Bracket Talk: Assessing the Hawkeyes NCAA Tournament chances
We have reached the midway point of the college field hockey season, which means it’s time to start looking at how the postseason race is shaping up. The NCAA Tournament has just 18 teams, with ten of the bids going to conference tournament winners. That leaves just eight at-large spots, so every single game matters. HawkeyeReport takes a look at where the Iowa Field Hockey team currently stands and what they need to do to secure an at-large spot during the second half of the regular season.
Breaking down the Hawkeyes 5-3 record…
If the Hawkeyes come up short of the NCAA Tournament, Friday’s shootout loss in Piscataway against Rutgers could be the game that you look back on as the difference. A 6-2 record would feel way different than 5-3 at this point in the season.
Iowa has faced the 8th-toughest strength of schedule, which is helped by the fact that they faced #1 North Carolina and #2 Northwestern away from Iowa City. They have top 30 wins over Delaware (25) and Wake Forest (28), but the loss to Rutgers (13) was a chance at a resume boosting win. The Hawkeyes rank 12th in the FieldHockeyCorner ACR Computer Ranking, which puts them firmly on the NCAA Tournament bubble as of this writing.
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The remaining schedule…
( ) – ACR Computer Ranking
Oct 4: vs #19 Penn State (6-3) (17)
Oct 6: vs #5 Maryland (5-3) (8)
Oct 11: vs Indiana (3-5) (46)
Oct 13: vs #20 Monmouth (6-3) (21)
Oct 18: vs UC Davis (2-6) (51)
Oct 20: vs California (6-1) (15)
Oct 25: at Michigan State (5-4) (41)
Oct 27: at #4 Ohio State (9-0) (4)
Nov 1: vs #8 Michigan (7-1) (7)
The Hawkeyes need to do to boost their tournament chances…
The good news for Lisa Cellucci and Co. is that their strength of schedule is going to stay as one of the best in the country with three top ten teams left to play. It feels like they need to sweep the rest of the non-conference slate, which includes tough home games against California and Monmouth. However, it’s their upcoming contest against Penn State that will be critical. A win would significantly boost their NCAA hopes, while a loss would likely force them into a situation where they would need to upset one of those remaining top ten opponents.
Up Next: The Hawkeyes return to Grant Field on Friday for a meeting with the 19th-ranked Penn State Nittany Lions. The game is set to begin at 5:00pm CT on BTN+.
