Iowa's Path to Double-Bye in B1G Tournament

Back to back losses don't sit well with an Iowa Hawkeyes team that is flirting with disaster.

Seeing as the Top 8 teams in the B1G tournament get a double-bye, Iowa is looking to stay in that range. Currently No. 8 in the conference, they must find a way to not decrease any further.

In total, 18 teams make the tournament. The bottom four teams would play as many as six games to win it all, but those teams are ranked No. 15-18 for a reason.

Round two sees No. 9-14 begin play on March 11, one day later than the first quartet of teams. From there, No. 5-8 begin play on the 12th. While it's not the end of the world if Iowa falls out of the Top 8, they'd sure like to avoid playing more than they have to.

Iowa On The Brink of Losing Second Bye

If you're Iowa, you really want to get that double-bye. https://t.co/gxNzRZyozq
— Brad Schultz (@BradMSchultz) February 16, 2026

Ohio State is currently tied with Iowa at 8-6 in conference play but should those teams remain tied come the tournament, there will be a clear tiebreaker in play. On February 25, OSU comes to Carver for a crucial game that will directly impact tournament seeding.

Before the Hawkeyes can focus on the Buckeyes, they're tasked with hosting No. 9 Nebraska and then traveling to No. 24 Wisconsin to play a red-hot Badgers team.

Iowa's path to remaining No. 8 is far from easy as four of their final six teams are ranked. Granted, the only other team they're playing is Penn State who's currently dead-last in the conference.

Regardless, Iowa has their work cut out for them. No one expects this team to jump into the Top 4 to get a triple bye, but the double-bye means everything. Not starting until March 12 would give them a huge advantage, but if they keep up with how they've looked these past two games they'd likely be in the 12-14 range.

B1G Conference Tournament Outlook

Iowa G Bennett Stirt — Iowa guard Bennett Stirtz (14) drives toward the basket against Northwestern guard Jayden Reid (4) and Northwestern forward Nick Martinelli (2) Feb. 8, 2026 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City, Iowa. | Julia Hansen/Iowa City Press-Citizen / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Iowa is in one of the toughest conferences in the entire nation so they need to take every advantage they can get. At the end of the day, everyone knows this is Ben McCollum's first year as head coach and he already surpassed their win total from a year ago.

The Hawkeyes haven't had a 20 win season since 2021-22 and that's a mark McCollum continues to inch closer to. The Nittany Lions game should be a lock so that means Iowa would have to win just one more game, whether that's in the regular season, B1G tournament, or even the NCAA Tournament as those hopes are still alive.

Don't forget to bookmark Iowa Hawkeyes on SI for the latest news. exclusive interviews, recruiting coverage and more!