Iowa is starting the 2026-27 season outside the top tier of the Big Ten preseason conversation.
The Hawkeyes were picked to finish 10th in the conference media poll, which was released Monday morning. Illinois took the top spot with 18 first-place votes, Michigan State landed second with nine first-place votes, and Michigan was projected third with one first-place vote.
That puts Iowa behind the league’s early favorites after a season that ended with a deep NCAA Tournament run under Ben McCollum. The Hawkeyes made a splash in his first year and reached the Elite Eight for the first time since 1987, but the preseason poll didn’t give them much love this time around. No Iowa players were honored on the preseason Big Ten list, either.
Jeremy Fears Jr. of Michigan State was named the preseason Big Ten Player of the Year.
Iowa’s roster still has some real pieces to work with. Cooper Koch, Tate Sage, Kael Combs, Isaia Howard and Cam Manyawu are back, giving McCollum a core that knows what it looks like to win at a high level.
Koch is the top returning scorer after averaging 7.8 points per game and hitting 40% from deep. Sage and Combs each put up 6.1 points per game last season and are expected to take a step forward on offense.
Manyawu returns as the top rebounder from last year’s team after averaging 4.6 boards per game.
McCollum liked what he’s seen from the group this summer, especially the size and shooting.
"When I watch them right now, we have a lot of length, and a lot of length that can shoot," McCollum said this summer. "We have a lot of great kids, tough kids, and I think that some days you feel that we could be better offensively and defensively for about 35 minutes, and the problem is, those last five minutes, we're still trying to figure that out, but it's early.
Some days, we're really good and some days we're not as good. We'll find out once we actually play a team, we'll know exactly where we stand."
At the same time, Iowa had some major departures. All-American guard Bennett Stirtz went in the first round of the 2026 NBA Draft, where the Oklahoma City Thunder took him with the 16th pick. Tavion Banks also entered the transfer portal and will finish his career elsewhere.
McCollum and his staff supplemented the roster through the portal, bringing in guard Ty'Reek Coleman from Illinois State and center Andrew McKeever from Saint Mary's. Coleman averaged 10 points, 2.7 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game last season and shot 41.6% from three. McKeever posted 8.2 points, 9.2 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game while shooting 50% from the floor.
The newcomers have already made their presence felt, according to McCollum.
"All four have made an impact so far. It's too early to tell.
Andrew McKeever, a big kid, 7-foot-3, which is unique for us, and probably around the country, they're not a lot of 7-foot-3 kids, so you have to adjust some things defensively to account for him, and even offensively. Ty'Reek Coleman from Illinois State, and our two freshmen, Ethan Harris and Jaidyn Coon, have been excellent.
I think any one of them can really step up and be good."
Iowa opens the 2026-27 season at home on Tuesday, Nov. 3 against Lipscomb.
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