By JOHN BOHNENKAMP

Iowa’s side of the bracket in the NCAA women’s basketball tournament featured the ghosts of tournaments past.

The Hawkeyes are the No. 1 seed in the Albany 2 Regional, opening play at Carver-Hawkeye Arena on Saturday against either Holy Cross or UT-Martin. But if they want to get out of that bracket and make it to back-to-back Final Fours they’re going to have to travel a road littered with familiar names.

There’s No. 3 seed LSU, last season’s champion that beat Iowa in the title game. Colorado, the No. 5 seed, was conquered by the Hawkeyes in last season’s regional semifinal and Louisville, this year’s No. 6 seed, was Iowa’s victim in the regional final.

Then there’s No. 7 seed Creighton, which beat Iowa in the second round of the 2022 tournament. No. 4 seed Kansas State has split with the Hawkeyes twice this season, beating them in Carver-Hawkeye Arena in November, with Iowa winning the rematch on a neutral court a couple of weeks later. And, just for fun, there’s No. 12 seed Drake, an in-state rival the Hawkeyes also defeated this season.

“A lot of familiarity, for sure,” said Iowa guard Caitlin Clark said, looking ahead at the possible opponents for her final postseason run. “I think that’s what makes it fun, those storylines and familiarity.”

“I was a bit surprised by Kansas State, just because I’ve always heard that (the tournament selection committee) doesn’t like you to play against somebody so early that you’ve already played, and we played them twice already this year,” Iowa coach Bluder said. “But definitely a lot of familiar faces, with Colorado in there and LSU. But I think that’s OK.”

It’s rare air for the Hawkeyes, this No. 1 seed. It’s only the third time this has happened in program history — the 1988 and 1992 teams were No. 1s as well — and while Bluder tried to insist that 1 is a digit that guarantees nothing in the tournament, it does symbolize something special about where her team is considered.

“The No. 1 seed was something that I just think gives credit to our program,” Bluder said Sunday night after the bracket was announced. “It establishes us as one of the very best teams in America. And so it’s just a credit, a recognition which I’m very happy about, but it’s just a number, right?”

It’s a number, and a target, and the Hawkeyes are used to that. They’ve been a top-5 team all season and coupled with their second-place finish last season and the fact they have the nation’s best player in Clark with all of her historic numbers, they’re accustomed with the crucible they’ve faced.

Bluder said one of the lessons she learned from last season’s Final Four run is how to handle all that goes with it, and after a season in which sellout crowds have followed them everywhere, it’s an education in which the Hawkeyes have passed with mostly grade-A efforts.

“I think the thing I feel like we’re more prepared for is atmospheres,” Bluder said. “Like, I feel like every game that we’ve played in this year has been that NCAA atmosphere. It’s been unbelievable crowds. We’ve had our names circled on everybody’s schedule. And so I think that we’re prepared, just because of what we’ve went through throughout the year.”

Clark, of course, is the star of this show, making her final run before becoming the likely No. 1 pick in April’s WNBA draft. Martin is in her sixth and final year. Guard Gabbie Marshall is in her fifth and final year.

As soon as Iowa’s name flashed on ESPN’s bracket, the clock on their careers began a final countdown that no one knows when it will hit all zeros.

“It’s different as a senior, knowing it’s your last year,” Marshall said. “It’s lose-or-go-home, so you want to keep winning and winning. So I think that’s kind of in the back of my mind.”

“You don’t have it one night, you’re out of luck,” Clark said. “But if you do have it and you can string some games together, you can get a special run together.”

“Now it’s real, right?” Martin said. “Time flies when you’re having fun.”

Time is running out. And the ghosts of tournaments and a season past are waiting.

Photo: Iowa guard Caitlin Clark celebrates after the Hawkeyes won the Big Ten Tournament title last week. (Bailey Hillesheim/Icon Sportswire)