Iowa Men's March Madness History: Record, Titles, Final Four Appearances, Best Highlights

Coming into this year's tournament as the No. 9 seed, first year head coach Ben McCollum is looking to lead the Iowa Hawkeyes to their first National Championship.

The Hawkeyes have a trio of final four appearances on their resume but have yet to win the big one.

McCollum would have to run the gauntlet in his first year with the program, but his success during this time of the year speaks for itself.

Iowa is actually 31-31 in their tournament history, a record that could remain at .500 should they advance to the second round but ultimately fall to the No. 1 seed in their region, Florida.

Iowa's First Tournament Appearance Since 2022-23

Tip Time Secured. 🫡 pic.twitter.com/khlgJa5gLS
— Iowa Men’s Basketball (@IowaHoops) March 16, 2026

Even though they missed the tournament these last few years under Fran McCaffery, their ex-head coach managed to make the tournament this year in his first year with Penn. The Quakers won their respective conference tournament which is an incredible honor for the program and puts things into perspective as to how poorly his relationship was with Iowa down the stretch.

Iowa hasn't made it past the first round of the NCAA Tournament since the 2020-21 season. They haven't made it to the third round since 2014-15. Prior to that, their best finish was a Regional Semifinal appearance back in 1998-99.

It's clear tournament success has eluded this team. They only have three Final Four berths to speak of and the most recent was 1979-80. In order to look at their lone appearance in the National Championship game one has to go back even further as that was during the 1955-56 season.

Overall Tournament Record: 31-31

Let the madness begin. pic.twitter.com/jtpdrGFT7p
— Iowa Men’s Basketball (@IowaHoops) March 15, 2026

Iowa secured a No. 9 seed in the tournament this year which is already considered a win after their 17-16 and 19-15 campaigns from the last two seasons. They currently sit at 21-12 though they've really struggled since taking down No. 9 Nebraska.

Regardless, now is the time for them to re-write history. McCollum has become quite familiar with the Hawkeyes lack of success in the NCAA Tournament and that's something he's looking to change. This team is led by senior guard Bennett Stirtz who can take over a game at any moment and he'll need to do just that come March 20.

Iowa was eliminated in the first round of their last two tournament appearances. The three prior to that saw them bounced in the second round. Other than their trip to the third round over 10 years ago, they've been eliminated in the first or second round every appearance they've made since 1998-99.

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