Iowa’s Payton Sandfort Perfectly Explains Hawkeyes' March Mindset

Payton Sandfort and the Iowa Hawkeyes still have hope to make the NCAA Tournament, but it's going to take some March Madness magic.

Mar 9, 2025; Lincoln, Nebraska, USA; Iowa Hawkeyes forward Payton Sandfort (20) drives against Nebraska Cornhuskers guard Rollie Worster (24) during the second half at Pinnacle Bank Arena. Mandatory Credit: Dylan Widger-Imagn Images | Dylan Widger-Imagn Images

The Iowa Hawkeyes did it. It was far from a guarantee after they lost to No. 8 Michigan State, 91-84. By beating Nebraska on the road on Sunday, though, the Hawkeyes punched their ticket to the Big Ten Men's Basketball Tournament.

Remember, the Big Ten is now an 18-team league, but the tourney is only for the top 15 teams in the conference. The Hawkeyes came into Sunday afternoon's game needing to beat Nebraska in order to break a five-way tie for 14th in the conference.

It was a tight game — the Hawkeyes were up just five heading into halftime — but the end result was a 83-68 win that paved Iowa's win to Indianapolis.

That's great news for Iowa, but this is still a 16-15 team that went 7-13 in the Big Ten and Iowa's first test will be 17-14 (9-11 Big Ten) Ohio State. In order to make the NCAA Tournament the Hawkeyes will have to win the Big Ten Tournament to secure the auto-bid, but at the very least there's a chance.

As far as senior forward Payton Sandfort sees it, that's all you can ask for in March.

"The season could have been over today, but now we get another fresh start and go to Indy, and anything can happen in March," he said after the win, according to John Steppe of The Gazette.

Now Fran McCaffery's Hawkeyes have to keep winning, and that's going to be easier said than done with Top 25 teams like Michigan State, Michigan, Maryland and Wisconsin also in Indianapolis.

Half the fun of March Madness is because anything can happen, though, and this is a scrappy Iowa team. For all of its faults, the Hawkeyes have never quit on McCaffery and they're always going to be a tough out.

They also believe in themselves, which can be an X-factor in March.

“I think if we can get hot, we can win it all,” junior guard Josh Dix said. “That’s the goal. We just got to play like we did tonight. … If we hold teams to 66, I like our chances every night.”