Men's hoops reporter Tom Keller discusses the highs and lows of Iowa. But mostly lows.

Of all the places I wanted to spend Valentine's Day, Iowa City was obviously at the top of the list. Nothing says romance like a city hidden in the middle of 50,000 acres of corn.

But alas, I had to leave my imaginary girlfriend at home and trek out there with our photographer for last Tuesday's showdown with the Hawkeyes.

The highlight of our brief trip was dinner on Tuesday at a little pizza joint across the street from our hotel. I ordered a root beer, which led to this exchange when the waiter brought it out:

Him: "How's it going, Root Beer?"

Me: (confused silence)

Him: "House rules. You order root beer, you get called Root Beer."

Me: "OK. Thanks, Guy Who Brought Me A Root Beer."

I was still confused, but I tipped him well.

The game was obviously disappointing. For one, MSU lost. For two, I was under super-tight deadline with the game starting at 9 p.m. And for three, the Iowa student section kept calling Drew Neitzel "Marshall Mathers," which I just didn't see.

Despite that, Iowa is right up there with Illinois and MSU as having one of the conference's biggest home-court advantages. Carver-Hawkeye Arena is just one big bowl, and while I'm not sure of the physics, that might be part of the reason why it gets so loud in there.

It also makes for an imposing student section, which stretches up behind one basket as far as the eye can see. Kind of like all those cornfields.

Tom Keller can be reached at kellert1@msu.edu.