Iowa Remains in Position to Make NCAA Tournament

The Iowa Hawkeyes haven’t made the NCAA Tournament in two years. It was that drought that head coach Ben McCollum went into the season searching to break. If everything holds steady, then he and the Hawkeyes will get their wish.

With just six games to go, Iowa men’s basketball sits at 18-7 overall and 8-6 in Big Ten competition. While it is coming off a disappointing 78-57 loss to the Purdue Boilermakers on Feb. 14, the outlook for a tournament appearance appears to be glossy.

According to multiple bracketology experts, including Brad Wachtel of HoopsHQ, Joe Lunardi of ESPN and David Cobb and Jacob Fetner of CBS Sports, the Hawkeyes are safely in the tournament field as of now. Of course, that can always change, though the team would have to collapse down the stretch for that to occur. For the sake of McCollum and the rest of the squad, let’s hope that doesn’t come to fruition.

How Iowa Can Lock In a Tournament Appearance

Feb 14, 2026; Iowa City, Iowa, USA; Iowa Hawkeyes head coach Ben McCollum reacts during the first half against the Purdue Boilermakers at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jeffrey Becker-Imagn Images | Jeffrey Becker-Imagn Images

The formula for Iowa to officially lock in an appearance in the 2026 NCAA Tournament is simple: win. While that sounds fairly obvious, let’s break it down. The Hawkeyes currently sit at No. 27 in the NCAA Evaluation Tool (NET) rankings. That’s a fine place to be, but there is some room for movement depending on results the rest of the way.

For instance, Iowa has just two Quad 1 wins but will have the opportunity to pick up more throughout the final six games of the season. Two bouts with the Nebraska Cornhuskers, one on Feb. 17 and the other on March 8, present the team with a golden opportunity to improve its résumé. The Hawkeyes will also travel to Wisconsin on Feb. 22 in another contest that could prove to be a major boost to the squad’s chances of securing a higher seed.

Perhaps the most intriguing matchup of the bunch is the game against the Michigan Wolverines on March 3 in Iowa City. If the Hawkeyes and Wolverines take care of business in the time before that matchup is slated to tip off, then that game should be an electric precursor to the craziness that is March Madness.

Additionally, Iowa must win against the Ohio State Buckeyes and the Penn State Nittany Lions on Feb. 25 and Feb. 28 if it wants to 1) lock in a tournament berth and 2) get a better seed in the bracket. Ohio State is tied with the Hawkeyes in the Big Ten standings, which means a win against it would separate the two. Meanwhile, Penn State is at the bottom of the pack — a loss to the Nittany Lions would be a disaster, to say the least.

In the end, Iowa men’s basketball controls its destiny. If you’d told McCollum that at the beginning of the season, then he definitely would have taken it.

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