Iowa State 89 #5 Kansas State 85 in OT

For one of these most every year. Their sports programs are maddeningly mediocre. They’re seemingly doomed to live in UI’s shadow.

KU beat Missouri
K-State lost (thank you ISU)
UNO’s hockey team swept Bowling Green and advance to the next round of the CCHA playoffs
UNO’s basketball team made it into today’s finals in the MIAA playoffs in KC.
UNO won the championship today with a 2 point win over Washburn.
Hoot! Hoot!

I go to Iowa State, and believe me the complaints on Greg Mac are warranted. I won’t go into full detail here, but:

1. He can’t hold on to players
2. His offense gameplan is horrible
3. His inability to round out a roster with generic easy to find players is baffling
4. Did I mention he only won 4 conference games with two NBA draft picks on his roster

And believe me, I’m not an idiot who says winning and losing are the only ways to value what the coach is doing. The Big 12 was way above average this year, and for that reason a great record would have been unlikely.

WHat I really don’t like about Mac is his offensive gameplan. To average 60 some points per game with the firepower he has on offense is saying something…and it isn’t saying something good. He is in love with the one guard 4 flat set, which of course breaks down as soon as the other team denies a single pass. The fact that the team hasn’t adopted a motion or drive/kick offense (instead of sets) like pretty much every other team in the nation has is frustrating.

To end it, basketball is a funny game because it can be played at a pretty high level with no coaching. A pickup game with quality players can be a great game. So a coach either takes away the silly mistakes and adds discipline to the offense and defense, or he gets in the way of talent by trying to force a system on players. I think Mac is the latter. I feel that if ISU just played pickup ball this season they would have had a better record in conference.