The #19 Iowa Hawkeyes (15-5, 6-3) head to College Park to face the #15 Maryland Terrapins (16-4, 6-3) in an important game despite marking the halfway point of both teams’ conference schedules. After the Hawkeyes win just under three weeks ago, both teams have combined to go 7-1 and are tied for 4th in the conference behind Michigan State, Illinois, and Rutgers.
Though it is still January, it is never too early to pontificate about the conference positioning, especially considering the double bye awarded to the top 4 teams in the Big Ten. An Iowa win would give them what amounts to a two game lead over the Terps plus an edge against the team they would share third place with in Rutgers.