Legacy-defining week-plus for Iowa hoops

IOWA CITY — Faded manila folders titled 'The last time since ...' figuratively lay astray on desks and file cabinets everywhere associated with Iowa men's basketball.

With their Big Ten regular season concluding in 11 days, the Hawkeyes have a chance to slice through those metaphorical documents with a modern-day shredder or an old-fashioned pair of scissors. Not since 2006 has No. 8 Iowa (20-6, 11-3 Big Ten) stood at the doorstep of a Big Ten championship with one finger on the doorbell this late in the season. One win Wednesday against border rival Wisconsin (17-10, 9-5 Big Ten) and 2006 is replaced by 1981.

The Hawkeyes haven't claimed a share of the league title since 1979 nor won it outright since 1970. The years blur together as do the statistics, but the reality is this team has a chance to shape and define its legacy.

'Obviously it's in the back of our minds, playing for something that our school hasn't won in 35, 38 years, whatever the hell it is,' Iowa center Adam Woodbury said. 'We're definitely cognizant of it, but we're not letting it kind drain our mental approach to the game. We're taking it one game at a time.'

Iowa sits one-half game behind No. 15 Indiana (22-6, 12-3) and one-half game ahead of No. 9 Maryland (23-5, 11-4). The Hawkeyes have a challenging schedule with the Badgers, a road trip to Ohio State (18-10, 10-5), a home game with Indiana and the finale at Michigan (19-9, 9-6). Indiana plays at Illinois (12-15, 4-10) before facing Iowa and then playing host to Maryland. The Terrapins travel to Purdue (21-7, 9-6) on Saturday, then entertain Illinois before playing at the Hoosiers.

Scoreboard watching might be at a premium this week for all interested parties.

'Yeah, I think everybody does that,' Iowa Coach Fran McCaffery said. 'I don't know that that changes. I mean, you're locked into your next opponent as it relates to the game plan and preparation, but everybody will look at who else is doing what in the league and checking scores and stuff like that. I think that's fairly typical.'

The first step is one of the trickiest for Iowa on championship road. Wisconsin, which advanced to the NCAA title game last year, has won the last five in the series, including both games last year by double figures. The defending Big Ten champion Badgers have won eight of nine this winter and claiming a road win over a top-10 team could solidify another NCAA tournament appearance.

Two years ago, the Badgers sent the Hawkeyes down a slide from which they could not recover. With both teams ranked in the top 20, Iowa led Wisconsin by one point with one minute remaining, then the Badgers rallied for a five-point win. Iowa slumped to a 1-7 finish and barely qualified for the NCAA tournament.

Last year, Iowa stood at 6-6 after absorbing the Wisconsin losses and won its final six in Big Ten play. That gave the Hawkeyes a 12-6 league mark, the program's best since 1997.

To win a Big Ten championship, Iowa needs to take last year's path. Is it possible?

'Obviously we don't know yet,' Woodbury said. 'But this is a different group. We've got a lot of young guys. They don't understand what happened two years ago. We've got a lot of old guys that have been through the two years ago and had last year where we overcame it. We don't got a lot of lingering effects of that. So I think our new guys have got the right attitude and our old guys. We're just going to continue to push through it.'

Ten days, four games, one goal. If Iowa wins them all, this season becomes the benchmark for future teams.

'We expect to win a Big Ten championship,' Iowa senior forward Jarrod Uthoff said. 'We expect to win a national championship. We're anxious to go out there and compete for it.'

'We've always controlled our own destiny,' Woodbury said. 'We've kind of kept that mind-set and continue to keep it throughout the season.'

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