AP Voters No Longer Believe in Iowa

Not even the Iowa Hawkeyes 57-52 win over No. 9 Nebraska was enough to impress AP voters.

In the latest installment of the AP Top 25, Iowa received just three votes. Granted, that's more than they received last week, but it's clear no one believes in the Hawkeyes anymore.

That's something this team could turn into motivation, but the voters lack of support for Iowa is completely understandable.

This team has dropped three of their last four and the team they just lost to, Wisconsin, is no longer in the Top 25. Iowa's win over Nebraska simply wasn't good enough as this team is far too streaky lately to gain a ton of supporters.

Iowa Receives Just Three AP Votes Despite Beating No. 9 Nebraska

Iowa G Bennett Stirt — Iowa guard Bennett Stirtz (14) takes a hard fall during a basketball game against the Nebraska Cornhuskers Feb. 17, 2026 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City, Iowa. | Julia Hansen/Iowa City Press-Citizen / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Hawkeyes were joined by Texas A&M and UCF as teams to receive three votes. Shockingly, there were still a few teams under them. High Point and Stephen F. Austin both received a pair of votes while one voter sided with Navy.

First year head coach Ben McCollum knows his team is still on the bubble. With just four games remaining, Iowa needs to pick up wins against Ohio State and Penn State. Those won't be anywhere near enough to get them back into the Top 25, though wins over No. 3 Michigan or No. 12 Nebraska would certainly do the trick.

Iowa Could Still Re-Enter Top 25 But Should be More Focused on Making NCAA Tournament

Iowa Hawkeye — Iowa forward Cooper Koch (8) high-fives Iowa’s Tavion Banks (6) during a Big Ten basketball game against the Nebraska Cornhuskers Feb. 17, 2026 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City, Iowa. | Julia Hansen/Iowa City Press-Citizen / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Victories over the Wolverines and Cornhuskers would leave no doubt, but right now the last thing Iowa is focused on is being ranked. Looking at their remaining games, there's a strong case to be made as to how Iowa could lose all four of them.

The last thing McCollum wants to do is let his 7-0 start go to waste. Iowa took care of business against their weak non-conference opponents, but they sit at 9-7 in B1G play and are in danger of finishing with a losing conference record.

Iowa's win over Nebraska should've been the win they needed to be ranked once again, but they went to Madison and looked like an entirely different team. Wisconsin exposed Iowa, as plenty of teams have this season, but this time it felt different.

Anything can happen in the B1G, but for Iowa to allow 52 points against Nebraska, a Top 10 team, and then allow 84 against a now unranked Badgers squad makes little to no sense. AP voters haven't seen nearly enough from Iowa to get behind them down the stretch, and it's hard to blame them.

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