Iowa State men’s basketball: ‘Big Four Classic’ date announced

The annual Big Four Classic in Wells Fargo involving the four Division I Iowa teams receives an official date this year, and it will be played very close to the holidays this time around.

Jon Rothstein reported yesterday that the event would take place on Saturday, December 20th, with Christmas just looming around the following Thursday. It’s Iowa State’s turn to play Drake.

It doesn’t sound like Rothstein grasps that this is an annual event, so let’s do a quick history lesson.

The four Iowa teams alternate games between each other for a scheduled four years. This is the third year of the event, and it’s the closest it’s been to the holiday season of Christmas and New Year’s.

During inception, fan reception wasn’t positive. They hated seeing the game go away from the smaller arenas in Drake and UNI  (so did those schools as well) and all four teams wouldn’t play each other anymore. If this was the new thing, then fans wanted them to play in a tournament at least.

Well, if that was the case, Iowa and Iowa State would have played in the final twice. They’re 2-0 in the event while Drake and UNI are obviously 0-2. If this event was a tournament, then the guaranteed annual matchup between the Cyclones and Hawkeyes would go away, and that would never happen.

Fans are perhaps more positive today. Negative talk is lessening and the attendance was up in the second year with a 1,332 person jump.

There’s a reason why the event was made. Iowa and Iowa State wanted to open up their schedule and eliminate having to play both Drake and UNI every year. My vote is to alternate the opponent, but keep alternating it between home arenas.

What are your thoughts on the tournament?