Iowa Petitioned to Make NCAA Tournament

After missing out on the NCAA Tournament two years in a row, the last thing first-year head coach Ben McCollum wanted to row as make it three in a row for the Iowa Hawkeyes.

At this rate, Iowa is nearly a lock to make the tournament. Their lack of Quad One wins is the only thing that slightly hurts them, but it's not like that is a dealbreaker at this point in time.

Iowa sits at 17-5 (7-4 Big Ten) with nine games remaining. Pending some sort of all-out collapse, ESPN believes Iowa "should be in" the tournament.

That said, Iowa can't look too far ahead. They still need to take care of business against Northwestern, and then four ranked opponents stand in their way.

ESPN's Neil Paine Breaks Down Iowa's Tournament Chances

Iowa HC Ben McCollu — Jan 28, 2026; Iowa City, Iowa, USA; Iowa Hawkeyes head coach Ben McCollum talks with an official during the first half against the Southern California Trojans at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jeffrey Becker-Imagn Images | Jeffrey Becker-Imagn Images

"Iowa's résumé rankings are all over the place, ranging from the mid-40s in KPI to the low-20s in NET, averaging out to 30th nationally. That's still on the right side of the bubble, with some room to spare," Paine said. "The Hawkeyes bolstered their case with a Quadrant 1A win at Indiana in mid-January, starting a five-game win streak that kept rolling Wednesday with another impressive victory, by 10 points at Washington."

He continued, "The scary thing is that they're even better than their résumé ranking gives them credit for, checking in at 22nd in our average of predictive ratings, which raises their potential going forward. But their schedule does get more difficult looking ahead, jumping from 73rd to 21st nationally from here on out, according to the BPI. Wins like the Hawkeyes have compiled recently, though, have them trending toward becoming the next Big Ten lock."

Iowa's Path To The Tournament

Iowa HC Bennett Stirt — Feb 4, 2026; Seattle, Washington, USA; Iowa Hawkeyes guard Bennett Stirtz (14) shoots the ball over Washington Huskies forward Hannes Steinbach (6) during the second half at Alaska Airlines Arena at Hec Edmundson Pavilion. Mandatory Credit: Steven Bisig-Imagn Images | Steven Bisig-Imagn Images

No one is going to punish Iowa for losing to No. 12 Purdue, No. 9 Nebraska, or No. 2 Michigan. That said, all eyes are on their Valentine's Day game against the Boilermakers. In front of a sold-out crowd, a win against a slumping Purdue team could go a long way.

Iowa's road to 20 wins is pretty straightforward, especially if they take down the Wildcats. That should be enough to get them in as a lower seed, but the goal is a lot more than just making the tournament.

Even though the likes of Wisconsin and Ohio State are unranked, those are still two tough games on their schedule. Playing at Wisconsin is no joke, neither is Penn State, though the Nittany Lions are nowhere near on the same level. At the bare minimum, Iowa should have three wins locked up against Northwestern, Maryland and Penn State.

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