Iowa Rises in Rankings Despite Loss

The Iowa Hawkeyes, in the program's first season under head coach Ben McCollum, just nearly pulled off what would have been a historic upset on the road. In a 66-62 loss to the Iowa State Cyclones, in which the Hawkeyes led by double-digits for a long stretch in the first half, McCollum's boys in black and gold proved that their blowout defeat at the hands of the Michigan State Spartans the week prior far from defined them.

In fact, it may have been exactly what his team needed to rebound and, even in a loss, take steps forward as a team with a formidable identity in the B1G Conference. Not only is this improvement clear to folks in Iowa City, but on a national level, the Hawkeyes saw a boost in notoriety after the narrow loss, too.

In the KenPom rankings - an analytical rating system that grades teams based on efficiency per 100 possessions - Iowa improved from 27th in the country to 22nd, jumping five spots into the top 25. While not an official AP Poll metric, KenPom has been increasingly used to prove a team's long-term worth in recent years.

A Tough Team

HC McCollum spoke about his team's makeup following the loss, lending a look inside a roster that keeps finding ways to get better regardless of where they end up on the final scoreboard.

"We’re a tough team. If you count the amount of guys that had actual Division I offers out of high school, we don’t have a lot of them," McCollum said of his group.