In college basketball, it’s never too early to talk about the postseason. More than any other sport, it’s a game where an overwhelming majority of the followers don’t really even check in until just the postseason or just before. Last night, your #25 Iowa Hawkeyes looked very much like a team that could make some noise come tournament time.
They went out and got a conference road win despite missing Tyler Cook, who is their leading scorer and rebounder by a very wide margin. The Hawkeyes didn’t know that Cook (sore knee, day-to-day) couldn’t go until the shoot-around, but they recovered and responded nicely.
It’s that kind of grit and determination that might make them a team to watch come March Madness. You might want to pick the Iowa Hawkeyes to achieve a deep run when the time comes to make your NCAA Tournament bets. If you’re going to be betting on the tournament like so many people do, use William Hill promo code 2019. Tourney betting is the primary reason why this sport is so much more popular in the postseason than it is in the regular season, and the disparity is so much greater than in other sports.
A loud cheer of ‘Let’s go Hawks!’ by the UI fans in attendance (who comprised about 40% of the crowd during the game, very good for a road team) overtook Welsh-Ryan Arena as the final minutes ticked away. It was a moment that generated a March kind of atmosphere, the visiting fans taking over a conference rival’s gym. That said how does this Iowa Hawkeyes team measure up to the rest of the field?
Where might they be slotted come March? Let’s take a look.
Iowa Hawkeyes Postseason Profile
Record: 13-3, Conference record: 2-3
Rankings/Metrics:
AP Poll- RV (#28) Coaches #25
Sagarin#43, KenPom #43, NET #36
Stat pack: Hawks are first in the nation in free throws made per game (22.1), and second in attempts (29.1). They get to the line and they convert with regularity, and that gives them an edge in closer games.
Key Wins: Iowa State (#20 in the latest AP poll), Oregon (#45 in Sagarin), Nebraska (ranked in both polls at the time), Pitt and UConn sound like nicer wins on paper than they really are.
Bad Losses: No shame in losing to Michigan State, but the manner in which they did is a bit disconcerting. Purdue is okay, but they’re a couple steps down from what they have been the past two years, and thus that 16 point setback is rather unsightly.
Bottom line: The NCAA.com bracket projection has Iowa on the #9 seed line, and that seems right to us. U of I looks like a team that will most likely commence their postseason campaign as a team in a #7 vs #10 or #8 vs #9 game.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, a former writer for NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, regularly appears as a guest pundit on WGN CLTV and co-hosts the “Let’s Get Weird, Sports” podcast on SB Nation.
He also contributes sociopolitical essays to Chicago Now. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram. The content of his cat’s Instagram account is unquestionably superior to his.