Iowa Women's Basketball Bracketology Update

Selection Sunday is just six days away and the Iowa women’s basketball team is in the clubhouse, so to speak, with a 29-4 overall record and a Big Ten Tournament championship under their belts. Now, they will take a week to rest and recover, before they learn their regional assignment. News flash, they will host a regional in Iowa City for the fifth time in ten seasons. Coming into the weekend, the Hawkeyes were projected as a 2 seed, but that was before they defeated Penn State, Michigan and Nebraska en route to their third straight Big Ten Tournament title. So did they do enough to earn their first one seed since 1992?

Assessing the Hawkeyes resume

The Hawkeyes put together an impressive resume, but after South Carolina, there are roughly six teams getting consideration for the one line. So, how does Iowa’s resume stack up? They are 5-3 against the NET Top 25, but are actually 9-4 against the NET Top 27. Nine wins against that grouping is more than any of the seven teams being considered for a one seed. Their 14 wins against the NET Top 50 and 21 wins against the NET Top 100 only trails South Carolina. Yes, Iowa would have liked to bolster their resume with wins over Indiana and/or Ohio State this week, but they have a solid case for the #2 overall seed.

What the bracketologists are saying…

ESPN – 1 Seed – Charlie Creme has the Hawkeyes as a one seed in the Alabany 2 Region in his latest bracket update on Sunday night. He has Iowa as the #2 overall seed facing the winner of a 16 seed play-in game between projected NEC AQ Sacred Heart and projected Patriot League AQ Holy Cross. The 8v9 matchup is Florida State against Alabama. Other notable teams in the region include, UCLA (2), UConn (3), Oklahoma (4), Colorado (5) and Duke (6).

HerHoopStats – 1 Seed – Megan Gauer has the Hawkeyes as a one seed in the Albany 3 Region in her latest bracket update on Sunday night. She has Iowa facing projected Big West AQ UC Irvine (16) in the first round, with Tennessee (8) and Iowa State (9) facing off the in the other Iowa City Regional matchup. Other notable teams in the region include, UCLA (2), UConn (3), Virginia Tech (4), Colorado (5) and Louisville (6).

Teams to watch out for come Selection Sunday…

8/9 Seeds: Tennessee, Kansas, UNLV, Princeton, Iowa State

Tennessee and Kansas would be the scariest teams that Iowa could face in the second round of the tournament. Do you really want to see the preseason #11 Vols with First Team All-SEC F Rickea Jackson? They have a win over Oklahoma and have played South Carolina tough three different times, while they don’t have a loss lower than NET 43. Meanwhile, Kansas is that protypical “peaking at the right time” team. They’ve won nine of their last 11 games and boast 6’6 C Taiyanna Jackson and G S’Mya Nichols. Both were First Team All-Big 12 selections.

A couple of mid-majors to know, UNLV and Princeton could cause some trouble if they land in Iowa City. The Lady Rebels just know how to win. They are 27-2 this season, including wins over Arizona and Oklahoma. They have MW POY C Desi-Rae Young. Princeton have been an AP Top 25 team at times this season and are 23-4 overall going into the Ivy League Tourney. The Tigers have wins over Oklahoma and Middle Tennesse, while they took UCLA and Indiana to the wire. Their PG Kaitlyn Chen is already in the transfer portal and is getting interest from some big names schools.

I don’t think the selection committee would do this, but you can’t rule out Iowa State here. They are in line for this seed line and it certainly would be a good one considering the fact that Iowa had to eek out a 67-58 win in Ames back in December. Audi Crooks and Addy Brown were All-B12 Freshman Team selections.

4/5 Seeds: Gonzaga, Oklahoma, Virginia Tech, Colorado

Looking ahead to the Sweet 16, there are a couple of familiar faces that Iowa could see and a couple of new ones to be aware of. Starting with the new ones, Gonzaga is looking to be the first team to earn a top four seed since Delaware in 2012. They are 29-2 with wins over Stanford, Alabama, South Dakota State and Arizona. 6’1 F Yvonne Ejim would be a handful, as she won WCC POY and DPOY. As for Oklahoma, they would have a coaching storyline, as HC Jennie Baranczyk played under Lisa Bluder at Iowa from 2000-04. On the court, the Sooners are 22-8, with wins over Texas (x2), Kansas State, Iowa State, Ole Miss and Baylor. F Skylar Vann was Co-Big 12 POY, while G Payton Verhulst was an All-Big 12 selection.

Looking at the familiar faces, Virginia Tech is sitting on the four seed line right now and the Hawkeyes defeated them way back in November in the Ally Tipoff. The health of Elizabeth Kitley is a question mark, but another matchup with her and PG Georgia Amoore would be fun. Then there is Colorado, the Hawkeyes Sweet 16 opponent last year. At one point, they were in the one seed talk, but they lost six of their last eight. Still, G Jaylynn Sherrod and C Aaronette Vonleh earned All-Pac 12 honors.

2 Seeds: LSU, UCLA, Texas, Stanford

These opponents are a long way away. Now, we are talking potential Elite Eight matchups. LSU would bring the most storylines, as it would be a rematch of the last years national title game. The Angel Reese vs Caitlin Clark matchup would bring a lot of eye balls.

It could be UCLA. They are 25-6 and were on the one seed line until they fell to USC in the Pac 12 semifinals. The Bruins have three All-Pac 12 players, including G Kiki Rice and C Lauren Betts. Stanford would a tough matchup in the interior with C Cameron Brink and F Kiki Iriafen. They might be snap up the final one seed spot if Texas doesn’t win the Big 12 Tournament. Then there is the aforementioned Longhorns. At 28-4, defeating KSU and ISU/OU to win the Big 12 would jump them to a one seed. Big 12 FPOY Madison Booker leads the way for them.