Howe: Judgement Time for Iowa Hoops

'22-23 Hawkeye Men, Women Will Author Legacies This Month

'22-23 Iowa Basketball Teams. (Rob Howe/HawkeyeNation.com)

IOWA CITY, Iowa - Fair or not, the 2022-23 Iowa men's and women's basketball teams will be judged by what happens from here on out. March Madness is upon us. It's the sport's main measuring stick.  

The Hawkeye squads enter the NCAA Tournament with different expectations and storylines. There's interest and intrigue for both.

The second-seeded Iowa women are playing host to No. 15 Southeast Louisiana on Friday. The eighth-seeded Hawkeye men face No. 9 Auburn Thursday in Birmingham. Brace yourself for Bruce Pearl stories. 

The bar is sky high for the Iowa women. The two-time defending Big Ten Tournament champs are ranked second nationally by the Associated Press. Five starters are back from last year. 

How high is said bar? Anything less than the Sweet 16 definitely would be disappointing for coach Lisa Bluder's bunch. Iowa is hosting the first two rounds against teams it's expected to handle. 

It feels like last year when the second-seeded Hawkeyes came into The Dance with momentum and were knocked out by 10th-seeded Creighton on their home court. A similar exit would be extremely deflating for the program and its fans.

Its first Final Four since making its lone appearance in '93 is an achievable goal. Its fifth Elite 8 ('88, '89, '93, '19) or ninth Sweet 16 should be celebrated. 

The women's tourney TV partners are cheering for the Hawkeyes, quietly or not. They boast the face of the sport in guard Caitlin Clark, the country's best player this winter.

That label invites historical comparisons with stars from the past. Part of her legacy is attached to her team's success. A run to the season's final weekend would be a resume builder. 

Two players in program history have had their uniform numbers retired. Michelle Edwards and Megan Gustafson both led Iowa to the Elite 8. 

The Big Dance also represents the last dance for accomplished Iowa seniors Monika Czinano and McKenna Warnock. The Hawkeyes are 93-31 in Czinano's four years starting. Advancing beyond the third round would boost her legacy.  

Like the women's squad, the Iowa men feature a veteran team in March. Filip Rebraca, 25, and Connor McCaffery, 24, join three other upperclassmen in the starting lineup. 

The defending champions earned the fifth seed in this week's Big Ten Tournament. Thirteen-seeded Ohio State ended the repeat dream in Thursday's second round. 

Back-to-back conference tournament titles certainly would have caused excitement. Still, this squad would be carrying the weight of the program's 23-year, Sweet-16 drought no matter what happened this week.

It's an albatross that's grown through the years ever since coach Tom Davis and the Hawkeyes reached Denver in '99. Connor McCaffery had not yet celebrated his first birthday. 

Optimism for misery's end was met with more heartache after the last two seasons. Iowa fell in the second round as a two-seed in '21 and bowed out as a five-seed last March. 

Those experiences added scar tissue to an already emotionally wounded fan base. An overtime loss to Tennessee in '19's second round and falling as a three-seed to Northwestern State in '06 left marks. The Iowa faithful has watched its team in the Sweet 16 twice in the last 34 seasons. 

Odds are against these Hawkeyes returning to the regional semis. Eight seeds have a 10.1 percent chance to reach the tournament's second weekend with a 0.72 expected win total. 

That should remove pressure, allowing them to play loose. Eight wins against NCAA Tournament participants this season shows they're capable of one shining moment. 

March brings with it opportunity. The Iowa basketball programs are shooting to make the most of it. It's how they'll be remembered.