As Iowa women’s basketball (26-6, 15-3 Big Ten) enters the 2026 NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament as a No. 2 seed and host of the first- and second-rounds, where do the Hawkeyes rank in the March 16 update to the AP Top 25 Women’s College Basketball Poll?
Iowa remains the No. 7 team nationally in the latest AP Top 25 Poll, with the only movement coming between Ohio State and West Virginia. In that particular situation, the Mountaineers and Buckeyes simply swapped spots, with Ohio State falling from No. 11 to No. 12.
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In addition to Iowa, six other Big Ten squads are within the updated top 25. UCLA leads the group at No. 2, followed by No. 9 Michigan, No. 12 Ohio State, No. 17 Maryland, No. 18 Minnesota, and No. 20 Michigan State.
Oregon (six points) and Illinois (three points) are the only conference representatives in the receiving votes category.
Iowa opens the NCAA Tournament against No. 15 seed Fairleigh Dickinson (30-4, 18-0 Northeast Conference) from Carver-Hawkeye Arena on Saturday, March 21 at 3 p.m. CT. That matchup will be broadcast on ESPN.
Here’s a look at the full AP Top 25 Women’s College Basketball Poll for Week 19:
|
Rank |
Team |
Record |
PTS |
1st |
Prev |
Chg |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
1 |
34-0 |
772 |
28 |
1 |
– |
|
|
2 |
31-1 |
747 |
3 |
2 |
– |
|
|
3 |
31-3 |
713 |
0 |
3 |
– |
|
|
4 |
31-3 |
682 |
0 |
4 |
– |
|
|
5 |
27-5 |
643 |
0 |
5 |
– |
|
|
6 |
27-4 |
610 |
0 |
6 |
– |
|
|
7 |
26-6 |
560 |
0 |
7 |
– |
|
|
8 |
24-8 |
547 |
0 |
8 |
– |
|
|
9 |
25-6 |
485 |
0 |
9 |
– |
|
|
10 |
24-7 |
468 |
0 |
10 |
– |
|
|
11 |
27-6 |
452 |
0 |
12 |
1 |
|
|
12 |
26-7 |
450 |
0 |
11 |
1 |
|
|
13 |
27-7 |
439 |
0 |
13 |
– |
|
|
14 |
29-5 |
420 |
0 |
14 |
– |
|
|
15 |
26-7 |
306 |
0 |
15 |
– |
|
|
16 |
23-10 |
284 |
0 |
16 |
– |
|
|
17 |
23-8 |
272 |
0 |
17 |
– |
|
|
18 |
22-8 |
234 |
0 |
18 |
– |
|
|
19 |
23-11 |
211 |
0 |
19 |
– |
|
|
20 |
22-8 |
191 |
0 |
20 |
– |
|
|
21 |
24-8 |
128 |
0 |
21 |
– |
|
|
22 |
22-10 |
105 |
0 |
22 |
– |
|
|
23 |
26-3 |
94 |
0 |
23 |
– |
|
|
24 |
22-9 |
60 |
0 |
24 |
– |
|
|
25 |
25-7 |
52 |
0 |
25 |
– |
Others Receiving Votes
Alabama 44; Fairfield 41; Villanova 27; Colorado 11; Rhode Island 11; Oregon 6; South Dakota State 6; Illinois 3; North Dakota State 1;
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This article originally appeared on Hawkeyes Wire: Iowa women’s basketball AP Top 25 ranking entering NCAA Tournament
