The Iowa Hawkeyes are expected to be dancing around the bubble during the 2024-25 men’s college basketball season according to many of the national pundits.
With the start of the season now less than 100 days away, it won’t be too long before the Hawkeyes lace ’em up and look to track down a berth into the NCAA Tournament. Iowa will be seeking to return to the tournament after missing out for the first time since the 2017-18 campaign.
Last season’s 19-15 (10-10 Big Ten) finish snapped the Hawkeyes’ stretch of four straight NCAA Tournament tickets.
As Iowa looks to reverse its fortune, it will do so without many experts around the country forecasting the Hawkeyes to do so. Just like in ESPN’s May bracketology update, Iowa is once again among Joe Lunardi’s “Next Four Out” in his “On The Bubble” category in ESPN’s July update to bracketology.
Iowa joins USC, Wisconsin and NC State among Lunardi’s “Next Four Out.”
Men’s Bracketology: 2025 NCAA Tournament https://t.co/146SOUuyXo. 🏀🏀 Cooper Flagg and Duke have grabbed all the offseason attention, but it might be that North Carolina is the favorite when the ACC conducts its preseason poll in October. The Tar Heels have risen to a No. 2 seed…
— Joe Lunardi (@ESPNLunardi) July 30, 2024
In a show of the league’s strength, Lunardi currently projects 10 of the 18 Big Ten squads to make the Big Dance. That matches the SEC for the most bids of any conference nationally.
Rutgers, Oregon, Maryland and Nebraska each join USC, Wisconsin and Iowa as Big Ten teams that are squarely on the forecasted bubble.
Rutgers joins Miami, Kansas State and Saint Mary’s among Lunardi’s “Last Four Byes,” Oregon and Maryland join Villanova and Pittsburgh among the “Last Four In” and Nebraska joins Georgia, Louisville and VCU among the “First Four Out.”
Rutgers earned a No. 9 seed, while Oregon and Maryland were each seeded as No. 11s.
Purdue is projected as the Big Ten’s automatic qualifier and earned the league’s highest projected seed as the No. 4 in the South Region.
Indiana is projected as a No. 5 seed, UCLA as a No. 6 seed, Illinois and Michigan State as No. 7 seeds and Michigan and Ohio State as No. 8 seeds.
Lunardi’s No. 1 seeds are Kansas as the top overall seed, fellow Big 12 member Houston, two-time defending national champion UConn and Alabama out of the SEC.
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