Iowa Basketball: Why Hawkeyes will be better than Wisconsin in 2020-21
By Ben Dickson
The Big Ten was regarded nationwide as the premier conference of the 2019-20 college basketball season. Iowa Basketball and Wisconsin, two of those teams, will be jostling for position atop the Big Ten Conference next year.
In their only meeting this past season, Iowa Basketball took down Wisconsin 68-62 in front of a raucous crowd at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Luka Garza put up his eye-popping, but typical numbers (21 points and 18 rebounds), and the Hawkeyes improved to 15-5 while the Badgers fell to 12-9. As the season concluded in the following months, things headed in somewhat opposite directions.
Wisconsin magically railed off nine wins in ten games, including eight wins in a row to win the season. In an improbable run, the Badgers were crowned co-champions of the Big Ten and earned the top seed in the conference tournament that failed to be concluded. Iowa stumbled from there on out, finishing 5-6 in their final 11 games and failing to earn the double-bye in the Big Ten Tournament.
Heading into the 2020-2021 season, there are high hopes for both Iowa and Wisconsin. Both teams bring back their entire starting fives plus more depth experience. They are expected to be two of the more experienced and battle-tested teams in the nation.
Iowa and Wisconsin are both expected to be preseason top-15 teams according to many outlets, including ESPN, NBC, and Sports Illustrated. I also expect both of these teams to be in that top tier in the nation and competing for the Big Ten title (along with Michigan State). Barring anything unexpected that happens, Iowa will be better than Wisconsin this upcoming season, and here are three reasons why.