Iowa
Dochterman: Bubble stress aside, is this Fran McCaffery's best coaching job?
IOWA CITY, Iowa — Carver-Hawkeye Arena looked like a bespeckled piece of candy corn on Sunday night, as it always does when the Illinois men’s basketball team crosses the Mississippi River and heads west on I-80.
For the No. 12 Illini, whose fans made up around a third of the total crowd, improving their NCAA Tournament seeding was the only external motivation. For Iowa, its postseason fate was at stake. The Hawkeyes entered the game straddling the bubble. A sold-out Senior Night home crowd gave the Hawkeyes an even shot against their more talented rival. Instead, orange-clad visiting fans mocked the Hawkeyes with chants of “N-I-T” at the end of Illinois’ 73-61 victory.
At 18-13 overall, Iowa’s postseason future depends on how it performs as the seventh seed at the Big Ten tournament. Two victories in Minneapolis this week, and the Hawkeyes should earn their eighth NCAA bid under coach Fran McCaffery. A loss on Thursday to No. 10 seed Ohio State, and Iowa should prep Carver-Hawkeye Arena for an NIT game. A win against the Buckeyes followed by a third loss to Illinois in 21 days leaves the Hawkeyes’ postseason hopes up to the selection committee.
“I think we have work to do,” McCaffery said. “We’ve got some really good wins in a very difficult league with good wins out of conference. It’s not something you kind of want to leave to chance. You want to do some more damage this week if we can.”
One game doesn’t tell the story of an entire season, and when this campaign concludes in the next few weeks, I hope fans provide some perspective before chopping it to bits. These Hawkeyes don’t deserve the snarl their predecessors may have. This team doesn’t have the national player of the year like it did three years ago with Luka Garza. It doesn’t have a player capable of scoring a Big Ten tournament record number of points like Keegan Murray. There isn’t a first-rounder like Kris Murray or perhaps even a first-team All-Big Ten performer.
Iowa’s recent seasons have ended in disappointment and extended a streak of 25 consecutive years without a Sweet 16 appearance, and that status is the only measurement for many fans. But this team deserves more praise than derision, no matter whether it misses the NCAA or somehow shocks its skeptical fan base by advancing to the second weekend. I know it’s fashionable to want McCaffery out, but the truth is, this is his best coaching job.
Iowa looked like a cellar dweller back in December after it lost by 19 at Purdue, by 25 at Iowa State and then by 10 at home to Michigan. The Hawkeyes rallied from an 0-3 start to Big Ten play with three straight league victories. A midseason stretch of inconsistency, highlighted by a pair of losses to Maryland and road defeats to Penn State and Indiana, appeared to put them in the postseason boneyard, especially with a daunting schedule to finish. Of the Hawkeyes’ final six games, five were against likely NCAA Tournament squads.
Instead of wilting, Iowa won four of six, and both losses were to Illinois. That stretch included wins at Michigan State and Northwestern, along with an overtime victory against Wisconsin. The Hawkeyes finished at least .500 in Big Ten play for the 11th time in 12 years. Only Tom Izzo’s Spartans have equaled that accomplishment.
Over the McCaffery era, several teams have been mentally drained at this stage of the season, including a few of his best squads. This isn’t one of them. This group has fought for every inch of turf it has acquired this season. It lacks experience and the NBA-ready talent McCaffery has cultivated over the last handful of seasons. It didn’t begin the year with a dominant scorer like Garza, nor did it have a fiery leader like Connor McCaffery. Every step this group has taken has been organic. That comes down to resiliency, development and — dare I say — coaching.
“A ton of teams that go through that, they kind of fizzle out, you never hear from them again, and they don’t storm back the way we did,” said Iowa junior Payton Sandfort, who scored 23 points Sunday against Illinois. “When you have guys that want to be here and want to play as hard as they can and put their body on the line and do it for each other, I think that’s where you kind of see teams climb back out of that hole.
“I’m proud of our guys. We never separated, we always stayed together and always did it for each other.”
The Hawkeyes face one last test of their resolve after a flat performance against Illinois. Iowa had eight days off and promptly missed its first 10 shots and 13 of its first 14. It trailed 22-4 barely eight minutes into the game and by 21 points with 9:30 left in the first half.
But as they’ve done all year, the Hawkeyes rallied. Iowa trimmed its deficit to 10 at halftime and to four points by the mid-second half. But there were too many cold spells and not enough rebounds to stay with the athletically gifted basketball team standing in Iowa’s path. Collecting only three offensive boards on 42 missed shots points to the one area where the Hawkeyes’ effort waned. They took good shots early; they just missed them.
“You lose a game we all wanted to win,” McCaffery said. “The kids fought, the kids prepared, it didn’t go well today. So you don’t want to start throwing everybody under the bus and blaming.
“I thought we competed. It wasn’t our day. We have another opportunity this week.”
To reach the NCAA Tournament, it’s not as easy for Iowa as beating a lower-seeded team. The Buckeyes have been surging since coach Chris Holtmann was fired, winning six of their last eight games, including the last four. After Purdue and Illinois, there’s not much separating the Big Ten’s top 11 teams.
Whether the Hawkeyes earn a trip to the NCAA Tournament or get another game at home in the NIT, one shouldn’t base this season’s success on a pass-fail scale. This isn’t the same as getting bounced in the second round as a No. 2 seed, like Iowa did in 2021, or winning the Big Ten tournament only to fall in a classic 5-12 upset like in 2022. Those defeats deserved a cynical response. This season, no matter how it concludes, does not.
Programs like Iowa are bound to have trying seasons after losing elite players. To suggest otherwise reveals a lack of understanding about college basketball’s structure. Either way, based on how the team has competed after previous bouts of adversity, expect a strong response this week.
“I would say we’ve had our backs against the wall pretty much since early December,” Sandfort said. “We’ve never quit, we’ve never given up and that’s why we’re in the position we are in with a week left. I don’t see why we would change that now.”
(Photo: Julia Hansen / Iowa City Press-Citizen / USA Today)
With the college football season right around the corner, the Iowa State Cyclones will be hoping to have a strong campaign with a new regime coming in. However, a lot of their success might depend on one key player.
Following the departure of Matt Campbell to the Penn State Nittany Lions, the Cyclones saw their roster get completely gutted. Most of their players entered the transfer portal, leaving new head coach Jimmy Rogers with plenty of work to do.
Fortunately, Rogers and the coaching staff were able to get out there and bring in a lot of new players from all over the country. While Iowa State might be lacking star power and aren’t going to be as talented as they were last year, they do have a good amount of depth.
There should be quite a bit of competition for spots in camp, but there are some players who should clearly be starters that transferred in.
Pete Nakos of On3 recently predicted who would be the starting quarterback for every team in the Big 12. Unsurprisingly for the Cyclones, it was Jaylen Raynor who was the choice.
Raynor an Easy Pick
After bringing in the three-year starter from the Arkansas State Red Wolves, Raynor instantly became the favorite to be the starter for the Cyclones in Week 1. Him being predicted as that guy should come as no surprise, and his ability to play against elevated competition on a weekly basis will be key.
There is a lot to like about Raynor’s game, and he could certainly help Iowa State exceed expectations next year.
Last season with the Red Wolves, he totaled 3,361 passing yards, 19 passing touchdowns, and a 66.5 completion percentage. It was career-highs for him in all three of those categories, showing some nice improvement in his junior season.
As a dual-threat player, he also totaled a career-high in rushing yards and rushing touchdowns. The junior recorded 423 yards on the ground to go along with seven rushing scores.
Overall, the numbers for Raynor were really solid, and there is reason to believe he might be even better in his senior season. For the Cyclones, with all of the new players on the roster, there will undoubtedly be some competition for starting spots around the field. However, it should certainly be Raynor who is under center to start.
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CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (KCRG) – Syringes from injectable weight loss medications are turning up in drug drop-off boxes across eastern Iowa, creating a safety hazard for law enforcement officers who handle the containers.
Sgt. Erich Lear of the Linn County Sheriff’s Office said emptying the drug drop-off box is part of his daily routine — and the box fills fast.
“It’s probably a 30-gallon tote, and I’d say 3 out of the five days of the week it’s completely full,” Lear said.
Needles found mixed in with other medications
Lear said he has noticed over the past five years that people are placing medicine, nasal sprays and syringes in the bin. He said many of the syringes come from people discarding GLP-1 medications such as Ozempic and Wegovy.
“That tote that I pull out — there’s nothing that protects me from needles other than my observation and using gloves when I sort through things,” Lear said.
The Hiawatha Police Department said it is also seeing an increase in improperly discarded syringes.
Where syringes should go
The Cedar Rapids Linn County Solid Waste Agency is the proper disposal site for sharps. The agency said it has seen syringe intake increase by more than a ton in recent years.
“We’re talking about two thousand pounds of sharps and syringes coming in,” said Joe Horaney of the solid waste agency. “Before 2021 we were around 1.9, maybe 2 tons a year — now we are over 3 tons a year.”
Horaney said any Linn County resident can bring syringes to the facility, provided they are contained properly.
“We just ask that you have it in a heavy plastic container — so one of those medically certified red biohazard containers,” Horaney said. “If you don’t have that, it can be a heavy plastic container like an old laundry detergent [bottle].”
A third-party company picks up the sharps from the facility and incinerates them.
Some drop-off programs discontinued
Lear said another reason sharps are appearing at drop-off locations is that some agencies have ended their disposal programs. The Marion Police Department said it stopped offering the service after people continued to place broken glass, liquids and other garbage inside the box.
Copyright 2026 KCRG. All rights reserved.
While most of the focus for the Iowa State Cyclones will be on the football program for the next couple of months, the basketball program will also be getting set soon for a new campaign. Coming off a strong season, expectations for them will be high.
The 2025-26 season will go down as a memorable one for the Cyclones. This was a team that exceeded most expectations and ended up being one of the best teams in the country.
Iowa State started out the campaign with a 16-0 record, and the group looked like a real contender. While there were some hiccups during a challenging conference schedule, the Cyclones were one of the best teams in the country.
In March Madness, Iowa State was a number two seed, proving to be one of the top eight teams in the country. As they get set for next season, their goal will undoubtedly be to be ranked highly again. However, they may have to prove themselves a bit.
Joe Lunardi of ESPN recently updated his very early bracketology report for the upcoming 2026-27 campaign for the Cyclones. After being a number two seed last year in the NCAA Tournament, he currently has them on the five line.
Iowa State Has Work To Do
While being a five seed in the NCAA Tournament would indicate a Top 25 season for the Cyclones, expectations for the program are higher than that at this point.
Iowa State has become one of the more consistent programs in the country over the last several years, and they will undoubtedly want to take a step forward this coming season.
Due to a lot of production leaving, it is understandable that how they are viewed now could be very different from how they are perceived come March. Due to all of the new players that are coming in, it is going to take time for them to gel.
The Cyclones have a few key returning players led by Killyan Toure, Jamarion Batemon, and Blake Buchanan. Both Toure and Buchanan were starters for the team last season, and that should remain the same this year. However, Batemon also played a significant role coming off the bench, and his scoring ability might put him next to Toure in the starting lineup this coming year.
Overall, while the team did lose a lot of production, they have a good amount of depth with the new players coming in and some key freshmen returning. If things go right and the team gels quickly, they should be better than a five seed.
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