Hawkeye Basketball: Losses to Purdue, Illinois Drop Iowa in National Polls

The Iowa Hawkeyes had a rough end to their regular season, dropping both games last week, including an inexcusable home loss to unranked Purdue on senior night. While Iowa was able to stay as the 5 seed in the upcoming Big Ten Tournament, they missed the opportunity for a double bye and likely cost themselves in seeding for the NCAA Tournament.

Today, we see they also cost themselves in both the national polls. Fortunately, the Hawkeyes did stay in the rankings in both. Iowa comes in at #25 in the AP this week. Here’s a look at the full rankings.

1. Kansas

2. Gonzaga

3. Dayton

4. Florida State

5. Baylor

6. San Diego State

7. Creighton

8. Kentucky

9. Michigan State

10. Duke

11. Villanova

12. Maryland

13. Oregon

14. BYU

15. Louisville

16. Seton Hall

17. Virginia

18. Wisconsin

19. Ohio State

20. Auburn

21. Illinois

22. Houston

23. West Virginia

24. Butler

25. Iowa

With Michigan and Penn State both falling from the rankings, the Big Ten finishes the regular season with just 5 teams ranked. Michigan State, on their tear over the last few weeks, has jumped into the top 10 as the highest ranked team in the conference. This marks the 8th consecutive week Iowa is in the AP top 25.

In the Coaches Poll, Iowa also fell but was fortunate enough to stay inside the top 25.

Here’s a look at the full Coaches Poll.

1. Kansas

2. Gonzaga

3. Dayton

4. Florida State

5. Baylor

6. San Diego State

7. Kentucky

8. Villanova

9. Creighton

10. Duke

11. Maryland

12. Michigan State

13. Oregon

14. Louisville

15. Seton Hall

16. BYU

17. Auburn

18. Virginia

19. Wisconsin

20. Ohio State

21. Butler

22. Illinois

23. West Virginia

24. Houston

25. Iowa

As with the AP, the Big Ten has five teams in the top 25. Unlike the AP, however, the conference has nobody in the top 10. Michigan State, somehow, still comes in behind Maryland and outside the top 10. This is the 9th straight week for Iowa in the top 25 of the Coaches Poll.

As Iowa prepares to head to Indianapolis for the Big Ten Tournament, they’ll be looking to improve their resume for the NCAA Tournament. The ultimate goals of winning the BTT and advancing beyond the first weekend of the big dance still lie in front of them.

Iowa also has an opportunity to find themselves in the final AP rankings for the third consecutive year. That would mark the first time the Hawkeyes have done so since the 2002-2004 seasons.

Iowa awaits the winner of Minnesota and Northwestern for their game at approximately 1:30 pm CT on Thursday in Indianapolis. The game will be televised on BTN.