It’s been a while –a long while — since I wrote anything here. I owe you an explanation. It’s an explanation I’ve already given you.

I made no secret of the fact that the Jerry Sandusky scandal severely tested my interest in continuing to write about Big Ten football. When the story began breaking I didn’t expect I’d wind up being so repulsed not just by the story itself but by the sick media swarm that engulfed Penn State and the total lack of perspective to be found among some of the most prominent fans — and detractors — of Penn State. Yet that’s what happened. It became hard to think about Penn State without thinking about “it” and it’s really difficult to write about a conference when you’re trying as hard as you can to pretend a particular school isn’t in it.

Things got so bad that I felt awkward even trying to crack wise about anything in the Big Ten. Some of you have been reading me since the days Pickin’ On The Big Ten was still being posted on USENET; you know that I’ve dialed down the biting sarcasm over the years as I’ve gotten older and started seeing more things in shades of grey. I was getting pretty close to the point of losing my sense of humor — which is death to me as a writer. It’s been months and months since I wrote anything I felt was worth more than the paper it wasn’t printed on.

I can’t keep going like this, so I’ve been hashing over my options. I could quit, of course, and I wouldn’t blame you if you thought I already had. I could try to keep you on top of the story but I won’t do as good a job as just about everyone else is doing because my heart isn’t in it. I could troll for page views by posting inflammatory stuff about the principals in the case — mostly Joe Paterno — then sit back and watch the world burn.

Ah, Paterno. Neither the central figure in the scandal nor a barely involved bystander. I have my opinion about whether or not he knew what Sandusky was up to and whether or not he tried to keep the whole mess quiet. I have my opinion about Penn State’s Board of Trustees, about Tom Corbett, about what happened to Ray Gricar and why … and so do you. I have come to one incontrovertible conclusion about Paterno which trumps all of my opinions and, frankly, all of yours. It is this: Joe Paterno is dead.

So I’m hanging my hat on the old saws de mortuis nil nisi bonum and “let the dead bury their dead,” noting that the Sandusky scandal has somehow permanently become about JoePa, and I’m saying I’ll never write about it again. I’m not pretending it didn’t happen; I’m not consciously ignoring the sufferings of Sandusky’s victims; I’m just saying that if you want to trash Joe Paterno’s legacy — or reclaim it — I won’t join you. Ever.

Sandusky has been convicted and is in prison. A jury of his peers looked at the evidence presented at trial and came to the conclusion that his guilt was beyond a reasonable doubt. Paterno is dead and in the hands of someone who judges more fairly than any of us ever will. There’s a lingering aftermath to this story and obviously it’s going to affect Penn State football for years to come. I’m taking the stance that this is no longer news to anyone and need not be mentioned any time I type the words “Penn” and “State” next to each other.

2014 East Lake HS (FL) OG Mason Cole had already been leaning in favor of Michigan but after his 3rd trip up to Ann Arbor he finally decided to end his recruitment on Monday by giving his full commitment to the Wolverines.

Considered by many as one of the top interior offensive lineman, Cole is a 2014 prospect that always wanted to end his recruiting process early and by giving his commitment to Michigan he is now focused on getting better as an overall player as well as being able to focus on his senior year.

Cole recently took his 3rd trip up to Michigan and came away equally as impressed as his previous two visits. He really likes the coaching staff and especially likes OL coach Darrell Funk. The Wolverines pulled together arguably the best offensive line recruiting class in 2013 and they view Cole as a building block towards that exact same offensive line class in 2014.

The recruiting process had already been hectic for Cole as he has collected over 25 offers with other programs starting to get involved. Majority of all college teams in the south were after Cole. He took a serious interest in Florida St and Miami FL but ultimately wanted to get out of state to play his college ball.

Cole is a physical and smart interior lineman that does a good job of getting to the second but also having the versatility to play multiple positions on the offensive line.

He could see himself playing either center or guard in a Michigan uniform. Cole is like a quarterback on the offensive line because of his knowledge and ability to read the defense.

His addition to the 2014 Michigan recruiting class is large because of Cole’s intelligence, versatility and ability to play from the moment he steps foot onto campus. At this time Cole plans to enroll early into college and get an jump start on playing time while competing in spring practice.

It is still early in the 2014 recruiting season but Cole is already viewed as an All-American type prospect that should garner multiple preseason and postseason accolades. He is a talented young man that should be a great addition to the Michigan football team both on and off the field.

Offers: Michigan (Committed), Alabama, Arkansas, Cincinnati, Clemson, Florida, Florida St, Georgia, Indiana, Louisville, MTSU, Mississippi St, N.C. St, Notre Dame, Ohio St, So Alabama, So Carolina, Stanford, USF, Tennessee, USC and Wisconsin.

Chris Smith – XoFan Rec. Director/XoFan.com

It’s the first Wednesday in February, which means National Signing Day. Iowa prospects are faxing in their letters of intent. See the latest here.

We will be posting some Youtube highlights on each of the Iowa players that sign their letter of intent today. Those will be displayed below the stories and items linked at the top.

RB Jonathon Parker talks Iowa Commitment (Scout.com): Parker is the 21st known commit in the class and he made his decision this morning.
Adding Pile of Receivers-ICPC
Wisnieski Loyal to Iowa – ICPC
Gems & Misses: Breaking Down the Class -The Gazette

THE VIDEOS

Last but not least, #Hawkeye signee #21 – RB Akrum Wadley (Weequahic HS, Newark, NJ) youtube.com/watch?v=GkdDGR…

— Hawkeye Football (@HawkeyeFootball) February 6, 2013

Andre Harris

Nic Shimonek

Damond Powell

Derrick Mitchell

Derek Willies

Solomon Warfield

Malik Rucker

Leshun Daniels

Josey Jewell

Desmond King

Reggie Spearmon

Jonathon Parker

Sean Welsh

Nathan Bazata

Colin Goebel

Ike Boettger

Brant Gressel

John Kenny

National Signing Day is on Wednesday and Iowa is rounding out their class with some last minute commits and a decision to be made on Tuesday.

Signing Day drawing near and Iowa’s recruiting class is nearly finished.  The Hawks have landed commitments in recent days, some on scholarship and some walkons.

Decorah’s Josey Jewell committed to Iowa on Sunday, a 6-3/200 pound linebacker.  He carried the ball on offense and ran for over 3,000 yards in his career but he will make his way as a linebacker for the Hawkeyes.  You can check out his highlights below and also read a write up from Rob Howe with quotes from Jewell at this link.

Also committing to Iowa over the weekend was Texas receiver Anjeus Jones, from the Dallas Metro Area. Howe also wrote up an interview with Jones that you can read free of charge at this link. He is 6-3/195 and has a desire to add quite a bit more size, according to his quotes in Howe’s article. What Iowa wants to do with him is another story, but that will be playing receiver. Anyone who is on campus at the start of fall camp and is a receiver has a shot to play next year. Iowa has really gone WR crazy over the past few months and weeks and that either tells us they are not high on what they have or they want to play more receivers in the coming season. Perhaps its both, but I lean towards the former.

Iowa also received a commitment from Newark, NJ Akrum Wadley, a 5-10/175 back. Howe interviewed him and has this free write up with several quotes from Wadley, but this one was my favorite:

“I was curious. I like to see things for myself. I didn’t see any corn fields in Iowa City. I saw big buildings and they’re building new things. I saw malls out here. It was nothing like what I had heard about.”

On Monday, Pat Harty of the Iowa City Press Citizen tweeted that West Branch linebacker Bo Bower decided to turn down a full ride at UNI to walk on at Iowa. That’s a pretty big deal, but Bower is not afraid of the challenge. I’ve seen him play a few times as I go back to West Branch (my hometown) every year for a game and the kid is tough. I’ve mostly focused on him as a running back but he is one of those players who is fearless regardless of which side of the line of scrimmage they line up on. Iowa (namely Levar Woods) spent a ton of time on Bower and letting him know that they think he can come in and have a shot, but they didn’t have the scholarship for him. Bower decided he was up for the challenge.

On Tuesday, Illinois prep LB Reggie Spearman is going to make a final decision. He committed to Illinois several months back but decommitted. Iowa is on his list and I will be surprised if he doesn’t go public with a declaration for Iowa when he shares his choice tomorrow.

Josey Jewell Highlights

By Justin VanLaere

While Groundhog Day was yesterday, Hawkeye fans have been living this sort of game over and over and over again this season.  Another victory within reach, another loss when it was all said and done. For the fourth time in conference play (three times against a ranked opponent), Iowa had a chance to win the game in the final minute.   Coming into the game, Iowa had won back-to-back games against the Gophers, including a win inside Williams Arena last year.  It would not be the case this time around.

Minnesota bolted out to a 12 point lead early in the game (14-2), but Iowa responded and outscored the Gophers 26-15 over the last 15 minutes of the half to pull to within one point.  Iowa’s bigs: McCabe, Basabe, and Woodbury all picked up two fouls in the first half.  Both Zach and Melsahn re-entered the game towards the end of the first half.  The Hawkeyes had 10 assists on 10 FGs in the first half, while Minnesota had 8 assists on 11 FGs.  Ball rotation by both teams was pretty effective in the first half. The Hawkeyes held a 20-16 rebounding edge at the break on the team leading the conference in boards.

Melsahn Basabe was saddled with foul trouble, logging only 15 minutes.

The second half saw several ties and lead changes throughout.  Iowa took its first lead just over six minutes into the second half on a Mike Gesell trey and extended it to three after a steal and dunk by Aaron White.  It looked like Iowa had stole the momentum.  The Hawkeyes’ lead dropped to just one with just over five minutes left in game before Eric May stole the ball, Aaron White put the ball in over Trevor Mbakwe and finished off the old fashioned three-point play. Again, it looked like Iowa had the momentum.  Just over two minutes to go, the Gophers cut the lead to one once again, this time Eric May took the ball hard to the hole, scored, was fouled by Joe Coleman, and made the FT to extend Iowa’s lead to four once again.  Yeah, momentum, right?  With the game on the line, McCaffery precariously inserted Devyn Marble into the game after he had been sitting on the bench for over 11 minutes.  Iowa had the ball with 40 seconds to go and up 2 points when Marble’s pass to the wing sailed into the stands.  Minnesota took possession and after a series of timeouts found Austin Hollins in the corner for three with under 15 seconds to go.  After another turnover by Iowa, 2 FTs by Minnesota, and a missed three point shot by Mike Gesell, the game was over and Iowa had yet again lost a close game to a ranked opponent late in the game.

To say Fran was not happy with the officiating at times would be an understatement.

The question towards the end of the game was – can Iowa win a road game without Marble scoring a point?  We got our answer, but the Hawkeyes certainly proved they could compete without their leading scorer.  But competing, simply, isn’t enough.  Not by a long shot. The losses are beginning to take their toll on this team.  Following the game, you could tell the staff and players took this one pretty hard.  Even head coach, Fran McCaffery admitted that he was pretty upset after the game and that it was frustrating.  Eric May echoed his disappointment in the loss, but still thinks Iowa is a great team.  Mike Gesell thought his final shot was good when it left his hand and reiterated Iowa’s need to get tougher and remain confident.  McCabe shot the ball well in this one, like he usually does inside The Barn.  He talked a little bit about this with me.  A lot of people noticed that Marble was limping when he was leaving the court.  Last game, the announcers said Dev was suffering from turf toe.  Both McCaffery and Marble are incessant that there is no injury and it’s more of a “out of sync” deal.  If Devyn is not hurt, he is either sick or has something else going on; there is no other way to explain Marble’s play as of late.

Iowa shot 59% from the FT line, a big reason for the loss.

So here we are, halfway through the conference slate and Iowa is sitting 3-6 in the Big Ten.  They certainly could be 7-2 or even 8-1 in the best conference in the land.  But it is what it is.  Missed opportunities (such as in this game where Iowa botched a layup and two tip-ins on a fast break which would have put them up 5 and instead it was a 4 point swing in favor of the Gophers) are now the standard instead of the exception.  You could blame Iowa’s slow start as the reason for the loss today, however that’s not the case.  It isn’t how Iowa starts the ballgames, it’s how they finish them.  Twice, Iowa ran out to 7-0 leads on their Big Ten opponents and lost both of those games because of their inability to close out games. So let’s not blame this on Iowa’s starts, it has everything to do with their finishes.  Iowa’s NCAA Tournament chances are taking severe hits in this “almost wins”.   The Hawkeyes will likely need to go 6-3 (maybe 7-2) in the second half of conference play.  Is it possible? Absolutely.  The bulk of Iowa’s tough schedule is behind them. However, if Iowa cannot close out games, it won’t matter.  Coffee’s for closers and right now Iowa’s drinking fruit punch.

It was going to be tough to beat Minnesota in The Barn this year but Iowa missed out on a huge opportunity.

I didn’t give Iowa much of a chance at Minnesota before today’s game, which makes the one point loss and how it happened all the more tough to swallow.

Iowa fell in a 14-2 hole to start the game and the Gophers out-hustled, out-muscled and out-everything’d Iowa at that point. It looked bleak, so bleak I tweeted the following at that juncture:

Iowa down 14-2 to start game v MN. It’s a shovel your drive Sunday already.

— Jon Miller (@HawkeyeNation) February 3, 2013

Iowa had different things in mind, going on a 16-5 run of their own at that point and the game was on and stayed on for the duration.

The Hawkeyes did a great job of flushing that first four minutes and and really changed their entire mood and effort level the rest of the way, going toe to toe with the 24th ranked Gophers right up to the end. The bitter, bitter end.

Fast forward to :36 to play in the game, with Iowa leading by two points and Minnesota calling a timeout after an Iowa turnover. The Hawkeyes played excellent perimeter defense and forced the Gophers to call timeout with :13 seconds to go and the shot clock grinding to a halt. After the timeout, Austin Hollins hit a three-point shot, the fourh of the day for the Gophers on 16 attempts, to give the home team the one-point lead.

Iowa still had 11 seconds to score and take the lead, but Mike Gesell was stripped of the basketball with four seconds left and that was, for all intents and purposes, the game.

It’s fourth time in five games where the game came down to the wire and the third straight road game where Iowa committed self inflicted wounds late in the game that sealed their doom.  Then this, according to HawkCentral.com.

Yeah…the pain.  This season is beginning to remind me of the 1994-1995 Iowa season where they lost three straight games by one-point.  The difference for me is that I haven’t shattered even one remote control yet whereas I shattered three straight during that losing streak.  If my memory serves me correctly, Andre Woolridge missed at last two last second and game winning shot attempts in that run.

‘Close but no Cigar’ may just be the theme for this team this season.  Lose by four at home to Indiana, who will be ranked #1 this week.  Lose at home by three to a ranked Michigan State team and without the services of Roy Marble.  Trail Ohio State by 24 on the road and cut the lead to four with under a minute left and miss two free throws which could have cut the lead to two.   Stave off one of the worst offensive shooting performances in years and take the lead late only to lose in overtime.  Then on Sunday, play inspired ball for 36 minutes against a ranked team on the road without any points from your leading scorer Devyn Marble.

Marble’s poor play is becoming a big deal.  He injured his ankle in practice on January 10th, just before Iowa hosted Michigan State.  He also injured his toe and that is the injury that has been nagging at him.  I don’t know what type of pain he is in right now, but he is struggling to be even an average player off the dribble and Marble is not a good enough jump shooter to not have his drive game going.  At times it seems he’s the only person who knows he isn’t capable of beating many opposing guards off the dribble.  He can do that when healthy, but he’s not healthy.

Fran McCaffery played a hunch by reinserting Marble into the game with just under a minute to play and Marble turned it over.  Marble had been on the bench for the previous 10 or 11 minutes due to ineffective play and played just 17 minutes, which the Press Citizen said  was Marble’s fewest since November of 2011 against Clemson.

Iowa was an impressive +6 on the offensive glass in this game and just -2 in turnovers.  Iowa has 27 bench points to zero for Minnesota.

Iowa falls to 14-8 and 3-6 in league play and next travels to Wisconsin on Wednesday to face the Badgers.  Had Iowa beaten the Gophers on Sunday, it would have given then an RPI boost and one of the few resume building wins for their slim NCAA chances.  This team continues to look like an NIT team and not an NCAA at large team.

It was a crazy environment inside Carver Hawkeye Arena as #3 Iowa beat #1 Penn State 22-16 in a dual meet on Friday

Cael Sanderson has still never won a dual meet in Carver-Hawkeye.

Iowa scored bonus points in two of their first three matches, including a pin by Tony Ramos at 133 pounds en route to a 22-16 win over #1 Penn State.  The loss snapped Penn State’s 20-match win streak and gave Iowa some great momentum heading into their final two duals, the Big Tens and nationals in March.

The meet began at 125 pounds where Iowa’s top ranked Matt McDonough beat #2 Nico Megludis in overtime.  McDonough fought off two takedowns to keep his perfect record intact.  Then Ramos came out and was headed for bonus points when he turned Jordan Conway midway through the second period and scored the fall.  Mark Ballweg scored some surprise bonus points with a 12-2 major decision at 141.  #1 ranked Derek St. John scored a 4-3 decision over 5th ranked Dylan Alton, scoring late in that match.

#6 Mike Evans won on a late score as well, fighting off a seemingly sure takedown by Penn State’s #4 Matt Brown late in the third and turning it into a takedown of his own.  The arena went crazy and it was one of the more remarkable turn of events from a desperate position on the mat that you will ever see.  Iowa’s heavyweight Bobby Telford closed out the match with a convincing win.  Had he lost that match by a normal decision, Penn State would have won the meet on criteria.

#3 IOWA  22, #1 PENN STATE 16

125 – #1 Matt McDonough (IA) dec. #2 Nico Megludis (PSU), 2-1 (TB1); 3-0

133 – #2 Tony Ramos (IA) pinned Jordan Conaway (PSU), 4:23; 9-0

141 – #9 Mark Ballweg (IA) major dec. Bryan Pearsall (PSU), 12-2; 13-0

149 – #8 Andrew Alton  (PSU) major dec. Brody Grothus (IA), 18-8; 13-4

157 – #1 Derek St. John (IA) dec. #5 Dylan Alton (PSU), 4-3; 16-4

165 – #2 David Taylor (PSU) tech. fall  #13 Nick Moore, 18-2; 16-9

174 – #6 Mike Evans (IA) dec. #4 Matt Brown (PSU), 4-3; 19-9

184 – #1 Ed Ruth (PSU) major dec. Grant Gambrall (IA), 21-10; 19-13

197 – #3 Quentin Wright (PSU) dec. #19 Nathan Burak (IA), 8-3; 19-16

285 – #6 Bobby Telford (IA) dec. #17 Jon Gingrich (PSU), 9-2; 22-16

It’s #1 Penn State at #3 Iowa on Friday night, live on the BTN.  How will the dual meet go?  We offer up a prediction in this item.

by Tony Hager

This is the matchup of season for both teams. The Hawkeyes are 15-1 overall, 5-0 in the Big Ten. Penn State is 8-0, and 5-0 in the Big Ten. Iowa leads the all-time series 25-7-2, along with a 12-3 advantage in Iowa City but we all know Penn State hasn’t been good since before Cael Sanderson took the job. Cael has never won in Carver Hawkeye Arena and I can guarantee he will have his boys ready for this dual. Penn State has the #1 spot and many thought they would run away with another title this year but some are thinking twice about that early prediction.

The dual Friday will be broadcasted live by BTN, beginning at 8:00 PM. If you do not have access to BTN you can follow live updates on our forums at http://www.hawkeyenation.com/forum/wrestling/ or follow me on twitter @hagertony.

Projected starters

No. 1 Penn State (8-0, 5-0 Big Ten) vs. No. 3 Iowa (15-1, 5-0 Big Ten)

125: No. 1 Matt McDonough (13-0) vs No. 2 Nico Megaludis (16-1)
133: No. 2 Tony Ramos (16-0) vs Jordan Conaway (10-4)
141: No. 8 Mark Ballweg (15-1) vs Bryan Pearsall (16-6)
149: Michael Kelly (10-6) vs No. 8 Andrew Alton (17-1)
157: No. 1 Derek St. John (16-0) vs No. 5 Dylan Alton (17-2)
165: No. 13 Nick Moore (11-3) vs No. 2 David Taylor (17-1)
174: No. 6 Mike Evans (11-2) vs No. 4 Matt Brown (17-2)
184: No. 14 Ethen Lofthouse (12-4) vs No. 1 Ed Ruth (19-0)
197: No. 19 Nathan Burak (12-8) vs No. 3 Quentin Wright (18-0)
285: No. 6 Bobby Telford (11-3) vs No. 17 Jon Gingrich (14-5)

Predictions:

125: This match will be a difficult one for Matt “MCD” McDonough in a rematch of last year’s 125lb championship. MCD will do his homework this week on Megaludis. This is not just another match for MCD. I think he will want to make a statement and win a convincing match by decision. It will be close but I think MCD will be in control the whole time. Iowa 3-0

133: Ramos is too much for Conway and will get some much needed bonus points. We all know how well Ramos wrestles at Carver. Big stage Big points. Carver will start to get electric as Ramos is a fan favorite with his attitude on and off the mat. Iowa 7-0

141: Ballweg has been stepping up and this time I feel like there will be a lot more pressure on him because the media has been blowing him up. We will see how he reacts but I do think he gets the win. I think this will be a close match as Pearsall is solid all around. Iowa 10-0

149: This is a tough one to call on weather or not Kelly will give up bonus points. Kelly wrestled the full seven minutes last dual and really think he can do it again tonight. Alton is very very dangerous as many found out last year. I don’t think Alton steps up to get bonus points here but wins by decision solely based of Kelly having better conditioning. (watch out for fall) Iowa 10-3

157: DSJ proves why he is #1 and wins a well contested battle against Alton. Alton will be in the top 4 at nationals and could make the finals depending on seeding. This is a big test for DSJ and Carver will get behind him to bring it home! Iowa 13-3

165: Moore is going from a big win to a big bashing against Taylor. Taylor is more physical, longer, and scrappier than Moore and gets the tech fall with multiple tilts. Kyle Dake is the only one to slow down Taylor at this weight class. Iowa 13-8

174: Break out your fake mustaches and support Mr. Evans as this is a BIG match for him going forward and very important in this dual. This one could go down to over time and you know Carver will give him the extra gas in the tank to get the job done. Evans thrives in Carver. Iowa 16-8

184: Ruth doesn’t let up and Lofthouse won’t be able to keep up. Lofthouse won’t be able to score from his feet which are the only opportunities to score points against Ruth. This one could get ugly if Lofthouse can’t slow him down. For sure a major but could see big bonus points. Iowa 16-12

197: I think this is a good match up for fans. Burak is lanky like Wright so I think he will be able to have a solid defense. The problem last dual was Burak can’t finish a shot and unless Wright is tired from the travel. Penn State arrived Thursday night so don’t count on it. Iowa 16-16

285: Telford has the upper hand here and wins the dual for Iowa. Carver will be electric! Iowa 19-16

Join the pre-dual discussion at this link on the message boards.

Another ugly first half for the Iowa basketball team, but this time they had the worst team in the league as their opponent and won 76-67.

Thank goodness Iowa’s opponent was Penn State.  That’s what I kept thinking as I watched the Iowa-Penn State game play out on Thursday night.

Has Iowa played more poorly at times this year?  Yes.  This week?  Yes.  Yet after the offensive grind that was Iowa at Purdue from Sunday, I was hoping for something a little more fluid from Iowa as it returned home after two games on the road.

Iowa led 34-26 at the break on Thursday which is light years better than the 19-16 halftime score from Sunday, but it still felt like the Hawkeyes were sleepwalking throughout much of the first stanza.  Aaron White scored 14 points, many of them in transition.  He added 13 in the second half for a career-best 27 points.

Penn State had nine turnovers in the first half and 18 for the game and really didn’t look good at any point in time.  The reason for that is because they are not good and Iowa played down to their level a bit too much for my liking.  One thing Penn State has been good at is offensive rebounding, which may be why Iowa chose to start Melsahn Basabe and sit Anthony Clemmons, to provide a bigger lineup.  The Nits have been boarding well on the offensive glass but Iowa won that battle 36-26, including 13-7 on the offensive glass.

Basabe scored 10 points and pulled down a game high 10 rebounds and could have done more damage had Penn State not been committed to fouling hard on every dunk or layup attempt.

Iowa’s shooting struggles continued from beyond the arc as the Hawks were just 5-21 from long range.  Iowa made up for those shortcomings by hitting 31 of 39 from the line, including 10-11 by Aaron White and 8-1o by Melsahn Basabe.

Iowa was 20 of 50 from the field but did have 18 assists on those 20 shots, which is very good and hard to do.  The Hawkeyes also had 11 steals in the contest, one of their best totals of the year.

In the end, Iowa had too much for the shorthanded Nittany Lions, who fell to 0-9 on the Big Ten campaign.  The Hawkeyes improved to 3-5 in the league and 14-7 overall.  This was the ‘most winnable’ game on Iowa’s schedule the rest of the way and they put it in the bank.

There are more winnable games the rest of the way, or rather, more games where Iowa will be favored than they will be the underdog but the next two contests will see Iowa getting points in Vegas.  It starts Sunday at Minnesota and then Iowa will be at Wisconsin on Wednesday.  The Hawks beat the Badgers and Gophers back to back on the road last year but a split would be a good pull.

*Iowa improves to 11-2 at home this season, and has won 16 of its last 19 home games dating back to last season.
*Iowa improves to 12-2 when leading at halftime this season.
*Sophomore Aaron White scored a career-high 27 points. It was the fourth time he has scored at least 20 points this season, and sixth in his career.
*Junior Melsahn Basabe recorded his first double-double of the season and the 10th of his career. He scored 10 points and pulled down a game-high 10 rebounds.
*Iowa tied for season-highs in free throws made (31) and attempted (39). Iowa also went 31-of-39 at the free throw line against Wichita State on Nov. 21, 2012.
*Penn State had 18 turnovers, which is the most turnovers Iowa has forced against a Big Ten team this season.

Q.  Melsahn had a doubledouble for you.
COACH McCAFFERY:  He had a couple really good days of practice and he’d been playing really well.
Like I said, I don’t always like to make changes when a guy’s playing really well where he is in the role that he’s in.  But I felt like he had earned the right to start, so I put him in the starting lineup.

Q.  What upset you the most towards the end of the game?
COACH McCAFFERY:  We didn’t execute.  It’s not easy.  You’re trying to protect the lead.  You don’t want to quick shoot the ball.
We missed a couple guys under the basket against the press.  Aaron’s three out of the corner when Melsahn is wide open, we can’t shoot those types of shots.  Those are the kinds of things that upset me.
Our execution when we were trying to run clock, run a set late in the clock, that wasn’t very good.  Then we turned the ball over in the backcourt against the press with four timeouts.  Can’t do that.  You find yourself in that position, you got to call timeout.
So those are the things that hopefully we learned tonight.

Q.  What was a little different having Basabe in the starting lineup?
COACH McCAFFERY:  It gave us a bigger lineup.  This is a team that rebounds, a very physical team.  I think a bigger lineup was effective for us tonight.

Q.  (No microphone.)
COACH McCAFFERY:  He was great.  I thought he was spectacular both halves.  Hit a huge three.  Got to the freethrow line.  Engineered the offense, played pretty good defense.

Q.  How did he take it when you pulled him?
COACH McCAFFERY:  He’s fine.  He’s a pro that way.

Q.  Aaron had a pretty good night.  Career high in points.  What do you think he brought?
COACH McCAFFERY:  You know, he played tonight with great energy.  I wouldn’t have said that we’d be able to play him 34 minutes.  He seems to have been tiring a little bit to where I need to play him 28.
But we just felt like he was affecting the game at both ends and we needed to leave him out there.  When we took him out, time to put him back in.  He was terrific.

Q.  Your defense keyed your transition game.  140 run.
COACH McCAFFERY:  It changed everything.  It was important to get back in it after you fall behind 81.  I think it was a 162 run there.  You’re right, it was defense in transition.

Q.  Did you stick with your starting lineup a little bit longer right out of the gate?
COACH McCAFFERY:  I thought Woody was playing really well.  They were playing well together.  It was kind of a slow game in that period of time, so it wasn’t like I felt like anybody was really tired.  I’m looking to see if anybody was winded.  I didn’t think anybody was winded.

Q.  Woodbury, do you feel he’s progressed more?
COACH McCAFFERY:  I felt he was terrific tonight.  I thought about putting him back in when we were struggling rebounding the ball.  They were going off the dribble so much that I went with the smaller lineup there.

Q.  Do you feel like coming in alongside Melsahn took a little bit of pressure off him?
COACH McCAFFERY:  I think they play well together.  What you’re seeing Woodbury do, he affected the game in a lot of different ways.  Defensively, a couple buckets.  He was passing the ball really well.  When they were in the zone, he was really effective as a feeder.  He was moving the ball.
In ball screens, not many 7’1″ guys are out there showing them ball screens, hustling back to the front.  His post defense was phenomenal.  He was outstanding tonight.

Q.  You hit the road for two games in four days.  What are you looking for your team to do?  What do you need to improve on?
COACH McCAFFERY:  What we need to do is play a little bit better, again, offensively.  That’s been a little bit of a struggle for us.  We hit some more jumpers tonight, that’s good to see.  But our execution is still a little bit off.  It’s closer.  They’re working at it.  They’re trying, but it’s got to be better.

Q.  Is that basically screening?
COACH McCAFFERY:  It’s a combination of everything.  When you’re running offense, it’s five guys working in unison, looking for certain things depending on how they’re playing it, making the right reads, drive it, don’t drive it, whatever.

Q.  (No microphone.)
COACH McCAFFERY:  I think so, yeah.  That’s my plan right now.

Q.  Did Josh’s shot look more comfortable?
COACH McCAFFERY:  I thought every one of those was going in.  He made eight yesterday in practice, eight.  I feel so bad because the first one looked good.  When he drilled the second one, I thought he was on his way.  Then I feel bad because I feel like every time I take him out, it puts pressure on him.  I want to just leave him in there.
But, you know, I’m rotating fresh personnel.  They don’t play as many guys.  We wanted to keep fresh bodies out there to keep pressure on them.

Q.  It helps to have the freethrow shooting tonight.
COACH McCAFFERY:  Especially in a game like this where they were fouling so much.

Q.  That should be good for the road then.
COACH McCAFFERY:  Yeah, no question.  You know, we’re a good freethrow shooting team.  The last couple games were not typical of who we are.

Q.  You mention you don’t like to normally switch up the starting lineup.  When you decided to go with Basabe, were you confident with it?
COACH McCAFFERY:  No, I was good with it.  I’d been considering it for a game or two.  I thought he was tremendous at Purdue.  He really was.  Again, he comes right back with the doubledouble, so…  Proud of him.

Q.  At least this way he was able to stay in the game.
COACH McCAFFERY:  He made his free throws.  Around the basket, they’re going to foul you.  You have to be able to be strong, get fouled, make ‘em.

Q.  You just ended this game.  But Sunday against Minnesota, you have a physical, bestrebounding team in the Big Ten.  Going to have to play well.
COACH McCAFFERY:  He and Woody, but everybody.  Zach and Gabe.  I thought Gabe was really good in the first half.  I put him in probably a difficult time for him.  I probably should have put him in earlier.  But I left Woody in because he was playing so well.

Q.  Do you feel this will help you learn how to close out games in the future?
COACH McCAFFERY:  Well, you know, for the most part we handled the press.  We had the one turnover.  We made our free throws, all right?  Those are two good things.
We didn’t rebound as well as we should have and we didn’t execute as well as we should have.  Those are two bad things.
So if you do three bad things, you lose.  We did enough to get home, that’s good.  But let’s be realistic about how good we have to be in those situations because at the time we were up 14, I think.  What if you’re up 5?  Different story.

Q.  What has Basabe done in the last six games or so?  He’s been so consistent.
COACH McCAFFERY:  He’s been very efficient.  He makes his free throws.  He sticks his nose in the glass.  He gives you a lowpost presence.  And defensively he’s just so far ahead of where he used to be.
He used to hurt us defensively.  So Rick points out he was fouling.  Well, he was in the wrong place a lot.  That’s why he was fouling.
Now he’s in the right place.  He’s seeing the game and affecting the game at both ends.  What you’re seeing is a guy as a result of that has more confidence in himself, which is great.

Q.  A lot more improvement than his freshman or sophomore year.
COACH McCAFFERY:  Yeah, you’ve seen a lot more consistency without question.  Even his freshman year when he was putting up big numbers, a lot of those were because I couldn’t take him out.  He’s not making the mistakes he was making the last two years.

Q.  Did you get the sense your team was maybe looking ahead?
COACH McCAFFERY:  No, not at all.

Wisconsin Athletic Director Barry Alvarez says he wants to play Iowa every year. Michigan and Ohio State are OK being in the same division. Things are becoming more clear. 

Let’s jump into the way back machine and spin it back to late 2009.  That’s when the Big Ten Conference dropped a  bomb on college athletics by releasing a statement saying the time was right to analyze restructuring and expansion.

During that time, Wisconsin Athletic Director Barry Alvarez spoke to a few media outlets and amplified the Big Ten’s statement, making it sound like expansion was going to be a reality, not just an investigation.

Then Missouri started to wave its hand saying ‘Pick us!  Pick us!’  The Governor of the state was talking too much publicly and the Big 12 began to come unglued.  That’s when Nebraska officials began to talk with Big Ten officials behind closed doors (in some remote cabin in the Midwest) and wound up coming together in the late spring of 2010.

Fast forward to 2012, where the Big Ten added Rutgers and Maryland to the league, growing its membership to 14 teams.  Divisional realignment is now on the menu and everyone has an opinion on it, including Alvarez.

He wrote the following in a column in the January 31st issue of Wisconsin’s own athletics department magazine:

I am not going to tell ‘What Barry wants, Barry gets,’ because I don’t think he or Wisconsin carries that big of a stick and certainly not in the face of Jim Delany.  However, Barry has been a Big Ten barometer over the past three-plus years on the expansion and realignment front.

Iowa AD Gary Barta shared some similar concepts on January 18th in an interview with The Gazette.

So there are two similar statements from two of the 14 AD’s who will be a part of the process.  The Big Ten took a fan vote last month on how to split of the Divisions.  I think that was a trial balloon.  With Barta and Alvarez talking about this, it’s another tea leaf.  Then you have the Penn State AD saying similar things and many of the other AD’s are singing the same chorus:

When considering a geographic split the last time around, the biggest stumbling block there was the Michigan-Ohio State question; should they be in the same division?  Would they want to be?

This time around, it seems that objection has been overcome behind closed doors, as Ohio State AD Gene Smith said he’d favor it and Michigan AD Dave Brandon saying he has no objections to it.

I read that as Delany has already had those conversations with them, whatever objections might have existed have now been overcome and Michigan and Ohio State are going to be in the same division.  That will likely include Penn State, Maryland and Rutgers, as those three schools will absolutely be in the same division.

On the other side, I think Iowa, Nebraska, Minnesota and Wisconsin will be in the same division.  So we now have nine of the 14 schools seemingly set in one division or another.  Let’s illustrate that:

EAST
Ohio State
Michigan
Penn State
Maryland
Rutgers

WEST
Iowa
Wisconsin
Nebraska
Minnesota

I think having Illinois and Northwestern in the same division makes sense, too. Indiana and Purdue in the same division makes sense. Can both of those things happen? I think so but then you have Michigan State as the outlier here. Their natural dancing partner is Michigan, but the Wolverine are tied to Ohio State. If Purdue and Indiana go into the East, that division is done. Michigan State into the West, along with Northwestern and Illinois can work. It can especially work if the league continues to have a protected crossover rivalry.

EAST
Ohio State
Michigan
Penn State
Maryland
Rutgers
Purdue
Indiana

WEST
Iowa
Wisconsin
Nebraska
Minnesota
Illinois
Northwestern
Michigan State

On the face, this is fine. If the league expands to a nine-game conference slate with a protected rival, it would mean you play six divisional games and three games against the other league. If one of those is protected annually, it means you would play each team in the other league two out of every six seasons…or have a gap of four years off and two years on with every team in the opposing league. That’s in line with where the league was prior to adding Maryland and Rutgers.

If you move to a 10 game league slate with a protected rivalry, you’d play each team in the opposite division for two years then have just two years off before you played them again, or two meetings every four years against each team in the opposite division, plus a protected rivalry game.

Delany has always mentioned his desire for Big Ten teams to play as often as possible. If the league really wants to do that, a ten game conference schedule is the best way to accomplish that objective, but it certainly has its drawbacks as we discussed earlier this week.

So what’s the takeaway? I think Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska and Wisconsin in the same division is a near lock. Ohio State and Michigan in the same division is a near lock and Penn State, Maryland and Rutgers in the same division IS a LOCK. The league will not put Michigan and Ohio State into the western four group, as that would create a total lack of competitive balance, so I believe five of the seven teams in the Eastern Division are set just as I believe four of the seven teams in the Western Division are set.

What is left for debate is Illinois, Northwestern, Michigan State, Indiana and Purdue as well as if the league will continue to have a protected crossover rival and just how many games the league will play in its conference schedule.