Iowa basketball player Andrew Brommer and his amazing backwards shot (via molonyvids)
THE HAWKEYE MEN'S TEAM ISN'T THE ONLY ONE HEADING TO A POSTSEASON TOURNAMENT. The Hawkeye women found out their fate and that's a number nine seed in the Raleigh Region of the women's NCAA tourney. Iowa plays #8 seeded California in South Bend, Indiana. Head coach Lisa Bluder had this to say,
"Think of where we were six weeks ago, to go from there to where we are now, we're very excited."
Freshman star Samantha Logic is excited too. South Bend is close to her home Racine, Wisconsin. Logic talked to her mom and said,
"She was really excited we're so close, and we'll have the whole crew coming."
If Iowa can defeat Cal Sunday morning (11:10 CST) they will most likely play number one seed Notre Dame, in South Bend. Tough draw for the ladies but their backs have been against the wall for awhile.
TICKETS ARE SELLING FAST FOR THE MEN'S NIT GAME TONIGHT. As of 5:30 PM yesterday the Iowa ticket office said there were 9,300 tickets sold for tonight's game against Dayton. That's good news for the Hawks that face a team that was (3-7) on the road this year. Of Dayton's 10 road games only two were played in front of crowds of 10,000 or more (St. Louis, Xavier). The average attendance for Dayton's road games was 5,235. Six of those games were played in front of an announced attendance of 3,900 or less.
THE MEN'S TEAM DID SOME TALKING TO REPORTERS YESTERDAY. Hawk Central has several videos of those interviews. You can see what Bryce Cartwright, Aaron White, Melsahn Basabe, Devyn Marble and Matt Gatens had to say about the NIT berth and tonight's opponent.
FRAN MCCAFFERY ON SETH DAVIS' WISCONSIN STORY, IT WASN'T ME. Last Week, Sports Illustrated's Seth Davis wrote a piece - citing coaches as sources - that was critical of Bo Ryan's Wisconsin program. Fran McCaffery was asked if he was one of Davis' sources and said,
"The only thing I can tell you is this: Bo Ryan is a friend of mine." He was a friend of my wife's (Margaret) before I knew him. I have such great respect for him, his program, how he does it. Without question a lock for the Hall of Fame. And if I'm fortunate enough to be here for 12 years, I hope that I can accomplish half of what he's accomplished."
HAWKEYE FOOTBALL OFFERED SCHOLARSHIPS TO A PAIR OF RUNNING BACKS. Jalen Banks is a 5'11" 190 pound 2013 running back prospect from Harvey, Illinois. Here is his YouTube highlight link. Keith Watkins is a 5'11" 175 pound 2013 running back prospect from Forest Park, Ohio. Here is Keith's YouTube highlight video.
NEW OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR GREG DAVIS REALLY LIKES HIS QUARTERBACK. Greg Davis hasn't been on campus very long but he says he already likes what he sees from Iowa quarterback James Vandenberg. Davis has been busy studying film of last season and says Vandenberg's "decision-making was good," and that he is "impressed with him for a lot of reasons."
ATHLON SPORTS HAS A WAY TOO EARLY BIG TEN SCHEDULE ANALYSIS. Braden Gall writes that Iowa's early schedule sets up favorably but the road schedule in the Big Ten is no easy task. Iowa will travel this season to Michigan and Michigan State. Because Iowa opens in Soldier Field against Northern Illinois, the first true road game will be at Michigan State on October 13th.
Other links:
- Latest On Iowa Podcast talks NIT
- Iowa baseball defeats Eastern Illinois
- Iowa's travel plans include postseason, not vacation
- Gatens, Iowa finally get a taste of postseason play
- Iowa vs. Dayton game notes
- Dayton coach familiar with Iowa, Fran McCaffery
- Iowa's NIT history has good and bad, but games were always close
- Tickets are available for IHCC Celebrity Night
- On Iowa Live: March 12, 2012 Edition
- Hawks won't take NIT bid for granted
- 10 reasons why Dayton loves college basketball
- Flyers coach has good source to turn to for advice and assistance
- ESPN has a pic of Lisa Bluder and team celebrating their selection into the NCAA tourney