How many of the Hawkeye’s next four games will they win?

Four

Iowa has the potential to do a lot of things these next four games. It has the chance to go on a four-game winning streak, it has the chance to win its first Big Ten game on the road, and it has the chance to get some solid wins.

And the Hawkeyes will accomplish all of those things.

First off, Iowa can handle all of the next four teams it plays. The closest call will be tonight against Illinois. That game is in no way a sure thing. If the Hawkeyes can keep Malcolm Hill in check and not let him do what Melo Trimble did to close out the game against Maryland, I think they have a deep enough team to take down the Illini and pick up their first road win of the season.

Second, Ohio State is not the team it once was. The Buckeyes are 12-8 on the season, 2-5 in the Big Ten. With the way Iowa has shown it can play at home against such teams as Purdue and Iowa State, I don’t think Ohio State poses as big of a threat as it once did.

After that, Iowa goes on the road to take on Rutgers. In the first game against the Scarlet Knights, the Hawkeyes pulled out a 6-point win in Carver-Hawkeye, a game that was too close for Fran McCaffery’s comfort. Iowa didn’t do a good job on Deshawn Freeman that game, allowing him to have a 19-point, 13-board outing. I have a feeling that Peter Jok won’t let it get that close again.

To end the four-game stretch, the Hawkeyes will battle Nebraska at home. Last time, the Cornhuskers got the best of Iowa in double overtime, but this time will be different. Iowa will take advantage of playing in Carver and pick up a win for the Hawkeye faithful.

— Pete Ruden

Three

After falling in their last two games, the Iowa men’s basketball team will try to avenge those losses in four upcoming manageable contests.

Losing at Northwestern by 34 points and blowing a lead late at home against Maryland does not bode well in regards to confidence, but these Hawkeyes are young and naïve. Right now, they are like the classic Forrest Gump line: “Life’s like a box of chocolates; you never know what you’re gonna get.”

Up next, Iowa gets Illinois on the road, a 12-8 overall (2-5 conference) team that at the moment is sliding through a three-game losing streak. At home, Illinois has great potential to get hot from the 3-point line, so Iowa must get out and contest its shooters.

The next three games are just as winnable for Iowa, but it has been a common theme in the McCaffery era to occasionally lose manageable games at home. That’s why the Hawkeyes will either slip on Jan. 28 against Ohio State or Feb. 5 against Nebraska.

With the Hawkeyes being such a young team, it is very possible for them to go on the road to New Jersey and lose to Rutgers on Jan. 31. At that point, Iowa’s talent will overcome its youth and push the team to victory making the Hawkeyes tally a 3-1 record for their next four games.

We’ve seen Iowa at its best and worst this season; it all comes to whether the players want to come out with the necessary aggression and sense of urgency to get the job done.

— Michael McCurdy