What’s crazy though is that most in the media thought UCLA was going to beat that team in the Sweet 16.
Uhhhhh…not so much. Tinsley was a rebound away from a triple double and the good guys absolutely demolished those fools.
Who was the best modern Iowa State Men's Basketball Team?
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Uhhhhh…not so much. Tinsley was a rebound away from a triple double and the good guys absolutely demolished those fools.
Cincinnati was almost assuredly in line for a #1 until Kenyon Martin's injury. That, and the Pac-10 co-champ situation (they didn't have a postseason tournament yet), muddied the waters a little.
Arizona went Salt Lake > Albuquerque.
Stanford went Birmingham > Austin.
And if the pod system had been in place the next season, ISU would have started in Kansas City instead of ******* Boise.
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Good overall point, that was prior to "pod" system, where first weekend sites are favorable for high seeds but can feed into any region ... the sub-regional sites fed directly into the Regional placement.
Example - Midwest in 2000 first weekend was Cleveland for 1-16/8-9/5-12/4-13 and Minneapolis for 6-11/3-14/7-10/2-15 ... regional site Auburn Hills. It was "locked."
Whether it would have made a difference for ISU either as 1 or 2 if it was adapted to current system, that would take some reconstructing (I could do it, but not enough time right now).
A minor detail in your analysis -- Stanford was in Austin regional as 1 seed Southeast (1st weekend Birmingham), Arizona was 1 seed West in Albuquerque (1st weekend Salt Lake City). Main point is correct, just a flip in the specific Pac-"X" placement
Tell me you're younger than 35 without telling me you're younger than 35.
That Cincinnati team was legit. One of Iowa State’s 5 losses. They were 28-2 (Xavier and Temple) with a healthy Kenyon Martin.
Preseason #2. They were #1 every week but 5 weeks out of the whole year.
Completely fell apart after that injury.
Benefit-of-doubt, retrospectively, I can understand why analysts went ga-ga about it, UCLA obliterated Maryland in round of 32 ... so it probably was irresistible "hot take upset" to take UCLA over ISU.
That made the actual outcome even sweeter.
It was a really talented UCLA team, five NBA guys, plus some big time recruits (JaRon Rush) who were that level of talent but just didn't pan out.
Their win over Maryland was like watching the FGCU Dunk City team if it was a team made up of 4 and 5 star guys. Earl Watson throwing lobs all over the place. They seemed like they were putting things together as they had struggled early but were on a hot streak until they ran into us.
99-00 team lost 5 games...
Stinker vs. Drake when they were trying to figure things out
#1 Cincinnati at tournament in Hawaii
2OT at Oklahoma
OT at Colorado (Fluke 3 by Walls to send it to OT)
at MSU that should have been a Championship game match-up. Final 4 at the very least.
Stinker vs. Drake when they were trying to figure things out
#1 Cincinnati at tournament in Hawaii
2OT at Oklahoma
OT at Colorado (Fluke 3 by Walls to send it to OT)
at MSU that should have been a Championship game match-up. Final 4 at the very least.
I watched that game in the Metrodome and said there was no way they were going to get those lobs against us - Maryland wasn't pressuring their guards and that was a strength of our defense.
And then that's exactly what happened - they didn't get a single lob. Also, Jason Kapono was one of the most annoying college players ever
Also: bonus point for headband. If you're going to be annoying, that either makes it even worse or reduces the annoyance a bit.
The Fizer/Tinsley team. Should've been National Champs. Michigan State needed the refs to bail them out. They walked through the Final Four. Iowa State would've done the same. The Willoughby/Cato team from 97 was really good too. Don't forget about them. Would love to see those two teams play each other. Floyd vs Larry.
Not really. That was a team full of bad ass mother F^%$ers.
Was Fizer that much more dominant than Cato? Better on O certainly but Cato had elite D. Also I think Willoughby was close to matching Tinsley in his way.
No question 2000 and 2001 tournament teams. Won league. 2000 team won league and tournament. Really no debate. Tinsley best player also. No real debate.
This team was my favorite…ranked as high as #4 in the nation, in the top ten most of the year, but lost 3 of the last 4 in the Big 12. Willoughby was a volume shooter who shot 40% plus from 3. Lost to UCLA at the buzzer in the Sweet 16, Willoughby shot 17 threes and made 8 in his final game. Although the 2000 team was probably better, the 1997 team’s potential path to a Final Four was #10 ranked Cincinnati , #7 UCLA, and #3 Minnesota. IMO, a better end to the regular season would have given them an easier path and a realistic shot at a Final Four.
I was at the UCLA game @ Auburn Hills. What a team, what a game. Kopono and the boys with the towels on their heads was awesome! Sure wish Syracuse wouldn't have blown their big first half lead over Sparty. Woulda, coulda, shoulda. I didn't stay for the MSU game though. That would have been awful.
I had a place to stay, tickets and transportation for both games in Auburn Hill. Had a professor that wouldn’t let me out of a test that Friday. Didn’t go.
Moral of the story kids, don’t ask permission.
Seriously though not sure if I could have made it home after that loss.
I believe the out bounds area's were painted in MSU green colors to tell you that was an MSU home game. MSU rolled through final 4 games were not even competitive
