Will 2026 be the year that the Iowa Hawkeyes make their return to the NCAA Tournament bracket?
The expectations for a return to the postseason are palpable with new head coach Ben McCollum at the helm, leading a revamped roster of high-level transfer portal talents. McCollum, who comes from Drake, where he led the Bulldogs to the 2025 NCAA Tournament, in which they won their first-round game, knows Iowa fans are desperate for an NCAA Tournament trip.
It isn’t just Iowa fans who believe in McCollum, either. The national media believes that he can hit the ground running in the Big Ten and take Iowa back to March Madness. In CBS Sports’ first 2026 bracketology, David Cobb puts the Hawkeyes in the field as a No. 8 seed.
Iowa sits on the No. 8 seed line alongside Marquette, Baylor, and Wisconsin in this early look at March Madness bracketology. Cobb has kept Iowa local in the Midwest Region, which is set to be played in Chicago, a short trip from Iowa City, in an opening round game against No. 9 NC State.
Iowa’s last trip to the NCAA Tournament came in 2023, which was a first-round loss to the Auburn Tigers. The Hawkeyes maintained a rather consistent postseason run with NCAA Tournament trips in 2014, 2015, 2016, 2019, 2021, and 2022.
Unfortunately, each of these trips saw the Hawkeyes bow out of the tournament in the first or second rounds. The Hawkeyes have not advanced to the second weekend and the Sweet 16 since the 1999 season. Making a run in the postseason tournament is what Ben McCollum was brought in for.
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