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Iowa basketball: Hawks should move up in AP Top-25

By Andrew Wade

IOWA CITY, IOWA- FEBRUARY 01: Guard Jordan Bohannon #3 of the Iowa Hawkeyes drives down the court in the second half against forward Isaiah Livers #4 of the Michigan Wolverines, on February 1, 2019 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena, in Iowa City, Iowa. (Photo by Matthew Holst/Getty Images)
IOWA CITY, IOWA- FEBRUARY 01: Guard Jordan Bohannon #3 of the Iowa Hawkeyes drives down the court in the second half against forward Isaiah Livers #4 of the Michigan Wolverines, on February 1, 2019 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena, in Iowa City, Iowa. (Photo by Matthew Holst/Getty Images) /
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The Iowa basketball team should be moving up in the AP Top-25 after beating Indiana on the road and surviving a scare vs Northwestern last night.

In the beginning of the season, the Iowa basketball team had no issues rising up in the AP Top-25. The highest the Hawks climbed was to 14th, which came late in November before they dropped two Big Ten games to Michigan State and Wisconsin.

Since that point, the Iowa basketball team has been bouncing around the bottom five of the Top-25 for most of the season. Now, with the Hawks sitting at 20th and coming off two big wins, I fully expect the Hawks to climb up to their highest spot since late November.

Four teams just in front of the Hawks have all dropped games in the past week, meaning there’s some opportunity for Iowa to jump these teams especially considering the significance of beating a tough, and finally healthy, Indiana team at Assembly Hall in addition to the excitement of Jordan Bohannon’s buzzer-beater last night.

Here are the teams that Iowa could jump:

The Iowa basketball team has the same or better record than each of those teams and they have a win over #17 Iowa State.

Realistically, when the new rankings come out tomorrow morning, I believe the Hawkeyes will be sitting at 17th, but there is an outside chance they could move as high as 16th depending on how the voters feel about Villanova’s loss to Marquette. Anything lower than 17 would be a travesty in my personal opinion, but with the favorable schedule the Hawks have coming up, this shouldn’t be the end of their climb in the AP Top-25.

Next. Jordan Bohannon leads improbable comeback vs Northwestern. dark

Looking at the schedule, the Hawks should be favored in at least four of their last seven games. If they can knock off a ranked Maryland team at home and then take down a ranked Wisconsin team at the Kohls Center, they could be looking at three or four seed in the NCAA tournament, which would mean opening weekend matchups in Des Moines, Iowa.

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