Travis Graven

Producer for @IowaPBS and a high school basketball official. Iowa native, @WartburgCollege grad, fan of @WartburgKnights and @TheIowaHawkeyes. 🏳️‍🌈

[Travis Graven @TravisGraven]

Iowa women lost to UConn 90-64 and UCLA 88-65 & 96-45.

But…the Hawkeyes beat Michigan pretty handily twice: 62-44 and 59-42, holding the Wolverines 40 points below their average points per game.

[Travis Graven @TravisGraven]

A reminder that basketball is all about matchups.

2-seed Michigan women just beat 3-seed Louisville 71-52. Michigan lost regular season games by just 3 pts to UConn 72-69 (Huskies’ closest game of the season), UCLA 72-69, and Vanderbilt 69-66.

Meanwhile… (1/2)

[Travis Graven @TravisGraven]

@TheRickWebster Defense held Oregon to 16. That should be enough to win at home. Yes, the offense went 93 yards on the final drive. Impressive drive. And yes, Oregon’s run game burned Iowa much of the day. But too many mistakes on offense and special teams for Iowa today.

[Travis Graven @TravisGraven]

Happy #UKnightDay! Every day is a great day to be a Knight...but today gives us extra reason to celebrate! I'm proud to be a @WartburgCollege alum and grateful for my education and experiences. Please join me in supporting the college and current students!
https://t.co/zo9wGGjrKJ

[Travis Graven @TravisGraven]

A little news on this Friday morning. You’ll start seeing certain @IHSAA championships on @IowaPBS this fall.

[Iowa PBS @IowaPBS]

We are excited to announce that for the first time ever, three @IHSAA championships in football, wrestling, and basketball are coming to Iowa PBS. https://t.co/rfiGPvMrjJ

[Travis Graven @TravisGraven]

@D3Direct @WartburgKnights @WartburgCollege @WartburgWBBALL @WartburgMBBall @wartburgvb @AmerRiversConf A high achool in a city of 25,000+ has built-in community and a fan base. There’s a wide range of D3 institutions. For example, @HopeCollege has an amazing fieldhouse…but also has 3,200 students in a city of 34,000. @WartburgCollege has 1,500 students in a town of 10,000.

[Travis Graven @TravisGraven]

@D3Direct @WartburgKnights @WartburgCollege @WartburgWBBALL @WartburgMBBall @wartburgvb @AmerRiversConf To those knockin’ it…sure, some HS facilities are pretty damn nice. And there are other impressive D3 facilities. It’s all relative. Student body size…community size…etc. Has to be right for the fan base.

[Travis Graven @TravisGraven]

Pretty good time to be a fan of both @WartburgWBBALL and @IowaWBB.
👏🏻👏🏻 🧡🖤💛

[Wartburg College @WartburgCollege]

Shout out to @IowaWBB for their message to our women's basketball team as they prepare for their Final Four game tomorrow! The Knights will play Smith College on Thursday, March 14, at 5 p.m. eastern time at the Capital Center Performance Arena in Columbus, Ohio. 🏀

[Travis Graven @TravisGraven]

@rizzayfoshizzay @adamj_griff Caucuses are organized and run by the political parties. They are not official elections. It’s a very informal process, and yes, it can seem quaint and quirky to a lot of people (Iowans included).

[Travis Graven @TravisGraven]

@ESPNRittenberg That was called by officials on the field though. Calling that on a review is part of what’s really rubbing people the wrong way.

[Travis Graven @TravisGraven]

Whether it’s reviewable by current rule or not, it shouldn’t be. If you aren’t confused by the motion (or don’t catch it) in real time…then it’s not gaining an unfair advantage. If that’s reviewable, then let’s review holding and PI situations…that actually DO impact plays.

[Travis Graven @TravisGraven]

@cjandringa That’s the letter of the rule, yes. I think the rub is…NOBODY in the stadium (including officials on the field) or watching the broadcast thought that was the case. Only the replay official thought it warranted a closer look. And that’s a weird situation to replay, IMO.

[Travis Graven @TravisGraven]

And yes, as an official myself, I’m breaking the golden rule of not criticizing other officials. I usually bite my tongue. But that was difficult to stomach…on the biggest stage. Unfortunate.

[Travis Graven @TravisGraven]

Two things can be true:

Early on, the officials took the air out of what could and should have been an amazing game. Little consistency. Injected themselves needlessly.

LSU shot lights out and took this one. It was just their day.

Unforgettable season, @IowaWBB. Thank you.

[Travis Graven @TravisGraven]

@AJ__Ellingson Amen! It’s been driving me crazy all night.

[Travis Graven @TravisGraven]

@eeyanmiller Ditto. 💗

[Travis Graven @TravisGraven]

@JSchaeffCreates Exactly. Get caught and you simply leave the game and get replaced. No additional penalty. Don’t get caught, and you have a huge, illegal advantage over the opponents. There has to be a more severe punishment to deter players from trying to get away with it.

[Travis Graven @TravisGraven]

@JSchaeffCreates @B1Gbaseball At the very least, that batter should get first base.

[Travis Graven @TravisGraven]

@JSchaeffCreates @B1Gbaseball Why can’t it be a forfeit? I realize that’s a huge penalty for something one guy on a team does…but this isn’t a run-of-the-mill infraction, like a balk, or obstruction, etc. It’s CHEATING. Unacceptable that the player just gets tossed, count to batter stays, and game goes on.

[Travis Graven @TravisGraven]

@knightsnclones Agreed. State track is way underrated outside of track junkies. Iowa’s is one of the best and biggest in the country.