Iowa vs. Wisconsin Has Massive March Madness Implications

The Iowa Hawkeyes are coming off their best win of the Ben McCollum as they look to carry that momentum into Madison.

Currently, Wisconsin is ranked No. 24. The Badgers lost to Ohio State in convincing fashion, so they know a loss to the Hawkeyes would knock them out of the Top 25.

That said, a win certainly changes things. Wisconsin may have just lost to an unranked team, but if they're able to take care of business against an Iowa team that just knocked off No. 9 Nebraska, things would look a whole lot different.

The NCAA Tournament is right around the corner, and this is a game that has massive implications for what's to come in March.

Both Teams "Should Be In"

Iowa Hawkeye — Iowa head coach Ben McCollum talks to Iowa guard Kael Combs (11), Iowa guard Bennett Stirtz (14) annd Iowa forward Cooper Koch (8) during a basketball game against the Northwestern Wildcats Feb. 8, 2026 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City, Iowa. | Julia Hansen/Iowa City Press-Citizen / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

ESPN published an article on Feb. 21 that looked at the landscape of the B1G and how many teams they'll have in the NCAA Tournament. With five teams already "locked into" the tournament, Iowa is looking to get into the upper echelon with the likes of Michigan, Purdue, Illinois, Nebraska and Michigan State.

Currently, they believe both the Badgers and Hawkeyes "should be in" the tournament, but can't outright say they're going to be in for sure.

Seeing as these two teams are set to play one another, winning this game is crucial. The winner may not jump into the lock category immediately, but it'll certainly help their seeding should they continue to rack up wins down the stretch.

Iowa's Difficult Schedule Continues

Iowa has a Top 12 schedule to end the year and that's a bit alarming as they're not a lock to be in the tournament just yet. It would take an ultimate collapse for Iowa to miss out on the tournament for their third straight year, but at the end of the day, anything is possible.

The Hawkeyes are given just a 37.4% chance to beat the Badgers on the road but a loss in this one doesn't mean they're out of the tournament. Iowa has chances to beat unranked Ohio State and Penn State, but other than that, things will be extremely difficult against No. 1 Michigan and then they have their rematch at Nebraska.

With a win over the Badgers, Iowa could even see themselves back in the Top 25. Sure, their loss to Maryland on Feb. 11 doesn't look great, but back-to-back wins as the calendar turns to March will be a huge boost to their resume.

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