Iowa basketball flirting with exit from CBS Sports Top 25 after loss

Story byRiley Donald, Hawkeyes WireMon, January 12, 2026 at 2:45 PM UTC·2 min readAfter rattling off a very strong start to the season, the Ben McCollum era with the Iowa Hawkeyes has hit its first speed bump of the season. The Hawkeyes have dropped two straight games in Big Ten conference play, and in mid-January, are at a bit of a crossroads. On Saturday, the Hawkeyes hosted the Illinois Fighting Illini as they tried to bounce back from a previous loss to Minnesota, and while they tried to rally together for a furious second-half comeback, they were ultimately doomed by a very slow start that created too big a hole for them to dig out of. AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementThe loss moves Iowa to 12-4 overall, but just 2-3 in Big Ten play. This little bit of a slide has the Hawkeyes flirting with an exit from CBS Sports' Top 25 projected rankings.22.