Hlas: Hawkeyes-Rutgers won't be for the squeamish

Surely, the Federal Communications Commission will be upset with ESPNU for airing Thursday night's Iowa-Rutgers men's basketball game.

So will the National Parents Organization. This game could be a severe beatdown, something impressionable young children shouldn't watch.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals may even lodge protests should random dogs and cats happen upon the telecast of the game and begin yelping or screeching in terror at the thrashing the Hawkeyes give the Scarlet Knights.

Before we proceed further, no, Iowa fans. I'm not jinxing your team. Jinxes don't exist. Let's be people of science here, not superstition. Besides, if you accuse me of being a jinx I'll put a hex on you so fast your head will spin. Literally.

Anyway, Rutgers played Purdue Monday in one of the Big Ten's great traditional basketball homes, Piscataway, N.J. The Boilermakers won, 107-57. The Big Ten Network shamelessly presented that horror.

It was Rutgers' worst home loss in 110 years of hoops. Purdue had 63 rebounds. Rutgers had 23.

Three nights later, here comes ninth-ranked Iowa. Look at these statistics if you still fear the Hawkeyes will be jinxed by the audacity to suggest they will cover, chunk, dice, scatter and smother the Scarlet Knights.

● Iowa is 5-0 in the Big Ten and has an 11-game win streak in league play. Rutgers is 0-6 in the conference and has lost its last 20 Big Ten games.

● Iowa has outscored league foes by 11.8 points per game. Rutgers has been outscored by 27.3 points per game.

● Iowa is first in Big Ten games in scoring offense, 3-point percentage, blocked shots, turnover margin, and assists-to-turnover ratio.

● Rutgers is 14th in scoring margin, scoring offense, scoring defense, field goal percentage, field goal percentage defense and rebounding margin.

● The Hawkeyes' Jarrod Uthoff has 18 blocked shots over five league games. Rutgers' team has 12 blocks over six league games.

However, I'm not ready to call the Knights the worst team in Big Ten history. Twelve games from now? Probably. But not yet.

The worst Big Ten team I've seen was Northwestern's 1999-2000 club. It went 0-16 in the league, with only four of those losses by single-digits. None were closer than six points, though one against Michigan did somehow get extended to overtime.

Those 'Cats lost 59-29 to Michigan State and 63-30 to Illinois, with both games in Evanston. At least Rutgers is averaging 62 points in Big Ten games.

However, the Knights have lost each of their last five games by at least 22 points and just got smoked at home by 50. They lost at home to Nebraska, 90-56. What I'm trying to say is this: They're bad.

Iowa has very few breathers on its Big Ten schedule. After playing Michigan State and Michigan in succession, the Hawkeyes should exhale in New Jersey and blow away Rutgers.

ESPNU's telecast of this game should come with a TV-MA rating. Please, don't let small children and house pets watch it.