09-10 Overall Record: 10-22
09-10 Conference Record: 4-14
09-10 Conference Efficiency Margin: -0.15 (10th)
Percent of Returning Minutes: 67.3
Percent of Returning Freshman Minutes: 33.8 
 
One of my favorite movies of all time is Office Space.  Yes, the jokes are certainly funny, and Gary Cole is definitely one of the more under-appreciated character actors out there.  But for my money, Ron Livingston steals the show.  For 89 minutes, Livingston gives the greatest “straight man” performance I’ve ever seen as the desperate Peter Gibbons.  Many of Livingston’s best moments onscreen are actually unspoken, like when the occupational hypnotherapist Dr. Swanson tells Gibbons that no, he can’t just “sock him out up there” and make Gibbons feel like he’s just been fishing all day.  
 
The best line in the entire movie comes in that same scene, when Gibbons explains his troubles:

Peter Gibbons: So I was sitting in my cubicle today, and I realized, ever since I started working, every single day of my life has been worse than the day before it. So that means that every single day that you see me, that's on the worst day of my life.

Dr. Swanson: What about today? Is today the worst day of your life?

Peter Gibbons: Yeah.

Dr. Swanson: Wow, that's messed up.

 
Livingston is a native Iowan and a big Iowa fan who grew up in Marion, IA, so it’s fitting that this quote so well describes his beloved Hawkeyes.  Ever since 2005-06, every Iowa basketball season has been worse than the one that came before it.  The 05-06 team won 25 games and finished near the top of the conference.  Last year’s team won 10 games and just four conference games.  The transformation was not sudden, like Indiana’s program implosion after the Kelvin Sampson debacle.  It’s been a slow grind, perhaps the most painful of all downward spirals.  With IU, the Hoosiers ripped the band-aid off and rallied behind a new coach with plenty of enthusiasm.  Iowa fans were forced to watch the team slowly circle the drain.
 
But no more.  This Iowa team will be better.  For once, Iowa is returning a good amount of minutes, and a lot of them were played by freshmen.  A new coach is in place, and while it’s certainly too early to call this one a home run hire, it’s clear that the last one was not.  What’s more is that McCaffrey’s system is more in line with what the Hawkeyes are good at, anyways.  The bulk of the three point shooting acumen that was on display in the Lickliter era has long since transferred or graduated.  Matt Gatens is the only real returning threat from deep, and he’s more versatile than a simple spot up shooter.  

Of course, while Iowa will take some steps forward this season, so will the Big Ten.  But success here should not be defined by immediate NCAA berths, but rather by reversing a trend.  There’s absolutely no reason why Iowa can’t make the same march up the top of the standings.