NCAA Tournament March Madness

#18 Iowa

Bubble Watch | Bracketology

Chat with the Bracketologist | How does this work?


Projected seed: 9

Iowa’s résumé balances a couple of eye-catching neutral-site wins over Mississippi and Grand Canyon and a string of dominant home results against the likes of Robert Morris, Bucknell and Western Michigan with a pair of troubling road losses at Michigan State and at Iowa State, and that contrast explains how the committee views the team. The offense has shown it can blow opponents out and carry the team on nights in Iowa City but many of those victories came against low-end opposition and therefore carry less resume weight, while the lack of a true signature road triumph makes the road defeats look more damaging. With meaningful opportunities still on the slate — a marquee home date with UCLA and several gauntlet road tests at places like Purdue, Oregon and Michigan — Iowa’s profile is built on clear strengths but still dependent on proving itself away from home to erase lingering doubts.

Date Opponent Ranking Outcome
11/4Robert Morris177W101-69
11/7W Illinois352W77-58
11/14Xavier102W81-62
11/18SE Missouri St224W99-70
11/20Chicago St341W93-54
11/25(N)Mississippi60W74-69
11/26(N)Grand Canyon93W59-46
12/2@Michigan St13L71-52
12/6Maryland101W83-64
12/11@Iowa St3L66-62
12/14W Michigan279W91-51
12/20(N)Bucknell305W94-39
12/29MA Lowell30699%
1/3UCLA3269%
1/6@Minnesota10076%
1/11Illinois947%
1/14@Purdue521%
1/17@Indiana3146%
1/20Rutgers15996%
1/28USC3873%
2/1@Oregon7469%
2/4@Washington4757%
2/8Northwestern5481%
2/11@Maryland10177%
2/14Purdue541%
2/17Nebraska2264%
2/22@Wisconsin4355%
2/25Ohio St3472%
2/28@Penn St12884%
3/5Michigan127%
3/8@Nebraska2242%