Sunday's dramatic victory over Florida sent Iowa to its first Sweet 16 in 27 years and sent a wave of enthusiasm throughout the state, but the Hawkeyes' first-year coach has moved on.
HOUSTON - Every college basketball coach is intense, but few are as intense as Iowa basketball's Ben McCollum.
The Hawkeyes are three days removed from one of the biggest wins in program history - a stunning upset over top-seeded and defending national champion Florida to reach their first Sweet 16 since 1999.
Emotion is a natural reaction to victories like these. Alvaro Folgueiras, who hit the game-winning triple against the Gators, can't even count how many text messages he's received since Sunday's game.
"I tried to answer as many as I can, but I have things to take care of in my actual personal life, so I didn't have much time," Folgueiras said during media availability on Wednesday.
McCollum shares his players' emotions - to a very small degree. The Storm Lake, Iowa native grew up a diehard Hawkeye fan and was a senior in high school when Iowa last reached the second weekend. Like his strong passion for Iowa, his drive to succeed is unquestionable.
As the Hawkeyes gear up for their highly-anticipated return to the second weekend, McCollum's message to his team is simple. The only time he wants his players talking about the Florida game is during media availability - the rest of the conversation is Thursday's game (6:30 CDT, TBS).
"I don't want you to drink the poison. We let them talk about it for five minutes in film the other day, and they could goof around about all the things that went on. And then right when that five minutes was done, it's done," McCollum said.
Iowa's Sweet 16 opponent is none other than fourth-seeded and hated border rival Nebraska (28-6). There's obviously a lot of familiarity since both play in the Big Ten, but it's especially evident this year. The Hawkeyes and Cornhuskers split their two regular season meetings, with each winning on their respective home floors.
When asked how his team is more prepared for the rubber match, McCollum offered a simple explanation. He thinks his team played well in both games - a 57-52 win in Iowa City on Feb. 17, and an overtime loss in Lincoln on March 8 - there just needs to be a heavy emphasis on fundamentals.
"I think we probably buy into the chess match way too much. It's probably just more. who's gonna play better and who's gonna play harder and the simple stuff, and we're hopeful that that's us," McCollum said.
One of the biggest keys to an Iowa win could be the turnover department. The Hawkeyes navigated 12 turnovers in their Iowa City meeting, but 19 turnovers in Lincoln was a big reason why Iowa lost that game. McCollum attributes the mistakes to Nebraska's frantic defensive style.
"That was a little bit of them [Nebraska]. "We did check their color blindness to make sure that they understand that we're wearing black, gold or white - we're not wearing red. So we'll see if that worked out for us. But no, it was a lot of them. I thought they did a good job defensively."
McCollum's press conference began following Iowa's practice at around 12:30 in the afternoon. His plan until tip off?
"I'll watch film. I'll watch film the rest of the day. Tomorrow, I'll watch film until the game, and then maybe I'll go outside and go for a run or something like that," McCollum said. "But other than that, it's film."
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