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America expects Iowa's NCAA Tournament teams to be out by the 2nd weekend
Nathan Ford
Mar. 17, 2016 12:03 pm
America's picks are in, and the state of Iowa isn't expected to have a long stay in this year's NCAA Tournament.
National brackets on ESPN, CBS Sports and Yahoo, which compile the picks of all entrants, have the three Iowa teams out by weekend's end.
That's not too much of a surprise — No. 6 seed Texas is projected by 68 percent of ESPN bracket-makers to dispatch UNI, No. 7 Iowa is a decided second-round underdog to No. 2 Villanova (84-16) and 54 percent of fans give the edge to No. 5 Purdue over No. 4 Iowa State.
Despite ISU's early exit to UAB last season, Iona isn't the most popular 13-over-4 upset. That distinction belongs to Hawaii (21 percent) over Cal.
Eighty-five percent see Iowa State getting past Iona on Thursday, while 61 percent have Iowa besting Temple on Friday.
Hlas: One and done won't cut it for Hawkeyes, Cyclones
No. 1 overall seed Kansas is the favorite to take home the national title in all three brackets. Oklahoma, North Carolina and Michigan State are the other popular Final Four picks.
Iowa State is picked by 0.9 percent of ESPN voters to reach the Final Four — 20th in the nation — Iowa 0.4 percent and UNI 0.1 percent.
Iowa State Cyclones head coach Steve Prohm during a practice day before the first round of the NCAA men's college basketball tournament at Pepsi Center in Denver, Colo., on Wednesday, March 16, 2016. (Isaiah J. Downing/USA TODAY Sports)