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The Hawkeyes has a great week last week, starting with a road win at Northwestern and culminating with another big home win over Michigan. It came at an optimal time with Iowa set to host back-to-back home games in their next two contests and the difficulties we’ve seen this year in the Big Ten.
The two wins were enough to vault the Hawkeyes up both the AP and Coaches poll. The move comes as top-25 teams lost a combined 15 games last week. That’s emblematic of the parity we’ve seen around college basketball this year.
Now the Hawkeyes will have their chance to buck the trend and rack up some wins while in the AP top-25. They re-enter this week at #19 after being tops in “others receiving votes” each of the last two weeks.
- Baylor
2. Gonzaga
3. Kansas
4. San Diego State
5. Florida State
6. Louisville
7. Dayton
8. Duke
9. Villanova
10. Seton Hall
11. Michigan State
12. Oregon
13. Butler
14. West Virginia
15. Kentucky
16. Auburn
17. Maryland
18. Texas Tech
19. Iowa
20. Memphis
21. Illinois
22. Arizona
23. Colorado
24. Rutgers
25. Houston
In the Coaches Poll, Iowa was in a week ago. Like in the AP, they made a nice climb this week on the back of those two wins and a slew of losses from teams ranked ahead of them. The Hawkeyes climbed five spots this week to #19, the same spot they now hold in the AP.
Here’s a look at the full Coaches Poll.
- Gonzaga
2. Baylor
3. Kansas
4. San Diego State
5. Louisville
6. Florida State
7. Dayton
8. Duke
9. Michigan State
10. Seton Hall
11. Villanova
12. Butler
13. Oregon
14. Kentucky
15. West Virginia
16. Auburn
17. Maryland
18. Texas Tech
19. Iowa
20. Memphis
21. Arizona
22. Wichita State
23. Illinois
24. Houston
25. Rutgers
Following back-to-back home wins over ranked opponents, Iowa now has a chance for their third straight. They’ll play host to #24 (AP) Rutgers on Wednesday. The Scarlet Knights come in with 14 wins, matching their total from a year ago, and a top-25 ranking for the first time since 1978-79.
Three of Iowa’s next four games will come against ranked opponents. This following two of the last three being ranked. After Rutgers. The Hawkeyes will host i ranked Wisconsin before traveling to Maryland for a rematch with the #17 Terrapins. Then they’ll return to Carver to take on #21 Illinois.