The Hawkeyes are in the second round of the NCAA tournament for the first time in five years, and it's a massive step forward for this program.
Iowa basketball didn't need an NCAA tournament victory to make the 2025-26 season a resounding success.
Making the Big Dance was the goal for Ben McCollum in year one. Anything else was gravy, but why make the fans wait another season when you can make a batch of gravy right away?
Rival fans will scoff at this statement, but Friday's NCAA tournament win over Clemson could be a program-altering victory for the Hawkeye program. I mentioned this in my postgame recap video (you should watch it, it's linked above this article), but winning games in this tournament is exactly how you build a program.
Iowa could've won 25 games in the regular season, but an opening round loss in the NCAA tournament would've completely soured the entire season despite the incredible accomplishment of winning that many games.
But that's the nature of college basketball. Teams are graded by how they perform in the NCAA tournament, and that's what ultimately could sway a high school or transfer portal recruit running toward your program.
Will that be the case for Iowa? Who knows. Only time will really tell, but there's no question Friday's win was a major step in the right direction for the Hawkeyes - who went five years (1,099 days) without winning an NCAA tournament game before Friday.
One more massive step Iowa can take this year? Upsetting the top-seeded and defending national champion Florida Gators on Sunday afternoon and reaching the Sweet 16 for the first time in nearly three decades (1999 was the last year).
That will be a tall order - literally. The Gators boast a ton of length in the frontcourt, led by potential first round NBA Draft selection Thomas Haugh (6-foot-9). If that's not enough, Iowa will also have to deal with 6-foot-11 Australian star Alex Condon - also a potential NBA player next year.
Fans expecting the Hawkeyes to pull off what would likely be the biggest NCAA tournament win in their history is probably asking too much, but if there's one thing Iowa has going for it on Sunday - it's the fact that it literally has nothing to lose.
Obviously the Hawkeyes' season will be on the line, but all of the pressure in this matchup is on Florida's shoulders. The Gators are playing this game in their backyard (Tampa is two hours from Gainesville), they're the defending champions, and one of, if not the betting favorite to reach the Final Four and cut down the nets again.
On the flip side, Iowa's job is to show up to Benchmark International Arena and give Florida all it can handle. I would imagine McCollum and Co. are ready to embrace that challenge.
Regardless of Sunday's outcome, the Hawkeyes' maiden year under McCollum couldn't have gone any better.
Playing with house money on Sunday isn't the worst thing in the world.
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