Best & Worst Case Scenario for Iowa WBB on Selection Sunday

Second-year head coach Jan Jensen may not have been able to guide the Iowa Hawkeyes to a Big Ten Championship, but she got them to a rematch against UCLA and that's all that matters.

For a team that wasn't even projected to finish in the Top 5 of the conference, Iowa ends this season as the No. 7-ranked team in the AP Top 25.

They were recently announced as a host site for first and second round action. Now that they know they're among the top 16 teams, Iowa has a chance for two more potential "home" games as long as everything goes according to plan.

There's a clear best-case scenario come Selection Sunday and a worst-case scenario that would immediately have everyone questioning just how far this team can go. At the end of the day, they only won one tournament game last year, so anything more than that would be a success.

Best Case Scenario: Avoid UCLA and UConn

UCLA Bruins forward Sienna Betts (16) rushes up the the paint against Iowa Hawkeyes forward Hannah Stuelke (45) and Iowa Hawkeyes center Ava Heiden (5) on Sunday, March 8, 2026, during the Big Ten Tournament Championship game at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. | Grace Hollars/IndyStar / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Iowa has six losses this year and exactly half of those were to the top two teams in the country. No one can fault them for losing to No. 1 UConn in the Champions Classic, and ultimately, they never stood a chance against No. 2 UCLA in the regular season. Playing in LA is no joke and that's something Iowa learned the hard way.

If that wasn't enough, the Bruins embarrassed Iowa in the Big Ten Championship. That's a game Iowa had to sit on for quite some time, but they're going to use that to their advantage. Now, it's all about avoiding these two No. 1 seeds in the bracket until the Final Four.

Worst Case Scenario: Bracket Full of B1G Teams

Iowa C Ava Heide — Mar 8, 2026; Indianapolis, IN, USA; UCLA Bruins forward Gabriela Jaquez (11) shoots past Iowa Hawkeyes center Ava Heiden (5) during the first half at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. Mandatory Credit: Robert Goddin-Imagn Images | Robert Goddin-Imagn Images

Anyone can beat anyone in the B1G and that was proven when Iowa fell to the likes of USC and Minnesota. Neither team should've had a chance at beating them, but both did quite convincincly though it was during Iowa's worst stretch of the year when they just lost Taylor McCabe to a season ending injury.

Regardless, Iowa wants to avoid rematches. It's hard to beat a team twice, or in some instances, three times in a single season. As of 11:35 p.m. EST on March 14, Charlie Creme has them projected to be the No. 2 seed in Region 4. That region contains a pair of conference foes: No. 4 Minnesota and No. 11 Nebraska.

For reference, Region 1 has three projected B1G teams, Region 2 has two, and Region 3 has four.

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