IOWA CITY, IOWA- FEBRUARY 01: Guard Jordan Bohannon #3 of the Iowa Hawkeyes drives down the court in the second half against forward Isaiah Livers #4 of the Michigan Wolverines, on February 1, 2019 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena, in Iowa City, Iowa. (Photo by Matthew Holst/Getty Images)After a two-game skid a little while ago, Iowa basketball has now won three straight games. That streak includes a big win over the No. 5 Michigan Wolverines.
Still, ESPN’s Basketball Power Index is a bit bearish on Iowa’s full season outlook. As of today, Iowa is 8-5 in Big Ten play, good for sixth place in the league.
BPI projects that Iowa will stay there. The metric has the Hawkeyes finishing with an 11.8-8.2 conference record, which rounds to 12-8.
That means a 4-3 finish for Iowa, despite a pretty manageable finish to the season.
ESPN
That less than 0.1-percent chance to win the conference also makes the Hawkeyes the top-projected team without a real shot to do so.
Iowa has just two games with currently ranked teams left on the schedule, against the two teams directly ahead of them in the standings and projections: Wisconsin and Maryland.
Here is the full rest of Iowa’s slate:
Feb. 16: at Rutgers
Feb. 19: vs. No. 24 Maryland
Feb. 22: vs. Indiana
Feb. 26: at Ohio State
Mar. 2: vs. Rutgers
Mar. 7: at No. 20 Wisconsin
Mar. 10: at Nebraska
BPI projects Iowa as a No. 4 seed in the NCAA Tournament, with a 24-percent shot of reaching the Sweet 16, and a 1.9-percent run to the Final Four.
Joe Lunardi is a bit less bullish on the Hawkeyes right now. In his latest Bracketology, he has the team as the West No. 6 seed facing UCF in the first round. The top four seeds in that region, in order: Gonzaga, Michigan, Houston, and Louisville.
[ESPN]
