A team that looked nearly dead in the water two or three weeks ago has found late-season life and is making one heck of a charge.

The Iowa Hawkeyes have gone from an NIT team to forcing themselves into the thick of the NCAA Tournament bubble conversation.

Iowa’s road win over Northwestern was a massive, bubble-moving win that created an even clearer path for the Hawkeyes to make the tournament.

The win has thrust them into ESPN’s bubble watch and into the work to do category with one more regular-season game to go.

Every “Work to do” team should take a page from Iowa’s book. The Hawkeyes have won four of five, including road wins at Michigan State and Northwestern.

Fran McCaffery’s group entered the game against the Wildcats being shown well outside the projected field, but winning 87-80 in Evanston will push them up to or very near “first four out” status.

While Iowa has been lighting up the scoreboard during this five-game run (1.21 points per possession), keep in mind the new look in Iowa City is interior-oriented.

The Hawkeyes are carving up opponents inside the arc — while also making their rare 3-point attempts. (updated March 2) – John Gasaway, ESPN

The belief is Iowa remains on the outside looking in but this win has given it a bit of control in its road to the postseason. The Hawkeyes welcome the Illinois Fighting Illinois, a lock for the tournament, next Sunday in the regular-season finale.

If Iowa can knock off the Illini, it may just be enough to show the selection committee that it is getting hot at the right time and earn a bid.

That would leave it up to the committee if no other wins occurred, but the Hawkeyes’ best path is to beat Illinois and snag at least one victory in the Big Ten Tournament.

Wins in the Hawkeyes’ next two games should do the job and punch their ticket to the tournament. Nothing is a guarantee in March, but if Iowa can do that, its resume gets awfully hard to ignore.