Iowa baseball misses 2025 NCAA Tournament after late-season collapse
Iowa baseball misses 2025 NCAA Tournament after late-season collapse
While it was almost inevitable following a 2-10-1 record to close out the season, Iowa baseball (33-22-1, 21-9 Big Ten) has officially been left out of the NCAA Tournament for the second consecutive year.
Although Iowa far outperformed their expectations (picked No. 9 in the D1Baseball's preseason Big Ten poll) and even found themselves in a position to possibly win their first regular-season title since 1990, their late-season collapse effectively sealed the Hawkeyes fate as the program failed to secure the Big Ten's automatic bid through its conference tournament.
Even with the disastrous skid the Hawkeyes endured in the final three weeks of the season, the program's performance against non-conference competition also significantly influenced their fate.
The Hawkeyes held the No. 183 toughest non-conference strength of schedule out of 307 Division I programs, but finished with a mediocre 9-11-1 record in their 20 games.
While No. 9 Oregon State was the toughest non-conference test for the Hawkeyes, their frustrating early-season four-game series loss to a poor Washington State (18-36, 11-19 Montain West), coupled with numerous midweek losses to teams such as Illinois State (28-28, 15-12 Missouri Valley) and Western Illinois (18-32, 9-18 Ohio Valley), were catastrophic towards their RPI.
Even though one can point out the lack of serious competition in the non-conference schedule as a concern regarding gaining ground in the RPI, the Hawkeyes did not do themselves any favors either by dropping several games against winnable opponents.
As for the remainder of the Big Ten, Hawkeyes' archrival Nebraska (32-27, 15-15) secured the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament with their second consecutive tournament title. The Cornhuskers defeated UCLA (42-16, 22-8) by a 5-0 score in the Big Ten Tournament Championship on Sunday from Charles Schwab Field in Omaha, Neb.
The Cornhuskers will begin play in the Chapel Hill, NC, regional from Bryson Field at Boshamer Stadium as the No. 3 seed. Nebraska will be joined by No. 4 seed Holy Cross, No. 2 seed Oklahoma, and No. 1 seed and host North Carolina.
No. 13 UCLA and No. 7 Oregon were both awarded one of the 16 regional site locations.
The Bruins will host the Los Angeles, Calif., regional from Jackie Robinson Stadium as the No. 1 seed. Accompanying UCLA are No. 2 seed UC Irvine, No. 3 seed Arizona State, and No. 4 seed Fresno State.
The Ducks will host the Eugene, Ore., regional from PK Park as the No. 1 seed. Accompanying Oregon are No. 2 seed Arizona, No. 3 seed Cal Poly, and No. 4 seed Utah Valley.
Lastly, USC squeaked in the tournament by earning an at-large bid as the No. 3 seed in the Corvallis, Ore., regional from Goss Stadium at Coleman Field. The Trojans will be accompanied by No. 4 seed Saint Mary's (CA), No. 2 seed TCU, and No. 1 seed and host Oregon State.
The remainder of the NCAA Tournament field can be seen here, including other regional matchups, locations, information on how to watch, and more.
With Iowa's magical 2025 season ending in disappointment, head coach Rick Heller and the Hawkeyes will need to use the long offseason to recognize and learn from their mistakes, retool the roster, and return stronger when the season begins again in February 2026.
Contact/Follow us @HawkeyesWire on X and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Iowa news, notes, and opinions. Follow Scout on X: @SpringgateNews
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