[99topdawg]

Last night on Sound Off, Keith Murphy said that the '99-'00 ISU team was the best the state has ever seen. It got me looking up things and comparing the teams.

ISU was 32-5, Iowa was 30-5
Both were 2 seeds
Both lost in the Elite 8.
Iowa State won the conference championship
Iowa finished second to the national champ
Iowa was ranked #1 and started 18-0
Iowa State was ranked as high as 6th.

Both good teams obviously. I was too young to really remember the Iowa team and was in college (out of state) so was not able to watch ISU. Any thoughts?

[1hawkeye1]

Don't watch ISU so have no idea how good they were. And don't care really.

[okeefe4prez]

He's an idiot. The '68-'69 Bulldogs that lost to the UCLA dynasty by three points in the Final Four was the best team the state has seen. The Ames High School squad in Harrison Barnes' senior year was the second best team in the history of the state.

[1977Hawkeye]

That 2000 ISU team also lost to Drake that year..

In a game between the 1987 Iowa team and 2000 ISU, Marcus Fizer might have been the best player on the floor, but I think Iowa had a better overall starting 5 (all of them were drafted).

Iowa most certainly would have been the far deeper team.

In the end, I think Iowa would have worn out ISU, although it would have been a good game.

Then again, I'm biased.

[FML]

The 86-87 team was so talented that many believe they actually underachieved. I don't think you could say that about the 99-00 Cyclone team.

[bellzisu]

Originally Posted by 99topdawg

Last night on Sound Off, Keith Murphy said that the '99-'00 ISU team was the best the state has ever seen. It got me looking up things and comparing the teams.

ISU was 32-5, Iowa was 30-5
Both were 2 seeds
Both lost in the Elite 8.
Iowa State won the conference championship
Iowa finished second to the national champ
Iowa was ranked #1 and started 18-0
Iowa State was ranked as high as 6th.

Both good teams obviously. I was too young to really remember the Iowa team and was in college (out of state) so was not able to watch ISU. Any thoughts?

Just to add fuel to the fire for ISU.

Yes lost to Drake at the beginning of the year.

Did win the Big 12 Tournament and Big 12 regular season title.

Lost to MSU who won the Championship in Detriot Michigan (essentially a home game for them). Score would of been closer if Eustachy didn't go off for a Technical foul in the last minute or two. Toughest game MSU played the whole tournament while claiming the championship

Originally Posted by okeefe4prez

He's an idiot. The '68-'69 Bulldogs that lost to the UCLA dynasty by three points in the Final Four was the best team the state has seen. The Ames High School squad in Harrison Barnes' senior year was the second best team in the history of the state.

I may agree with the Bulldogs being the best team.... Although Ames High as good as they were is the best HIGH SCHOOL Team in history of state. NOT overall.

[Cyclones17]

Originally Posted by 1977Hawkeye

That 2000 ISU team also lost to Drake that year..

In a game between the 1987 Iowa team and 2000 ISU, Marcus Fizer might have been the best player on the floor, but I think Iowa had a better overall starting 5 (all of them were drafted).

Iowa most certainly would have been the far deeper team.

In the end, I think Iowa would have worn out ISU, although it would have been a good game.

Then again, I'm biased.

I actually think Tinsley may have been the most talented player on the floor but I agree with you that the Iowa team was deeper and probably had the better team. Would have been fun to see them play. Iowa definitely had more height

[ICHAWK]

Originally Posted by Cyclones17

I actually think Tinsley may have been the most talented player on the floor but I agree with you that the Iowa team was deeper and probably had the better team. Would have been fun to see them play. Iowa definitely had more height

Tinsely was the best ball handling PG I have ever seen in person. He improved upon his offensive game when he got in the NBA.

[FCAS]

Kind of hard to do these comparisons since the game and athletes have changed so much. But my vote goes the the 1979-80 Iowa team, prior to Lester's injury.

I'll give Maury John's Drake team a vote for the greatest defensive team.

[hawkfan33]

The late 90's - early 2000 time period was the lowpoint in college basketball talent due to all the early entrants in the NBA draft. The quality of college teams in the mid to late 80's blows that of the early 2000's out of the water.

[1977Hawkeye]

Originally Posted by bellzisu

Just to add fuel to the fire for ISU.

Yes lost to Drake at the beginning of the year.

Did win the Big 12 Tournament and Big 12 regular season title.

Lost to MSU who won the Championship in Detriot Michigan (essentially a home game for them). Score would of been closer if Eustachy didn't go off for a Technical foul in the last minute or two. Toughest game MSU played the whole tournament while claiming the championship





I may agree with the Bulldogs being the best team.... Although Ames High as good as they were is the best HIGH SCHOOL Team in history of state. NOT overall.

ISU in 2000 was definitely one heck of a good team, and they earned their record. The Big XII regular season & conference tournament championships were impressive. Absolutely blew UCLA and their "superior athletes" out of the water in the Sweet 16.

In defense of 1987 Iowa, there was no conference tournament in those days, and they finished 1 game behind both Indiana (won the national title that year) and a VERY tough Purdue team.

1986-87 Big Ten Conference Season Summary | College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com

The Big Ten had 3 of the top 8 seeds in the tournament that year. Indiana (1), Iowa (2) and Purdue (2).

Not to mention Illinois was a 3 seed (Austin Peay, anyone?). Michigan and OSU were both tournament teams as well, both seeded 6th or better IIRC.

I just think Iowa did it in a tougher league in '87 than did ISU in '00. In 2000, KU was down.. A 14-win Iowa team coached by Steve Alford managed to hang an L on KU that year. It would have been interesting to see if ISU could still have won that league if KU had been their typical selves.

Nevertheless, both Iowa and ISU were both legit teams those two years.

I felt going into that ISU/MSU regional final, THAT was the national title game. ISU hangs on, and they win it all IMO.

[okeefe4prez]

Originally Posted by 1977Hawkeye

ISU in 2000 was definitely one heck of a good team, and they earned their record. The Big XII regular season & conference tournament championships were impressive. Absolutely blew UCLA and their "superior athletes" out of the water in the Sweet 16.

In defense of 1987 Iowa, there was no conference tournament in those days, and they finished 1 game behind both Indiana (won the national title that year) and a VERY tough Purdue team.

1986-87 Big Ten Conference Season Summary | College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com

The Big Ten had 3 of the top 8 seeds in the tournament that year. Indiana (1), Iowa (2) and Purdue (2).

Not to mention Illinois was a 3 seed (Austin Peay, anyone?). Michigan and OSU were both tournament teams as well, both seeded 6th or better IIRC.

I just think Iowa did it in a tougher league in '87 than did ISU in '00. In 2000, KU was down.. A 14-win Iowa team coached by Steve Alford managed to hang an L on KU that year. It would have been interesting to see if ISU could still have won that league if KU had been their typical selves.

Nevertheless, both Iowa and ISU were both legit teams those two years.

I felt going into that game that ISU/MSU was the national title game. ISU hangs on, and they win it all IMO.

Speaking of Alford, he also played for Indiana in '86-'87.

[HawkinGoferLand]

Iowa had like 8 guys play in the NBA from that roster plus 3 more play professionally overseas. The Iowa team was MUCH deeper. As to who would win? Both teams were great fun to watch.

As someone else pointed out, I think college basketball in the mid 80s was better than CBB since the mid-90s due in part to all the early NBA draft entries (in 1995 Kevin Garnett was first high schooler to skip college and enter the draft in 20 yrs). In the 80s EVERYONE stayed 4 years. In the 90s anyone who could dunk in HS entered the draft...lol

[eveningnewsteam]

Originally Posted by hawkfan33

The late 90's - early 2000 time period was the lowpoint in college basketball talent due to all the early entrants in the NBA draft. The quality of college teams in the mid to late 80's blows that of the early 2000's out of the water.

Good point

[imported_ankle23]

Originally Posted by hawkfan33

The late 90's - early 2000 time period was the lowpoint in college basketball talent due to all the early entrants in the NBA draft. The quality of college teams in the mid to late 80's blows that of the early 2000's out of the water.

no doubt about that. the teams in the big ten in this era (87) were unreal.