The Hlog

Brutally Cold

Oh brother.

March Madness doesn't look like a concept that will apply to any Division I basketball team from Iowa this winter. February Fiascoes, however, is an applicable term.

Michigan State 81, Iowa 49
Kansas State 65, Iowa State 47
Nevada 79, Northern Iowa 64

That was all within a six-hour stretch Saturday, for your viewing displeasure. At least UNI held a one-point halftime lead, and Iowa State was only down by two at intermission. Iowa trailed 44-17 after the first 20 minutes at East Lansing. What a debacle for a team that wanted us to believe it was in the hunt for an NCAA tournament bid.

Here's what Iowa needs to do to get to the NCAAs: Not lose again, at least not until the finals of the Big Ten tournament. The Hawkeyes do not get all the way to Sunday in the Big Ten tourney every year, though it may seem that way.

Kansas State Coach Bob Huggins clearly did a great job of recruiting in the offseason. He actually began recruiting before he even had an employer after getting fired by Cincinnati. K-State wanted a basketball winner so badly that it hired Hugs. It got what it wanted. Down the road, the piper will probably be paid.

Nevada is ranked 10th in the nation. Nevada. When was the last time Iowa was ranked in the Top Ten in mid-February?

If Hawkeye fans are lukewarm about this team now, what will they be if the Hawkeyes don't play their best ball of the year in the next three weeks and land in the NIT? Should they get a home game in the NIT, you'll be able to drive a forklift on Carver-Hawkeye Arena's main concourse without hitting anyone. Unless their opponent is UNI. But that would mean the Panthers had pulled out a few wins themselves between now and mini-March Madness.

Better times are coming in years to come at Iowa and Iowa State, we're told. But we all live in the here and now. With global warming, the 2007-08 season isn't a given. Nevada understands this and is playing great ball right now. Ditto Kansas State. Even Michigan State has awakened to the threat of the polar ice cap melting and leaving us underwater.

But here in Iowa, the three state-school teams act like everything is still frozen. OK, it is, but that's still no excuse to lose three games in one day by a total of 65 points.
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