When I passed through Iowa City before the start of the season, three things were clear: Jarrod Uthoff was primed to have an All-American caliber season, Peter Jok was set to have a breakout year, and the Hawkeyes probably would head to their third consecutive NCAA tournament.
But I had no clue this was coming. I'm fairly certain Fran McCaffery didn't, either.
Iowa improved to 16-3 overall and 7-0 in the Big Ten after a fairly resounding win over Purdue on Sunday afternoon. The victory puts the Hawkeyes in the discussion for a No. 1 seed -- largely due to sweeping both Michigan State and Purdue.
The trio of losses is of the quality variety: Dayton and Notre Dame on a neutral court and that brutal collapse against instate rival Iowa State in Ames.
Most people weren't sure how McCaffery would replace the toughness and versatility of Aaron White -- and also another frontline guy in Gabe Olaseni.
It has been fairly seamless, and the Hawkeyes have gone from defense-minded to a team that is extremely difficult to keep from putting up points. Uthoff (18.9 PPG, 6.2 RPG, 3.0 BPG) has established himself as a viable national player of the year candidate, Jok (17 points per game in Big Ten play) is a lethal scorer, and guys like Dom Uhl and Nicholas Baer have given McCaffery -- the frontrunner for national coach of the year -- other weapons.