By JOHN BOHNENKAMP

IOWA CITY — The banner commemorating Iowa’s Final Four appearance from last season was brought onto the court for a ceremony before the Hawkeyes’ season opener against Fairleigh Dickinson on Monday night.

Then as quickly as it appeared, it was gone, set to hang in the rafters.

If that was a symbol that last year was last year and this season is this season, well … maybe not.

Because while the No. 3 Hawkeyes were routing their season-opening opponent, sailing to a 102-46 win at Carver-Hawkeye Arena, top-ranked and defending national champion LSU — you do remember the Tigers, don’t you? — was losing to Colorado out in Las Vegas.

So, if Iowa can defeat No. 8 Virginia Tech, another Final Four team, on Thursday night in Charlotte, then come back and win at Northern Iowa on Sunday, well…

The shake of the head from Iowa coach Lisa Bluder indicated that, no, we’re not going there.

“Our target is big enough as it is,” Bluder said, not wanting to have any part of any we’re-No. 1 talk, certainly not in early November, when the rarest of air can gag the engines of even the most experienced of teams. “We know we have a really tough challenge Thursday night, and then Sunday at UNI. That’s a tough place to play. I’m not going to get ahead of myself in those scenarios.”

Last year was last year, and hey, that was fun, going to the Final Four, getting to the national championship game before losing to LSU. And with that came all of the expectations — national player of the year Caitlin Clark was back, so many all of the key pieces were returning and maturing, so why not think big?

But that was then, this is now, and now has a long way to go until March. Bluder knows the best seasons develop in their own time, that November and December build the Big Ten season, the Big Ten season builds March and then, if everything clicks, March builds early April and you’re one of the last teams standing.

Thursday’s game starts a four-game stretch of teams that can teach the Hawkeyes lessons. After Virginia Tech, there’s going to be that game against UNI in a packed-to-the-doors McLeod Center that will give the Hawkeyes a good road test. Then it’s back home to face the Kansas State team that beat Iowa last season, followed by a home game against in-state rival and NCAA tournament team Drake, which took the Hawkeyes to overtime last November.

“I think that’s what’s so exciting for us,” Clark said. “We need to go out there and compete against really great teams.”

While November can seem like a roller coaster, Clark thinks it’s more of a steady ride to the end of the line.

“Now that I’m a senior, you understand the ups and downs of a season, especially early,” she said. “And that’s when you learn the most about your team. You can kind of grow.”

Clark, who opened this senior season, but maybe not the last season with a 28-point, 10-assist night, thought back to this time last year — the overtime win at Drake, the loss against Kansas State, the back-to-back losses to UConn and North Carolina State.

“These are some of the most important moments that gave us the greatest success in March last year,” she said. “Being able to learn and grow as a team is going to be really important.”

Monday’s win looked solid — 28 assists against seven turnovers was the statistic that led Clark’s post-game analysis — but there was also the 6-of-28 shooting in 3-pointers.

The negatives can be erased by work, Clark said.

“Just trusting that moving forward, and knowing the team that we are,” she said.

There were signs that this team still has the maturity that got it so far last season, even while losing starters McKenna Warnock and Monika Czinano. The Hawkeyes got 22 points from sophomore Hannah Stuelke, the Big Ten’s Sixth Player of the Year last season who is more comfortable and confident in a starting role. And the center tandem of Sharon Goodman (19 points, four rebounds) and Addison O’Grady (nine points, four rebounds) can equal and maybe surpass Czinano’s production.

Fairleigh Dickinson coach Stephanie Gaitley, one of the winningest coaches in women’s basketball, was impressed at how the Hawkeyes played.

“I’ve watched them on tape a lot, and I’ve known Lisa for a long time,” she said. “Once you’re in person and you see it, you see the maturity. Obviously Caitlin is a generational talent. But everyone on that team makes everyone else better.

“You can see the maturity and the leadership, and it shines through.”

March always seems like a long way from November, and Bluder knows that.

So, Thursday night? Yep, it’s big.

But don’t breathe the air, Bluder said. Not yet.

“We think that it’s a big game on Thursday, but we also don’t think it’s the end-all,” she said. “We learned that through last year’s experience. If we end, it’s not the end of the season. If we lose, it’s not the end of the season. It’s like an opportunity for growth, and that’s what these games are in the nonconference season. They’re opportunities for growth.”

Photo: Iowa’s Caitlin Clark reacts after scoring in the second half of Monday’s season opener against Fairleigh Dickinson. (Keith Gillett/Icon Sportswire)