NCAA Tournament outlook entering postseason

A positive final week of the regular season has Iowa women’s basketball holding steady with a favorable NCAA Tournament outlook.

Following Sunday’s 81-66 win over Wisconsin, which arrived on the heels of Wednesday’s impressive victory at Michigan, the Hawkeyes are standing tall as a No. 6 seed in Charlie Creme’s latest ESPN bracketology released Monday morning. This is the second consecutive projection that has Iowa facing No. 11 seed Columbia, with a win likely sending Jan Jensen’s squad into a matchup vs. No. 3 seed Duke inside Cameron Indoor Stadium.

More important in these prognostications is the seeding rather than the matchups. And Iowa sits in good shape heading to the Big Ten Tournament beginning Wednesday. If the Hawkeyes can win their postseason opener against Wisconsin and topple Michigan State (also a No. 6 seed) in the second round, Iowa should be able to hold on to its No. 6 seed (at worst) on Selection Sunday.

Other potential hosts where Iowa could get sent include the other three No. 3 seeds — TCU, Oklahoma and Kentucky — in this bracketology. The No. 4 seeds here are North Carolina, Alabama, Kansas State and Ole Miss, all possibly in play for the Hawkeyes with a Big Ten Tournament run. It might require beating Ohio State in Friday’s quarterfinal for Iowa to jump up to a No. 5 seed, but the Hawkeyes do carry plenty of momentum to Indianapolis this week.

On the flipside, stumbling against Wisconsin — or potentially even Michigan State — could drop the Hawkeyes to a No. 7 NCAA Tournament seed. That would mean traveling to a No. 2 seed, which are North Carolina State, UConn, LSU and Notre Dame in this bracketology. That feels like a significantly heftier challenge than what Iowa currently has lined up.

The Hawkeyes are again one of 13 Big Ten teams in the projection, with little separation between many of them. That should make for an intense week of Big Ten Tournament action ahead.

USC: No. 1 seed
UCLA: No. 1 seed
Ohio State: No. 5 seed
Maryland: No. 5 seed
Iowa: No. 6 seed
Michigan State: No. 6 seed
Michigan: No. 7 seed
Illinois: No. 8 seed
Oregon: No. 10 seed
Indiana: No. 10 seed
Nebraska: No. 10 seed
Washington: No. 11 seed
Minnesota: No. 11 seed

Elsewhere, CBS Sports had Iowa as a No. 7 seed before Sunday’s win over Wisconsin. Her Hoop Stats had Iowa as a No. 6 seed before the Wisconsin win.

Dargan Southard is a sports trending reporter and covers Iowa athletics for the Des Moines Register and HawkCentral.com. Email him at msouthard@gannett.com or follow him on Twitter at @Dargan_Southard.

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