Disclaimer: As the title says, this is the optimist’s guide to Iowa’s 2020-2021 basketball season. There are counterpoints to be made, certainly, but this isn’t the time or place for those. The pessimist’s guide will soon be coming and those points will no doubt be made therein. Also note that this is a guide to the 2020-2021 season, not the trajectory of the program or Fran McCaffery’s competence as a coach. Those topics will also surely be beaten to death in the coming weeks and months.
Iowa’s basketball season came to a screeching halt on Monday as the Hawkeyes were blown out in the Round of 32 by 7th seed Oregon.