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Iowa's in the midst of their annual early season non-conference tournament (the 2K Classic this year), but we now know which tournament they're going to be playing in a year from now -- and most of the field.
JUST IN: Field for #OrlandoClassic15: Alabama, Dayton, Iowa, Notre Dame, Southern Cal, Wichita St, Xavier pic.twitter.com/1xXzcPpCJG
— Orlando Classic (@OrlandoClassic) November 20, 2014
By and large, it's a very solid-looking field:
| TEAM | 14-15 KP | 14-15 RPI | 13-14 KP | 13-14 RPI | 12-13 KP | 12-13 RPI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | 59 | 32 | 92 | 124 | 60 | 60 |
| Dayton | 51 | 79 | 38 | 42 | 65 | 111 |
| Iowa | 31 | 210 | 28 | 55 | 25 | 78 |
| Notre Dame | 53 | 223 | 99 | 136 | 37 | 36 |
| Southern Cal | 197 | 281 | 163 | 170 | 101 | 119 |
| Wichita State | 7 | 140 | 5 | 4 | 17 | 38 |
| Xavier | 52 | 166 | 59 | 47 | 77 | 90 |
There's one more team to be added to the field (identity TBA), but we have a pretty good idea of who Iowa will see a year from now. We obviously don't know how good any of these teams will be a year from now -- graduations, NBA Draft early entrants, and incoming recruits will all shake things up between now and then -- but in looking at these programs over the last three years we can see that aside from USC (in the midst of a rebuilding project) they're generally very solid. There are no elite, blue chip programs in the midst, but there are a lot of very solid teams. This also might end up being a tournament that Iowa has a very good opportunity to win.
In a strange coincidence, Iowa also has a lot of recent history with several of the other teams in the Orlando Classic field.
ALABAMA
Iowa last played Alabama in 2010 at the consolation game in the Paradise Jam tournament in the Virgin Islands. Iowa won, 55-47.
DAYTON
Iowa last played Dayton in Iowa City in 2012 in a first-round game in the NIT. Iowa won, 84-76.
NOTRE DAME
Iowa last played Notre Dame last season in Iowa City in the Big Ten-ACC Challenge. Iowa won, 98-93.
SOUTHERN CAL
USC is the lone exception to the familiar faces theme of this field; Iowa hasn't played USC since 1983, a 62-61 Iowa win in Los Angeles.
WICHITA STATE
Iowa last played Wichita State in 2012 in the championship game of the Cancun Challenge. Iowa lost, 75-63.
XAVIER
Iowa also last played Xavier a year ago in a first-round game in the Battle 4 Atlantis Tournament. Iowa won, 77-74, in overtime.
The 2015 Orlando Classic will take place November 26-29, 2015, over Thanksgiving.