It was a productive night for former Cyclones that found new homes in recent offseasons:

Tre Jackson, Western Carolina: 17 points, 6 assists, 5/10 from 3 pt in a 68-55 loss to Georgia
Tyrese Hunter, Texas: 18 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assist in Texas 72-57 win over UTEP
Tristan Enaruna, Cleveland State: 20 points and 11 rebounds in a 72-68 loss to Notre Dame COLLEGE
Darlinstone Dubar, Hofstra: 11 points and 12 rebounds in an 83-77 win over Princeton
Tyler Harris, South Florida: 9 points, 3 rebounds, 2 steals in a 64-61 loss to SEMO
Blake Hinson, Pittsburgh: 27 points, 13 rebounds, 4/12 from 3 pt in an 80-58 win over Tennessee-Martin
Javan Johnson, DePaul: 24 points, 10 rebounds, 4/8 from 3 pt, 1 block and 1 steal in a 72-66 win over Loyola MD
Rasir Bolton, Gonzaga: 11 points and 3 assists in just 21 minutes of action during a 104-63 win over North Florida
Nate Jenkins, Green Bay: 5 points, 2 rebounds in an 80-53 loss to Indiana State
Terrence Lewis, Grambling: 13 points on 2/6 from 3 pt in 82-57 win over North Texas - Dallas
Zion Griffin, Tennessee State: 3 points, 7 rebounds in 82-72 win over Fisk

Yet to play this season:

Jaden Walker, East Carolina: First Game tonight v.s Mercer
Xavier Foster, 0 minutes in SMU's first game against Texas A&M Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

I believe that's everyone who used to wear Cardinal and Gold, using up their eligibility in other places. That's a lot of defections and recruiting misses over the last 3-4 years! I am honestly surprised a lot of these guys still have eligibility. I'll try my best to keep updating this throughout the season.

Greetings all,

I had a very generous anonymous Cyclone donor donate their four all session tickets in the Iowa State seating section in the Greensboro pod to We Will for us to auction off. Tickets are digital.

Asking you to PM me bids here on CF or email me at [email protected] with your bid and I will continue to update this thread with where the auction stands. Will end the auction Wednesday at noon. From there would ask the winner to make a donation to We Will and I will send the tickets to you digitally. Please reach out with any questions or to make a bid. Go Cyclones!

Cheers,
Brent

Some of this may help you fill your bracket...it did mine!

• 30-win benchmarks matter for mid-majors. 12 teams with 30 or more wins have made the tourney the last 10 seasons and have a combined 10-2 record in the first round. Three of those teams – Stephen F. Austin (2014), Middle Tennessee State (2017) and UC-Irvine (2019) – won as double-digit seeds. HINT: Charleston/Oral Roberts this year.
• Every single Final Four but one since 2012 has had at least one team seeded No. 7 or worse
• At least one top-4 seed has lost in the first round in 13 of the past 14 tournaments (32 of 37 overall)
• Each of the past four No. 3 seeds to lose to a No. 14 seed came from the Big 12 Conference. (Baylor and Kansas State this year)
• Odd but true: At-large teams that finished four games under .500 in conference play are 5-0 in the first round. West Virginia is the only at-large team in this year's field to finish four games under .500 in conference play.
• At least one No. 11 seed has reached the Sweet 16 in 10 of the past 12 tournaments.
• Since 2002, when KenPom began tracking it, 19 of 20 national champions have finished top 25 in adjusted offensive and defensive efficiency.
• Mountain West teams seeded 10th or worse are 1-23 all time, with 20 straight losses since the only win in 2002

I am of a vintage when you were not only excited for your favorite bands latest album to be released but also for the accompanying artwork. It was quite a big deal back in the day.

What are some of your favorites? Here is one of mine that has left a lasting impression on me. It was part of my mothers collection from back in the early 70's. Still have the album today. Freaked me out as a kid.

King Crimson, In the Court of the Crimson King.

Any “game watch” groups or noted Cyclone sports bars in any location for the men’s and women’s tournament games would be appreciated. In my case, the Palm Beach Fl area. * could also include Drake but not Iowa, enjoying vacation so avoiding Hawkeyes at every opportunity

This has probably been asked and answered a million times but I'm too lazy to search. Why aren't all the play-in games 16 seeds?

Since the men play on Friday at 2:10 PM and the women play on Saturday at a time TBD, I google mapped the drive.

Looks like it's about 4.5 hours for those interested.

Thinking of heading down to see the somen play on Saturday's in Knoxville. Can anyone suggest the best ticket outlet to use?

Who had the best freshman season. Lipsey or Hunter?

I'm taking my son to KC Friday to meet up with his girlfriend. Is there a spot ISU fans are gathering to watch the game? We'll be on the MO side of town. TIA

i dont think i have ever seen bill get that emotional on the court. i love that ! he truely loves this team. he has said it so many times how this team has been his favorite team to coach over the last two years becasuse of there heart. to have them finally get one has to make him relieved.

The rubber match for this year. An imposing team with a great pressure point guard. UT was down one guard but incredibly dangerous. For our ladies the usual need to be aggressive on defense and getting shots to fall is the magic equation. Time to find out.
Both teams started out looking a wee bit tight. Missing on their first possessions. Even bunnies. Joens got the scoring started with a three.

Texas responded with two straight scoring trips against a zone that appears to have some holes in it. We will see.
Emily had her first careless turnover against minimal pressure. Ash stole the ball back and went coast to coast for two.
UT got multiple offensive boards on one possession and each time the d stepped up for a stop. Wow. Six min in and the sisters led a low scoring affair 7-4. Neither side was shooting well.
Officials were letting lots of contact go uncalled. Both sides continued to struggle on offense. UT was dominating the offensive boards and it is paying off. Diew got an O board of her own and sliced in for two. Kane took a dish from Joens for two and the sisters led 14-11 after one.
First was marked by lots of UT rebounds but a resilient sisters defense.

The second started with UT netting a three to tie it up. The sisters misfired underneath on the return. After another ISU miss UT ran the floor for the lead. Kane knotted things up after some nifty footwork. Ryan turned the ball over after deciding to pass mid jump shot. UT drives after the steal and retook the lead 18-16.
The offense was just wonky and having to force late shots that weren’t falling. Ryan finally nailed a three to retake the lead in this back and forth game.
Officiating was an inconsistent mess and as usual it was costing the sisters. UT scored back to back baskets and got a weird displacement call to push their lead to 23-19.
Ashley answered back with a three. After a turnover we turned it right back on an errant inbounds pass. Of course UT scored. 25-22 Texas. Our offense has reverted to the bad Ryan dribble dribble late shot.
Donarski drove for two and missed the and one. On the other end UT continues to dominate the offensive glass. Fortunately they also missed a lot. Wow…the officials are letting this game be a scrum. Joens scores to end the half with UT leading 27-26.
Story of the first half is three fold. Texas dominating the boards. ISU missing shots and horrendous officiating.

Kane opened the third quarter scoring with a pair of free throws. UT responded and then Fritz turned it over. After another UT bucket Joens nailed a three. All tied up at 31 early.
UT continued to get offensive boards and somehow kept missing. Joens looked pissed. She started going at UT with a vengeance. Scored a traditional three to retake the lead 36-33. Followed with 1-2 from the line. It was the Joens show on offense. Another feed inside and another UT foul. At the five minute media timeout ISU led 37-33.
Diew picked up her third foul. Joens drove again and picked up a pair at the line. ISU in the bonus the rest of the quarter. Kane made one of two.

ISU was called for back to back fouls on one possession. But they didn’t hurt us. The ladies kept going to the line and missing. Donarski made 1-2. Joens to the line again and again missed one. What’s up with all the misses? We should be up 8-19 and only lead by 5, 42-37.
Donarski got elbowed to the face and somehow gets called for the foul. UT closed to 3. Diew hit for three at the buzzer and ISU led 47-39 after three.

The fourth started with a UT bucket in close. Kane responded in kind. Donarski got a steal, raced full court and…missed the layup. Ryan followed with a travel. But Joens powered in and the lead was ten.
After a couple of back and forth misfires on both squads Donarski drove and collected the two free throws. Boom…Ryan for three and the lead was 56-41. UT was visibly frustrated. Five minutes to go
Both offenses started misfiring. Vic “assaulted” the ref on the court and no technical. Wow. ISU kept coming up empty and UT is slowly crawling back in. After two UT misses UT crashes the board and gets fouled. They keep missing at the line and from the field. Donarski drove for two and UT answers with a three. Lead is 58-48 with two minutes to go.
Joens was fouled again and made a pair. Joens hits one more and UT scores a meaningless three. Game over. ISU wins.

Observations

POG - who else but Joens. She took over this game in the third. You could say the team fit this as they played with grit and determination. Nothing seemed to sway their drive.
All tournament team - Donarski and Joens is MVP

I could talk about each individual player as normal, but this truly was a team win if there ever was one. Key shots, powerful rebounds, and a swarming defense that clearly frustrated Texas the entire second half. They were showing it from the last 4 minutes on.
Free Throws - these were the difference makers, but we missed way too many going 14-20.
Rebounds - stayed even throughout the second half. Fought like crazy for em.
Three pointers. Perfect numbers for an ISU team. Make 40%. Don’t shoot mass quantities (17) and make them at critical times.
Now we wait a few hours and see if two big wins over ranked teams are enough to warrant consideration to host. The ride has begun! Time for a new conference championship sweatshirt to join my ones from 20 years ago.

5PM Central on CBS

we will get to experience our 9th out of the last 12 years!



Some good ones to follow today:

Discuss

I will be in Milwaukee this weekend visiting a buddy. Does anyone know of any game watches that are planned or just any fun Cyclone friendly bars to watch the game at in the area?

If anyone wants to enjoy St Pats day in Greensboro and pass on the evening session, i'm looking for 3 tix for the PC-Kentucky game.

Does anyone know what session the Clones will be playing on the 17th? We live in Richmond and are planning on going down. Trying to figure out tickets before prices get out of control.

Went to the women's game last year in Greensboro, and the Marriott downtown is a solid hotel choice. Just as a heads up, there is nothing at all around the stadium, so will be interesting to see where they have pre-game parties. You're definitely going to want to plan on Uber - not the best city.

If you have any news - please let us know!

Revolutionized the high jump event.

Is any diehard fans out there gonna try to catch the men and women play in each city, it appears it’s a 4 hour drive?

Now that Darby’s is closed in north loop and Joe Sensers are closed as well. What are the best options to watch games on Thursday night? Preferable to be south metro.

Maybe next year Fred!? Time for Fusker fans to do what they do best this time of year; break out the Creighton blue and white! LOL

Five most overpaid men's college basketball coaches: Looking at you, Calipari and Hoiberg​

​

Money can't buy you happiness, a national championship or, in some cases, even a winning season.

Story by Paul Myerberg, USA TODAY

Five most overpaid men's college basketball coaches: Looking at you, Calipari and Hoiberg (msn.com)

Fred Hoiberg, Nebraska​

Hoiberg's stint in Lincoln opened with enormous fanfare — all deserved after his terrific run at Iowa State — but has landed with a thud. Nebraska won just 24 games and went 9-50 in Big Ten play in his first three seasons, annually ranking among the very worst teams in the major conferences. The Cornhuskers have surged in the past month and are sitting at 16-15 overall and 9-11 in the Big Ten, raising hopes that the program has turned a corner.

... Hoiberg will have to continue Nebraska's climb up the conference standings to warrant his $3.25 million salary.

ALERT: Deadline to enter this year's contest has passed.​

It’s time for CycloneFanatic’s “Auto-Bid Madness,” 2023. I’m co-administrator, along with @ImJustKCClone. This marks the 10th year for the contest.

The basics
Choose the automatic qualifier for NCAA men's basketball tournament, based on league tournaments, in each of the 32 conferences. Post your picks in this thread, do not PM them to me.

Scoring/tiebreakers
Each correct pick receives 1 point. First tiebreaker: Correct Big 12 tournament champ. Second tiebreaker: Highest number of correct picks that aren’t favorites (i.e., teams seeded 1st in their respective tournament).

Deadline: 6 p.m. CST Wednesday, March 1. A few tournaments will be underway prior to deadline, but in early rounds (ASUN is earliest opener, Feb. 27).

CONFERENCE LIST TEMPLATE: For ease of record-keeping, copy this list and paste your picks in this order. Include your screen name at the top.

[Your Screen Name Here]
America East:
American:
Atlantic 10:
ACC:
ASUN:
Big 12:
Big East:
Big Sky:
Big South:
Big Ten:
Big West:
Colonial:
C-USA:
Horizon:
Ivy:
MAAC:
MEAC:
Mid-American:
Missouri Valley:
Mountain West:
NEC:
Ohio Valley:
Pac-12:
Patriot:
SEC:
SoCon:
Southland:
Summit:
Sun Belt:
SWAC:
West Coast:
WAC:

In follow-up posts, I’ll including a few handy links to schedules & brackets, teams ineligible for NCAAT and past A-BM results.

Let The Madness begin!

We probably don't talk enough about hanging women's jerseys, but Ashley's should be in the Hilton rafters next year IMO.

Anyone know if there is a Cyclone bar in Nashville?

2 Upper All Session tickets- Can no longer attend. Looking to sell at face value. PM if interested!