The Gazette’s 2025-26 Iowa high school girls basketball mock brackets, first draft

The Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union will release girls basketball postseason pairings later this month.

In the meantime, here is the first draft of The Gazette’s mock pairings.

Teams were placed by the most recent IGHSAU rankings, with a couple of minor tweaks, as well as BC Moore computer ratings and geography.

The plan is another set of these in 2-3 weeks, after the rankings continue to sort themselves out.

Class 5A

(Feb. 18, Feb. 21, Feb. 24)

REGION 1

Sioux City West at Sioux City North, winner at Johnston

Cedar Rapids Kennedy at Ankeny Centennial

REGION 2

Des Moines Lincoln at Marshalltown, winner at West Des Moines Dowling

Waterloo West at Southeast Polk

REGION 3

Muscatine at Ottumwa, winner at Ankeny

Ames at Sioux City East

REGION 4

Council Bluffs Thomas Jefferson at Council Bluffs Abraham Lincoln, winner at West Des Moines Valley

Indianola at Waukee

REGION 5

Des Moines East at Des Moines Roosevelt, winner at Waukee Northwest

Pleasant Valley at Bettendorf

REGION 6

Davenport Central at Davenport West, winner at Cedar Rapids Prairie

Dubuque Senior at Iowa City High

REGION 7

Des Moines North at Urbandale, winner at Cedar Rapids Washington

Linn-Mar at Iowa City Liberty

REGION 8

Davenport North at Dubuque Hempstead, winner at Cedar Falls

Cedar Rapids Jefferson at Iowa City West

Class 4A

(Feb. 18, Feb. 21, Feb. 24)

REGION 1

Harlan at Glenwood, winner at Dallas Center-Grimes

Denison-Schleswig at Lewis Central, winner at Adel ADM

REGION 2

Storm Lake at Sergeant Bluff-Luton, winner at Sioux City Heelan

Fort Dodge at Le Mars, winner at Sioux Center

REGION 3

Des Moines Hoover at Oskaloosa, winner at Norwalk

Knoxville at Winterset, winner at Pella

REGION 4

Grinnell at Newton, winner at Clear Creek Amana

Western Dubuque at Independence, winner at Clinton

REGION 5

Fort Madison at Burlington, winner at Carlisle

Mount Pleasant at Keokuk, winner at North Scott

REGION 6

Mason City at Waterloo East, winner at Waverly-Shell Rock

Webster City at Spencer, winner at MOC-Floyd Valley

REGION 7

Boone at Ballard, winner at Cedar Rapids Xavier

Perry at Gilbert, winner at North Polk

REGION 8

Decorah at Marion, winner at Central DeWitt

Nevada at Bondurant-Farrar, winner at Solon

Class 3A

(Feb. 14, Feb. 18, Feb. 21)

REGION 1

Top bracket

North Fayette Valley at Maquoketa

Oelwein at New Hampton

Bottom bracket

Charles City at Waukon

Osage at Crestwood

REGION 2

Top bracket

Southeast Valley at Cherokee

Eagle Grove at Humboldt

Bottom bracket

Hampton-Dumont/CAL at Clear Lake

Iowa Falls-Alden at Algona

REGION 3

Top bracket

Red Oak at Des Moines Christian

Atlantic at Clarinda

Bottom bracket

Creston at Van Meter

Carroll at Shenandoah

REGION 4

Top bracket

Benton Community at Mount Vernon

South Tama at Alburnett

Bottom bracket

Saydel at Roland-Story

Greene County at Carroll Kuemper

REGION 5

Top bracket

Wilton at Williamsburg

West Liberty at Washington

Bottom bracket

Albia at Mid-Prairie

Fairfield at Davenport Assumption

REGION 6

Top bracket

Camanche at Dubuque Wahlert

Monticello at Anamosa

Bottom bracket

Vinton-Shellsburg at Tipton

Dike-New Hartford at Center Point-Urbana

REGION 7

Top bracket

Sheldon at Forest City

Estherville ELC at Okoboji

Bottom bracket

Western Christian at Spirit Lake

Ida Grove OABCIG at Unity Christian

REGION 8

Top bracket

Clarke at Monroe PCM

Chariton at Pella Christian

Bottom bracket

Central Lee at Mediapolis

Davis County at Centerville

Class 2A

(Feb. 14, Feb. 17, Feb. 20, Feb. 25)

REGION 1

Top bracket

Logan-Magnolia at Tri-Center, winner at Treynor

Underwood at Southwest Valley

Bottom bracket

Eddyville EBF at Van Buren County, winner at Mount Ayr

Central Decatur at Nodaway Valley

REGION 2

Top bracket

Waterloo Columbus at Lisbon, winner at Denver

Wapsie Valley at Jesup

Bottom bracket

Sumner-Fredericksburg at Dyersville Beckman, winner at Hudson

South Winneshiek at MFL MarMac

REGION 3

Top bracket

Hartley HMS at Sibley-Ocheyedan, winner at Rock Valley

Alta-Aurelia at Marcus MMCRU

Bottom bracket

Clarion CGD at Manson-NW Webster, winner at Pocahontas Area

South Hardin at Belmond-Klemme

REGION 4

Top bracket

West Sioux at South Central Calhoun, winner at Central Lyon

Ogden at Ridge View

Bottom bracket

South Hamilton at Madrid, winner at Sioux Central

West Marshall at Woodward-Granger

REGION 5

Top bracket

Danville at West Burlington, winner at Maquoketa Valley

Columbus Community at West Branch

Bottom bracket

Durant at Northeast, winner at Cascade

Louisa-Muscatine at Bellevue

REGION 6

Top bracket

Missouri Valley at Lawton-Bronson, winner at West Lyon

Mapleton MVAOCOU at Westwood

Bottom bracket

West Central Valley at Avoca AHSTW, winner at Hinton

East Sac County at Oakland Riverside

REGION 7

Top bracket

Colfax-Mingo at Interstate 35, winner at Guthrie Center ACGC

Panorama at Grand View Christian

Bottom bracket

Cardinal at Sigourney, winner at Iowa City Regina

Pleasantville at Earlham

REGION 8

Top bracket

Central Springs at North Butler, winner at Emmetsburg

West Fork at Garner GHV

Bottom bracket

East Marshall at Union Community, winner at Grundy Center

Nashua-Plainfield at Aplington-Parkersburg

Class 1A

(Feb. 12, Feb. 17, Feb. 20, Feb. 25)

REGION 1

Top bracket

Council Bluffs St. Albert, bye

Essex at Stanton

Fremont-Mills, bye

Hamburg at Sidney

Bottom bracket

Woodbury Central, bye

Woodbine at Boyer Valley

Heartland Christian at Coon Rapids-Bayard

Griswold at West Monona

REGION 2

Top bracket

Algona Garrigan, bye

Paton-Churdan at Glidden-Ralston

IKM-Manning, bye

Ar-We-Va at Anita CAM

Bottom bracket

North Union, bye

Mason City Newman at Fort Dodge St. Edmond

Northwood-Kensett at Ruthven GTRA

North Iowa at West Hancock

REGION 3

Top bracket

Newell-Fonda, bye

West Bend-Mallard at Trinity Christian

Kingsley-Pierson, bye

Remsen St. Mary’s at Le Mars Gehlen

Bottom bracket

George-Little Rock, bye

Akron-Westfield at Boyden-Hull

Siouxland Christian at Harris-Lake Park

Storm Lake St. Mary’s at South O’Brien

REGION 4

Top bracket

Springville, bye

North Cedar at WACO

Clinton Prince of Peace at Calamus-Wheatland

Midland at Lone Tree

Bottom bracket

Keota, bye

Fort Madison Holy Trinity at Burlington Notre Dame

New London at Highland

Winfield-Mount Union at Wapello

REGION 5

Top bracket

Gladbrook-Reinbeck, bye

Colo-Nesco at Ankeny Christian

Collins-Maxwell at Meskwaki

Conrad BCLUW at Garwin GMG

Bottom bracket

Lake Mills, bye

Don Bosco at North Tama

Ackley AGWSR at Saint Ansgar

Riceville at Clarksville

REGION 6

Top bracket

Lynnville-Sully, bye

BGM at Southeast Warren

Belle Plaine at Martensdale-St. Marys

HLV-TC at Baxter

Bottom bracket

Montezuma, bye

Hillcrest Academy at Pekin

Iowa Valley at North Mahaska

Cedar Valley Christian at English Valleys

REGION 7

Top bracket

Dunkerton, bye

Tripoli at Janesville

West Central at North Linn

Cedar Ridge Christian at East Buchanan

Bottom bracket

Turkey Valley, bye

Elkader Central at Lansing Kee

Clayton Ridge at Edgewood-Colesburg

Easton Valley at Bellevue Marquette

REGION 8

Top bracket

Exira-EHK, bye

Melcher-Dallas at East Union

Moulton-Udell at Murray

Mormon Trail at Moravia

Bottom bracket

East Mills, bye

Lenox at Diagonal

Seymour at Bedford

Lamoni at Wayne

Comments: jeff.linder@thegazette.com