The Tale of Two Teams
By B-sox
What a difference a weekend makes right? Here we are on the edge of the Sweet Sixteen, living in a parallel universe if you went by what the “experts” said. For our two teams that made it to the tournament, the stories couldn’t have been different.
Starting in February, Iowa went on an amazing run to end the regular season. 12-2 over the last two months of the season, and then made an unbelievable run in the Big Ten Tournament winning it for the first time since the Alford era. A long-awaited moment of triumph had finally arrived.
You’ll be Big Ten Champions #Hawkeyes pic.twitter.com/1yAQC8j3eW
— Iowa Men’s Basketball (@IowaHoops) March 14, 2022
Meanwhile, a much different story was playing out in Ames. Iowa State won two game last season. TWO GAMES. This year’s team would not be defined by that. By the time February rolled around, Iowa state was an amazing 16-5, nationally ranked and one of the hottest teams in the country. At the start of February through the end of the season, Iowa State would go cold winning only 4 more games. After an early loss in the Big 12 tournament, Iowa State went from being a dark horse favorite to a team that some questioned whether they’d be dancing in March.
As the selection show played out, there was little talk of an Iowa State team that had limped into the tournament with an 11 seed. Iowa on the other hand…Dick Vitale himself thought Iowa could make a deep run to the Final Four, as did many other “experts.” After a shiny new Big Ten Championship trophy, who didn’t like the Hawkeyes?
It will be the year of the Cats/ BBN will roll big time in @MarchMadnessMBB ! @KentuckyMBB pic.twitter.com/WRYwM7LEUc
— Dick Vitale (@DickieV) March 14, 2022
Iowa was a 5th seed slated to take on 12th seeded Richmond on Thursday afternoon. Iowa State a 11th seed had a date with 6th seeded LSU on Friday. The stage was set. It was time to dance.
That was the moment everything changed. A deep run for Iowa ended in another first round loss to Richmond. Fran McCaffery had done it again. It was another year of Iowa basketball ending in disappointment. As Iowa left the court, their season was over.
NATHAN CAYO TAKEOVER @spidermbb pic.twitter.com/xR68q6blzX
— CBS Sports (@CBSSports) March 17, 2022
The state of Iowa turned its attention to Friday night, the Cyclones took the court against the Tigers…and won. Wait…what?!? The team that completely fell apart over the end of the season had pulled the upset and moved to the second round. Sunday comes and Iowa State takes the court against the 3rd seeded Wisconsin Badgers, co-champions of the Big Ten.
The No. 11 Cyclones move on to the second round of #MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/10G3grxGId
— Big 12 Conference (@Big12Conference) March 19, 2022
Could they do it again? Could they pull the upset, could they keep dancing in the month of March? Damn right they could. Iowa State wins again 54-49. Iowa State, not Iowa was heading to the Sweet Sixteen.
When Gabe Kalscheur went down after a hard collision, the Mom instincts kicked in ❤️ pic.twitter.com/1Wwy0UejzH
— CBS Sports (@CBSSports) March 21, 2022
Iowa State is scheduled to take on Miami this Friday night. Will they win again? Who knows, and who cares. A team that won two games last year, started out red hot, fell apart, and danced into the Sweet Sixteen is writing an amazing story that will be remembered for years.
What a difference a weekend makes right?
Photo courtesy of Getty Images
