Greatest Gut Punch Bracket

[madguy30]

I think the gut punch from cy-hawk series is Grant Steen's fumbling after getting the int that imo was going to change that game in 2001.

There was a football game in Kinnick one year when ISU missed a couple of bunny field goals that would have won iirc and, there was a basketball game at Carver when I was younger where ISU was ahead the whole time and lost last second.

Maybe I just cared about the rivalry more then though.

 

[theshadow]

We've talked about winning Big 12 North, then guessing a convincing loss in the conference championship, but it would've changed the specific bowl invite.

Yeah, it might very well have been worse. ISU was selected ahead of CU in both '04 and '05.

 

[MeanDean]

Since there's already a recruiting gut punch from Harrison Barnes you might consider another different one. I forget his name, but I think he was J.J. Moses' uncle? Also out of Waterloo. In the 70s he was, I think, considered the top national recruit and signed with ISU. He ended up injured and had no career to speak of. Classic "what if" scenario.

(I apologize if I have parts of this wrong, I'm going 100% on memory. Which is not very clear in this case. Sorry)

 

[theshadow]

I forget his name, but I think he was J.J. Moses' uncle? Also out of Waterloo. In the 70s he was, I think, considered the top national recruit and signed with ISU. He ended up injured and had no career to speak of. Classic "what if" scenario.

You mean Jerry Moses? J.J. and Milan's dad?

 

[cyclones500]

Yeah, it might very well have been worse. ISU was selected ahead of CU in both '04 and '05.

Good info, thanks -- I wasn't sure what the pecking order was in those situations. If by some chance ISU had won the B12 title game -- curious what would've happened then for what would've been 7-4 and 8-3 teams, in respective seasons.

 

[cyclone4L]

This is about the only bracket that would compare to the ISU Gut Punch Bracket

 

[cyclones500]

There was a football game in Kinnick one year when ISU missed a couple of bunny field goals that would have won iirc and, there was a basketball game at Carver when I was younger where ISU was ahead the whole time and lost last second.

Maybe I just cared about the rivalry more then though.

Not sure about the football example -- maybe sometime during the 15-year skid, in rare years when we didn't lose by numerous TDs (?)

For basketball -- Extending back to the '70s, the only games that could have been buzzer-beater wins for Iowa in the series AND played at CHA.

1990 -- Iowa 75, ISU 73 (my best-guess)

Other U-of-I wins of 2 points or fewer:
1978 - Iowa 67, ISU 66 (would have been at Iowa Field House)
1989 -- Iowa 89, ISU 87 (at Hilton)
1997 -- Iowa 60, ISU 59 (at Hilton)
2003 -- Iowa 54, ISU 53 (NIT at Hilton)

 

[theshadow]

Good info, thanks -- I wasn't sure what the pecking order was in those situations. If by some chance ISU had won the B12 title game -- curious what would've happened then for what would've been 7-4 and 8-3 teams, in respective seasons.

Here's how it actually played out those two years.

2004:
1. Orange/NCG: Oklahoma (11-1, 8-0, Big 12 champ)
2. Rose/BCS: Texas (10-1, 7-1)
3. Cotton: Texas A&M (7-4, 5-3)
4. Holiday: Texas Tech (7-4, 5-3)
5. Alamo: Oklahoma State (7-4, 4-4)
6. Independence: Iowa State (6-5, 4-4)
7. Houston: Colorado (7-5, 4-4, Big 12 runner-up)
8. Champs Sports: (empty)
9. Fort Worth: (empty)

2005:
1. Rose/NCG: Texas (12-0, 8-0, Big 12 champ)
2. Cotton: Texas Tech (9-2, 6-2)
3. Holiday: Oklahoma (7-4, 6-2)
4. Alamo: Nebraska (7-4, 4-4)
5. Independence: Missouri (6-5, 4-4)
6. Houston: Iowa State (7-4, 4-4)
7. Champs Sports: Colorado (7-5, 5-3, Big 12 runner-up)
8. Fort Worth: Kansas (6-5, 3-5)

There was some speculation in 2005 that if ISU had just gotten to the Big 12 title game (at 8-3), the Holiday Bowl would have been in play.

 

[theshadow]

There was a football game in Kinnick one year when ISU missed a couple of bunny field goals that would have won iirc

1988: Lost by 7. Shudak went 1/5, but 3 of the misses were from 50+. That was the game when Tork Hook picked off a pass inside the Iowa 10, in the final minute, to seal it.

2004: Lost by 7. Jansen went 1/4, missing from 30, 46, and 31.

 

[CNECloneFan]

Those big 12 north choke jobs sting but knowing that Colorado lost both of those games 42-3 and 70-3 respectively takes a little bit out. I especially wouldn't have wanted anything to do with Vince Young and Texas in '05.

It is an interesting question. Which would have had the greater impact on the program - winning the Big 12 North or getting hammered in the Championship game?

 

[madguy30]

Not sure about the football example -- maybe sometime during the 15-year skid, in rare years when we didn't lose by numerous TDs (?)

For basketball -- Extending back to the '70s, the only games that could have been buzzer-beater wins for Iowa in the series AND played at CHA.

1990 -- Iowa 75, ISU 73 (my best-guess)

Other U-of-I wins of 2 points or fewer:
1978 - Iowa 67, ISU 66 (would have been at Iowa Field House)
1989 -- Iowa 89, ISU 87 (at Hilton)
1997 -- Iowa 60, ISU 59 (at Hilton)
2003 -- Iowa 54, ISU 53 (NIT at Hilton)

Looked these up. The football game was 2004. Missed 3 field goals in a 17-10 loss.

Nice little omen for that season.

Basketball was 1990. I just remember Victor Alexander's look on his face...I think Earl tipped in a shot.

 

[Buster28]

A short-while back, there was a thread about WBB gut-punches, I can't find it immediately with a search — can anyone locate it? Several from there that could be in the bracket. Loss to BYU in '02 (?) is the only one I remember specifically.

It was this thread for similar wbb games:
https://cyclonefanatic.com/forum/threads/wbb-what-losing-game-result-would-you-flip.255615/

Definitely, losing in the second round to 11 seeded BYU is up there. You could also make an argument for the same situation against 11 seed Missouri State in 2019 (although we did not potentially have four straight home games to reach the Final Four), which ended Bridget Carleton's college career just 8 points shy of the all-time ISU scoring record.

 

[Lamoni]

The basketball losses seem to sting a lot more than the football losses through the years. There have been so many times watching an ISU football game where the sentiment in the crowd has been, "How are we going to blow this one?"

 

[TrianglePlace]

For all of the ISU entries...losing in the Elite 8 vs MSU + refs should blow anything ISU out of the water for gut punches. Heck, it was even a gut punch that ISU, the overall #5 seed, was placed in the same bracket with the overall #1 seed MSU.

For the others...I'm surprised they have the Ronnie Harmon Rose Bowl game as #2. Hawk fans to this day still complain about that game...even moreso than their #1 2015 Fake ID year.

I'm also shocked the UNI blowing a 12 point lead in the final minute was seeded at #3. It was considered one of the biggest choke jobs in NCAA history and made the rounds everywhere.

I am not old enough to remember the Harmon Rose Bowl but losing the 2015 B1G Title game sucked big time.

It is the equivalent of losing in the E8 on a buzzer beater after leading for the last 10 minutes of the game.

 

[CloneGuy8]

UNI loss to A&M has to win this thing. I mean we've all seen some rough **** as ISU fans, but I don't know how you would recover from that one.

 

[jdoggivjc]

For WBB, I'd choose the 2000 Sweet 16 loss to Penn St

What made that loss even worse is it happened later that evening or the next evening after the loss to MSU (I don’t remember which).

 

[jdoggivjc]

It is an interesting question. Which would have had the greater impact on the program - winning the Big 12 North or getting hammered in the Championship game?

Winning the North. Everyone would have known going in we were going to get hammered (perhaps not as bad as CU did), and nobody would have cared. Same thing if it happens this year - if we were to make the championship game this year, making it would be much more important than if the end result were a blowout loss, because it’s heights this program hasn’t reached before.

 

[Buster28]

What made that loss even worse is it happened later that evening or the next evening after the loss to MSU (I don’t remember which).

They were the same day, I believe.

 

[theshadow]

What made that loss even worse is it happened later that evening or the next evening after the loss to MSU (I don’t remember which).

IIRC, the WBB pep rally in Kansas City was more or less a MBB gamewatch. MBB started around 6 p.m., and WBB didn't play until about 9:45. We trudged over to Municipal after watching the men's game.

 

[CycloneRulzzz]

Voting is open on niang foot vs ucla 97. Niang running away at 80-20. Right call but that 97 loss hurt me more than alot of losses have. I think it was combination of how we lost and that it was the end for Cato, Pratt, Bankhead and Willoughby.