Hawkeye Basketball: Iowa’s Win Over Ohio State Vaults Them Up AP, Coches Poll

The Iowa Hawkeyes picked up a big time home win last Thursday as they took down #25 Ohio State in convincing fashion, despite being without CJ Fredrick yet again. With just the one game for the week, Iowa fans were able to sit back and enjoy a weekend of college basketball without the rising blood pressure of a Hawkeye game.

And what a weekend of college hoops it was. In total, 11 top-25 teams lost between Saturday and Sunday. That included #1 Baylor, #2 Gonzaga and #4 San Diego State. The Big Ten also saw #7 Maryland and #9 Penn State fall on the road. Interestingly, Iowa was the only team ranked between 17-22 to not lose over the weekend.

Obviously, all the carnage has led to a shakeup in the national polls. In the AP, Iowa climbed from #20 a week ago to #18 this week, jumping the 17-19th ranked teams in front of them, but being leapfrogged by BYU, who knocked off then #2 Gonzaga over the weekend.. Here’s a look at the full rankings.

1. Kansas

2. Baylor

3. Gonzaga

4. Dayton

5. San Diego State

6. Florida State

7. Duke

8. Kentucky

9. Maryland

10. Creighton

11. Louisville

12. Villanova

13. Seton Hall

14. Oregon

15. Auburn

16. Penn State

17. BYU

18. Iowa

19. Michigan

20. West Virginia

21. Colorado

22. Texas Tech

23. Ohio State

24. Michigan State

25. Houston

In the Coaches Poll, Iowa jumps back to where they were two weeks ago. After falling from #17 to #20 last week, the Hawkeyes are back to #17 this week. Here’s a look at the full Coaches Poll.

1. Kansas

2. Baylor

3. Dayton

4. Gonzaga

5. San Diego State

6. Florida State

7. Duke

8. Maryland

9. Kentucky

10. Louisville

11. Creighton

12. Villanova

13. Seton Hall

14. Penn State

15. Auburn

16. Oregon

17. Iowa

18. BYU

19. West Virginia

20. Colorado

21. Texas Tech

22. Michigan

23. Ohio State

24. Michigan State

25. Arizona

This week sees the Big Ten with 6 teams in the top-25 of the AP, the most of any conference in America. The conference remains punished for its depth by not having any teams in the top 5 and just Maryland alone in the top 10. The Big 12, conversely, has only four teams ranked total, but have the top two teams in the AP poll. We’ll likely see the Big Ten with no #1 seeds in the NCAA Tournament, but may see more teams from the conference in the Sweet Sixteen than from any other.

The Hawkeyes have a brutal final stretch of a schedule coming up with two road trips and likely three contests against ranked opponents (Illinois is second in others receiving votes with games against Nebraska and Northwester on deck this week). Iowa will travel to #24 Michigan State Tuesday night. The Hawkeyes have won in East Lansing just three times since 1990. This will mark the first time Iowa has been the higher ranked team in the contest since the 2006 Big Ten Tournament, when Iowa won 53-48. Tuesday’s game is a 6pm CT tip.