Big Ten men's basketball games that involved the University of Iowa in 1997. Values are aligned and delimited by blanks. Note that each team played Iowa in exactly one home game and one away game except for Michigan State and Indiana.
Most students are familiar with the concept of home court advantage in college basketball.
From small junior colleges to large universities, basketball teams tend to boast a greater winning percentage in games played on their home floor than in games hosted by the opposition. The University of Iowa Hawkeye's 1997 Big Ten Conference season serves as a fine example of this phenomenon. The Hawks were beaten only once in nine games played in Iowa City's Carver Hawkeye Arena. Since basketball can be considered in two basic phases, offense and defense, it is natural to investigate how these phases are affected by game location. By examining points scored and points allowed, the natural measures of offensive and defensive performance contained in the dataset, a deeper understanding of Iowa's 1997 home court advantage can be gained.