The Iowa Hawkeyes have become accustomed to success in recent years thanks to the play of Caitlin Clark, who led to the national title game in back-to-back seasons. Iowa wasn't able to win its first championship, but the team was right on the precipice thanks to Clark.
But the 2024-25 Hawkeyes had to replace both their star guard and their head coach, with Clark off for the WNBA and Lisa Bluder retiring. Bluder was replaced by long-time Iowa assistant coach Jan Jensen. The team is currently 19-9 on the year, so the transition has gone pretty smoothly.
Will Iowa make the NCAA Tournament in its first season without Caitlin Clark?
What Iowa's done this season
The Hawkeyes opened the season unranked, but made it up as high as No. 17 in the poll. Iowa opened the year on an eight-game win streak, leading to hope that the team would still be among the nation's best.
Those hopes have been dashed in conference play though. While the team only lost one non-conference game, a respectable 10-point defeat against Tennessee in December, it's gone 9-8 in Big Ten play.
Iowa brought in Villanova transfer guard Lucy Olsen to play the Clark role. She's been good, averaging 17.9 points and 4.9 assists per game, but she hasn't been the otherworldly player that Clark was.
The highlight of the season and the best resume boost Iowa has was a 76-69 win over USC on Feb. 2. That was the day that the team retired Clark's No. 22 jersey and the emotions of that moment helped spark a huge game from Iowa, knocking off a superior JuJu Watkins-led Trojans team. Olsen had 28 points, though they didn't come in a very Clark-esque way as all 10 of her made field goals were inside the paint.
Is Iowa currently going to make the tournament?
On Friday, ESPN's Charlie Creme released his latest Women's Bracketology, forecasting what teams would make the 68-team field.
Iowa is in the field as a No. 6 seed, with the team projected to face No. 11 seed Columbia in the first round. The projected bracket has No. 3 Duke and No. 14 seed Purdue Fort Wayne in the same pod as the Hawkeyes.
That might be a far cry from where Iowa was seeded with Clark on the roster, but the Olsen-led Hawkeyes have done a good job building a tournament resume.
What do the Hawkeyes need to do to earn a tournament berth?
With Creme projecting Iowa as a No. 6 seed, it's safe to say that the Hawkeyes are safely in the field for this year's NCAA Tournament. The most number of losses that the team can still get at this point are two — it plays Wisconsin to close the regular season and then would play a TBD team in the NCAA Tournament.
The game against Wisconsin could lead to Iowa dropping down a line or two though if the Hawkeyes are upset by a school that is 4-13 in conference play. It's not a must-win as far as making the tournament goes, but it is a must-win if the team wants to maintain a spot as a six seed.
Iowa could also move up if it makes a run in the NCAA Tournament, but there's limited room to move up. With nine losses already this season, Iowa probably won't be able to move up above the No. 6 line unless it's able to get some huge wins in the conference tournament, like beating both USC and UCLA. Even then, it would be a surprise to see the team move up beyond the No. 5 seed line. The team's middling run in Big Ten play will prevent it from hosting the first weekend at Carver-Hawkeye Arena, no matter how well the conference tournament goes.