The Monday Tipoff: Hawkeyes Seem Suited For Big Ten's Crankiness

A physical, talented league is going to test everyone's temperament the rest of the way.

The chant started in the second half among the orange shirts at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

"I-L-L" shouted a group of Illinois fans at one end.

"I-N-I" was the answer from the other end.

This wasn't an Illini home game.

There have been past years in the Iowa-Illinois rivalry when the orange shirts could be the loudest in the Hawkeyes' home arena.

Not Sunday.

Because as soon as the chant got started, the rest of the sellout crowd smothered it with a chant of "Let's Go Hawks."

Getting the last word has been an issue for Iowa at times in this rivalry that got heated back in the Tom Davis-Lou Henson era, then cooled for a while as each team had its struggles.

But it's a new era for both programs. Illinois coach Brad Underwood brings a competitive anger to his team, and these Hawkeyes mirror Fran McCaffery's toughness.

So it was no surprise what happened after the buzzer sounded.

The Hawkeyes were unhappy that the Illini were slapping and poking and not getting a foul called as time ran out. Illinois assistant coach Ron Coleman wasn't happy with the dunk by Joe Wieskamp in the closing seconds, and he and McCaffery exchanged words. While all of that was going on, guard Connor McCaffery and official Mike Eades snapped at each other — Eades was unhappy with the closing fireworks and McCaffery was unhappy at what he thought were swallowed whistles in those final seconds.

The handshake line broke up — a smart move to defuse the tension — the Hawkeyes went to their locker room, the Illini went to theirs, Underwood praised Fran McCaffery, and the Iowa coach seconded the emotion when talking about the Illini and answered that, well, what's done is done, what happened at the end is a non-story, and it's on to the next week.

Iowa's 72-65 win ended a tense seven days for the Hawkeyes. They rallied past Wisconsin on Monday in a game where Wisconsin's Brad Davison was called for a flagrant foul on Connor McCaffery in the closing seconds. The loss at Maryland on Thursday set them back in the Big Ten title race, albeit just for a moment.

And then came Sunday with all of its bluster.

In the end, the Hawkeyes are still in the same place they were at the beginning — a game out of first place.

There are nine games left in the Big Ten season, and if you think it's been tense to this point, you haven't seen anything yet. Just think — Iowa and Illinois play in the final game of the regular season, and if one or the other or both are playing with a conference title on the line...

So be prepared.

Underwood said that 12 of the 14 teams in the conference should be good enough to get in the NCAA Tournament, a fascinating number.

That number could be a little high by the time Selection Sunday gets here, so the rest of the season is going to be one giant game of Knockout, to see who can build an edge in their resumé and in the standings. That means the crankiness is going to continue to grow.

The Hawkeyes seem to be fully equipped to handle that, and it showed this week. To win, you're going to have to be feisty, take your win or loss, and then move on to what's next.

They went about their business after the Davison incident. They pushed and shoved with Maryland, but succumbed like every other team has in the Terrapins' home all season. Then, on Sunday, a rivalry got a new fire.

Everybody is going to talk in this league, Connor McCaffery said. It's the game, and you're going to have to play the game to survive.

All the Hawkeyes did on Sunday was drown the noise around them after getting the last word.