FOOTBALL: Shonn Greene Wins the 2008 Doak Walker Award

Photo by Rodney White/Des Moines Register

Mad props go out to Shonn Greene for winning the Doak Walker Award for 2008!

Whether it was having the Play of the Year in the Big Ten or taking home the Silver Football, Shonn Greene is on his way to an award-filled postseason. He's an All-American. He is Iowa Football. Greene just completed arguably the best season by a running back in the history of the Iowa program, and we are lucky to have witnessed it. While I'd like to get all sentimental reflecting back at the season that was Shonn Greene, BHGP (HawkeyeState specifically) does a far better job than I could dream of - READ HIS STORY HERE IF YOU HAVEN'T ALREADY.

Congrats to Shonn; thanks for the memories!

FOOTBALL: Shonn Greene is NOT a Finalist for the Heisman Trophy

And neither is Graham Harrell.

Epic fail by those involved in the voting.

Greene was, by far, the best running back in the nation. Did he have a shot to win it? Hell no, but he deserved to be invited to NYC.

What a crock.

FOOTBALL: Iowa Has Accepted a Bid to Play in the 2009 OUTBACK BOWL

THE IOWA HAWKEYES ARE BACK IN A JANUARY BOWL!!




Opponent unknown, but likely South Carolina.

MEN'S BB: Iowa Hawkeyes vs. Bryant Bulldogs

VS.

GAME INFO: Fri., Dec 5, 2008 - 7:35 PM CST - Carver-Hawkeye Arena; Iowa City, IA
IOWA: 6-2 (0-0); POM: 68; RPI: 73 / Bryant University: 1-4 (0-0); POM: 267; RPI: 177

TV COVERAGE: Big Ten Network. Mark Neely, Spencer Tollackson (former Gopher) and Lauren Bohlander will call the action.
LISTEN ONLINE - http://www.kscj.com/
OFFICIAL GAME NOTES - HERE
LINE - Really? You are looking for a line on this game?

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Iowa returns home from a long road trip to face Bryant University this Friday. What do you mean you've never heard of Bryant? It's that independent school up in Rhode Island with a yearly tuition of $40K* and a student demographic of 2,669 men and 1,607 women**. Their lone victory of the year was over Quinnipiac (presumably a territory, parish, or province in Canada), a team that has a Pomeroy rating of 300+. Needless to say that if Iowa loses this game, they might as well start Lil' Lick for the rest of the season.

* - No joke, check out Wikipedia.
** - This ratio constitutes the mandatory label of Sausage Party.

KEYS TO THE GAME FOR IOWA:
1.) Cyrus Tate with a MINIMUM of 10 field goal attempts.
2.) Get Anthony Tucker back on track.
3.) Play solid defense.
4.) Rebound.

PREDICTION:
Iowa - 78
Bryant - 53

MEN'S BB: The Hawkeyes Through the First 7 Games (6-1)

The Hawkeyes Through the First 7 Games (6-1) of the 2008 Season


Tate's Buzzer Beater vs. Kansas State (Photo courtesy of the AP)

STARTING LINEUP

Anthony Tucker, before last game, had scored in dbl digits every single game to start his career. Excellent outside shooter (we knew that already). Can rain threes. Was off last game, but has a short memory. Needs to get tougher, D is a liability. Good handles, good passer, can get into the lane if he has to. Best shooter on the team.

Matt Gatens has fouled out of the last two ballgames, he is Big Ten ready right now. Doing all the things to make his team better. Can get frustrated at times, when he has good looks at the basket, he has made almost all of them. Good passer, good handles for his size, needs to rebound more. Great looking shot, too.

Aaron Fuller still seems undersized and will get eaten up in Big Ten play, but he plays very, very hard and has a great motor. Lacks a little on the D end, has trouble finishing near the basketball, has shown the ability to knock down the 3 ptr as well.

Jeff Peterson is stronger than last year, but I still see the tendencies of last year creeping in (driving into traffic, leaving his feet, forcing shots, etc...) However, he has kept his turnovers in check and has distributed it well. Has also hit some nice runners and treys from time to time.

Cyrus Tate has not been getting the ball downlow at all. A couple games ago he didn't even attempt a shot (that should NEVER happen). Isn't quite at the level he was at the end of last year, but he is working extremely hard down low and he will be key to our success this year. Rebounding very well this season and getting in good position, just needs more touches from the guards. Buzzer beater at the end of the KSU game for the win.

OFF THE BENCH

It's not who starts, it's who finishes.

Jake Kelly is the first guy off the bench (I'd assume because of his broken finger). I don't think he has an issue coming off the bench. He is coming in with a lot of fire and looks really good. There have been some sweet, sweet dribble drives by him, and some step back jumpers that have been really smooth. He has worked on his game and it shows. Our best all around player, in my opinion. His defense is very, very good this year so far. Really like what I see with him.

Jarryd Cole just is not in game shape yet. He hasn't been able to really do a lot of basketball things over the summer and he is still recovering from the ACL. Right now he doesn't look like the Jarryd of last year, he needs to continue to be weaned into the games. Hopefully by BT season he is ready.

Jermain Davis is a guy that is doing a lot of good things out there. Great handles, can get into the lane, plays good D, probably could work on his outside shot a bit more. Very athletic and can get up with anyone his height.

Andrew Brommer is the least refined of the new guys, as expected. He plays hard, which I liked. Very aggressive near the basket, but has a problem with fouls. Also has a problem with foul shooting, not the prettiest of FT shots.

Devan Bawinkel has a pretty good stroke (not as good as Tucker, Kelly, or Gatens), but he really suffers on the D end. Limited PT so far.

David Palmer could be the next Sam Perkins if he got more PT. He can stroke it from downtown, but other than that I don't know what else he can bring. He is still learning this new system, too. Limited PT.

JR Angle has only gotten mop up minutes.

Lil Lick has only gotten a few minutes of PT.

We are seeing about 9 players in the rotation right now.

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Current Ratings for Big Ten Basketball Teams (RPI/KenPom)

It's still early, but fun to take a look... check out the discrepancies between the Pomeroy ratings and the RPI ratings. This is how out of whack these things can get this early in the season.

FWIW - in all my years following statistics, ratings, etc.... Pomeroy's system is far superior to that of the RPI. Far superior. Pomeroy's stats take in so much more than the RPI, once he figures out how to cap the scoring margin, it will be nearly flawless.

KENPOM:
4. Ohio State
10. Purdue
22. Northwestern
27. Michigan State
28. Illinois
34. Wisconsin
57. Minnesota
59. Penn State
71. Iowa
74. Michigan
249. Indiana

Others of Note:
156. ISU
189. UNI
157. Drake

3 Big Ten Conference                  .9148

RPI:
7. Illinois
16. Michigan
20. Northwestern
24. Michigan State
28. Wisconsin
32. Minnesota
62. Purdue
75. Ohio State
93. Iowa
146. Indiana
148. Penn State

Others of Note:
233. ISU
174. UNI
142. Drake

Conf. RPI Rank: 1 Conf. SOS Rank: 3

The Big Ten is UP this year, some will disagree, but it's the truth. The Big Ten is a better conference than last year.

TIER 1:
Michigan State
Purdue

TIER 2:
Ohio State
Wisconsin

TIER 3:
Minnesota
Penn State
Illinois
Michigan
Iowa
Northwestern

TIER 4:
Indiana

MEN'S BB: Iowa Hawkeyes vs. Kansas State Wildcats

VS.

GAME INFO: Sat., Nov 29, 2008 - 6:30 CST - Orleans Arena; Las Vegas, NV
IOWA: 5-1 (0-0); KenPom: 68/ Kansas State: 5-1 (0-0); KenPom: 82

TV COVERAGE: None (that I know of)
LISTEN ONLINE - http://www.kscj.com/
LINE - Iowa is a 5 point underdog at the neutral site.

Iowa takes on KSU tonight at 6:30 CST in the consolation round of the Las Vegas Invitational. Last night Iowa was out-physicalled (totally a word, by the way) by West Virginia. It was a rough and tumble first half where Iowa couldn't get much going (mainly because they turned it over 17 times in the first half). The mugging stopped in the second half courtesy of the refs actually calling fouls. Tucker lit it up again from behind the arc, scoring in double digits again (6th straight to start his career).

Kansas State forced something like 31 turnovers in the loss to Kentucky last night, so Iowa will be up against it as well. Iowa needs to hold onto the ball, they have been shooting well all season, but they don't get enough possessions to hang with some of the better teams.

No TV for the game as far as anyone knows - it might be shown on the FSS sports channel, but don't bank on it. LISTEN HERE

If Iowa can hold onto the ball, they can absolutely win this one... if the turnovers plague them, it will be a long, long night.

PREDICTION
Iowa - 67
Kansas State - 74

Men's BB: Iowa Hawkeyes vs. West Virginia Mountaineers

VS.

GAME INFO: Fri., Nov 28, 2008 - 8:05 CST - Orleans Arena; Las Vegas, NV
IOWA: 5-0 (0-0); RPI: 56 / West Virginia: 3-0 (0-0); RPI: 8

TV COVERAGE: MASN and SNY - DIRECTV (Ch. 639 and 640) and on the sportpack / DISH Network (Ch. 432). Mediacom will carry the game, as well.
LISTEN ONLINE - http://www.kscj.com/
OFFICIAL GAME NOTES - HERE
LINE - Iowa is a 9.5 point underdog at the neutral site.

The Mountaineers are a very dangerous, physical team. De'Sean Butler is probably their best player, but Alex Ruoff is guy that can really create match-up problems with his height and overall game. WVU also has a stud frosh in Devin Ebanks, who, in my opinion, could be their best player by the end of the year; he can do everything. The Mountaineers have shot the ball well through 3 games, esp. from 3 pt land. Overall, the Mountaineers are going to come out very tenaciuous tonight and Iowa had better be ready to be physical. WVU has a pretty stacked starting 5, but they can afford to be aggressive, as they are a very, very deep team.

Anthony Tucker for the Hawks continued his hot shooting last time out and, once again, finished with double digits points (his fifth straight to start his collegiate career) - AT finished the last game with a double-double (pts and boards). Look for Tate and Cole to be a bit more involved in the game tonight, as Iowa will need the on the glass and physical on the D end, as well. This game has special meaning for Devan Bawinkel, as he was shown the door by Mountaineer coach, Bob tHuggins back when he played for WVU two years ago.

KEYS TO THE GAME FOR IOWA:
1.) Handle the Press. There's no guarantee that WVU will press, but it would seem very likely if tHuggins did any sort of prep work for this game that he would be pressing Iowa all game long.
2.) Guard-Play Under Control. Peterson, Kelly, Tucker, Gatens all need to play poised tonight against a very hard-nosed backcourt from WVU.
3.) Limit Turnovers. Obvious.
4.) Knock Down the Open Jumpers. Iowa isn't going to get a lot of open looks tonight, they need to knock them down when they get them.

PREDICTION:
Iowa - 55
West Virginia - 64

OT: Sex in the Metrodome - More Info Released

This could get ugly, very quickly now that the details are coming out. It could be a he said, she said deal.

Feldman, the female in the article(s), says she doesn't remember anything according to the local Carroll paper.

The Des Moines Register's updated story says that it has ruined her life. She was fired from her job and has been outed.

Either someone is not telling the truth or we could have some HUGE legal issues arise from this.

I never know what to believe in these sort of deals, but who really does? Normally the people involved.

OT: Who Knew Iowa Football was an Aphrodesiac?

Illegal Use of Hands? You betcha'!

This is probably why they don't serve alcohol in Kinnick:
Iowa Fans Busted Having Sex in Metrodome Bathroom

I guess the fact that Iowa was up 55-0 was just too much for these two... No word if there was any foot tapping involved in the Metrodome stall.

I don't know what's more intriguing - the fact that there were 15 other people gawking at the lovefest or the fact that both people involved were cheating on their significant other. Imagine the walk back to the car after the game? Aaaaaaaackwaaaaaaaaard...

Proof enough that there was much more spanking occurring than just on the field on Saturday.

According to a WCCO report, the woman gave a false middle name. I doubt that happened, my guess is she was too drunk to remember.

Thanks for the link, Lane.

BHGP: A Picture Essay of the Win Over Minnesota (fossilhawk fanpost)

One of the funnier sports related items I've read in a while...

A picture essay of the win over Minnesota [BHGP]

Just a sample...


Take a look at the link, you'll be glad you did.