You now have permission to get excited. Though Thursday is the 19th day of March, for all basketball fans, March officially starts. The NCAA tournament has arrived, and three weeks of win or go home basketball awaits. The Big Ten will send seven teams to the Big Dance including Wisconsin, Ohio State, Maryland, Purdue, Indiana, Iowa, and Michigan State.
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Not bad for a mediocre conference, huh? In reality only Wisconsin and perhaps Maryland has a legitimate chance to make a run to the Final Four, but as Kemba Walker and Shabazz Napier proved at Connecticut, anything is possible.
Everyone’s favorite part of March Madness is filling out brackets, just as long as they don’t work with a guy that always brings up his own bracket unsolicited. Don’t be that guy. I’m that guy, but we can move on.
I’ve gone in depth on Wisconsin’s chance to win a title, Maryland’s big three, Purdue’s defensive identity, Indiana’s potent offense but troubling defense, D’Angelo Russell giving the Buckeyes hope, and the traditional late season run by a Tom Izzo-coached team. But what about Iowa? What can they do in the NCAA Tournament?
The best way to describe this season of Iowa basketball is to say that it has been very strange. Not bad necessarily, but a very weird journey. Back-to-back November losses to mediocre Syracuse and Texas teams were offset by an upset of North Carolina in Chapel Hill.
Later in December they would once again have back-to-back losses, this time both were by double digits to instate rivals Iowa State and Northern Iowa. This team could not decide what they wanted to be.
Their Big Ten regular season slate featured impressive wins over Ohio State and Maryland, but also saw them drop games to Minnesota and Northwestern. The inconsistency that was present in November and December continued to rear its head well into the season.
After closing the season on a six-game winning streak it seemed as if the Hawkeyes were finally putting the days of uncertainty behind them. Then they lost their first Big Ten tournament game to a very bad Penn State team.
For all their trouble they currently sport a 21-11 record and are a No. 7 seed in the NCAA tournament.
All the back and forth drama of being a good team one day and a bad team the next is enough to make this season feel extremely strange. Then there is the other nonsense. Such as Adam Woodbury’s tendency to poke opponents in the eye, then Fran McCaffery getting into a feud with ESPN analysts when they call him out on it.
All are needless distractions that give you an indication of why this team is anything but a pillar of stability.
On the court they have some nice pieces. Forward Aaron White is having a great season that has been overshadowed by their mediocrity as a team, and the outstanding play of others in the conference. He leads them in scoring with 16 points per game on 50.8 percent shooting.
White is a traditional low-post scorer, but he can also extend himself and knock down mid-range jumpers, and even three-pointers on occasion (33.3 percent three-point percentage). When Iowa needs a bucket they get the ball to White and let him go to work.
They also feature former Wisconsin Badger Jarrod Uthoff. Uthoff serves as the ideal stretch 4. At 6-foot-8 he can play down low, but he is also shooting 38.6 percent from outside. He is averaging 12.3 points and 6.3 rebounds per game, both totals trail only White for the team lead.
After less than ideal circumstances surrounding his departure from Wisconsin, it is nice to see him having success.
Then there is Woodbury himself. When he is not playing dirty he is actually a solid role player. At 7-foot-1 he protects the rim nicely, though he is not an elite shot blocker. He can rebound, he can defend, and he can score when needed. Just stop poking people in the eye, man.
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Metrically this team is nothing special. They have the 80th-best offensive rating in the country and the 56th-best defensive rating. After watching them play several times those rankings are not exactly shocking.
Their NCAA tournament opener comes Friday night against No. 10 seed Davidson. The Wildcats shocked the college basketball by winning the Atlantic-10 regular season title after being picked to finish 12th at the beginning of the season. Iowa is probably more talented, but Davidson is well coached and more than capable of winning.
Iowa could make a run to the Sweet Sixteen, or they could lose to Davidson. Neither would surprise me.
The question always remains; which Iowa team is going to show up? The one that beat North Carolina and Maryland, or the one that lost to Minnesota, Northwestern, and Penn State? I’ll turn to Forrest Gump to help us process the variable nature of this team.
Iowa is like a box of chocolates, you never know which team you’re going to get.
Next: NCAA Tournament Predictions
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