Iowa's AP Top 25 Ranking Raises Eyebrows With Michigan Still Ahead

The Iowa Hawkeyes women's basketball team's 2025-26 NCAA season has had several distinct chapters.

The Hawkeyes began the year with a perfect 9-0 record. Then they lost to their cross-state rival, Iowa State, by a score of 74-69, which gave them a 9-1 record. Second-year head coach Jan Jensen's squad won a game after that to get back on track and then faced the defending national champion UConn Huskies on December 20.

UConn dominated against Iowa in that game. However, there's no shame in coming up short against Geno Auriemma's team this season, as they still have an undefeated record and have looked nearly unbeatable to this point. From there, Iowa managed to right the ship by winning eight straight games, including conference showdowns against ranked teams like Michigan State and Nebraska.

Iowa guard Chit-Chat Wright | Julia Hansen/Iowa City Press-Citizen / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Then came a tough stretch against the Big Ten's two elite California teams, the USC Trojans and the UCLA Bruins. Iowa faced these two teams in Los Angeles on January 29 and February 1, respectively, and lost both games. Then they went home and lost to unranked Minnesota, which was not a good look for the program.

But that's not where Iowa's story ends. They've rebounded with four straight victories, including a win over Washington on February 11 and a huge victory against Michigan on February 22, which was ranked No. 6 at the time.

Iowa's New AP Top 25 Ranking Raises Eyebrows

The AP released its new Top 25 ranking on February 23. Iowa jumped up four spots from No. 13 to No. 9.

However, fans were quick to notice that Michigan, who Iowa just beat, is still right above them at No. 8.

The AP Top-5 remains unshaken for Week 16 👀

Who will be on top come March? 🤔 pic.twitter.com/p42ZzmSZ0u
— ESPN (@espn) February 23, 2026

There have been numerous comments on social media about why it makes sense for Michigan to be ranked higher than Iowa, given that Iowa beat them one day before these rankings were released.

Ultimately, this isn't too big of a deal, and there's a good chance that Iowa will jump Michigan when the next AP Ranking is released next Monday, given that the Hawkeyes manage to win their next two games against Indiana and then against Wisconsin.

It will be interesting to see how Iowa can conclude this regular season and whether they'll be able to make a deep run in the Big Ten and the NCAA Tournaments.