[Brody]

Let's look at Lickliter's first three seasons at Iowa. In his first year they had a much longer stretch of playing competitive.

Jan 12,2008 Iowa beat Michigan St at home 43-36
Jan 16,2008 Iowa lost to Purdue at home 62-67
Jan 19,2008 Iowa beat Michigan at home 68-60
Jan 23,2008 Iowa lost to Indiana on the road 65-43
Jan 26,2008 Iowa beat Penn St at home 64-49
Jan 30,2008 Iowa lost at Purdue 51-50
Feb 2,2008 Iowa beat Ohio St at home 53-48
Feb 6,2008 Iowa lost to Wisconsin at home 60-54
Feb 9,2008 Iowa lost at Minnesota 63-50
Feb 14,2008 Iowa lost to Michigan at home 60-52
Feb 19,2008 Iowa beat Northwestern 53-51
Feb 23,2008 Iowa lost at MSU 66-52
Feb 27,2008 Iowa lost at Penn St 65-64
Mar 1,2008 Iowa lost to Illinois at home 58-47
Mar 4,2008 Iowa won at Northwestern 67-62

Last year they played well in the final 6 games of the regular season.
Losing at home to Purdue by 4 points.
Beating Michigan at home by 10 points
Losing at MSU by 10
Winning at Northwestern by 6
Losing at home to Ohio St by 2
Beating Penn St by 8

I really don't see where this year is any different than the first two,if anything I don't think this year is as good as we have not beaten a really good team this season.