Hoiberg's Nervous, Marv's Run, Chizik's Headache

• Great to see Hilton Coliseum open for business. Props to the folks who worked around the clock to get the place ready in time for the first basketball game.
• Fred Hoiberg told me he's getting butterflies and spending sleepless nights as his first game as Iowa State head coach approaches. Fred leads the Clones for the first time Friday night.
• Nebraska at ISU is sold out except for the hillsides. That's a lot of cash at 90 dollars a seat.
• The Paul Rhoads locker room speech is an indelible image from the mostly one-sided ISU-Nebraska series, but my favorite moment is Marvelous Marv Seiler's improbable run to lock-up the stunning upset in 1992. Marv will join Andy and me in the KXnO studio Friday at 2:30 p.m.
• Where there's smoke is there fire at Auburn? ESPN.com and the NY Times both report Heisman front-runner Cam Newton was offered by a middle-man to schools for around $200,0000. Ruh-roh. Former Iowa State coach Gene Chizik said on his radio show Thursday night, "I will  say very loud and very clear: Cameron Newton is eligible at Auburn University, period. End of story''. I doubt it. 
•  Iowa can still win a Big Ten title, and if Wisconsin loses, go to the Rose Bowl, which is what makes the complete lack of buzz in the Iowa-Indiana game surprising, but somewhat understandable. It's hard to get up for a game in Bloomington, where the Hoosier fans don't even care. That's one of the challenges facing the players. There won't be much energy to feed off.
• I hope Adam Robinson doesn't play unless he's 100% after the reported concussion (Hawkeye Insider.com), and I trust Kirk Ferentz will make the right call.
• Nice job by good guy Doug McDermott, scoring 18 points in his Creighton debut.
• Wrestling is back, and that means interviews with Iowa's Tom Brands. Didn't take him long at media day to drop another, "I don't know if they're going to poop their pants" when talking about his young Hawks. Inexperienced or not, Iowa being ranked 7th is crazy. Come on, three time defending NCAA champs.
• I'll take Dowling over Ames, but I'm less sure about Ankeny-Urbandale. The Jayhawks are the hottest team in the state right now, but I'll go with Ankeny in a toss-up.
• I'm ready for the weekend. You?