Happy Saturday, Fanatics. For those snowed inside from the nasty weather, here is a SUPER SICKO preview of Eastern Illinois before tomorrow's game at Hilton Coliseum.

CBS always does a good job with these before this game:

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Check out this article from Des Moines Register:

Iowa State's Reagan Wilson goes from back of bench to back in the mix

We are coming to town next weekend and I could use some recs and info after not living in Ames for 20+ years. First, where would some Bears fans watch the Bears/Packers game Saturday night (will have minor kids, so somewhere that’s not 21+). Second, we have tix to the MBB game on Sunday but I just realized there’s a WBB game that day too so I plan to get tix to that also. Do they clear out Hilton in between? Or what happens in that time between the games if you have tix to both? Thanks!

The Fanatic paperback books have been wrapped with care and sent to all the good CF boys and girls.

Post photos of the joy of receiving yours on Fanatic Book Day.

@RossDellenger: The Big 12 is nearing a deal with RedBird and Weatherford Capital for a cash infusion of as much as $500 million to schools, as well as striking a strategic investment partnership with the firms at the league office, sources tell
@YahooSports
https://t.co/RHCdtpxvqI
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If it's not complaining about free throws today it's been "Stay classy" regarding Coach Jimmy's introduction.

Here's the deal Hawks. You're the fanbase with Vodka Sam and introduced us all to Metrodome Delight.

Shut up.

To pull your driving record and require proof of personal insurance if you do zero driving for your job?

Mine is doing it. I don't give a rip but the old ladies in the office are up in arms.

Anyone have 4 tickets for 21 or 29 Dec games.

Ideally close to floor, together.

On a Friday edition of the Daily Clone, Jake Brend breaks down Killyan Toure's lockdown performance against preseason All-American Bennett Stirtz and what Georges Niang had to say about the frenchman. Plus, Jimmy Rogers wins over the fans and Brend has a Rocco Becht injury update.

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I find it "fun" or at least informative to rewatch Iowa State games on TV after seeing them live. I took a dive into the Iowa game last night and here are some deeper thoughts...

Jake Brend, Ben Hutchens, and Rob Gray react to the most eventful week in Iowa State history. Basketball sweeps Iowa, Jimmy Rogers makes his first impression on the fans, and everything from the Matt Campbell departure. All this and more presented by Kelderman Manufacturing.

Enjoy!

Rocco Becht undergoes surgery on non-throwing shoulder. First reported to CF Premium subscribers on Wednesday.

I have had this issue for a long time. I have just been ignoring it, thinking it will get resolved on its own. But it continues to happen, and its been at least a year. Whenever I try to post a gif, if I just paste the gif in the text box, like I used to be able to do, I get a broken link. About half the time someone posts a gif, I get a broken link, see image posted here. And my Jimlad emoji is broken too. The only way I get a gif to work is I must put it in through the image tab, and must past the link to the gif there. Then it will work. But I still see broken links when others post gifs like below.

Any ideas how to fix it, I have a newer computer and it happened on my old computer too, so I dont think it is just cookies or cache or something like that. Something is breaking the links or something.

Before the season started, what were you hoping for with this team? Were you bullish? Bearish? Just curious.

Knowing we had Lipsey, Jefferson, and Milan and Heise coming back, I thought while we had a great core, we'd have a solid season but nothing spectacular due to so many new faces coming in which can be a situation where they never mesh like we thought. Even preseason rankings I thought we might be pegged a bit too high. Maybe I wasn't giving our big three enough credit. I thought we'd make the NCAAs but somewhere in the 5-6 seed range.

We haven't even hit conference play, so can things change? Yes. Can injuries happen? Yes. Still a lot of variables. But given our schedule with the neutral game against MSU and the three neutral games in Vegas with a bunch of new players, and playing at #1 Purdue and a rivalry game against Iowa, I thought being 7-3 after ten games would be ok...not great but fair. 8-2 is solid. 9-1 is fantastic and 10-0 just wan't in the cards.

This is a TEAM. Every single player and position just...makes sense and compliments everyone so ******* well. We have incredible basketball IQ at every position. Our depth is insane.

Are we going to stumble and lose games? Yes. I think we're still looking at 5-6 regular season losses...this league is tough as hell. But so far, this season has to exceed almost all of our expectations, right? Not sure many would have said we'd be 10-0.

I have not re-watched game (I was at the game) but I did see quite a few NBA scouts at Hilton last night.
Has this been posted or discussed anywhere? Or maybe how many?

Quite a few were chatting before the game in the lower West entrance.

Has anyone here had one? If so, did it require surgery to be fixed?

We are planning on taking a family trip to the Philippines over spring break. Planning on 10 days.
Travel cost there is kinda high, but food, lodging, and excoursions are realatively inexpensive. The Philipines are a largly underrated and less traveled destination with some increadible scenery and world class snorkeling.

Does anyone have any experience in the Philippines, and do you have any pointers.

It has been a hot minute since I have done any overseaas travel, but can't wait to share a little adventure with my wife and kids!

Bill Belichick (before he was a joke) popularized the importance of winning the "middle 8" minutes of the football game just before and after halftime. The middle 8 minutes of the CyHawk game were a huge swing with a 22-3 run for the good guys. Looking at high major opponents this year and using the media timeouts as the guide for those minutes:

Miss State: 29-10 (+10 ... extended lead to 17)
St Johns: 19-12 (+7 ... from down 5 to up 2)
Creighton: 17-19 (-2 ... lead decreased from 10 to 8)
Syracuse: 25-11 (+14 ... from tie game to up 14)
Purdue: 20-9 (+11 ... extended lead to 12)
Iowa: 22-3 (+19 ... from down 13 to up 6)

Cyclones are +9.8 on average during the middle 8 this season.

Can we politely name the student section Mr. Roger's Neighborhood. Line the section with pictures of Mr. Roger's double bird. Students need signs that read "Beat the ******* (insert mascot name here)."

Jalen Travis is going to be starting at Right Tackle for the Colts this Sunday in Seattle.

I've heard rumors of some interesting developments around their quarterback too...

Another day in the office for Joshua Jefferson and winning plays down the stretch from Blake Buchanan help Tamin Lipsey end his career 3-1 against Iowa.

Jake Brend breaks down No. 4 Iowa State's 66-62 win over Iowa at Hilton.

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Words don't do it justice for how good he's been for a freshman with only 10 games under his belt. He has zero fear. Matched up against two of (if not) the best point guards in the country 5 days apart? "Yeah I'll just put 'em in a body bag thanks." So fun to watch him play and easy to root for.