Despite not playing a single game yet or having all that much on-court action, the Iowa Hawkeyes men’s basketball team is creating some serious buzz. The addition of young, talented head coach Ben McCollum has infused life into a program that had grown stale.
That life and buzz is starting to turn into expectations for the Hawkeyes ahead of the 2025-26 college basketball season, and is seeing those expectations feature postseason appearances.
CBS Sports put the Hawkeyes in the 2026 NCAA Tournament field as a No. 8 seed in their early bracketology. ESPN is also high on the Hawkeyes and has them in the field, but sneaking into the dance as one of the last four in.
ESPN lists Iowa as a No. 10 seed in their early bracketology and playing in one of the First Four games to make the field of 64. The Hawkeyes are drawing No. 10 Miami in this early edition of ESPN’s March Madness bracketology. The winner of this matchup would take on the No. 7-seeded Missouri Tigers from the SEC.
In this field, the Big Ten is sending the second-most teams to the tournament, with 11, and only trails the SEC, which sees another strong contingent of 14 teams projected in the field.
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This article originally appeared on Hawkeyes Wire: ESPN high on Iowa basketball, sends Hawkeyes to March Madness in early bracketology
Reporting by Riley Donald, Hawkeyes Wire / Hawkeyes Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
