For Iowa basketball, this season has been one to forget. 

There have been moments of brilliance by the young group, but as it stands in the first week of February, postseason basketball will likely be alluding the Hawkeyes for the second straight year.

After a rough blowout loss at Penn State over the weekend, it won’t be any easier against the #4 Michigan State Spartans. Michigan State barely survived Saturday night in Bloomington against an upset-minded Indiana squad and will be ready to get back on track ahead of their huge game on Saturday against #3 Purdue.

For Iowa, however, if they can protect their home court at Carver-Hawkeye Arena, it would be a moment that could help catapult this team into the future.

Most of Iowa’s team is projected to return and they’ll be adding one of their best recruits in the last 20 years with Muscatine’s Joe Wiescamp ready to rep the black and gold next year. The Big Ten is proving to be one of the best and deepest conferences in the nation, and it will take every single recruit to help newly-extended coach Fran McCaffery and the Hawks finish high in the league the next couple of years.

While the postseason isn’t likely to be on Iowa’s radar this year (the team sits with an RPI of 144), a win on Tuesday would be a satisfying preview of what the future could hold for Iowa Men’s Basketball.

You can catch the Hawks hosting Michigan State on 104.9 FM KBOE starting with the pregame show at 7 PM.