Wide Right & Natty Lite

GAMETHREAD: TEXAS TECH AT IOWA STATE

2012-02-23T01:46:05Z

Next Game

Texas Tech Red Raiders
@ Iowa St. Cyclones

Wednesday, Feb 22, 2012, 8:00 PM CST
James H. Hilton Coliseum

It might not seem like it, but this is the biggest game of the year for Iowa State. A win is expected. A loss goes a long ways towards popping the NCAA bubble. That being said, Iowa State has some milestones to hit. A twenty win season. Ten wins in conference. Another sweep of a conference opponent. The race for the third seed. This is the latest we have played meaningful basketball since 2005. It's pretty freakin' sweet.

The Mid-Morning Dump - 2/22/12

2012-02-22T15:03:26Z

SUPER GINGER SETS A RECORD. Chelsea Poppens went off for 26 and 14, including a school record 25 free throw attempts in a 66-59 OT victory over Missouri.

GOING FOR TWENTY. The men go for win number 20 tonight against a last place Texas Tech team. A win would mean the first 20 win season since the 2003-2004 NIT team (We made the NCAA tourney with 18 wins in 2004-2005), and the first 20 win regular season since the Jamaal Tinsley led 2000-2001 team.

BIG FOUR SERIES? It's looking more and more like we'll have a Big Four Series at Wells Fargo Arena in the near future.

K-STATED AGAIN. After a 78-68 home loss, Missouri has now dropped both games to Kansas State this year, which puts the Wildcats solidly into the NCAA tournament barring a late season slide.

TOURNEY WATCH. This dance card gives Iowa State a 99.75% chance of making the tournament.

THE RETURN OF GREG DAVIS? Iowa beat writer and mustached friend Marc Morehouse seems to think it's a foregone conclusion that the Hawkeyes are indeed bringing in ex-Texas OC Greg Davis to replace Ken O' Keefe. Would a guy with a mustache like that mislead you? I think not..

Start wrapping your heads around Greg Davis.
— marcmorehouse (@marcmorehouse) February 21, 2012

The Mid-Morning Dump - 2/21/12

2012-02-21T15:30:55Z

WARNING: LEGGY FRED HOIBERG PIC WITHIN. Steve Malchow discusses how Fred Hoiberg's experience with 3 very different NBA teams helped prepare him for coaching Iowa State.

BABBTACULAR DEFENSE. Chris Williams talks about the defensive effort Chris Babb has put into shutting down the opposing teams' best perimeter players every night this season.

IT'S THE NEW BUDDY COP SERIES: Lucious and Clyburn, transfers from another mother.

ROYCE VIDEO. White on what people think of him, his son, and his future in basketball... or politics?

EJIM's IN. Rumors of a possible suspension and a shoulder injury won't stop Melvin from suiting up tomorrow against Texas Tech.

BRACKETOLOGY UPDATE. ESPN has Iowa State as a 9 seed against Saint Louis, while SB Nation has ISU as a 9 seed against Vanderbilt.

LOOKS LIKE THAT GREY GOOSE PRESCRIPTION WORKED. Dan McCarney is out of the hospital, still recovering from his stroke.

BARNES/DREW DERP OFF! Scott Drew tried his hardest to blow the game, but smartly wasted all of his timeouts before 2 minutes left so he couldn't screw his team at the end. This led to Rick Barnes' team blowing their halftime lead, and possibly their NCAA tournament hopes.

The Mid-Morning Dump - 2/20/12

2012-02-20T14:35:25Z

OKLAHOMA DOUBLE. The Cyclones registered 11 threes in an 80-69 win in the men's game, while the women followed it up with a 77-71 win over the Sooners. Royce White finishes with a grand total of 7 points in the two victories over Oklahoma, a trend that is proving that the Cyclones are a very well balanced team.

MELVIN APOLOGIZES. Video of Ejim's apology after his ejection for a double forearm screen set on Oklahoma's Carl Blair.

ROYCE = AMAZING. Very well written article about Royce White and his changing goals both on and off the basketball court. If he was ever a "thug", as some had suggested upon his arrival at Iowa State, it's certainly hard to see it now.

BIG 12 TOURNEY BRACKET GENERATOR. Want to see how the Big 12 tournament will play out? Enter your results for the remaining games and get a bracket. Very nicely done.

ANOTHER ARREST. Durrell Givens has been suspended indefinitely from the team after being arrested for possessions of a controlled substance.

HOLY CRAP WE'RE GETTING OLD. David Robinson's son gets an offer from Notre Dame, and Fred Taylor's son Kelvin has just commited to his father's alma mater, Florida.

DICKIE V DANCING. Just because.

Big 12 Outlook for Feb. 20 - Feb. 26

2012-02-19T15:00:11Z

We still have four games left for every Big 12 team, but we already essentially know the approximate seed of most teams. Missouri and Kansas will be the top two seeds. Baylor will likely be three or four. Iowa State will likely be three through six, while Kansas State and Texas are likely looking at four through six. The rest of the teams will likely fall in order. Iowa State, Kansas State and Texas, however, have the most power to make a meaningful move.

Big 12 Conference Standings

	Conf		Overall
	W	L	W	L
Missouri Tigers	12	2	25	2
Kansas Jayhawks	12	2	22	5
Baylor Bears	9	5	22	5
Iowa St. Cyclones	9	5	19	8
Kansas St. Wildcats	7	7	18	8
Texas Longhorns	7	7	17	10
Oklahoma St. Cowboys	6	8	13	14
Texas A&M Aggies	4	10	13	13
Oklahoma Sooners	3	11	13	13
Texas Tech Red Raiders	1	13	8	18

Monday, February 20

Baylor @ Texas (ESPN) 8 PM

Tuesday, February 21

Kansas State @ Missouri (ESPN2) 6 PM

Wednesday, February 22

Oklahoma State @ Oklahoma (Big 12 Network) 7 PM

Texas Tech @ Iowa State (ESPNU) 8 PM

Kansas @ Texas A&M (ESPN2) 8 PM

Saturday, February 25

Iowa State @ Kansas State (Big 12 Network) 12:30 PM

Oklahoma @ Baylor (Big 12 Network) 12:30 PM

Texas A&M @ Oklahoma State (ESPN2) 1 PM

Missouri @ Kansas (CBS) 3 PM

Texas @ Texas Tech (Big 12 Network) 3 PM

Bonus Big 12 Games

West Virginia @ Notre Dame (ESPN2) 6 PM - February 22

TCU @ Air Force (mtn.) 7 PM - February 22

Marquette @ West Virginia (ESPN) 8 PM - February 24

New Mexico @ TCU (mtn.) 6 PM - February 25

It sure looks like Saturday's Mizzou-Kansas tilt is your Big 12 regular season championship game. Should be an electric atmosphere in Allen Fieldhouse. That being said, Mizzou has a chance at a couple more land mines between home games against Kansas State and Iowa State. Kansas goes on the road to Oklahoma State and has Texas at home, but the road is definitely much easier if KU can hold serve at home.
The Cyclones and Bears are once again tied for third place, and if Iowa State gets hot, they can grab the third seed. It'll take wins against Kansas State on the road and Baylor at home, however. Those two would make Iowa State a lock for the NCAA tournament. Actually, one would probably do the same. Baylor, naturally, looked mediocre again, but only after playing Iowa State. They have a dangerous road contest at Texas that could put Iowa State alone in third by midweek. Could set up with both teams playing for third place in the regular season finale.
Starting to think Kansas State and Texas just like kicking it in fifth and sixth place. It's pretty much a foregone conclusion that one will play Baylor and one will play Iowa State in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 Tournament, but who?
If Oklahoma State could play all their games in Stillwater, they'd probably be an NCAA team. But, such is modern college basketball; they can't.
If Oklahoma could play all their games against Kansas State, they'd probably be an NCAA team. But, such is modern college basketball; they can't.
The move to the SEC can't happen quick enough for Texas A&M. Unfortunately, they can't take Texas Tech with them.
The season can't end quick enough for Texas Tech.

Top five games of the week:

Missouri @ Kansas
Baylor @ Texas
Iowa State @ Kansas State
Kansas State @ Missouri
Oklahoma State @ Oklahoma?

Number one was easy. Games two through four have major NCAA implications. Bedlam gets the number five spot because, well, the quality of the games really drop off after Kansas State @ Missouri. Badly.

GAMETHREAD: OKLAHOMA AT IOWA STATE

2012-02-18T18:30:05Z

Next Game

Oklahoma Sooners
@ Iowa St. Cyclones

Saturday, Feb 18, 2012, 12:45 PM CST
James H. Hilton Coliseum

Complete Coverage >

We lost at Baylor. It happens. They are a top ten team and that loss won't move the needle much. Today is actually much more important. If we want to stay on the good side of the NCAA bubble, this is a must win game. We're more talented than OU and already beat the Sooners on the road. We need this one.

The Beginners' Guide to Big 12 Fans

2012-02-17T18:00:08Z

Now that West Virginia is officially a member of the Big 12, we thought it would be nice to give them a rundown of what they can expect of their new conference's fan bases. Our new friends at TCU could probably give this a read as well, if they're not baked out of their minds - even then, there's a lot of colorful pictures.

Baylor

The last 6 months have been quite a ride for the Baylor Bears. On the gridiron they have had a Heisman winner in Robert Griffin III and an incredible record-setting shootout of a bowl game win. The MBB team is full of future NBA talent and has been a top-10 team all season. And just for good measure the WBB program is ranked No. 1 and has arguably the most dominant middle to ever play the game. You'd think life would be good - but then, you wouldn't be a Baylor fan.

Baylor fans are extremely elusive, even with unprecedented success in most sports. You'll notice the stands are largely empty behind this oddly supportive Baylor fan. You'll likely get to meet him; he stands out from most other Bear fans by actually attending athletic events. The football stadium is largely covered in a giant tarp and opposing fans colors. In case you haven't figured it out, red is not one of Baylor's colors.

Old Big East Comparison: None - Most closely resembles a church service, at a church nobody attends.

Recommended Web: You can go to Baylorfans and SBN's own Our Daily Bears - its better than nothing, barely.

Jump with us for a rundown of the rest of the Big 12 schools.

Kansas State

Kansas State fans are an interesting bunch. Hard-working, salt of the earth, generally good people, and unable to get into KU. It's not that KU is Ivy League selective, but KSU just has really low standards - they're in a perpetual state of beer-goggles in the admissions office.

A tailgate in Manhattan will likely resemble initiation day at a frat. Copious amounts of malt liquor consumed, naked and shamed men between the ages of 18 and 21, and very confused, emotionally vulnerable sheep.

Among the more "adult" crowd, you will find scores of NASCAR flags flying above the KSU flag and undoubtedly find more than a few Camaros which contain dudes who look like Vince Neil getting handies from chicks who look like Dee Snider.

All this while worshiping the Grand Wizard Bill Snyder - you'll learn to dislike Bill Snyder. His oldness somehow breeds winning football; it's all very confusing.

Old Big East Comparison: Cincinnati - The Bearcats entire athletic department seems shady in that "probably controlled by mob money" sort of way. KSU's Frank Martin would blend in seamlessly.

Recommended Web: Bring On The Cats is the place to go for all your Wildcat needs.

Oklahoma

Sooner fans fucking love Toby Keith. He completes them, he is their world.

Besides loving sticking boots in the asses of radio listeners everywhere, Oklahomans also enjoy anything bad that happens to Texas.

Oklahoma fans can also be identified by their relentless chanting of "Boomer Sooner" regardless of the event or the situation.

Heisman ceremony? Boomer Sooner

Quiet picnic in the park? Boomer Sooner

Funeral? Fuck it, Boomer Sooner.

Their band doesn't exactly help things either.

Oklahoma fans are friendly to a fault, unless the football team has recently lost - then they can be extremely bitter. Mention Adrian Peterson to cheer them up.

Old Big East Comparison: Miami (They used to be in the Big East, right?). Lots of winning, lots of NCAA violations.

Recommended Web: Follow @LandThieves on Twitter and you'll be a better person for it.

Oklahoma State

OSU used to suck at everything, then giant sloppy loads of oil money were shot deep into the athletic department & facilities and voila: instant success (with only a little lingering shame)

OSU fans are generally good people given their humble history and the fame hasn't gone to their heads just yet.

Old Big East Comparison: South Florida on steroids.

Recommended Web: Cowboys Ride For Free & OrangePower are both a good time.

Kansas

James Naismith, the man credited with inventing the game of basketball, founded the KU basketball program. So you expect them to be decent at the game, and they are. Kansas fans love their roundball, but they hate round people, which is apparently why they cut loose the only decent coach in KU football history (Mark Mangino) just because he packed on a couple extra pounds.

KU is OU's doppelganger - each dominating one revenue sport and failing horribly at the other.

KU fans save their cash for basketball season where they dominate and cling to the hope that football is just a passing fad. If you're wondering about what their "Rock Chalk" chant means, just keep wondering, its not worth the Google.

Old Big East Comparison: Louisville - Great at basketball, relevant in little else.

Recommended Web: Rock Chalk Talk. Owen's a pretty swell dude... as far as Kansas fans go.

Texas

You've heard the rumors and they're all true. Texas mulches their campus with shredded hundreds and throws truckloads of money at mediocre coaching staffs just to get rid of some of it. Texas fans would probably be more disliked by other Big 12 schools had it not been for their mason jar-burning, vagina-oppressing, whiny brethren at Texas A&M. When comparing any school to the Aggies, you come out smelling like roses.

Texas fans, like most of the state, are brimming with "Texas pride". But being born Texan is really their only fault, and you can't blame an athletic department for taking money. UT fans are friendly and generally just looking for a good time, provided you don't bring up the whole "almost dragging the entire conference into oblivion" issue.

Old Big East Comparison: Notre Dame - Texas drools at the idea of being independent.

Recommended Web: ShaggyBevo will take you places you've never imagined the internet could go and Texas is the only school to boast TWO SB Nation sites in Burnt Orange Nation (for the legit stuff) and Barking Carnival (for the randomness).

Texas Tech

Texas Tech is falling apart. They used to have awesome coaches like Bob Knight & Mike 'The Pirate' Leach. They were the feel-good story for a few years similar to OSU but without the oil baron sugar daddy. Who knew that all it took to bring all of it to a screeching halt was Craig James? It's like he's now put two programs on a NCAA death penalty.

Tech fans are about as rowdy as Texans get. You could also refer to them as the Philly fans of the Big 12. Our friends at Cowboys Ride For Free once said that a trip to Lubbock was scarier than a trip to Norman. Whether it's throwing batteries at opposing players or ripping bleachers out of concrete to celebrate an upset; their total lack of tradition or sustained success makes for fans that just want to party, heckle, and reminisce about the good ole Pirate days. Things do not seem to be looking up in the near future on the field or court, so they might as well have a good time.

Old Big East Comparison: Rutgers - Assuming losing Schiano totally guts their program.

Recommended Web: Double T Nation.

Iowa State

The Cyclones are humble people. Thankful for what little they have, mainly those Big 12 basketball titles in 2000 & 2001 and the occasional BCS shockwave worthy football upset.

Years of athletic failures, threats of being scrapped during conference realignment, and a complete lack of respect from the outside world even when the athletic programs aren't all that bad has made Iowa State turn to the bottle to maintain emotional stability.

ISU fans are prone to field & court storming (winning is a big deal), rioting just for the hell of it, consuming copious amounts of cheap alcohol and pissing ourselves. ISU tailgating is top-notch due to decades of nothing worthwhile going on inside the stadium and we pride ourselves on the pregame.

Really, all we want is for someone to rub our head, tuck us in at night, and not molest us in our sleep.

Old Big East Comparison: West Virginia: poor man's version. We burn less stuff, win less, and prefer brewing beer to moonshine, but we put up an admirable effort trying to match the Mountaineers.

Recommended Web: You're already here, but you can also follow @WideRtNattyLt on Twitter. Encyclonepedia is also a good time for those of you that love a good stat crunching.

The Mid-Morning Dump - 2/17/12

2012-02-17T14:50:41Z

LET'S PREVIEW OKLAHOMA PART DEUX. Kirk Haaland previews Oklahoma's visit to another Hilton sell out tomorrow at 12:45.

BUBU'S BACK! Palo returns from his broken wrist on Saturday. This is great news for a Cyclone team that always needs more unselfish ball handlers. (giggle)

JUST IN CASE YOU STILL HAVEN'T BOUGHT IN TO FRED HOIBERG YET... I'll go ahead and remind you we have a great recruiting class coming in next year, and Korie Lucious and Will Clyburn will be eligible. The pair have developed a close bond on the court.

WE'RE SMART! Iowa State leads the Big 12 with 4 Academic All-Conference Selections. Melvin Ejim, Scott Christopherson, and Bubu Palo made the first team, while Chris Allen made second team.

BUBBLE WATCHING. SBN's Chris Dobbertean looks at the current bubble teams. Iowa State is wedged in at a 10 seed, #37 overall.

A TRUE SUCCESS STORY. Another Cyclones.com Black History Month article, this time on Ike Harris, who went on to play in the NFL and became the CEO of a Fortune 500 company. Inspiring stuff.

ROVELL IS TERRIBLE. Little did you all know, but Darren Rovell's been tweeting his own brand of douchey arrogance for 100 years!

DOES ANYBODY GET RECRUITING RULES? Oregon had to report a minor violation because Mike Belotti mentioned a conversation he had with Chip Kelly on a current Duck, Arik Armstead, while Alabama is free to spam a recruit with 105 letters... on the same day.