An Elite Eight run can change the temperature around a program fast, but it also changes the conversation. At Iowa, the conversation has already moved on.
Ben McCollum’s first season in charge gave the Hawkeyes a jolt few outside the program saw coming. After taking over for Fran McCaffery in March 2025, McCollum had to piece together a rebuild in a matter of months, even with a résumé that already included four Division II national championships at Northwest Missouri State. The bar was never set at a miracle run, and yet Iowa delivered one anyway, storming to the Elite Eight for the first time since 1987 under Tom Davis.
Now the challenge is different. The program has felt success, and the people inside it do not sound interested in treating that as the finish line.
Trey Thompson and Cam Manyawu made that clear, stressing that getting to the Elite Eight was nice, but it was never the actual goal. They want a Final Four, something Iowa has not reached since 1980. They also weren’t sugarcoating last season’s Big Ten finish, calling Iowa’s ninth-place result “abysmal.”
That kind of bluntness says a lot about where the Hawkeyes are mentally heading into year two under McCollum. The first season was about proving the program could be rebuilt on the fly. The second is about proving the breakthrough wasn’t a one-off.
The roster now has to carry that expectation without leaning on the past. Returning players like Manyawu and Thompson will be key in bringing the newcomers along and keeping the standard moving upward.
Iowa is also in a different spot personnel-wise, even without star guard Bennett Stirtz, who is currently with the Oklahoma City Thunder. The group looks more balanced, and that gives the Hawkeyes a chance to build something sturdier.
McCollum got help in the transfer portal with Ty'Reek Coleman and Andrew McKeever, while the 2026 class brought in 2026 Iowa Mr. Basketball Jaidyn Coon and forward prospect Ethan Harris. That mix gives Iowa more options, but it also means more players will have to step up.
Coleman is the most intriguing piece right away, especially as the de facto Stirtz replacement. Tate Sage is another name to watch after a strong first season, and McKeever brings size in the paint. Iowa also has a cluster of guard-forward hybrids, which creates competition for minutes and gives the staff flexibility on both ends.
It’s a young roster, but one with plenty of talent. The question now is how it functions without Stirtz carrying so much of the offense.
Iowa has already shown it can rise fast. The next step is pushing even farther.
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Iowa Fans Wont Love What This New QB Ranking Suggests
EA Sports College Football 27 gives Iowa plenty to like elsewhere, with a deep roster that should look familiar to anyone who has watched the Hawkeyes lean on defense, line play and overall depth. The quarterback room, though, is a different story. Jeremy Hecklinski and Hank Brown are the names at the center of it, and the games initial ratings put both well below where Iowa would hope to be at the sports most important position.
For fans, the concern is less about a video game number than what it hints at for the real season ahead. Iowa is expected to sort through Brown or Hecklinski under center, and neither has started a game for the Hawkeyes yet. The challenge now is obvious: prove on the field that the rating is too low, and give the program a reason to believe the quarterback position can climb out of the bottom tier. [Read more 🡒]
Iowa Football Faces An Uncomfortable 2027 Recruiting Reality
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The bigger question is how much that ranking really matters in Iowa City, where Kirk Ferentzs staff has never relied on splashy recruiting alone to stay competitive. The Hawkeyes have leaned more heavily on the transfer portal to balance the roster and have shown they can still patch together a capable team even when the high school class is slow to build, but the current pace leaves plenty of room for concern until the next wave of commitments arrives. [Read more 🡒]
Top Iowa Prospect Is Coming Home After A Brutal Twist
Brett Harris had spent much of his senior year at Western Dubuque High School looking like one of Iowas most promising baseball prospects, with his play on both the baseball diamond and the football field keeping him squarely on the radar of college programs. The senior had originally committed to Ole Miss, a path that seemed to fit the kind of talent and profile he had built in Dubuque.
Instead, Harris is now headed to the University of Iowa after Ole Miss withdrew its scholarship offer, a stunning turn for a player who has kept competing while undergoing radiation treatment for a brain tumor. The move sends one of the states top prospects closer to home at a time when his athletic future has already been tested far beyond the usual recruiting drama, and it adds another layer to a story that has drawn attention well beyond the box scores. [Read more 🡒]