Busting Brackets
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Big Ten Basketball: 5 questions facing the conference for 2018-19

By Lukas Harkins

NEW YORK, NY - MARCH 04: The Michigan Wolverines celebrate after defeating the Purdue Boilermakers 75-66 during the championship game of the Big 10 Basketball Tournament at Madison Square Garden on March 4, 2018 in New York City. (Photo by Abbie Parr/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY - MARCH 04: The Michigan Wolverines celebrate after defeating the Purdue Boilermakers 75-66 during the championship game of the Big 10 Basketball Tournament at Madison Square Garden on March 4, 2018 in New York City. (Photo by Abbie Parr/Getty Images) /
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NEW YORK, NY – FEBRUARY 28: The Iowa Hawkeyes bench reacts. (Photo by Abbie Parr/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY – FEBRUARY 28: The Iowa Hawkeyes bench reacts. (Photo by Abbie Parr/Getty Images) /

Will this be the year for Iowa?

Full disclosure: I was wayyyyy too high on Iowa last season. Although I did not go as far as to say the Hawkeyes would be an NCAA Tournament team, I thought that they would compete for a bid as a bubble team. This was not the case, though. Iowa finished last season at just 14-19 (4-14 Big Ten) overall and nowhere near the Big Dance. But, in my opinion, this does not mean that the Hawkeyes are doomed for this upcoming season.

Just about every single key contributor from last year is returning and therefore it is reasonable to expect that the team will at the very least improve a bit. Experience seemed to be a major issue for Fran McCaffery’s team a year ago and this should no longer be an issue thanks to the fact that the team has had an entire year to grow together. Additionally, the Hawkeyes should have one of the most potent offenses in the Big Ten and this could yield plenty of success this year.

The issue, though, will be how the team performs defensively. Last season, Iowa ranked 317th nationally in points allowed per game (78.7) and 242nd in adjusted defensive efficiency (108.4). Quite simply, the team will not be able to consistently win games without improving on the defensive end of the floor. And while returning the majority of the roster should help the team chemistry, there may still be limitations defensively.

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