Iowa basketball: Big Four Classic fizzles out with Hawks beatdown of UNI

The Iowa basketball team secured their eighth win last night beating the UNI Panthers 77-54 in what will be the final game of the Big Four Classic.

The Iowa basketball team beat the UNI Panthers this weekend and with it came a close to the Big Four Classic.

By now, Iowa basketball fans know that the annual Big Four Classic between the four Division I basketball teams, Iowa, Iowa State, Northern Iowa, and Drake is ending. Iowa pulled out and will not be participating anymore.

Are we sad to see it go? Maybe not the concept of the Big Four Classic itself, but it will be a shame to not see Iowa playing Drake and/or UNI every year.

Much has already been said about the reasons behind why Iowa decided it was best for them to go their own separate way. The B1G has moved to a 20 game schedule, add in the annual conference crossover games with the ACC and Big East, along with the annual CyHawk matchup and Iowa is quickly running out of availability on its schedule.

Iowa also likes to schedule a tournament, like this year’s Empire Classic in New York City (which helped propel them into the top-25 rankings where they have since remained), each season which can include up to four additional games. Iowa feels it can find better matchups elsewhere or allow for them to schedule home games in Carver.

One thing I never liked about the current set up though is that the atmosphere was dull and boring. The concept was nice and there is nothing wrong with the venue itself, but having attended several of these over the years I never felt that the fans were into it. Some of my favorite times were going to the Knapp Center and watching the Hawkeyes take on the Bulldogs or seeing the Iowa basketball team travel up to Cedar Falls.

I understand that Iowa going on the road vs these teams is out of the picture, and I am not advocating for a return to that scheduling necessarily, but my point is that playing on a neutral court took out the spark for these games.

At Saturday’s drubbing of UNI, the crowd energy was nonexistent. Granted, they didn’t have much to cheer for with the Iowa basketball team controlling the game from the beginning. Furthermore, when the arena is divided up between all four fan bases it doesn’t allow for a majority to get the place rocking, not to mention that half the arena empties out after the first game. Lastly, with the timing being late December, the students are either preparing for finals or off for winter break and student sections truly bring much-needed energy to the game.

Now a close game could certainly get a crowd going, but it seems the past several years Iowa has cruised to a victory.  In fact, Iowa and Iowa State have dominated the Classic both going 7-1. Drake never won, going 0-8 and UNI beat both Iowa and Iowa State but just once to have a record of 2-6. Many of Iowa’s wins were by large margins as well like Iowa’s 90-64 win over Drake last season and this weekend’s 77-54 win over UNI.

I wish it had worked out better. It seemed like a great concept when it was first unveiled, but the atmosphere was always off. I attended several but never got too excited about it.

Personally, I would rather make a trip to Iowa City, or even a matchup with a Cincinnati team at the United Center in Chicago which is what Iowa scheduled to replace the Classic for next season.

Hopefully Drake and/or UNI can work something out and come to Carver for a game once in a while, as they are much more interesting opponents than someone like Western Carolina, who plays in Iowa City on Tuesday night.

In the end, I am sad to see Iowa not play UNI/Drake anymore, but I am not too upset to see the Big Four Classic come to a close.