ESPN shares initial Iowa women's basketball bracketology

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May 2, 2026 - 15:30
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ESPN shares initial Iowa women's basketball bracketology

Note: This ESPN bracketology projection is for a 68-team NCAA Tournament field, not for the reported 76-team expanded field

Though the 2026-27 women's college basketball season is still months away, the bulk of transfer portal shuffling is now in the rearview.

Iowa would still like to add several more pieces to its roster, but the Hawkeyes likely have their starting five in place now and part of its bench rotation settled as well. Many other power programs around the country are in similar situations with their rosters mostly formed.

With the transfer portal period more or less wrapped up, ESPN shared its first batch of women's bracketology for the 2027 NCAA Tournament.

Here's a look at the key items for Iowa:

Iowa's initial ESPN women's bracketology seeding

Iowa Hawkeyes head coach Jan Jensen calls out to her team Saturday, March 7, 2026, during a Big Ten women's basketball tournament semifinals game at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.

  • Iowa's seed: No. 2 seed

ESPN has Iowa hosting the first- and second-rounds of the 2027 NCAA Tournament. If this projection comes to fruition, it would represent the fifth time in the last six seasons that Iowa has earned hosting rights.

Under ESPN's initial bracketology projection, Iowa would open against 15th-seeded James Madison. If the Hawkeyes won their NCAA Tournament opener, they would meet the winner of No. 7 seed West Virginia and No. 10 seed Syracuse.

Iowa's full Philadelphia Region 2 bracket

Here's a look at the full Philadelphia Region 2 bracket:

  • No. 1 seed: UConn
  • No. 2 seed: Iowa
  • No. 3 seed:LSU
  • No. 4 seed:Notre Dame
  • No. 5 seed: Minnesota
  • No. 6 seed: Maryland
  • No. 7 seed: West Virginia
  • No. 8 seed:Clemson
  • No. 9 seed: Fairfield
  • No. 10 seed: Syracuse
  • No. 11 seed: Murray State
  • No. 12 seed:BYU / Mississippi State
  • No. 13 seed: Eastern Kentucky
  • No. 14 seed: Campbell
  • No. 15 seed: James Madison
  • No. 16 seed: FDU / Lamar

Conference bids breakdown

The Big Ten leads the way with 11 teams in ESPN's projected NCAA Tournament field. That's one more projected bid than the SEC's 10 teams. According to Charlie Creme's current bracketology projections for ESPN, the Big Ten would actually add two more bids if the NCAA Tournament field expands to a 76-team field next season.

Both Michigan State and Indiana are currently among ESPN's first four out.

  • Big Ten: 11
  • SEC: 10
  • ACC: 9
  • Big 12: 8
  • Big East: 2
  • Ivy: 2
  • ASUN: 2
  • West Coast: 2

No. 1 seeds, top overall seed

The top overall seed is last season's national runner-up, South Carolina. Here's the current projected No. 1 seeds:

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This article originally appeared on Hawkeyes Wire: ESPN shares initial Iowa women's basketball bracketology

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