary. One thing that isn’t as scary is this game. And this one in the same season. Sometimes you find things while researching that you wish you never did. Those qualify.

Appalachian State: While the Bison were fiddling around with moving up from Division II, another squad was busy winning national championships and knocking off the winningest-program in FBS history. That was the Mountaineers of Appalachian State. Their record of 131-52 is a modest amount below North Dakota State’s. It isn’t the regular season that separates these two FCS programs. The Mountaineers postseason mark, despite a three-peat from 2005-2007, is 19-8, considerably worse than the Bison’s…let me say it again…20-2.

Top Dynasty of the 21^st century: North Dakota State Bison. I get it. Strength of schedule for the Bison isn’t anywhere near what Ohio State, let alone Alabama, Florida and LSU, face on a week-to-week basis. Their national titles are much less publicized and viewed. They don’t have NFL prospects filling up the first round. They weren’t even in the FCS for part of this era. There are a lot of reasons not to pick them.

Go ahead, write an article on why LSU’s consistency in the SEC makes them the best dynasty of this century, or why Alabama’s three titles set it apart, or how Ohio State’s conference dominance make them the frontrunner. They all have strong cases to disprove my choice.

To me, these issues have to be made relative, not directly compared. Of course North Dakota State doesn’t have to play the LSU defense, the Tim Tebow offense or Nick Saban’s game plan on an annual basis, but they ought to be held to the standards of their competition, not of a league above them. North Dakota State has simply dominated about as much as a modern college football team can in this span. 137-43 in the regular season? Incredible – just as incredible as the others on this list, especially considering transition seasons. That doesn’t set them apart.

A .909 winning percentage in the postseason will. When the Bison play the best competition, they don’t just compete – they absolutely own everyone. Alabama doesn’t. Florida doesn’t. LSU and Ohio State don’t. They’re all tremendous teams, but have not set themselves apart at any part this century the way the Bison have.

Conclusion

The aforementioned follow-up article will now include the St. Louis Cardinals, San Antonio Spurs, New England Patriots, Detroit Red Wings, Kansas Jayhawks men’s hoops, UConn Huskies women’s basketball, Oklahoma State wrestling, Penn State volleyball, Texas baseball and North Dakota State football. Those ten dominant teams will be ranked to determine an ultimate “dynasty of the 21^st century.”

Be sure to check out Night Stuff on KRUI at the stroke of midnight Wednesday mornings as we discuss topics such as this, other sporting news and a few outrageous topics mixed in with a phone always ready to hear your takes. Did you like the article or happen to disagree with some of the choices? Tweet @TheMainStevent or @KRUISports to share your opinion.

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IOWA CITY, Iowa – Adam Woodbury, who is listed as 7-feet 1-inch and 245 pounds on the Iowa Hawkeyes men’s basketball team, has been the target of criticism during his career at Iowa. The center, who is his junior year at Iowa, may have silenced some critiques as he recorded a double-double performance (13 points, 10 rebounds). His performance propelled the Hawkeyes (13-5, 4-1) over the Ohio State Buckeyes (14-5, 3-3) 76-67 on Saturday afternoon in Iowa City.

“[Woodbury] was spectacular,” Iowa head coach Fran McCaffery said. “It seemed like in the one stretch we were struggling a little bit offensively and he got offensive rebounds, and then when we really needed a stop he got some big defensive rebounds.”

The Hawkeyes opened up a 9-0 lead to start the game against the Buckeyes. However, Buckeyes freshman guard D’Angelo Russell helped his team hang around for a majority of the game recording a team high 27 points, 14 rebounds and drained four 3-point shots.

Fouls seemed to plague the Hawkeyes in the opening moments of the second half. Aaron White exited the game in the early minutes of the second half, but came back firing as he scored 18 points in the second half, 10 of which came from the free throw line.

“[White] got his third foul, I think the first possession on the second half, and I took him out,” McCaffery said. “He didn’t want to come out. He was angry. He wanted to stay in. He was angry at the call, he was angry at me taking him out…. And so when it got to the point where I had to start doing something, I said, get in there, take over. Boy, did he take over.”

The Buckeyes were able to trim what was once a 16-point deficit to a nine and seven points, but the Hawkeyes were too much to overcome. Iowa saw scoring from from nine players including junior Mike Gesell’s 11-point performance.

The Hawkeyes will now travel to the Kohl Center in Madison, Wisconsin the take on the Wisconsin Badgers (16-2, 4-1). This will be the first of two meetings between the teams as they will face each other eleven days later on January 31 in Iowa City.

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By Mark Freie

IOWA CITY, Iowa – After splitting a pair of games against the Ohio State Buckeyes in the 2013-2014 season, the Iowa Hawkeyes (9-4) will begin Big Ten play against the Buckeyes (11-2) in their final game of the 2014 year on Tuesday.

Iowa travels to Columbus, Ohio with the memories of a non-conference schedule that tested 5^th year head coach Fran McCaffery and his players.

“We pride ourselves into really competing. We amped up our non-conference schedule,” McCaffery said following an 80-70 win over North Florida. “When you schedule Pepperdine, [there is] a very good chance they’re going to win their league. When you schedule North Florida, [there is] a very good chance they’re going to win the Atlantic Sun. Their RPIs are all up. Hopefully that’s going to help us and pay dividends down the road.”

Shooting woes have not been a secret for the Hawkeyes who are 13 games into the season. Long, scoreless stretches have impacted the team in losses most notably against Texas, Iowa State and UNI.

“I think in particular with guys that know they’re really good shooters that aren’t making shots, they tend to [hang their head low],” McCaffery said. “All I ask them to do is keep battling defensively, don’t turn it over, and make sure you take good shots. I tell them to keep shooting.”

Aaron White, a senior out of Strongsville, Ohio, has led the way for the Hawkeyes this season. White, who eclipsed the 1,500 career point mark against North Florida, is averaging 15.8 points per game. Although White has only attempted 20 three-point shots of the team’s 253 attempts, he is still finding his way to the basket and is 81-92 (88%) from the free throw line. White only needs 12 made free throws to surpass Roy Marble on list for all-time free throws made at Iowa.

Iowa senior Gabe Olaseni and junior Jarrod Uthoff have also made their presence known. Uthoff has started all 13 games and is averaging 10.6 PPG and has been the three-point shooter for the Hawkeyes. Olaseni has appeared in all 13 games and is without a doubt, the sixth-man for Iowa. Coming off the bench, he averages 8.5 PPG, shooting 58% from the field, 5.6 rebounds per game, and has blocked 32 shots this season.

With the non-conference schedule behind them, the Hawkeyes embark on a Big Ten Conference schedule that has not been friendly to them in recent years. Although Iowa has finished with a 9-9 record the past two seasons, they have not enjoyed a winning Big Ten record since the 2006-2007 season.

Iowa will open Big Ten play on the road for the first time since the 2008-09 season. The Hawkeyes face a tough hurdle out of the gate in No. 20 Ohio State. The Buckeyes are led by freshman guard D’Angelo Russel averaging 17.7 points per game. While the Buckeyes have two losses on their record, one to Louisville and another to North Carolina, they boast one of the nation’s top offenses scoring around 85 points per game.

The Hawkeye shooting woes must be corrected in order to start Big Ten play on a high note. Buckeye opponents have averaged just below 60 points per game this season.

Tip-off for Iowa v. Ohio State is slated for 12:00 PM CT. The Hawkeyes will return to Carver-Hawkeye Arena in 2015 as they face Nebraska and Michigan State on Jan. 5 and 8.

For more Hawkeye Basketball coverage, be sure to follow @KRUISports on Twitter.

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