The Iowa State basketball program is very fortunate to be getting a brand new, state of the art practice facility here in the near future. Iowa State is fortunate because at some schools, like Nebraska, such projects are getting put on hold. The Omaha World Herald's Tom Shatel points out the problems in the Husker Nation.

Casual college basketball fans have no idea how big of a deal a problem like this is. Let's take Iowa State's situation for instance. North Carolina's Tyler Zeller is a good example. He was highly recruited by just about everybody in the country, including to Iowa State. Put yourself in Zeller's shoes. You could go to a place like Carolina with phenomenal facilities, or you could practice every day in State Gym in Ames. Hmmm. I played pick-up games in State Gym throughout college. The building is like 400 years old. Those two pieces of information should speak for themselves.

More on the Cyclones

Iowa State will host Nebraska tonight and according to Rick Brown of the Des Moines Register, the Huskers fear Craig Brackins.

Tonight's game is an absolute must win for Iowa State. At this point in the McDermott era, there is no excuse for losing games like this. Nebraska is 1-0 in the conference after limping past Missouri on Saturday, but as I wrote on Sunday, that might have been the single ugliest game in the history of college basketball. Tonight, all the Clones have to do is show up. I predict that Brackins will go off for 30 and Iowa State will win by 12.

Having said that, the crowd needs to show up in Hilton tonight. The students will have to step it up big time. With more blizzard like conditions being predicted for central Iowa, a few less people will be in the house and the Cyclone Alley needs to be rockin. Who wouldn't want to skip studying on a Wednesday night to taunt Doc Sadler?

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Even though he turned out to be a total loser at Nebraska, I'm not ashamed to admit that I really like Bill Callahan. He's a funny guy. Yes, some might label him a bit on the pompous side but he's mildly entertaining. Unfortunately, according to the Omaha World Herald, it doesn't appear as if Wild Bill will be getting the head coaching job for the New York Jets.

Speaking of the NFL, folks in Kansas City are giddy today. Yesterday, the Cheifs snagged a new GM in former New England hot shot Scott Pioli. Now that Pioli is taking over, let the Kirk Ferentz to Kansas City rumors begin. Personally, I'd keep Herm Edwards for another season. Yes, the Chiefs were 2-14 last year but what did you honestly expect? Half of their team like like 24-years old. Edwards explained that this would be a process at the beginning of the season. Again, give him one more year. This team will be .500 or better next season, write it down. (For the record, I am not a Chiefs fan. In fact, I really can't stand that franchise.)