Super Scintillating Selections Top 30 Countdown: #24 Iowa Hawkeyes

I feel like this is a Big Ten power rankings blog series so far…I promise we will make our way to other teams in other conferences. The Big Ten is going to have a lot of teams in the tournament so in a way, I'm just doing my job here. Today we are going to look at the Iowa Hawkeyes, a team that scores more than Pete Davidson.

Tied for third in the conference with a 9-6 record, and claiming a 17-9 record overall, the Hawkeyes are on the come up after a mid-season cold streak. Iowa has seven Quad-1 wins which pretty much makes them a lock for the tournament no matter what happens, but the fact that they are playing their best basketball as a te am as the regular season comes to an end has me feeling great about this squad.

Coach Fran McCaffery is an absolute firecracker and some people despise him for that, but nobody can deny the fact that he has a great offensive mind. But offense doesn't win championships, does it?

There are only two things that come to mind when thinking about why this team can make a championship run and what is holding them back from doing so. Let's get into it.

Why can Coach Fran lead his team to glory?

1. *Insert offensive stat here*: As a team they shoot about 45% from the field, they have four guys who average double digits, average 81 points per game, 17 assists per game, 8 threes per game, 16 free throws made per game, 10 offensive rebounds per game, etc. I am probably missing some other stat they excel at on the offensive side, but all of those will have to do for now. Just an all around impressive team when they have the ball. My favorite stat is that everyone can shoot the three ball. Everyone on this Hawkeyes team who has shot over 15 threes this year averages over 32 percent. Kris Murray (36%), Tony Perkins (33%), Pat McCaffery (35%), Payton . Sandfort (33%), Connor McCaffery (37%), Josh Dix (43.3%) , and Ahron Ulis (32.1%). Never count this team out because college basketball is a game of runs, and this team is certainly capable of doing that in a split second.

What is holding this team back?

1. *insert defensive stat here*: What this team gains on offense, they lack on defensive. I would love to sit in on an Iowa practice and see what they do over there. Do they just line five racks behind the arc and do a three point contest like they are in the NBA All-Star contest? I wouldn't be surprised. Not a lick of defense is played, and it pains me to watch (Tony Bennett if you’re reading this I love you). Iowa is #259 in opponent points allowed, #280 in assist allowed per game, #221 in turnovers forced per game,, and #348 in field goal makes allowed per game. An absolute disgrace. I wonder if i could score on this team? Quick little in and out hesi straight to the bucket for a little finger roll annndddd oneeee.

We are definitely going to find out whether or not defense wins championships in March. If it indeed does win championships, this team won't be around for long. BUT if they get hot on offense, it really doesn't matter how many points they give up, they will out score the opposing team if it's a shootout type of game.

My Prediction: Round of 32 exit

Next game: @ Northwestern (Americans team)