It may be months and months away from the March Madness and the NCAA Tournament, but the start of the 2025-26 college basketball season is quietly creeping up on the sports world.
The Iowa Hawkeyes enter the year buzzing with excitement stemming from the new head coaching hire of Ben McCollum and the revamped roster courtesy of the transfer portal that is going to give fans a new-look Iowa.
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Each year, the goal of every team is to make it to the postseason with a berth to the NCAA Tournament. It is a measuring stick for success and a place that the Iowa Hawkeyes are striving to get back to.
In ESPN’s way-too-early NCAA Tournament bracketology, Iowa is dancing in the projected 2026 NCAA Tournament, but without much wiggle room. Iowa is in the field as one of the last four byes and earning a No. 11 seed.
The bracket puts Iowa in the East Region with a first-round game in Oklahoma City against one of the most storied programs in college basketball history, the University of North Carolina Tar Heels, a projected No. 6 seed.
Iowa is part of a strong Big Ten group earning bids in this projected field, as the conference has 11 NCAA Tournament bids. That only trails the SEC, who see 14 of its programs dancing.
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This article originally appeared on Hawkeyes Wire: Iowa men’s basketball on the bubble in way-too-early ESPN bracketology
