Hawkeyes, college basketball enjoy Season of the Senior

Who has a collection of productive seniors in men's college basketball like Iowa's?

Some other good teams, that's who. But not very many.

Of the teams in this week's coaches' Top 25, only Oklahoma and Miami are getting more points per game from their seniors.

Here are Iowa's seniors and their stats: (I'm only counting players who are in their teams' rotations, not deep reserves.)

Jarrod Uthoff: 18.8 points, 6.7 rebounds per game

Anthony Clemmons: 9.2 and 2.7

Mike Gesell: 8.6 and 3.4

Adam Woodbury: 8.4 and 7.8

Total: 45.0 points, 20.6 rebounds (and 13.5 assists)

Oklahoma:

Buddy Hield: 25.6 and 5.5

Isaiah Cousins: 13.9 and 4.6

Ryan Spangler: 10.7 and 10.7

Total: 50.2 and 20.8

Pretty good seniors.

Miami:

Sheldon McClellan: 16.3 and 3.3

Angel Rodriguez: 11.4 and 2.3

Tonye Jekiri: 8.1 and 9.8

Kamari Murphy: 6.0 and 5.6

Ivan Cruz Uceda: 5.8 and 3.1

Total: 47.6 and 24.2

Iowa State has three seniors in its rotation. Their numbers:

Georges Niang: 19.4 and 6.4

Abdel Nader: 12.9 and 5.3

Jameel McKay: 11.7 and 8.7

Total: 44.0 and 20.4

Had Naz Mitrou-Long's health allowed him to play this entire season, the Cyclones would have the highest-scoring senior class in the nation this season. And a better team. Mitrou-Long was averaging 12.0 points when he pulled the plug on his season in the first semester.

It's a great year for seniors in general. Michigan State is getting a combined 43.8 points and 18.1 rebounds per game from Denzel Valentine, Bryn Forbes and Matt Costello.

Like Iowa State and Oklahoma, Baylor is senior-laden with Rico Gathers, Taurean Prince and Lester Medford.

No. 8 Virginia relies heavily on three seniors. No. 4 North Carolina has Brice Johnson and Marcus Paige.

South Carolina and Texas A&M have emerged as SEC forces this year with both getting a lot of production out of three seniors.

Arizona has three seniors who total 40.4 points and 22.4 rebounds per game.

Purdue has A.J. Hammons. Gonzaga has Kyle Wiltjer.

The first-team All-America squad could be senior-loaded with Hield a certainty, and strong candidates in Uthoff, Valentine, and Malcolm Brogdon of Virginia. Niang will get votes, too.

LSU freshman Ben Simmons and Providence junior Kris Dunn are first-team locks along with Hield.

Two seniors were Associated Press first-team All-Americans last year in Wisconsin's Frank Kaminsky and Notre Dame's Jerian Grant. There were three senior first-teamers in 2011 and 2014, two in 2010, one in 2012, and none in 2013.

Iowa's last first-team AP All-American was Chuck Darling in 1952. The only other was Murray Wier in 1948.

Last year, 13 freshmen were taken in the first round of the NBA draft. Some say this is a bad thing. I say it's the opposite.

Weed out the phenoms. Let the guys who aren't surefire NBA players get better and take control of the college game.

Had Karl-Michael Towns, Trey Lyles and Devin Booker all come back for their sophomore years to join Tyler Ullis, Kentucky would be dominant. It would be a battle for No. 2 in America.

Likewise, if Jahlil Okafor, Justice Winslow and Tyus Jones had stayed at Duke for a second season instead of running off to the NBA to make their fortunes, the Blue Devils would be favorites for a second-straight NCAA title.

Who needs that?