1980–81 Iowa Hawkeyes men's basketball team

1980–81 Iowa Hawkeyes men's basketball
ConferenceBig Ten Conference
Ranking
CoachesNo. 12
APNo. 13
Record21–7 (13–5 Big Ten)
Head coach
Assistant coaches
MVPVince Brookins
Home arenaIowa Field House
(Capacity: 13,365)
1980–81 Big Ten Conference men's basketball standings
Conf. Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
No. 9 Indiana 14 4   .778 26 9   .743
No. 13 Iowa 13 5   .722 21 7   .750
No. 19 Illinois 12 6   .667 21 8   .724
Purdue 10 8   .556 21 11   .656
Minnesota 9 9   .500 19 11   .633
Ohio State 9 9   .500 14 13   .519
Michigan 8 10   .444 19 11   .633
Michigan State 7 11   .389 13 14   .481
Wisconsin 5 13   .278 11 16   .407
Northwestern 3 15   .167 9 18   .333
Rankings from AP Poll

The 1980–81 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 7th season at the school, and played their home games at the Iowa Field House. They finished the season 21–7 overall and 13–5 in Big Ten play. The Hawkeyes received an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament as #3 seed in the Midwest Regional, but fell 60–56 to #6 seed Wichita State in the Round of 32 – a game played on the Shockers' home floor.