The Hawkeyes have started much better than everyone thought after the program had to be rebuilt from the ground up.
Iowa had only two returning players on the squad after Fran McCaffery was fired at the end of March, and new head coach Ben McCollum and his staff had the challenging task of replenishing the roster.
After a challenging offseason, the Hawkeyes have opened some eyes to start this season, going 12-3 (2-2 Big Ten), and jumping to No. 19 in the most recent AP Top 25 rankings.
Even though everything has been going better than expected, the early stages of the 2025-2026 season have not been without struggle for the squad.