Weekend thoughts on Miami Beach, New Orleans, and Bruce Weber

As I get ready to settle in and watch the Northern Iowa-Illinois State Missouri Valley Conference men's basketball quarterfinal from the comfort of my home, I thought I'd throw a lot of miscellany at you.

1. College football guru Phil Steele stays busy all year. Today he has released his predictions for the top 24 of the preseason Associated Press Top 25. From the Big Ten:

8. Michigan, 12. Michigan State, 16. Wisconsin, 18. Ohio State, 19. Nebraska.

Iowa plays three of those teams, the ones from its own division. It plays Michigan and Michigan State on the road, Nebraska in Iowa City.

2. I ask for so little. As someone who covers Iowa, it has pained me to see Wisconsin make repeated trips to UNLV. Why could that not be Iowa one time?

Now, Nebraska may be playing a September 2013 game in New Orleans. Why could that not be Iowa one time?

I like Chicago as much as anyone, especially in months that don't contain winter. But the Iowa-Northern Illinois game in Soldier Field just doesn't rival a trip to the Big Easy.

3. I'll be at the Cedar Rapids Titans' first regular-season game in the Indoor Football League Saturday night, purely as a spectator. If you're the first one who comes up to me at that game and says "Nebraska Danger" to me, I'll buy you a beverage.

The Nebraska Danger are an IFL team, by the way. Based in Grand Island. Two of the other teams are the Chicago Slaughter and Omaha Beef. They probably have a natural rivalry.

4. It was 84 degrees in Miami Beach today. That doesn't necessarily please me.

5. Bruce Weber coached at Southern Illinois for five seasons before going to Illinois in 2003. Many are speculating Weber will again be the Salukis' coach before much longer. SIU fired coach Chris Lowery Friday. Weber's tenure at Illinois is coming to a close. The Fighting Illini's loss to Michigan Thursday night in Champaign only hastened his departure.

6. If you're Iowa, who would you rather play in the first round of the Big Ten tourney, Illinois or Minnesota?

7.  From Friday's Iowa football press conference with new Hawkeyes defensive coordinator Phil Parker:

Q. When this job became open, how confident were you that it would end up in your hands?

A: I don't think I ever really thought about it.

In the words of Amy Poehler and Seth Meyers from Saturday Night Live's Weekend Update, "Really? Really?"

8. This has been all over the Web this week, but if you haven't seen the Cal-Pomona crazy game-winning shot, take a look: