Iowa basketball: Hawks rise in polls after strong week

After spending one week out of the AP Poll, the Iowa basketball team has been ranked for two consecutive weeks and they are rising after a strong week 12.

The Iowa basketball team got off to a hot start in their non-conference schedule beating expected Pac-12 contender Oregon and an always prevalent UConn Huskies program. Then Big Ten play started, and the Iowa basketball team struggled considerably dropping a winnable game to Wisconsin at Carver Hawkeye Arena and getting blown out by both Michigan State and Purdue on the road. While the Michigan State game doesn’t look as bad considering the Spartans are ranked sixth in the nation, the loss to the 12-6 Boilermakers stings a little bit.

The Hawkeyes 0-3 start to begin Big Ten play had many questioning just how legitimate was Fran McCaffery’s team. After promptly reeling off five straight Big Ten wins, however, the naysayers are no more. Yes, you could point to the lack of currently ranked teams that Iowa beat in that five-game stretch or their struggles against a weak Penn State Nittany Lion team, but the fact of the matter is that no game is an easy game in the Big Ten, especially on the road.

In their five-game stretch, the Hawks won twice on the road and beat two teams that have been fluttering in and out of the rankings for most of the season (Nebraska and Ohio State). That’s no laughing matter. This Iowa basketball team is legit, and it’s beginning to show as the Hawks climb up the AP Rankings.

The 16-3 Iowa basketball team climbed four spots to sit at #19 in this week’s AP Poll. In the coaches poll, the Hawks climbed three spots to sit at #21. Moreover, KenPom, the advanced analytic site has the Hawks ranked as the 25th best team in the nation according to their adjusted efficiency margin rating system, which combines the effectiveness of a team on both the offensive and defensive side of the ball into an aggregated score.

It’s not just the rankings that the Hawks are climbing in either. After sitting for most of the season around the eight to ten seed range for ESPN Analyst Joe Lunardi’s NCAA Bracketology, the Iowa basketball team is now positioned as the seventh seed. While a lot can happen in the next twelve games, the fact of the matter is that the Hawks need just four wins to reach the magical 20-game threshold that would all but guarantee them a spot in the NCAA tournament.

With tough games against #6 Michigan State, #5 Michigan, and #13 Maryland looming, the Hawks have an opportunity to continue to rise in the polls as the season progresses or drastically fall. At this point, anything is possible, but with the way this team is playing right now, I am excited to find out.