I might have missed it but has a running backs coach been named yet? If not, any speculation on who it might be or a timeline when a hire might be made?

OK, the stupid Patriots and their stupid fans have had their stupid little parade. Time to get on with the offseason. Key dates coming up -

Feb. 19 - First day that NFL teams can apply the franchise tag to an impending free agent.
Feb 26 - NFL combine begins.
March 11 - The legal tampering window for negotiating with free agents begins.
March 13 - Free agency officially begins.
April 25th - NFL draft!

How are you feeling about your team going into the offseason? Who do you hope they add and/or subtract?

Link:

https://cyclonefanatic.com/2019/02/stanz-five-points-on-iowa-states-75-74-win-over-oklahoma/

I know we have struggled against the zone defense this year (with the exception of the Ole Miss game, which I count as an anomaly due to 70% shooting). We have struggled with zone defenses for the past few years. I know on the KXNO show with Jess Settles and Jake Sullivan they mentioned that a lot of teams struggle with the zone. Jake thought our struggles in the Texas game were that we didn't recognize the defense until later into the shot clock. Why is it so hard to play offense against the zone? If it is so hard, why doesn't everyone play zone defense? Do we need to practice more against it? As good as coaches are offensively, there has to be a good way to defeat it besides great shooting.

Interesting read from The Athletic... it looks back at the 2015 class and re-ranks based on the performance of the players (and team) over the last 4 seasons. This was the last recruiting class Matt Campbell had at Toledo and that class was bumped up to 12th (from the 84th place ranking it had in 2015) in this re-ranking.

I really like this approach - not a fan of the comments you get from the writers on draft day or signing day that go something like: "how good is this class? ask me in 4 years."... If you are going to write that in your column about the current class, then that phrase should be a hyperlink to a column on the class from 4 years ago documenting how that class turned out...

Side note: not sure I agree with one of the key scoring adjustments which modifies the class rating for the number of team wins the last 4 years... I get the idea, but this is greatly impacted by the adjacent classes... I think this gives a view of the program's ability to recruit / develop talent overall but applying this directly to a specific class is difficult... first year the class contribution is usually fairly limited, and you could argue (depending on program, position) that the red shirt senior year (not accounted for in this re-ranking) is more impactful than the true freshmen season... but this is nitpicking... love the work done here.

Link to the full article (requires a subscription):
https://theathletic.com/797789/2019...how-the-class-of-2015-ranks-four-years-later/

I'm in the market for an entry level DSLR camera. I'll be mostly using it to take photos of my son playing baseball and my daughter playing volleyball. I'm a complete novice in photography.

I'm looking at the Canon Rebel T6 for $450 and the Nikon D3500 for $500. The only reason i'm looking at these 2 in particular is because I saw them at Costco so i'd be open to other suggestions as well. Any recommendations for either of these models?

https://www.costco.com/Nikon-D3500-DSLR-Camera-2-Lens-Bundle.product.100461398.html

https://www.costco.com/Canon-EOS-Rebel-T6-DSLR-Camera-2-Lens-Bundle.product.100288979.html

Nice article by Tommy B. https://www.desmoinesregister.com/s...rk-jets-green-bay-packers-hirings/2776191002/

A lot needs to go right for her to do it, but Bridget has a shot at becoming ISU's all-time leading scorer.

Current Top 5:
Welle 2149
Wilson 1875
Taylor 1866
Carleton 1833
Olson 1799

Bridget needs:
34 points to pass Taylor
43 points to pass Wilson
167 points to hit 2000
317 to pass Welle

ISU remaining games:
8 regular season
1 to 3 Big 12 Tournament games (barring an utter collapse dropping us down to a 7 seed)
1 to 6 NCAA Tournament games (barring an utter collapse dropping us to the WNIT followed by turning down the WNIT invite because the collapse makes us just want the season to be over)

We'll play at least 10 games, most likely we'll play 12-14 games, and we could play as many as 17 games. For Bridget to be ISU's all-time leading scorer, she'll have to average:

10 games: 31.7 ppg
11 games: 28.8 ppg
12 games: 26.4 ppg
13 games: 24.4 ppg
14 games: 22.6 ppg
15 games: 21.1 ppg
16 games: 19.8 ppg
17 games: 18.6 ppg

She's currently averaging 23.5 ppg in conference games.

Lots of people affected by this one ...

Action Network wrote about it here.

2 things simply don't make sense to me right now.
1. How is Shayok not in the top 20 for the wooden award? He is the leading scorer in the B12 which is projecting 7-8/10 teams in the NCAA tournament right now. Every game is a grind and he keeps proving it every week.
2. Why is Gonzaga ranked so high despite not earning anything? What have they done besides beating a bunch of unranked teams? It makes no sense.

Can't find a thread on this subject although it may exist. This will be our first Big 12 tournament experience and wanting to know if the team/fans stay at any particular hotel (fully realizing it's pretty late to be asking) and/or where I can find more information on activities/gatherings of ISU fans.
Appreciate any suggestions.
Thanks

Hey everyone, I posted this info last year and a few of you grab some tickets so thought I'd throw it out there again. I got Cubs season tickets last year and renewed for this season. Ended up moving seats from down the right field line to on the infield about straight up from the Cubs on deck circle and just under the upper deck. If anyone is interested shoot me an email. Thanks.

[email protected]

There aren't very many big movers this week, the rankings are starting to settle-in. Anthony Ashnault still didn't get up to #1 after his big win over Kolodzik, but if you look at his Rank History tab, he's only 2 Elo points away from Micah Jordan...

Michigan dropped one spot, down to #7 in the dual rankings, swapping with NC State, which is now #6. Minnesota also moved up 1 spot to #9, pushing Cornell down 1 spot.

In the tournament rankings, the top 6 remain un-changed, but Cornell moved up 5 spots to #7.

Wrestler Rankings: https://www.wrestlestat.com/rankings/starters

Dual Rankings: https://www.wrestlestat.com/rankings/dual

Tournament Rankings: https://www.wrestlestat.com/rankings/tournament

Statistical Rankings: https://www.wrestlestat.com/rankings/statistical

Tourney Projection Tool: https://www.wrestlestat.com/tourney/projection

ISU vs OU replay at 11:30 on ESPNU today. Direct TV 208

Good or bad? I can see both sides. It might be a good time to get our legs under us again and for the freshman to get a little mental break. On the flip side, we're winning, and I don't like thinking of losing any momentum. Odd scheduling for sure.

Per ESPN link...

http://www.espn.com/espn/story/_/id...sabrina-ionescu-lead-wooden-late-season-lists

Great recognition, but it lists her as a freshman...don't we wish!

Well good win for the boys last night, every win on the road is always nice

TCU really has only 1 good Big 12 win and that's over Baylor

I think that TCU though has been struggling on the road lately.

My Prediction
TCU 71
Iowa State 83

Iowa State moves to 8-3 in the conference and then next Saturday At Kansas State

So it sounds like an announcement may be coming today on acts for now the 3 day festival.... Super excited to see where this goes! Any guesses on who? I am thinking Gary Clark JR back as a headliner for one night, I also feel like Vampire Weekend potentials, I have no source just feelings so far!

It looks like he has only played in 4 games. Has the staff or anyone that covers the team indicated thats the plan?

Big one!

https://cyclonefanatic.com/podcasts/instant-reaction-podcast-iowa-state-75-oklahoma-74/

There’s still 5:30 left in this game. 46 fouls so far. Lololol

Here's the link to full gallery of pics of the shutout dual between Iowa State and South Dakota State

https://ckramerphoto.smugmug.com/Iowa-State-vs-South-Dakota-State

I’ve been thinking about this a lot as a casual baseball fan who is having a hard time caring any more. I realize the timing of this is odd during the off-season but are advanced metrics and analytics ruining the game? I am by no means a purist, but when ESPN now shows OPS before batting average on their stat line you know things are screwy. Apparently the most important thing to determining a player’s value is their WAR which is a completely theoretical stat. Average, rbi and home runs used to be the holy trinity of stats, with OBP and RISP also being good indicators of success but it seems like the numbers are being twisted around so much that awful players like Adam Dunn had a 10+ year career.

I’m not saying this is the only reason for the decline of baseball (god awful pace, less home grown, elite talent) but it sure is making it a lot less accessible.

She is on a roll!!

https://cyclones.com/news/2019/2/4/...hird-straight-freshman-of-the-week-honor.aspx