Iowa Men's Basketball Preview

I went to do a little research on Iowa for tomorrow night's basketball game, and I have to admit that I was a little surprised.

Things are not as good there as I thought.

Their program is in a deep hole right now, and it is looking to be a long year over there.  They are a very young team, with 9 of their 12 players being freshmen or sophomores.  Beyond that, 1 of their three upperclassmen is injured, and in total, two of them were Junior College transfers, which I do not believe is the preferred way to build a senior class in the Big 10.

They are not especially big.  I am sure that Xavier had a better inside game then Iowa does.

Further, they started off with two home games and lost them both.  They lost to Texas-San Antonio (by 12, and I know that isn't a bad program, but come on) and then to Duquesne on a last second shot.

So, on one hand, beating them in Carver Arena is clearly not impossible.  I'd like to think that having had our pride wounded a little the other night in Cincy, we'll be ready to go on Friday night.  And I'd like to think we have a shot at these guys.

On the other hand, Iowa will have in "teeth gritting" mode for this game.  They have a tough pre-season schedule ahead (including Texas and Pitt) and really can't afford to fall to 0-3.  I expect them to doing whatever they need to to win.

They have played strong defense, even holding high powered Duquesne in the low 50s, so it is clearly the offense that is holding them back.  That pretty much compliments our style, so, you know, a 12-8 game is not outside the realm of possibility.

For Falcon fans, the game will be on the Big 10 Network. I hope to back from the Akron game in time to see all or most of it.  This is actually a nice test for our team and if we play our game, is a winnable game.