Article

[mhalb]

I thought this was an interesting read.

http://m.espn.go.com/ncw/story?storyId=12125081&src=desktop&rand=ref~%7B"ref"%3A"http%3A%2F%2Ft.co%2FLOTSvCUb76"%7D

 

[Wesley]

Link broken.

 

[StClone]

Link broken.

How many Big 12 teams will dance?

Charlie Creme

Perhaps no fans in the country support their women's basketball program like those in the Big 12. The conference routinely leads the nation in attendance. Even when teams are struggling, the atmosphere for those home games is often better than in arenas of more successful programs in different leagues.


That's why it might be extra disappointing to those same fans when fewer teams from the Big 12 reach the NCAA tournament. And in March, the mirror might provide the best answer as to why. They scheduled badly, very badly.



In this week's Bracketology -- the first projection of 2015 -- just three Big 12 teams made the field...

http://tinyurl.com/kocqkr5

 

[mhalb]

Sorry, the link should be fixed now.

 

[runbikeswim]

3, no. 4, probably not, 5, likely. 6, probably not.

For him to say the top is not as good, well, I think Baylor and Texas could argue with that, coming in ranked at #3 and #5. It think both of those programs are at an elite level this year. It has been a long time since the Big 12 has had 2 teams in the top 5 in rankings.

For ISU, key will be being above .500. Also, a win over Texas or Baylor would be highly beneficial.

A month ago, I thought this season was a loss, but I think the team is starting to gel a bit.

Personally, I see the game at TCU as an important game, with Texas and Baylor looming. I really wish we were playing them a bit later in the season, but so it goes.

 

[Buster28]

Found that article last night and didn't agree with the assessment that only three Big 12 teams get in. I think (potentially) Texas, Baylor, ISU, West Virginia, and Oklahoma State all are either locks or an upset or two away from it by the end of the season. You also cannot count out Kansas, while any of the other teams may pull a surprise and have a better than expected year. KU has already demolished a (then) top 10 Cal program. A lot can happen, but we will for sure get more than three teams in the NCAAs.

 

[ISU71]

This article serves to confirm my opinion of ISU's typical season to season pre-conference schedule....embarrassing. It does almost nothing to prepare us for our conference battles other than logging minutes. There is an old saying out there that goes something like this: you don't get better playing against teams that are just plain awful. You get better playing teams that are at least equal to you and hopefully better than you.

We had season tickets off and on (mostly on) for almost 20 years and live almost 3 hours away from Ames. We finally gave them up two years ago for several non-related perfectly valid reasons. But, one of the reasons was that we were not going to continue to invest 6 to 7 hours of drive time and other associated costs to watch us play "weak sister tech" half a dozen times before Christmas.

We love ISU basketball and have a ton of respect for BF. No scandals. Graduation rate is top shelf. Its a program to be proud of. We've followed WBB to Dallas, to OKC to KC and to several away conference sites over the past 20 years. Why BF puts together this weak pre-conference season schedule almost every year does not make any sense to us. If it is only to pad the resume and get close to 20 wins so the NCAA will award a bid to us, then it needs revisiting especially when SOS doesn't even crack the top 175! We have been beaten easily in the first round the last two years of the NCAA's by tougher more athletic teams. I have to wonder if a more demanding pre-conference schedule would have better prepared the players and the staff, not only for conference play, but the NCAA's.

JMO

 

[casey1973]

This article serves to confirm my opinion of ISU's typical season to season pre-conference schedule....embarrassing. It does almost nothing to prepare us for our conference battles other than logging minutes. There is an old saying out there that goes something like this: you don't get better playing against teams that are just plain awful. You get better playing teams that are at least equal to you and hopefully better than you.

We had season tickets off and on (mostly on) for almost 20 years and live almost 3 hours away from Ames. We finally gave them up two years ago for several non-related perfectly valid reasons. But, one of the reasons was that we were not going to continue to invest 6 to 7 hours of drive time and other associated costs to watch us play "weak sister tech" half a dozen times before Christmas.

We love ISU basketball and have a ton of respect for BF. No scandals. Graduation rate is top shelf. Its a program to be proud of. We've followed WBB to Dallas, to OKC to KC and to several away conference sites over the past 20 years. Why BF puts together this weak pre-conference season schedule almost every year does not make any sense to us. If it is only to pad the resume and get close to 20 wins so the NCAA will award a bid to us, then it needs revisiting especially when SOS doesn't even crack the top 175! We have been beaten easily in the first round the last two years of the NCAA's by tougher more athletic teams. I have to wonder if a more demanding pre-conference schedule would have better prepared the players and the staff, not only for conference play, but the NCAA's.

JMO

Agree, and I think the same could be said for the men's early games as well.

 

[kcdc4isu]

While I agree with the last two posts, if we scheduled a tough pre-season and lost half of the games with a tough Big 12 schedule we might not make the big dance. Then we would have people on here saying that we need a softer schedule pre-season to be sure we do make it. With our record of getting to the big dance people would be calling for the coaches head if we did not make it for 3 or 4 years in a row.

 

[mred]

if we scheduled a tough pre-season and lost half of the games

But there's a large spot in the middle of those options. We don't need UConn and Tennessee to visit. There are a lot of high-major Div I schools out there, and doing a home-and-home with a couple of them would make the pre-conference schedule a lot more interesting. This isn't top-shelf competition. Opponents in the RPI 40-80 range would be nice.

It seems like the only reasonably good teams on our schedule (other than Iowa) are during the Thanksgiving tournament we do every year.

 

[kcdc4isu]

But there's a large spot in the middle of those options. We don't need UConn and Tennessee to visit. There are a lot of high-major Div I schools out there, and doing a home-and-home with a couple of them would make the pre-conference schedule a lot more interesting. This isn't top-shelf competition. Opponents in the RPI 40-80 range would be nice.

It seems like the only reasonably good teams on our schedule (other than Iowa) are during the Thanksgiving tournament we do every year.

I agree there are teams in the middle group you talk about but when you do the bolded part you have fewer home games. Less money coming in to the program.

 

[savepolarbears]

I agree there are teams in the middle group you talk about but when you do the bolded part you have fewer home games. Less money coming in to the program.

I've asked this before and no one answered. How do you force good teams to come play in Hilton when they don't have to? Seems like these conference vs. conference challenges are about the only way to boost our schedule. ACC or SEC vs Big 12? Does it hurt us that our conference has fewer teams than most do now?

 

[mred]

I agree there are teams in the middle group you talk about but when you do the bolded part you have fewer home games. Less money coming in to the program.

I don't know how much that's an issue, though. You have to pay to have a cupcake come visit. You get paid to go on the road. I imagine home games are a net plus over road games financially, but I suspect it isn't by that much.

 

[kcdc4isu]

I don't know how much that's an issue, though. You have to pay to have a cupcake come visit. You get paid to go on the road. I imagine home games are a net plus over road games financially, but I suspect it isn't by that much.

I am thinking more about our fans. If half of the pre-season games are now away, less games for us to attend.

 

[acoustimac]

It's also very difficult to get teams to come to Hilton. If we would take to the road we could play anyone...and end up going into Big 12 play like OU this year with about a 50/50 record.

 

[BoxsterCy]

But there's a large spot in the middle of those options. We don't need UConn and Tennessee to visit. There are a lot of high-major Div I schools out there, and doing a home-and-home with a couple of them would make the pre-conference schedule a lot more interesting. This isn't top-shelf competition. Opponents in the RPI 40-80 range would be nice.

It seems like the only reasonably good teams on our schedule (other than Iowa) are during the Thanksgiving tournament we do every year.

The only teams we have played in the last 10 years in non-conference outside of tournaments on neutral sites that were worth a crap are Iowa (every year), Minnesota (maybe 4 or 5 times) and Michigan (twice). The schedule is what the coach and ISU schedule. Bill basically has a free ticket to do whatever he wants for as long as he wants to. The "teams won't come to Hilton" line is an excuse and IMHO a big annual lie. He's been a great coach but I get a little tired of everyone acting like he is some sort of god. The "we don't want road games" is probably true. Jeez, it's not like we are that great at home when playing decent teams either, our recent home NCAA tournament games have been nothing to write home about.

Anyway, it is what they schedule and it is not going to change.

 

[VeloClone]

Generally Bill could probably use to beef up the schedule. Considering he needed to break in some true freshmen for meaningful minutes this year I don't have a problem with a soft start.

 

[ISU71]

I think we understand that. But, we shouldn't be playing cupcakes nearly every game before Christmas. The freshman have to realize that "it ain't high school any more". The sooner they get over that, the better. One has to wonder if our monumental collapse vs TCU the other night couldn't have been avoided with stiffer competition for 8 or 9 games prior. Just sayin'.

 

[barometriclow]

While I agree with the last two posts, if we scheduled a tough pre-season and lost half of the games with a tough Big 12 schedule we might not make the big dance. Then we would have people on here saying that we need a softer schedule pre-season to be sure we do make it. With our record of getting to the big dance people would be calling for the coaches head if we did not make it for 3 or 4 years in a row.

Not excited about getting blown out of the first game of the NCAA. If we win a strong preseason we will go deep into the tourney and avoid embarassing ourselves.

In addition we go to games for the entertainment, not to watch a scrimage. There is so much more value to me in watching competitive games than rigging the system only to get blown out of the first round.

 

[barometriclow]

The only teams we have played in the last 10 years in non-conference outside of tournaments on neutral sites that were worth a crap are Iowa (every year), Minnesota (maybe 4 or 5 times) and Michigan (twice). The schedule is what the coach and ISU schedule. Bill basically has a free ticket to do whatever he wants for as long as he wants to. The "teams won't come to Hilton" line is an excuse and IMHO a big annual lie. He's been a great coach but I get a little tired of everyone acting like he is some sort of god. The "we don't want road games" is probably true. Jeez, it's not like we are that great at home when playing decent teams either, our recent home NCAA tournament games have been nothing to write home about.

Anyway, it is what they schedule and it is not going to change.

Home and away with Minnie would rival the Hawkeye game. And I would go to Williams arena, not Carver.