Oh, hi! Hello. Yes, this is not Ben. But fear not, I will show the utmost restraint in my substitute teaching duties and not bore you with 3000 words about links you could just click. New Year’s resolutions and all. Instead, I present to you: things I found on the internet and thought were worth reading. There will be gifs, Ray, there will most definitely be gifs.
That’s Football
JUCOs
Young Hawkeye fans may not recall, but Iowa has had some past success converting JUCO transfers into some pretty incredible players. A couple such instances include Andre Tippett and Marshal Yanda.
Both went on to have incredible NFL careers after coming to Iowa out of the JUCO ranks. Earlier this week, they made up two-thirds of the NJCAA Hall of Fame class of 2018.
College Football Playoff Committee
A lot of people weren’t super excited about an all-SEC matchup in the most recent college football national championship. The concerns proved to be unwarranted as we were all delivered a hell of a game, but having a team who couldn’t even win their own conference division get a chance at and win the national championship left some people feeling frustrated.
Perhaps those people will have a chance to have their frustrations heard soon. The college football playoff committee announced their newest members yesterday.
Six new members appointed to the #CFBPlayoff Selection Committee.
— College Football Playoff (@CFBPlayoff) January 17, 2018
Press release: https://t.co/T334m5LV6q pic.twitter.com/GCFfHnJb3J
The six new members will begin their three-year term on the committee, which now includes only Ohio State AD Gene Smith as a representative from the Big Ten.
Football is Fun!
For years, Iowa fans have mocked Kirk Ferentz for his assertion that Iowa football isn’t sexy. Well, we may not be sexy, but apparently we are fun! Every Day Should Be Saturday (EDSBS), the college football site here on SBNation, put out their list of fun teams from 2017. Guess who made the cut? You’re goddamn right we did.
The part in No Country for Old Men where the plot seemingly centers around Josh Brolin, then in the middle of the action he’s killed by Mexican assassins, and instead the movie ends with an indestructible psychopath with a bad haircut killing yet another innocent bystander while old man mutters about being lost in the dark in his dreams? That’s the 2017 season, and the Iowa Hawkeyes are the random assassins. The cattle gun is Tua Tagovailoa.
We now have the official title as “2017’s Team That Ruined Things.” Mama we made it.
DJK
It’s been a little while since we noticed former Hawkeye WR Derrell Johnson-Koulianos. Time to get back to him, I guess.
Sooner than later I’m gonna write to KF. Just to bury the hatchet on my end. No response expected. I admit my faults. Put it in the past.
— DJK (@DJKoulianos15) January 17, 2018
Maybe I’ll do an open letter
— DJK (@DJKoulianos15) January 17, 2018
5 Minutes On Iowa State
What Are the Rules?
Iowa fans may not have really noticed since he wasn’t playing against Iowa, but the Cyclones found themselves a QB sometime after they lost that OT thriller to the Hawkeyes in Ames. Kyle Kempt is a bit of a journeyman. Now, he apparently has a real shot at a 6th year of eligibility. That would mean Iowa fans should take notice as he would likely start against them next September.
The catch? Kempt has never actually been injured. He just transferred from Oregon State when the staff there told him, after two season, he wasn’t going to play. It’s now sounding like he has a real shot at the extra year under the “run off” rule for players who are “run off” from their original four-year schools.
Somewhere, Drew Ott has questions.
Don’t Tweet at.... Recruits?
Elsewhere in the land of wonderful water, Randy Pete(erson) says perhaps his first critical word about Iowa State. Granted, it’s a women’s hoops assistant who apparently ripped into a high school kid via Twitter, but still.
It’s as good a reminder as any to not tweet at recruits. Or DM them. Especially if you’re a D1 coach. Even if they don’t play your sport.
Wrasslin’
Listen, I know next to nothing about wrestling, but this seems like..... news?
s/o 2 all the haters, fakes, phonies, pretenders, & non believers cuz yall fuel my fire! & thank u 2 everyone who has supported me on my journey. so much adversity has been overcome to receive this letter & i am beyond blessed to begin this next chapter of my life! #GradSchool pic.twitter.com/ZqdBpJ6lEx
— PDIIIHAWK (@iAmPatDowney) January 12, 2018
Hoops
No, no, I’m not about to diverge into a couple thousand words on how terrible this season has been or how I still stand by Fran. Instead, we’re talking winds of change of another kind.
Carver-Hawkeye Arena turned 35 years old this month and Pat Harty has some thoughts on birthday presents.
The atmosphere inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena for men’s basketball right now is a joke, but nobody is laughing.
Pat’s suggestions mostly involve the students and I don’t disagree with them, but the problems go deeper than just the student section in my opinion. Quite honestly, I don’t know there’s any fixing the current problems without a new building.
But a new building ain’t happening. Not because the money isn’t (or wouldn’t) be there. The north endzone project should tell everyone the money can be found if it’s wanted. But the AD has been driving money into improving Carver, not looking to replace it. Short of making massive structural changes to the venue and investing significant money into the surrounding area and logistics, I don’t think things are getting better any time soon - even if the students show up.
Going Pro
You may recall a pair of Iowa juniors opted to forego their senior years to enter this year’s NFL draft. It remains to be seen whether that will pay off (it will, several million times over in all likelihood), but as we inch closer to April we are getting more and more chatter on where guys are expected to go.
Things are looking good for the Hawkeyes.
Josh Jackson No. 20 overall (No. 2 CB); Sean Welsh is No. 9 guard; James Daniels No. 3 center; Josey Jewell No. 4 ILB https://t.co/9lZ97EHFMG
— Scott Dochterman (@ScottDochterman) January 18, 2018
Take Kiper for what he’s worth, but there are some former Hawkeyes about to get paid.
And finally, I leave you with what is almost certain to be the biggest cluster in major college sports in recent memory. College football is doing their best to go pro as well, introducing what would effectively be free agency for athletes (note that this would apply to basketball as well).
I spoke w/ an NCAA official this week who was “95% certain” transfers will soon be allowed to play immediately in basketball & football. Could be a one-time freebie, plus grad transfer option. So in theory, a student-athlete could play for three different schools w/o sitting out.
— Matt Schick (@ESPN_Schick) January 17, 2018
This has been floating around the interwebz for a bit now and I’ve seen some different variations. While nothing is official, here’s what I’m hearing would be included in this rule:
- No more sitting out a season with a transfer - it’s free agency.
- The transfer is a one-time thing, meaning you only get one free pass at a move.
- There would be academic restrictions, likely a 2.7 minimum GPA requirement.
- It would take effect August 1, 2018.
I’m not going too deep on analysis here (there will be plenty of words used on that at some point, I’m sure), but this seems like it has the potential to be the wild west. I foresee incredible amounts of tampering. Blue bloods pushing low 4-star or high 3-star kids to programs with a promise to have a spot for them after a year or two if they can prove themselves elsewhere. Aspiring P5 schools getting into the ear of former big time recruits not getting playing time at blue bloods. Lots of issues.
The only thing I don’t foresee is Iowa taking advantage of it to fix either the punting woes for the 2018 season or the basketball team finally getting a PG.