Program history

Northern Iowa
in the tournament.

9 appearances · 5–9 all-time · 1990–2026

Northern Iowa appears in 9 tournaments in this archive, between 1990 and 2026, with an all-time record of 5–9.

In its opening game it is 4–5. 4 of its 5 games decided by three points or fewer went its way.

Its biggest upset as the underdog came in 1990, when a 14th seed beat the 3rd-seeded Missouri 74–71.

Its longest run of consecutive appearances is 3, from 2004 to 2006. Its longest absence ran 14 years, between 1990 and 2004.

This archive carries no numeric seed before 1979. Since then it has entered as high as a 5th seed and as low as a 14th.

Season by season

Every tournament appearance by Northern Iowa in the archive. This archive carries no numeric seed before 1979. Season records and coaches come from the sourced season shards.
Year	Seed	Record	Coach	Conference	Finish
1990	14	23–9	Eldon Miller	Mid-Continent Conference	lost in the Second Round to Minnesota, 78–81
2004	14	21–10	Greg McDermott	Missouri Valley Conference	lost in the Round of 64 to Georgia Tech, 60–65
2005	11	21–11	Greg McDermott	Missouri Valley Conference	lost in the Round of 64 to Wisconsin, 52–57
2006	10	23–10	Greg McDermott	Missouri Valley Conference	lost in the Round of 64 to Georgetown, 49–54
2009	12	23–11	Ben Jacobson	Missouri Valley Conference	lost in the round of 64 to Purdue, 56–61
2010	9	30–5	Ben Jacobson	Missouri Valley Conference	lost in the regional semifinal to Michigan State, 52–59
2015	5	31–4	Ben Jacobson	Missouri Valley Conference	lost in the round of 32 to Louisville, 53–66
2016	11	23–13	Ben Jacobson	Missouri Valley Conference	lost in the round of 32 to Texas A&M, 88–92 (OT)
2026	12	23–13	Ben Jacobson	Missouri Valley Conference	lost in the round of 64 to St. John's, 53–79

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