Big Ten Basketball: Way-too-early power rankings for 2021-22 season

By Adam Childs | Apr 24, 2021

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS - MARCH 17: Matt McQuaid #20 of the Michigan State Spartans cuts down the net after beating the Michigan Wolverines 65-60 in the championship game of the Big Ten Basketball Tournament at United Center on March 17, 2019 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images) /

6 of 15

Big Ten Basketball Iowa Hawkeyes (Photo by Justin Casterline/Getty Images) /

. . Hawkeyes . 10. team. 483.

Iowa was very good last year…on offense. Their defense was not. And that ended up being the downfall of what looked like a very promising season.

The Hawkeyes were led by National POY in Luka Garza he had a great supporting cast. Joe Wieskamp and Jordan Bohannon were both double-digit scorers and return for next year, but will they be enough to keep the Hawkeyes up in the top of the Big Ten? We don’t think so.

If they continue to play defense the way they have the previous two years, it doesn’t matter how well those guys shoot. They are losing a 25 point-a-night player in Garza and they can’t replace that. Nobody really could.

They are our pick for the biggest drop in the Big Ten next year. I just don’t see how they can be competitive each night. They may be able to outscore some teams when the guards get hot, but they have a lot of holes.

CJ Fredrick who was a solid player just entered the portal and a team that was already not very deep will need to replace another player.

The 2021-22 season will be a test for the Hawkeyes and maybe a good judge on just how good of a coach Fran McCaffrey is.

Home/Big Ten