Iowa's Long Sweet 16 Drought is Finally Over

Since advancing to the Sweet 16 in 1999, Iowa has made the NCAA tournament an impressive 11 times. On each and every occasion, something went wrong that prevented the team from making it any further than the first weekend. Whether it was tough matchups, cold shooting nights or simply bad luck, the result was always the same.

Even impressive squads, like the one during the 2021-22 campaign that fell to No. 12 seed Richmond in the second round, came up short.

All that disappointment can grind on a team and a program, and it certainly did at Iowa. As such, the university decided to move on from longtime head coach Fran McCaffery after 15 years and hired Ben McCollum, a coach who had just one season of Division I experience. It was a bold move — one that came with uncertainty — but also one that signaled a willingness to embrace change in pursuit of something greater.

That gamble paid off, as the Hawkeyes, thanks to their upset of No. 1-seed Florida, are back in the Sweet 16 for the first time in 27 years. In many ways, it feels like both a breakthrough and a release — the end of years of frustration finally giving way to a moment of triumph.

How long ago was 27 years? Well, social media didn’t exist. Neither did the James Webb Space Telescope. The Iowa football program had just hired the Baltimore Ravens’ offensive line coach to lead the team to the promised land. Yeah, it was a long time ago.

In the intermediary period, Hawkeyes fans had come to the conclusion that the team might have hit its ceiling. There was no other explanation for the constant disappointment and near-misses. Now, all that doubt can be washed away like sand on the beach (not like there are many beaches in Iowa, of course).

No matter the outcome of the rest of this tournament, one thing is for sure: Iowa is mercifully back in the Sweet 16, and that is cause for celebration. And for a fan base that has waited nearly three decades for this moment, that celebration is well-earned.