There was an interesting conversation on the broadcast of the Iowa/Nebraska basketball game that was started by former Hawkeye Jess Settles.

Truth be told, it was basically the same conversation that I had been having with my friend, Ancient Hawkeye, earlier in the week. Are we witnessing the greatest individual season by an Iowa basketball player?

I know that sounds crazy considering that it was just last year that Luka Garza was the consensus National Player of the Year in all of college basketball. Honestly, it is kind of crazy, but when you look at the numbers and the overall impact that Keegan Murray is having on both ends of the floor, there’s merit to the argument that he is having the best season ever by an Iowa basketball player.

While there have been some terrific seasons over the years, we boiled it down to just four players and five seasons.

Don Nelson in 1962, John Johnson in 1970, Luka Garza in his junior and senior seasons, and Keegan Murray this year. The fact that three of the best individual seasons have happened in the last three years is kind wild, but there’s a basis for the argument.

If we consider that Murray will have three more regular season games and at least two in the post season between the Big Ten and NCAA Tournaments (hopefully more), he's going to really stack up some numbers.

He's on pace over 32 games to score approximately 742 points, which is right in the Garza wheelhouse as far as points in a season.

One of the great measures used today is the player efficiency rating. Murray leads the country with a PER of 38.0. That's the second highest PER by a college player since 2010. The only player who was higher was Zion Williamson, who had a PER of 40.48. Also, it's worth noting that Garza had a PER of 35.57 last year and 34.36 in his junior year.

The full season isn't done yet, so this could certainly change, but it's certainly fair to include this season by Keegan Murray among the best ever by an Iowa basketball player.

Now let's move on to what was a really interesting week for Iowa athletics.

1. First let's start with the Iowa women's basketball team. They won a share of a regular season Big Ten title for the first time since 2008. They also did it in a very unconventional way.

A few weeks ago, it's fair to say that Iowa was kind of dead in the water as far as the Big Ten regular season crown. They had some key injuries to an already short-handed team and a tough stretch of games that included a trip to Michigan and a game against Maryland. Iowa lost both those games and with two games against a top ten team in Indiana and another game facing top ten Michigan, it seemed unlikely that the Hawkeyes would run the table.

But, that's exactly what they did. They finished 4-0 and tied with Ohio State for a share of the title and they did it in convincing fashion, hanging 104 points on the Wolverines in front of a sellout crowd at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

2. Let's talk about the crowd today because it was pretty amazing. We have heard for years from fans complaining about the atmosphere at Carver-Hawkeye Arena is lousy for men's basketball games. There is truth to that from time to time. Student attendance is sporadic and start times that are all over the place don't help at all.

But, what Sunday proved and what Iowa wrestling have proved is that if you get fans to show up and keep them engaged, the atmosphere can be outstanding and completely change the game.

3. One last note on women's hoops and that's on Caitlin Clark. If she's not the national player of the year in women's basketball then there's something very wrong with women's basketball.

Look, I get it. The national media tends to want to reward the best player on the best team in the country. Especially when the best player is a more veteran player with a good story. The reality is Iowa's roster isn't filled with McDonald's All Americans. Clark dominates every game she plays in. Heck, when LeBron James and Kevin Durant are tweeting and posting on IG about you calling you a "baller", it means you are the best women's college player.

4. On to men's hoops and in some ways like the women's team, the gentlemen have gotten off the deck and solidified their spot in the NCAA Tournament thanks to a double figure win at Ohio State and a 26 point win over Michigan State this past week.

It might be a coincidence, but it is interesting that this turnaround kind of started right around the time that Iowa inserted Jordan Bohannon back in at point guard. It certainly feels like while Bohannon isn't shooting the ball great, the fact that he has the ball in his hands quite a bit makes defense's pay more attention to him because of his reputation. Now if we could just get Maryland to host the Big Ten Tournament, Bohannon would be all set. :)

5. With the Hawkeye surge, we should also mention the player who moved into the starting lineup and the player who was removed from it. First, Tony Perkins. He revealed on Sunday that he was battling a shoulder issue this season and that's now feeling better. The result was evident on Friday night when the sophomore guard scored a career best 20 points.

Then there's the way that Joe Toussaint has handled being removed from the starting lineup. There are a lot of players who would have sulked and pouted when something like that happens. Heck, there's a lot of guys that would already be in the transfer portal. But, Toussaint has stayed positive and made a difference when called upon by the Iowa coaches.

6. There's some Fran McCaffery for Coach of the Year in the Big Ten buzzing in the last week. While I think it's probably going to end up with Greg Gard at Wisconsin, you can't ignore what McCaffery has done this year.

Iowa lost the national player of the year. They lost an All Big Ten player in Joe Wieskamp, who was a second round NBA Draft pick. They lost Jack Nunge, who would have been the starting center, and C.J. Fredrick, who would have been the starting shooting guard, to the transfer portal.

Yet, here Iowa is with another 20 wins, a winning record in the toughest conference in the country, and another candidate for player of the year. That doesn't happen without being a very good coach and developer of talent. I get that fans sometimes get frustrated with McCaffery, but he's really one heck of a good basketball coach.

7. We should also mention that there was another special event at Carver-Hawkeye Arena this week and that was the number retirement for Luka Garza and the jersey retirement for Roy Marble, Chuck Darling, and Murray Weir.

First, it was great to have Garza and Roy's son and former Hawkeye, Devyn Marble back in Carver-Hawkeye. For Garza it was special because he didn't get to share last season with the Hawkeye fans. This was the chance for the Hawkeye fans to show Luka the love they couldn't last year.

Then with Marble, he had kind of a messy situation with Iowa last year around this time when Garza broke his father's scoring mark. But, those wounds have healed up and Devyn Marble flew from Poland to be in Iowa City to honor his father and that was really great to see.

8. There was another Iowa team that won a Big Ten title this weekend and it was the Hawkeye men's track and field squad, which held off Ohio State to win their second straight indoor title. Director of Track and Field Joey Woody has the Hawkeye track and field team really rolling right now.

9. The Iowa baseball team had a tough weekend down in Texas. Iowa won their first game on Friday night against Pepperdine and then lost to Texas A&M Corpus Christi in extra innings and Wichita State by one run.

It's probably a good thing to learn the lesson that little things matter, but it walks, defense, or timely hitting. I'm still very bullish about this Hawkeye team. By the way, if you aren't busy on Tuesday, Iowa will be playing against Loras at Banks Field. Temps are supposed to be in the 50's so decent weather to take in some baseball.

10. Let's pub a great event that Iowa football players are taking part it.

It's on Sunday, March 6th from 2-4 pm at Carlos O'Kelly's In Iowa City. The event will benefit the Iowa Children's Hospital and Every Kick Counts. The cost is $100 and includes a 16 x 20 photo of Kinnick Stadium that will be signed by all 16 players who will be in attendance. Individual photos to be signed will also be available.

Players who will be there include: Spencer Petras, Matt Hankins, Arland Bruce, Keagan Johnson, Noah Shannon, Terry Roberts, Sam LaPorta, Charlie Jones, Tory Taylor, Jestin Jacobs, Keavon Merriweather, Riley Moss, Keith Duncan, Nico Ragaini, Alex Padilla, and Caleb Shudak.