Thank you to Iowa...

[jtdoyle1]

I would just like to thank Iowa for participating in this years run at the tournament of 65 and present them with this trophy of honorable mention.

I think a lot of Iowa fans and players were looking past Penn State as a win and thinking about Illinois.

I think it would be just perfect poetic justice if Tom Davis and Drake could somehow win the MVC Tourney and get in to the NCAA Tourney with Iowa on the outside looking in.

I don't mean to sound smug though.

 

[cycloneworld]

If they lose to Illinois this weekend and we beat Tech...their conference record will only be 1 game better than us. If you would have told me that 1 week ago, I probably would have laughed in your face.

Tom Davis gets to the tournament almost every year...doesn't lose in the first round but can't get Iowa past the sweet 16 so he's let go. They bring in a guy who has 1 NCAA victory in 7(?) years...

I bet Iowa fans just wish they could get back to the Tom Davis level.

 

[ISUFan22]

I'm hoping they do just enough in the Big 10 tournament to get in. Gotta keep Steve around folks. He's shown he can underachieve with the best of 'em!

 

[Whitey]

The Alford family should be paying Bowlsby a cut of his salary. I'm thinking that Barta must be pissed that Bob gave him an extension on the way out the door.

 

[rd4isu]

I work with a bunch of Hawk fans (live in eastern Iowa) but surprisingly very few support the basketball team. The best I can explain there is a tremendous amount of apathy towards the basketball program. Very few really even care anymore. Last year people got mildly interested again until the crushing defeat to that mighty NCAA tourney foe. Some people love Alford, some hate him but most don't give two craps. That's the state of Iowa Basketball right now.

 

[bandit]

If they lose to Illinois this weekend and we beat Tech...their conference record will only be 1 game better than us. If you would have told me that 1 week ago, I probably would have laughed in your face.

Tom Davis gets to the tournament almost every year...doesn't lose in the first round but can't get Iowa past the sweet 16 so he's let go. They bring in a guy who has 1 NCAA victory in 7(?) years...

I bet Iowa fans just wish they could get back to the Tom Davis level.

Ahhh, make it eight years now. Thanks for being the state's whipping boy Steve. I grew up in eastern Iowa and a Hawk fan (don't worry, I saw the light when I went to ISU.) I didn't understand then and I really don't understand now why they canned Davis. I was so happy to see him beat Iowa earlier this season.

 

[isucyfan]

I'm hoping they do just enough in the Big 10 tournament to get in. Gotta keep Steve around folks. He's shown he can underachieve with the best of 'em!

Did anyone else hear the loud fan at the Penn State game shouting FireSteveAlford.com? I chuckled but really wish there was a site RetainSteveAlford.com. Let's get that done. We need him around. God forbid they ever get a good coach there.

 

[cycloneworld]

I work with a bunch of Hawk fans (live in eastern Iowa) but surprisingly very few support the basketball team. The best I can explain there is a tremendous amount of apathy towards the basketball program. Very few really even care anymore. Last year people got mildly interested again until the crushing defeat to that mighty NCAA tourney foe. Some people love Alford, some hate him but most don't give two craps. That's the state of Iowa Basketball right now.

Yep, same thing here. Even my brother who goes to Iowa doesn't really care anymore. There is a lot of apathy for Iowa Basketball.

Maybe they are the All Great and Mighty fan base they think they are...

We are going to outdraw them in attendance this year...with a 1,000+ smaller arena.

 

[jbhtexas]

I'm hoping they do just enough in the Big 10 tournament to get in.

And get matched up with Drake in the first round so that Dr. Tom can whip them again...

 

[ISUFan22]

And get matched up with Drake in the first round so that Dr. Tom can whip them again...

See, now that would be fantastic. I loved Dr. Tom and him beating Iowa this season was great. To get to see him do it twice with the 2nd being in the big dance - that would just be all too fitting.

Pipe dream though as both teams need to win their conference tournaments to even get in.

 

[CYdTracked]

The Alford family should be paying Bowlsby a cut of his salary. I'm thinking that Barta must be pissed that Bob gave him an extension on the way out the door.

I'm not certain on this but I thought his extension money was not garunteed money if they canned him and was more of a thing to allow him to be able to recruit since he didn't have lame duck status.

Personally I'm not sure how he's been able to stay coach this long with the PP mess and all the underachieving his teams have done. But it doesn't hurt my feelings either that Iowa will just have to settle for mediocrity while Alford is the coach.

 

[Erik4Cy]

IDK about keeping Alford around, what's his record against us? I could be wrong but I thought he had a winning one?

 

[kgreeny]

How about us getting a rematch with EIU in the NIT? Would it not be great to see Haluska's career end witha lose to ISU.

 

[jtdoyle1]

IDK about keeping Alford around, what's his record against us? I could be wrong but I thought he had a winning one?

Alford may or may not have a winning record against ISU but he is such a devisive figure in hawkeye nation that I wouldn't mind keeping him around.

McCarney had a pretty good record against Iowa, but I didn't see any Iowa fans wanting us to get rid of him.

 

[ISUFan22]

IDK about keeping Alford around, what's his record against us? I could be wrong but I thought he had a winning one?

Do you think that is a product of Iowa/Alford's success or our poor teams the last few years?

 

[wonkadog]

I work with a bunch of Hawk fans (live in eastern Iowa) but surprisingly very few support the basketball team. The best I can explain there is a tremendous amount of apathy towards the basketball program. Very few really even care anymore. Last year people got mildly interested again until the crushing defeat to that mighty NCAA tourney foe. Some people love Alford, some hate him but most don't give two craps. That's the state of Iowa Basketball right now.

It's called a HUGE bandwagoning fan base. Obviously every fan base has some bandwagon fans but Iowa takes it to a whole new level. The football team has been good recently so they latch onto it...once the basketball team has a good year they'll be back again claiming they never lost faith...stupid.

 

[Clonefan94]

Yep, same thing here. Even my brother who goes to Iowa doesn't really care anymore. There is a lot of apathy for Iowa Basketball.

Maybe they are the All Great and Mighty fan base they think they are...

We are going to outdraw them in attendance this year...with a 1,000+ smaller arena.

It's typical Iowa garbage from their fanbase. They all talk about how great they are, but, when things aren't going in a winning direction, all of a sudden no one is a fan anymore. 3 of my closer friends who are Hawk fans All said they were putting their gear away after the 2002 loss to us in football. And they did. Only to bring it out again later when things were on the up and up. To once again bury it. They always want to bring up "The BCS Year" and I always follow that with, "Yeah, the year you gave up on them!"

I know it happens everywhere, but for some reason they seem to be more arrogant about their loyalty and ability to "travel" better than any other fanbase. Yet, they turn just as easily as things go bad. It even happened this year. "I'm not watching the Hawks again!" "Oh, wait, we're in the Alamo Bowl? Woohooo! Go Hawks, we rule!" One thing they constantly forget to mention is the gifts they've been given Bowl wise that allow them to travel a lot of people.

 

[wonkadog]

I like the constant message board idiots who always rip on ISU for our lack of attendance. I always point out that no one is ever going to claim that we have more fans and that's why we can't compete in attendance and bowl support....it seems as though they think ISU fans don't know that we are in a minority or something.

 

[Whitey]

I remember back to last year. Iowa was winning, and a large portion of the fan base who wanted him fired the year before was saying that this was the real Steve Alford.

If the measure of a coach is being able to keep one class together in 8 years, and being able to win with 4 seniors and a redshirt junior, then I don't think too many coaches would ever be fired. In reality, the measure of a coach is how often they have a "rebuilding year".

The Hawk fans that want Alford fired now, for the most part, are the same ones that were lauding his efforts last year. That's what they get for backing the blind squirrel when he finally found an acorn.

 

[jtdoyle1]

Before last night, I heard a lot of people saying that this was his best coaching job yet.

I don't think Iowa intended to get rid of Tom Davis to get a coach that can "overachieve" in his 8th season to make the NIT. Sad.