NCAA Tournament March Madness

#18 Iowa

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Projection: next four out

This placement holds up because Iowa’s résumé features eye-catching highs and damaging lows that leave them on the outside looking in; the signature home win over UCLA and a neutral‑site victory over Mississippi prove they can beat quality opponents, and comfortable nonconference wins show they can score in bunches, but a lopsided loss at Michigan State, road defeats at Iowa State and Purdue and a home setback to Illinois expose vulnerability away from prime venues and create holes the committee won’t overlook. The schedule has been stout and those bad road results carry extra weight, yet there are clear ways to repair the résumé with upcoming road tests at Oregon and Washington and late‑season home chances against Purdue and Michigan plus beatable opportunities like Rutgers and Northwestern to shore up the profile. If Iowa can grab a signature road or neutral win and avoid another damaging loss they move onto the right side of the cut otherwise the tough defeats keep them outside.

Date Opponent Ranking Outcome
11/4Robert Morris212W101-69
11/7W Illinois356W77-58
11/14Xavier93W81-62
11/18SE Missouri St249W99-70
11/20Chicago St354W93-54
11/25(N)Mississippi59W74-69
11/26(N)Grand Canyon88W59-46
12/2@Michigan St12L71-52
12/6Maryland127W83-64
12/11@Iowa St8L66-62
12/14W Michigan242W91-51
12/20(N)Bucknell319W94-39
12/29MA Lowell301W90-62
1/3UCLA40W74-61
1/6@Minnesota83L70-67
1/11Illinois6L75-69
1/14@Purdue3L79-72
1/17@Indiana3856%
1/20Rutgers15496%
1/28USC5080%
2/1@Oregon9076%
2/4@Washington4961%
2/8Northwestern6085%
2/11@Maryland12786%
2/14Purdue346%
2/17Nebraska1560%
2/22@Wisconsin3957%
2/25Ohio St3574%
2/28@Penn St10581%
3/5Michigan134%
3/8@Nebraska1538%