Iowa basketball: MVP, surprises, and disappointments through nine games

EAST LANSING, MI - DECEMBER 03: Thomas Kithier #15 of the Michigan State Spartans shoots the ball over Ryan Kriener #15 of the Iowa Hawkeyes in the first half at Breslin Center on December 3, 2018 in East Lansing, Michigan. (Photo by Rey Del Rio/Getty Images)
EAST LANSING, MI - DECEMBER 03: Thomas Kithier #15 of the Michigan State Spartans shoots the ball over Ryan Kriener #15 of the Iowa Hawkeyes in the first half at Breslin Center on December 3, 2018 in East Lansing, Michigan. (Photo by Rey Del Rio/Getty Images)
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EAST LANSING, MI – DECEMBER 03: Thomas Kithier #15 of the Michigan State Spartans shoots the ball over Ryan Kriener #15 of the Iowa Hawkeyes in the first half at Breslin Center on December 3, 2018 in East Lansing, Michigan. (Photo by Rey Del Rio/Getty Images)
EAST LANSING, MI – DECEMBER 03: Thomas Kithier #15 of the Michigan State Spartans shoots the ball over Ryan Kriener #15 of the Iowa Hawkeyes in the first half at Breslin Center on December 3, 2018 in East Lansing, Michigan. (Photo by Rey Del Rio/Getty Images)

The men’s Iowa basketball team is off to a strong 7-2 start. We’re handing out awards through one-third of the collegiate basketball season for the Hawks.

If you thought that through nine games the men’s Iowa basketball team would be 7-2 and ranked 22nd in the nation, then you should be heading to Las Vegas right now to make some bets because you’re doing a pretty darn good job of predicting the future.

Here we are though, and the Iowa basketball team has no tough games until January which means they could very well be 11-2 at the start of the new year.

Meanwhile, it’s hard to believe that we are already one-third into this collegiate basketball season so we wanted to take some time to hand out a few awards.

Who has been the most valuable player to Fran McCaffery’s team and who has been the biggest disappointment? Lastly, who has been the biggest surprise on this year’s squad? Let’s take a look here.