By JOHN BOHNENKAMP

Iowa will have to win five games in five days at the Big Ten Tournament to get the conference’s automatic bid into the NCAA tournament.

But if that falls short, coach Fran McCaffery thinks there will be other postseason options for the Hawkeyes.

Iowa (16-15), the 15th seed in the Big Ten Tournament, plays No. 10 Ohio State (17-14) in a first-round game at approximately 5 p.m. (CDT) at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.

The NCAA tournament is a long shot, since no team has won the Big Ten Tournament coming out of the Wednesday first round since the tournament expanded to a fifth day in 2015. Ohio State, a 13 seed in 2023, came the closest by reaching the semifinals in that tournament.

Iowa’s other options would be a spot in the 32-team NIT or the new College Basketball Crown tournament, a 16-team event set for March 31-April 6 in Las Vegas.

“I would expect us to be playing, for sure,” McCaffery said. “And I don’t know that I can answer that question specifically, but I would expect us to be playing.”

The Hawkeyes need one win in Indianapolis to secure their seventh consecutive winning season, and any victory after that enhances their chances at playing somewhere in the postseason.

The last time the tournament was in Indianapolis was 2022, and the Hawkeyes won four games in four days to win that championship.

Iowa, a 5 seed that season, defeated Northwestern in the second round, then beat Rutgers, Indiana and Purdue over the next three days.

“We beat two teams from Indiana,” McCaffery said. “Had leads. Lost leads. Came back and closed out games. That team was really good at that.”

That team included Keegan Murray, who would go on to be a lottery pick in the NBA draft that spring. Three players on the current Hawkeyes — Payton Sandfort, Riley Mulvey and Carter Kingsbury — were also on that team.

Sandfort, then a freshman, made 6 of 10 3-pointers in that tournament. Mulvey played in two games in that tournament. Kingsbury redshirted that season.

“That was a special team in terms of versatility, intellect and toughness,” McCaffery said. “It was a special group to be a part of. An incredibly professional approach, just locked in to win four games in four days against really good teams.

“Payton Sandfort was huge. He was only a freshman, and he was so good. It was fun to watch him develop there. Your hope as a coach is to get a team that knows and understands how to stay together, how to stay in the fight, when things are going (wrong), the other team’s on a run or we’re on a run. How do you manage the clock? How do you manage the game? Do you understand the anatomy of the game? You’ve heard me say that a lot, and those guys understood that extremely well.”

The Hawkeyes have already played in a one-and-done atmosphere. Sunday’s 83-68 win at Nebraska was a win-or-go-home game for both teams.

McCaffery said his team duplicated the approach it has used all season.

“They have been like that every game all year,” McCaffery said. “Clearly there was more at stake with that particular game, for obvious reasons, but they were locked in. But I’ve been proud of them all year in that regard.

“When you work as hard as they have, and continue to fight and compete, and then beat a really good team on the road, it’s a great feeling. So in the locker room, and you saw it spill onto the floor a little bit, they were really excited, and looking forward to the next challenge on Wednesday.”

Photo: Iowa’s Payton Sandfort (20) celebrates after hitting a 3-pointer in the 2022 Big Ten Tournament championship game against Purdue in Indianapolis. (Zach Bolinger/Icon Sportswire)