Iowa State hires Rhodes

Just a quick bit of info before we see how the Hawks fare against Temple today(ESPN2 @ 1:30). It seems as Iowa State has moved on rather quickly from the Chizik fiasco and from reports, most think this is a pretty good hire.(what, no black guy? Get Jackie Chiles on the phone now!) Honestly I hope this works out well for them, because I believe a stronger North division makes everyone in the Big 12 look better, not to mention the S.O.S. bump. Though this year, most the bowl bound teams have definitely benefited from the national perception of a strong Big 12(especially South squads), judging by the bowl point spreads.

On to this blogs game of interest. Temple should be well rested after their thrashing of horrendously overrated, but still competent, Tennessee. With a week off, 4 starters returning from last years NCAA tourney team, and a revered coach in Fran Dunphy no one is marking this down as an easy win. Though Temple's record stands at 5-3 there is no doubt this squad has talent to beat quality teams(even with a home loss to Miami(Ohio).) This is a guard dominated lineup that features Lloyd (Dionte) Christmas and Ryan Brooks who average a combined 34.5 ppg. Outside of seven-footer Edward James (Sergio) Olmos, Temple has no one taller than 6'9". Speaking of Olmos, how do you play 30 minutes a game as a 7' center and average 4.5 rpg, that is criminal.


The key here is that outside of the Liacouras Center and in the unfriendly confines of Allen Fieldhouse it will be interesting to see how well Temple shows up. If our guards can slow down Temple's perimeter dominated offense, this should be a no doubter. After last games letdown and overall sloppy play, I think we see a focused Kansas team ready to get the home crowd re-energized. Hopefully we get to take another step forward in trying to figure out what makes this team tick.

Prediction: Owls 59-Hawks 72

In case you haven't heard, reknowed d-bag Eric Devendorf will miss the rest of the season due to his off-court douchbaggery.