1981–82 Iowa Hawkeyes men's basketball team

1981–82 Iowa Hawkeyes men's basketball
ConferenceBig Ten Conference
Ranking
CoachesNo. 16
APNo. 16
Record21–8 (12–6 Big Ten)
Head coach
Assistant coaches
MVPKevin Boyle
Home arenaIowa Field House
(Capacity: 13,365)
1981–82 Big Ten Conference men's basketball standings
Conf.Overall
TeamW L PCTW L PCT
No. 7 Minnesota144 .778236  .793
No. 16 Iowa126 .667218  .724
Ohio State126 .6672110  .677
Indiana126 .6671910  .655
Purdue117 .6111814  .563
Illinois108 .5561811  .621
Michigan State612 .3331117  .393
Michigan612 .333720  .259
Northwestern414 .222819  .296
Wisconsin*117 .056423  .148
Rankings from AP Poll
*Wisconsin forfeited all games after Jan 25, 1982 due to NCAA sanctions.
Disputed record (3–15, 6–23)

The 1981–82 Iowa Hawkeyes men's basketball team represented the University of Iowa as members of the Big Ten Conference. The team was led by head coach Lute Olson, coaching in his 8th season at the school, and played their home games on campus at the Iowa Field House in Iowa City. They were 20–7 in the regular season and 12–6 in Big Ten play.

In mid-February, Iowa was 18–2 and ranked fifth in the AP poll, but then dropped five of their final seven games. In the last three games of the regular season, all losses, two went to overtime and the third was by a point.

The Hawkeyes received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament as the sixth-seed in the West Regional. In the opening round at Pullman, Washington, Iowa defeated Northeast Louisiana by seven, but fell 69–67 in overtime to local favorite and #3 seed Idaho in the Round of 32, and finished at 21–8 overall.