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The 9-seeded Iowa Hawkeyes (23-12, 10-10) are set to take on the 4-seeded Nebraska Cornhuskers (28-6, 15-5) in Houston, TX for the first slot in the Elite 8. After the ups and downs of college basketball, it’s genuinely hilarious and a little bit frustrating for the biggest basketball game either of these programs have played in a good long while to take place against each other.
For both teams, it’s been a storybook season – the Huskers rode the nation’s longest winning streak after winning The Crown postseason tournament last year to a top 10 ranking before reality caught up to them. Their 9-0 conference start was stifled by Michigan, which kicked off a 2-4 run. They rebounded in the regular season to finish 15-5 but fell after the double bye in their first game of the conference tournament to eventual champion Purdue. They’re here after smoking Troy for their first NCAA Tournament win and followed it up with their own game-winner on a last second field goal against Vanderbilt.
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The Hawks “book” was one we had seen before… until the twist at the end. Iowa ran out of gas in the conference season and finished 10-10 after an 2-6 finish. They split their games in the conference tournament. Coming into March Madness, this definitely had a “rerun” quality to it. 8/9 game before taking on a behemoth. See you next year? Yet the Hawks did the unthinkable by taking it right to SEC champion Florida and winning on an Alvaro Folgueiras 3-pointer. Wow.
So yeah, maybe in different circumstances, there would be a “happy to be here” mentality from both teams experiencing things which haven’t happened in a long time…or ever. But now that we’re here, the basest instincts take hold: WE HAVE TO WIN. Both sides are thinking it and whomever comes out on top will remind the other fanbase for years and years about what happened.
Can Iowa’s impressive finishing in the tournament carry over against a conference foe?
One area the Hawks had a huge advantage…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/iowa-hoops-previewing-hawkeyes-sweet-112700869.html
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Publish date : 2026-03-26 11:27:00
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