College basketball season is nearly upon us, and that means another chance for the Iowa Hawkeyes to continue the program's upward trajectory, as it has been on for the last decade. That starts from the top.

Jan Jensen, who has been with Iowa since 2000 in different coaching capacities, enters her third year as the head coach. The reality of this year is that some urgency does exist for the Hawkeyes to get back to where they believe that they belong.

Iowa has made the NCAA Tournament in both of her seasons as the head coach, but has followed that up with two early exits in the Round of 32. A trip to the Sweet 16 feels urgent this year for Iowa, a program that has made five trips there since 2015. The urgency starts right off the bat for Iowa.

Women's Basketball Preseason Rankings

The journey to that point for the Iowa Hawkeyes is going to begin with a large target on their back. From the jump, Iowa is going to have a giant red bullseye on them for teams to try to pull off the upset, due to being ranked No. 10 in the preseason AP Top 25.

AP Women's College Basketball Preseason Top 10

1) South Carolina
2) UConn
3) USC
4) Duke
5) Michigan
6) Texas
7) Louisville
8) Vanderbilt
9) LSU
10) Iowa Hawkeyes

Does Iowa really belong in the top 10?

The Iowa Hawkeyes have not won fewer than 20 games since the 2015-16 season. They haven't missed the NCAA Tournament since the 2019-20 season. Those metrics right there are among the best in college basketball, a sport that is top-heavy and sees rapid turnover of program success.

There is no question that Iowa has brought in the talent, via multiple channels, to pair with existing stars to be a top-10 team. Iowa brought in Dani Carnegie and Amari Whiting, two instant contributors, along with five-star do-it-all talent McKenna Woliczko.

That trio joins Ava Heiden, Taylor Stremlow, Chazadi Wright, and Journey Houston to give Iowa a deep, well-rounded group to match up well against all sorts of styles they will see this year.

The thing is, Iowa won't have to wait long to prove and find out if it's a top-10 team during the 2026-27 season. The Hawkeyes have two top-10 showdowns early in the year, with a trip to Storrs, Connecticut, to take on UConn, and a date with Vanderbilt in Sioux City, Iowa.