Iowa On The Rise In Latest AP Rankings

A pair of road wins were enough for the Iowa Hawkeyes to jump from No. 14 to No. 11 in the AP Poll.

The January 12 edition saw Iowa increase three spots thanks to the likes of Maryland, Oklahoma and Iowa State all falling quite significantly.

The Terrapins fell from No. 8 to No. 12 while the Sooners and Cyclones dropped eight spots each.

Now that conference action has begun, these AP polls are taken more seriously. Each team is about to find out what they're truly made of, Hawkeyes included.

Iowa Returns To No. 11

Hawkeyes up 3, Cyclones down 8 in latest WBB AP top 25 poll:

1 UConn
2 South Carolina
3 UCLA
11 Iowa
19 Iowa State
— Keith Murphy (@MurphyKeith) January 12, 2026

Once again, the Hawkeyes find themselves at No. 11. This is the same ranking they had earlier in the season, specifically when they fell to an Iowa State team that used to be ahead of them. Now, that loss is looking less helpful as the Cyclones have dropped three straight, two of which to unranked opponents.

Either way, Iowa needed a bit of help to get back to No. 11. That said, they've still been doing their job on the court. Even though they struggled against a pair of unranked teams themselves, no one can take away a 16 point come from behind victory against Indiana.

Head coach Jan Jensen would love to crack into the Top 10, and she'll have an opportunity to do so when Iowa faces their toughest stretch of the season. Their next game is against unranked Oregon, but from there they're set to play four ranked opponents in a five game span. All five were ranked, but USC recently suffered a three-game skid.

Iowa's Quest For The Top 10

Kylie Feuer𝗯𝗹𝗼𝗰𝗸 😏 pic.twitter.com/jpRSsrzfDY
— Iowa Women's Basketball (@IowaWBB) January 12, 2026

Sadly for Iowa, only one of the four ranked teams they're playing through February 1 is in the Top 10. Either way, they'll have a chance to take care of business against No. 15 Michigan State, No. 12 Maryland, and No. 14 Ohio State. Wins in those games would prove this team truly has what it takes to stand at the top of the conference.

Not only is Iowa one of two undefeated teams remaining in the B1G, but they're looking to make another run to the Final Four and National Championship. This is an extremely young team, but that doesn't mean they don't have what it takes.

Jensen knows what it takes to get there, and they have plenty of time to fix all of their mistakes. A 16 point halftime comeback on the road is certainly an accomplishment, and Iowa continues to earn the respect of AP voters as they climbed three spots in the latest poll.

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