Iowa, Northwestern coaches divided about Big Ten scheduling

IOWA CITY - Iowa has a quick turnaround for its game Saturday against Michigan, and that's maybe a good thing.

After playing a late Thursday night game at Northwestern, the Hawkeyes compete in their first home Saturday game in Big Ten play in more than 15 months. It's also a way to mentally flush out a tough three-point loss to the Wildcats.

"It's not going to be a problem," Iowa senior Jarryd Cole said of playing two games in less than three days. "We'll get back in the gym, work some kinks and get ready for the game."

Twice Iowa has played games this season with similar preparation. Iowa played its first two games in three days, although both games were at home. The Hawkeyes played three games in four days at the Paradise Jam Classic in the Virgin Islands last November.

"We've had short preps before. We'll be fine," Iowa Coach Fran McCaffery said.

While Iowa's players and coaches are OK with the schedule, Northwestern Coach Bill Carmody is not. Among the Big Ten's seven basketball scheduling principles is to allow each team two days of preparation between league games. The only exception is with the late February/early March scheduling "wild-card" dates, when television networks can choose games in different time windows.

Three Big Ten games this weekend were slated for either Saturday or Sunday. Iowa's game against Michigan and Northwestern's game at Indiana were selected for Saturday, while Ohio State at Purdue was chosen for Sunday.

"It's bad scheduling," Carmody said Thursday night. "You're supposed to have a minimum of two days between games in the Big Ten."

Northwestern scheduled its Friday practice for 9 a.m. and planned a four-hour bus trip to Bloomington, Ind., later on Friday.

"It's not right," Carmody said. "I'm not going to let these guys use it as an excuse, but Iowa could have come here last night. So that bothers me."

The scheduling quirk could boost Iowa's attendance. The Hawkeyes haven't played a home Big Ten game on a Saturday since Jan. 16, 2010 against Penn State. Iowa likely will play Purdue in the home finale on March 5 - a Saturday - and the time will be determined on Monday.