As the 2025-26 Iowa women’s basketball season begins in less than one month’s time, the Hawkeyes have earned a spot in ESPN’s preseason top 25 women’s college basketball rankings.
While the Hawkeyes experienced some bumps along the road in head coach Jan Jensen’s first year, the program eventually found a consistent rhythm that saw the team advance to the second round of the NCAA Tournament with an 11-4 record in their final 15 games.
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Iowa ranks No. 20 in ESPN’s preseason top 25 rankings, ahead of fellow Big Ten foes Michigan State (No. 23) and Washington (No. 25).
Ahead of the Hawkeyes in ESPN’s preseason rankings are No. 3 UCLA, No. 10 Maryland, No. 15 Michigan and No. 17 USC, giving the incredibly deep Big Ten conference a staggering seven representatives in the preseason top 25.
Iowa has an exhibition date on Oct. 30 against Ashland at 6:30 p.m. CT and then Iowa opens the regular season on Nov. 3 versus the Southern Jaguars at 6:30 p.m. CT. Both games will take place at Carver-Hawkeye Arena and be broadcast on Big Ten Plus (subscription required).
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ESPN’s full preseason top 25 is as follows:
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Also considered: Princeton, Ohio State, Kentucky
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This article originally appeared on Hawkeyes Wire: Iowa women’s basketball cracks ESPN preseason Top 25 rankings
