Iowa basketball coach Fran McCaffery says he would like to have some flexibility when it comes to scheduling. Iowa’s home and home series with Drake ends this season while a series with UNI ends next year and AD Gary Barta said this week its is doubtful they will be renewed. Instead, official are looking at the possibility of bringing the schools together for a Big Four event.
McCaffery says a number of factors go into scheduling including the league schedule, challenge events like they have with the ACC, and how often they want to play it. He says they also like to go to places like Maui and Cancun to play, and doing that limits scheduling opportunism.
McCaffery says in the future he would like to be able to schedule a game that would be on national television if he gets the chance. “We’ve go to have some flexibility because in any given year you might want to take on a Kansas, Duke or North Carolina, you might have an opportunity to have a game like that. And if you don’t have flexibility you can’t play those games,” McCaffery says.
Only two of Iowa’s first nine games have been on television and that won’t change until the Hawks start winning. “Obviously we’re not pleased at all with our TV schedule, but the reality is that we have to play better,” McCaffery says. He says the better they play, the more opportunities there are for games on TV.
McCaffery says no matter what changes are made to the Drake and U.N.I. series he expects the Hawkeyes will continue to play Iowa State every year. The Hawks and Cyclones meet Friday night in Ames.