It will be fine since we are in the Big 12. It just definitely leaves something to be desired.
A lot of things went one way to contribute to a poor non-con...
-Non-premier Thanksgiving tournament for the first time in years
-Iowa relatively down
-Paired with DePaul in the Big East challenge
In hindsight, this would of been the perfect year for TJ to bring in South Dakota St or another somewhat formidable Summit League opponent. Oh well.
Yes, it's looking pretty clearly to be the weakest non-conference ISU has had in quite some time. I can't remember a worse non-con honestly from our current vantage point at least. Maybe only one Tourney team (maybe two) depending on how the ESPN tournament shakes out.
We'll probably stay outside the rankings, even if we're 10-0 (except the ESPN tournament could cause us to jump if we get to play and beat other ranked teams like FAU) cause we just won't generate attention and every voter will assume those are games we should win by a bunch. Also, it's riskier because if they drop two or 3, then they're going to be outside the Dance looking in coming into Big XII season. Not a lot of margin for error with such a soft schedule.
It is what it is and I'm sure TJ will keep them showing up and playing hard. Hope they can win that first one in Orlando to stay on the winner's side of the bracket and get three wins there. Winning down there might be our only real chance in the noncon to build the resume.