The Hawkeyes are coming, the Hawkeyes are coming! In perhaps the biggest Cyclone sports weekend of the year, Iowa State hosts intra-state rival Iowa in three different sports on the weekend before finals.

We’re going to pack Hilton Coliseum for the women’s basketball game early on Saturday and for the later men’s game as well. And, of course, we should see another great wrestling meet between the two national powerhouses.

Let’s preview these contests, one by one. Of course, we’re going to win all three of them, because cardinal and gold beats black and gold any day!

In the first of the trio, the Hawkeye women have been slipping fast, and have had some personal problems as well.

However, our Lady ‘Clones have been on a rampage, defeating a Top 25 team (Alabama) and Hawaii in Hawaii (widely acknowledged as a very tough place to play). Both of these wins came as the women claimed the Rainbow Wahine Classic championship.

The Hawkeyes are 2-3, and are heading for a tournament where they play fourth-ranked Old Dominion and could run into second-ranked Louisiana Tech.

So by the time the team finishes the tourney, Iowa could be 2-5, with Coach Angie Lee’s woes to boot. And this from a preseason Top 10 team.

What is it with these Hawkeyes? I mean, it’s the same thing in football. They do absolutely nothing, get some ridiculously high ranking and then stumble very badly.

The Hawkeye women at least had the courage to play some real teams, but they lost by 24 to a team ranked 13 places beneath them (Arkansas), got hammered by Connecticut and then got beat by Washington in Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Look for the Lady ‘Clones in a big-time romp.

In the men’s b-ball contest, the Hawks will fade as well. Look for the much over-hyped Ricky Davis and Dean Oliver to be shut down by the ISU backcourt, which will come into its own by then.

The defensive job will be just as good as the one against the Panthers, and the offense, led by Fabulous Freshman Fizer and Excellent Experienced Edwards will kill the Hawkeyes’ loose zones.

The Hawkeyes lack of tough games will hamper them, and even though our opponents aren’t Top 10 quality, they are allowing us to work toward peaking at the right time.

It won’t be easy, but I sincerely believe we will pull it out, due to the fact that we have the magic, the Hilton Magic, on our side!

In the wrestling meet, I don’t care what the rankings say. Our potential is going to shine through, and without the X-factor of Dan Gable on the Hawkeyes sideline, we will avenge last year’s heartbreaking loss by pinning the Hawkeyes with a terrific effort.

So yes, I predict a sweep this weekend. Good always prevails over evil. (Just kidding, the Hawkeyes are not evil, but not as good as us Cyclones).

And even if we don’t sweep, we will eventually have better seasons, for good always eventually triumphs over evil. (Yeah, I guess the Hawks are evil!)

GO CYCLONES!

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Jayadev Athreya is a sophomore in mathematics from Ames.