Iowa men's basketball on the bubble in way-too-early ESPN NCAA Tournament bracketology

With the 2025-26 college basketball season approaching, the Iowa Hawkeyes are generating buzz due to the hiring of new head coach Ben McCollum and a revamped roster from the transfer portal, aiming to return to the NCAA Tournament as a key measure of success.

In ESPN's early bracketology for the 2026 NCAA Tournament, Iowa is projected to barely make the field as a No. 11 seed, earning one of the last four byes, and would face the University of North Carolina Tar Heels, a storied program and projected No. 6 seed, in a first-round game in Oklahoma City's East Region.

The Big Ten conference is strongly represented with 11 projected NCAA Tournament bids, though this trails the SEC, which leads with 14 bids in the early projections.