See where Jan Jensen's Hawkeyes land in the latest bracket updates before beginning postseason play.
Postseason play is now upon us.
Your No. 9 Iowa women's basketball team continues to exceed expectations under second-year coach Jan Jensen and now looks ahead toward a potential exciting postseason run.
That run begins this week at the Big Ten tournament in Indianapolis. The Hawkeyes will be the No. 2 seed and will play the winner of the No. 7 vs. No. 10 seed matchup between Illinois and Michigan State - both teams that Iowa handled in the regular season.
The Hawkeyes, 24-5 overall and 15-3 in Big Ten play, appear to have done more than enough to host an NCAA tournament regional for the fourth time in five years, but the bracket experts sometimes have different mindsets.
Before we can get to those, we have to reveal Iowa's NCAA Evaluation Tool, or 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 Iowa women's basketball ranks in the NET:
Ranking: No. 9
Iowa could lose its first Big Ten tournament game by 60 points and still likely receive a top-3 seed in the NCAA tournament. Okay, that's a bit of an exaggeration, but the NET rankings are based off of total body of work, not just one game.
When you look at what the Hawkeyes have done this season, it's no surprise they're in the comfortable position they're currently in. Iowa owns quality wins over Michigan State, Ohio State, and Maryland, but the key here is that it doesn't have any bad losses on its resume.
That's crucial when vying for a top-3 seed in the NCAA tournament, and the Hawkeyes check all the boxes.
Bracketology
Charlie Creme, ESPN: No. 2 seed
Bracket released on March 2. Connor Groel, CBS Sports: No. 2 seed
Bracket released on March 2 Mitchell Northam, USA TODAY: No. 2 seed
Bracket released on March 4 Looking for a FREE Hawkeyes community?
Don't miss out on our Roundtable community and the latest news! It's completely FREE to join.
Share your thoughts, engage with our Roundtable writers, and chat with fellow members. Download the FREE Roundtable APP and stay even more connected!