Iowa's Latest Win All But Guarantees NCAA Tournament Berth

After securing their 20th win of the season, the Iowa Hawkeyes now have a 95% chance to make the NCAA Tournament.

This would end their two-year drought and be an impressive mark for first year head coach Ben McCollum to set.

Iowa is now 20-8 overall and 10-7 in B1G play. They've been streaky lately, but the Hawkeyes have won two of their last three with one of those wins being a dominant performance against No. 9 Nebraska.

Things didn't look too good at the start of the Ohio State game but Iowa went on a few massive runs that helped propel them to a 74-57 victory.

Iowa's At-Large Chance: 95%

I-O-W-A 😏 pic.twitter.com/GkKWBfjr3T
— Iowa Men’s Basketball (@IowaHoops) February 26, 2026

Even after the win ESPN still has Iowa in the "should be in" category, but their at-large chance sitting around 95% all but guarantees them a spot in the tournament. This'll be the first time since the Hawkeyes are in since the 2022-23 season.

Iowa's remaining schedule is still extremely tough as they'll host No. 3 Michigan and head to No. 12 Nebraska to end the year. From there, it's the B1G tournament where they hope to pull off another upset to add something of note to their resume.

ESPN wrote, "Their résumé still sits in the low-30s nationally, in addition to being borderline top 25 in our average of predictive ratings, so their tournament hopes are in good shape."

Iowa will play at Penn State on February 28 in a game where they're given an 81.2% chance to win. While it certainly wouldn't be the biggest win in the world, securing their 21st victory should be plenty to make it to the dance.

Ben McCollum's Successful First Year

📍 Dunk City, Iowa @AlvaroFolgue x #Hawkeyes

📺: @BigTenNetwork pic.twitter.com/dPNHAO5YGw
— Iowa Men’s Basketball (@IowaHoops) February 26, 2026

Not making the tournament at this point would be a crime and McCollum would certainly have a gripe with the committee. At the end of the day, he said he doesn't pay attention to projections and is only focused on winning.

Winning is all McCollum has done throughout his career. Making the jump from Drake to Iowa was no easy feat, but getting Iowa to a 20-win season and potentially ending their NCAA tournament drought should be more than enough to get this fanbase back into a program that has struggled these last few years.

Iowa has two more chances to add a statement win to their resume. Taking down the Wolverines at home would be electric and going to Nebraska to sweep the Cornhuskers would be something Iowa doesn't let them forget for years to come.

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