IOWA CITY, Iowa — It took 16 weeks, but Iowa men's basketball has finally cracked the AP poll for the first time this season, earning a No. 25 spot following Saturday's 75-62 road win over then-No. 18 Ohio State.
The bounce-back win comes on the heels of a disappointing 84-79 loss at Carver-Hawkeye Arena against Michigan.
"We definitely held that sour taste in our mouths coming into this (Ohio State) game and I think that showed," said Iowa senior forward Connor McCaffery, per HawkCentral. "I kept saying in the pregame huddle to play pissed off and I think we did that."
The Hawkeyes' victory improves their record to 18-8 (8-7, Big Ten) and comes at a crucial time in a final five-game stretch before the conference tournament begins on March 9.
Prior to Saturday, Iowa had gone 0-4 against ranked opponents and 0-5 versus Quad 1 opponents in NCAA's NET rankings. The Hawkeyes are 5-3 against Quad 2 opponents, 4-0 vs. Quad 3 and 8-0 vs. Quad 4.
Their current résumé has Iowa listed as the 19th-best team in the country, based on the NET rankings entering Monday and a No. 7 seed for the NCAA Tournament in Joe Lunardi's ESPN Bracketology.
It would likely take a significant collapse for the Hawkeyes to fall out of the March Madness conversation, but as of now they are in a prime position to control their own destiny and continue climbing up the projected seedings.
Earning a top-four spot and a first-round bye for the Big Ten Tournament is also still in the realm of possibilities depending on how things shake out around the conference in the final few weeks of regular season play.
Prior to Feb. 21 tip-offs, Iowa is 1.5 games behind fourth-place No. 22 Ohio State (16-7, 9-5 Big Ten).
Iowa's remaining games
- Feb. 22 vs. Michigan State.
- Feb. 25 at Nebraska.
- Feb. 28 vs. Northwestern.
- March 3 at Michigan.
- March 6 at No. 15 Illinois.
Iowa will look to improve on their 13-3 home record at Carver-Hawkeye Arena when they host Michigan State on Tuesday. The atmosphere could be more electric than usual when two-time All-American Luka Garza returns for an official No. 55 halftime retirement ceremony.
Tip-off between the Spartans and Hawkeyes is scheduled for 6 p.m.
