Reversal of Fortune

It's kind of funny. I was at a gas station after the men's Iowa basketball team was defeated by Northwestern. As I was checking out, I said something about the defeat. Maybe just to make conversation, the cashier chuckled and said, "Who would've guessed that at this point in the season that the 3 best basketball teams in Iowa would be Drake, ISU, and UNI?"

This morning, that cashier may be on a search for two basketball teams in Iowa to replace ISU and UNI. I didn't check what Drake's win-loss record is, but I can say that, last night, ISU lost by a point to Kansas State and UNI lost by 14 at Wichita State.

As for the Iowa men's basketball team, I feel like the team has been on a crazy and wild roller coaster ride. After that mind-numbing 32 point meltdown defeat against Wisconsin, the aforementioned crushing overtime loss to a Northwestern team that hadn't won a single game in 2015, and a 67-63 loss at Purdue, I was looking for answers. The answer has now come in the form of winning four consecutive Big Ten games. Yes, that means they scored more points last night, winning at cellar dweller PSU in an overtime victory. And so, the morning after, the positives pour down on this team. After all, stringing together four consecutive Big Ten victories is something an Iowa team hasn't done since the 2005-06 season.

I will buy into the good vibes. I think we're on the way to the NCAA tournament, not as a 'play-in' team, but as a full-fledged team. I will go on record and say that Adam Woodbury needs to have a better game than last night (2 points, 4 fouls) for this team to to deep into the tournament. I also will also go on record and say that IF

1. Iowa wins their final two Big Ten games
   and 
2. Iowa wins at least the first round of the Big Ten Tournament

I will pick them in my NCAA brackets.