Most Demoralizing Loss??

[jdoggivjc]

The saddest part of the Mich. State fiasco is that we shouldn't have even been playing them until the Final Four!! There is NO WAY we aren't a #1 seed in some regional! Once again, the powers that be in the National Clowns Against Ames put the screws to good old ISU and it's faithful. Oh well, we should be used to it by now.

I wish just for once we would let this drop for once. I dislike the NCAA as much as anyone else, but their stated objective has always been to give the top 16 seeds the best opportunity to get to the Sweet 16. They figured putting us in Minneapolis finalizes that objective. But there's no way they can give us the #1 seed in the Midwest as that belonged to Michigan St. We weren't going to take away Duke's #1 seed, so we were fighting Stanford and Arizona for the #1 seeds in the South and West. I think I remember something about how Arizona doing something to earn that #1 West seed over Stanford, while Stanford got sent to the South as a "punishment." This is how the top 8 seeds broke down that year (and where they played):

East
Duke (27-4) (Winston-Salem)
Temple (26-5) (Buffalo)

Midwest
Michigan St (26-7) (Cleveland)
Iowa St (29-4) (Minneapolis)

West
Arizona (26-6) (Tuscon)
St. John's (24-7) (Salt Lake City)

South
Stanford (26-3) (Birmingham)
Cincinnati (28-3) (Nashville)

If we had the current "pod" system then that we have now, maybe we're the #1 seed playing in the South (because we could then play our first two rounds in Minneapolis and not in Birmingham), maybe we're not. But also keep one thing in mind - if Kenyon Martin doesn't break his leg, Cincinnati gets the #1 seed in the south. Then we're fighting Stanford and Arizona for the #1 seed in the West, and there's no way that's happening. Bottom line, there's no way you can realistically argue that we absolutely deserved the #1 seed without looking at the RPIs that year and without taking regional advantages into consideration. To say we automatically deserved a #1 seed in 2000 is just retrospective homeristic thinking.

 

[CYVADER]

we had 4 losses and came in hotter then any other team in america. 2 of the 4 came in the first 5 games, and the other 2 were a double ot loss at oklahoma and an overtime loss at colorado. not that homeristic. either way, we got hosed against msu, and that may has well been the championship game because if we had won it, i don't think we would have lost to florida or wisconsin

 

[mjlane]

If it had been KU, UT, or OU going 29-4 that year and winning both the regular season conference championship and the conference tournament and not getting a #1 seed, there would have been a complete melt-down from the media. I don't think it's that far of a stretch to say that we missed a 1 seed on reputation only. We definitely earned a 1 seed with our play on the court, we just weren't awarded one.

 

[jdoggivjc]

we had 4 losses and came in hotter then any other team in america. 2 of the 4 came in the first 5 games, and the other 2 were a double ot loss at oklahoma and an overtime loss at colorado. not that homeristic. either way, we got hosed against msu, and that may has well been the championship game because if we had won it, i don't think we would have lost to florida or wisconsin

I'll agree with anyone out there that says we got hosed in the game against MSU, because we did. I will not agree with anyone saying we got hosed by the NCAA having us play our first two rounds 3 hours away from campus. We were protected all the way to the Sweet Sixteen, and to an extent the Elite 8.

The other thing is, who's to say we WOULD have made the Final Four if we were placed in the South or West regions. There were a LOT of upsets that year to have a #5 and two #8 seeds make the Final Four. Both Stanford and Arizona got upset by the #8 seeds - who's to say the same thing wouldn't have happened to us if we were in their position?

 

[superdorf]

This post got me thinking, so I was looking at some old news articles and came across this:
N.C.A.A. TOURNAMENT -- MIDWEST; Iowa State Overlooked? Not Anymore - New York Times

From the article:

Cyclones Coach Larry Eustachy said that after watching the Bruins paste Maryland, 105-70, he was prepared for what to do if his team found itself as quickly in the hole.

''You get a couple technical fouls early and head for the local bar,'' he joked before the game.

Not so funny now... Or maybe it is?

 

[HandSanitizer]

Hampton made us the laughing stock of every sports conversation in the Country. No other loss has ever done that for ISU. Crap, They still show highlights every year of that frickin coach going Jimmy V down the court.
There is your anwser. Hands down.

 

[mjlane]

"With Brooklyn's Jamaal Tinsley hounding him from baseline to baseline, the Bruins never found a rhythm for their high-flying act. Instead, it was Tinsley and the all-American forward Marcus Fizer, the best player nobody has ever heard of, who had the star turns. Tinsley, the junior guard, had 14 points, 11 assists and 9 rebounds and handled the Bruins' full-court pressure as the Cyclones shot 51 percent.

Fizer, a 6-foot-8-inch 265-pounder who bullies inside and lofts feathery jumpers, scored 16 points and moved U.C.L.A.'s 6-10 tandem of Moiso and Dan Gadzuric around like chess pieces."

Good God, I miss that team. :sad:

 

[Erik4Cy]

Definitely Michigan State. Here's why: losing to lesser teams sucks, but it happens to EVERYONE (App State anyone???) and also in many of those football games they took away from pretty good seasons, but not really championship seasons.

Losing barely to the Spartans in the Elite Eight was really the championship game. you just KNEW whoever won that game was gonna win it all. I really believe we get past them, we have a national basketball championship in Ames, IA. I will never 100% get over that until we do win the tourney.

 

[tejasclone]

This post got me thinking, so I was looking at some old news articles and came across this:
N.C.A.A. TOURNAMENT -- MIDWEST; Iowa State Overlooked? Not Anymore - New York Times

From the article:


Not so funny now... Or maybe it is?

Thanks for posting that article. It is delightful to read about Fizer, Tinsley, and Stevie Johnson again. It also boils my blood thinking about how that season ended.

 

[CycloneWarrior]

I was so angry after losing to Kansas in 05, but I would say losing to Michigan state (isu had that game won, darn those refs) in the elite 8 hurt the most because when ur that close and since Isu was so good that u can't help but THInk if they wouldve beat michigan state they wouldve won the championship for sure. Ugggh so close to a championship

 

[ketchupnmustard]

I think the Oklahoma game in 2002 was the worst loss. ISU was ranked in the top 10. Their only loss at that point was the Florida State screwjob in Arrowhead stadium. It was the best start to a football season I've ever seen at ISU.

Then the coin toss.

In an absolute disaster of a game on national TV, the Sooners ended up with more points than the Cyclones had in yards. That game set up a long string of football disasters that the program has yet to recover from.

 

[tejasclone]

I think the Oklahoma game in 2002 was the worst loss. ISU was ranked in the top 10. Their only loss at that point was the Florida State screwjob in Arrowhead stadium. It was the best start to a football season I've ever seen at ISU.

Then the coin toss.

In an absolute disaster of a game on national TV, the Sooners ended up with more points than the Cyclones had in yards. That game set up a long string of football disasters that the program has yet to recover from.

Agreed. But we came agonizingly close to exorcising at least some of those demons against OU in 2007. Thankfully, I think we'll have several chances to take Stoopsie down in the coming years (many of which I'm sure will occur in the Big XII championship game). :wink:

 

[mg4cy]

In hindsight, The Uconn football was a demoralizing loss because helped pave the way for mid majors come to Jack Trice and play competitively and win. The few years prior to that, we beat that caliber of team easily in preseason.

Des Moines Rag headline read "Seven and Sicks"

 

[ISUKyro]

Definitely Michigan State. Here's why: losing to lesser teams sucks, but it happens to EVERYONE (App State anyone???) and also in many of those football games they took away from pretty good seasons, but not really championship seasons.

Losing barely to the Spartans in the Elite Eight was really the championship game. you just KNEW whoever won that game was gonna win it all. I really believe we get past them, we have a national basketball championship in Ames, IA. I will never 100% get over that until we do win the tourney.

This was about word for word what I was going to say.
That MSU game may have been our last chance to take it all. Who knows how long it will take to get another chance like that.

 

[isucally]

Had to be Mich St. for me that was a national championship in hand had we won that game. I dont think I have ever had such a high to low feeling for clone athletics than that year

 

[isucally]

By the way I would also add the Florida State game in the eddie robinson classic to that list man did that one hurt!!!

 

[herbicide]

I'd have to go with none of the above, OU 2002 was the most demoralizing for me.

 

[Wesley]

For Other - Kent State 07 is in the running on my list.....high hopes with new staff and excited crowd went by the boards. Kent State turned out to be very poor after that game also.

 

[Cy Hard]

Per the poll it has to be the KU loss in '05. There we were again ready to go before a national audience with a chance to win and move into a BCS bowl and AGAIN crushed. Reminds me of the South Park movie scene when Kenny dies. Gateway to Heaven....NO!!!! You're going to hell....

 

[Wesley]

All losses are demoralizing. Just ask Bobby Knight.