See where the Iowa men's and women's basketball teams landed in this week's bracket projections from various national experts.
Though its only Jan. 9, it's never too early to start thinking about the NCAA tournament.
Both the Iowa men's and women's have good chances to crash the party this season, and various national experts have the Hawkeye teams listed on their bracket projections. But before we can get to those, we have to reveal each squad's NCAA Evaluation Tool - commonly known as the NET ranking.
According to the official NCAA website, the NET ranking is defined as this: The NET includes more components than just winning percentage. It takes into account game results, strength of schedule, game location, net offensive and defensive efficiency, and the quality of wins and losses.
The NET ranking also determines the quality of wins a team can have to booster its NCAA tournament resume. The NCAA created a quadrant system to break this down. Quadrant 1 wins are considered the best, while a Quadrant 4 loss is considered to be detrimental to a team's tournament resume.
Using the quadrant system, which was in its fourth season in 2020-21, the quality of wins and losses will be organized based on game location and the opponent's NET ranking.
- Quadrant 1: Home 1-30, Neutral 1-50, Away 1-75
- Quadrant 2: Home 31-75, Neutral 51-100, Away 76-135
- Quadrant 3: Home 76-160, Neutral 101-200, Away 135-240
- Quadrant 4: Home 161-353, Neutral 201-353, Away 241-353
The number of Quadrant 1 wins and Quadrant 3/4 losses will be incredibly important when it comes time for NCAA tournament selection and seeding.
With all of that being taken into consideration, here's where both Iowa basketball teams rank in the NET:
Iowa Women's Basketball: No. 15
Though Iowa hasn't had a signature win yet, its putting together an excellent resume so far. Three Quad 1 wins (Nebraska, Baylor, Miami FL) are nice additions to the list, and the Hawkeyes will have plenty of opportunities to increase that number, beginning with a trip to Indiana on Sunday. Iowa has also avoided the dreaded Quad 3 or Quad 4 loss, something that will be crucial if it wants to earn the coveted hosting seed.
Iowa Men's Basketball: No. 18
On the men's side, the resume is a little different. Like the women's team, Iowa has avoided a bad loss, but the lack of any quality wins on the resume could hurt them come Selection Sunday. But it's only January, and the road to adding a plethora of Quad 1 wins is very much in play. The Hawkeyes' next three games - Illinois, Purdue, Indiana - will all be Quad 1 opportunities.
Why is Iowa's NET ranking so high? The Hawkeyes have done what many teams (including Iowa State) have done since the tool's creation - beat up on bad teams to inflate the metrics. Winning big games will ultimately be the difference, but if the Hawkeyes can do that and avoid horrible losses, they could position themselves for a good seed in March.
Iowa Women's Basketball Bracketology Projections:
Charlie Creme, ESPN: No. 4 seed
Iowa's current metrics have it in a good position to hosting a regional in Iowa City for the fourth time in five seasons, and that's exactly what Creme projected in his first bracket release of the New Year. Creme has the Hawkeyes as a No. 4 seed in Region 4 - Sacramento, where they would face off against No. 13 UNLV. Should Iowa win that game, they would likely be pitted against No. 5 seed Ole Miss. Other notable teams in this projected region include No. 1 seed UCLA and No. 3 Iowa State, who defeated the Hawkeyes in December.
Interested in reading Creme's full bracket projection? Check it out here.
Mitchell Northam, USA TODAY: No. 4 seed
Northam didn't provide a full bracket, but he listed the Hawkeyes as the No. 13 overall seed in the Field of 68, which would make Iowa the top No. 4 seed. His No. 1 seeds were UConn, Texas, South Carolina, and UCLA.
Megan Gauer, Her Hoop Stats: No. 4 seed
Gauer is the third bracketology expert to project Iowa as a No. 4 seed. She has Iowa playing No. 13 seed Ball State in Iowa City, with a potential date against Niele Ivey's Notre Dame Fighting Irish in the second round. The No. 1 seed in the Fort Worth 2 Region is UConn, who blasted the Hawkeyes by 26 points on Dec. 20.
Interested in Gauer's full bracket projection? Click here.
Iowa Men's Basketball Bracketology Projections:
Joe Lunardi, ESPN: No. 6 seed
Lunardi gives Iowa both an unfavorable and favorable draw. Considering San Diego, Tampa, Portland, Tampa, and Philadelphia are on the table, playing in Oklahoma City wouldn't be the worst thing for the Hawkeyes. OKC is roughly a 10-hour drive from Iowa City, but it's just over a seven-hour drive from the state capital of Des Moines, so it's possible for fans to drive to.
If Iowa advances past No. 11 seed VCU, it would likely be pitted against No. 3 seed Houston - last season's runner-up. Other notable seeds in the Midwest region are No. 1 Michigan, No. 2 Vanderbilt, and No. 5 Tennessee.
Click here for Lunardi's full bracket projection.
Michael DeCourcy, FOX Sports: No. 6 seed
DeCourcy also has Iowa as a No. 6 seed in the Midwest Region, which would be a huge bonus for the Hawkeyes if it can somehow reach the second weekend, as the region is located in Chicago this year, where many Iowa fans reside. Houston remains the No. 3 seed in this bracket, but Iowa would face No. 11 Miami instead of VCU, which would be an intriguing matchup.
Joe Rexrode, The Athletic: No. 6 seed
Rexrode also has Iowa as a No. 6 seed, albeit in the West Region, which is played in San Jose this year. The Hawkeyes would again play No. 11 Miami in this scenario, but the No. 3 seed here is BYU, which boasts No. 1 overall recruit AJ Dybansta. Unbeaten and No. 1 Arizona is the top seed in this bracket.
Click here for the full projection.
For more men's bracket projections, check out this link here.
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