With just under six weeks to go until the NCAA Tournament field is announced, basketball fans across Hawkeye State are already excitedly making plans to watch their team compete on college basketball’s biggest stage. Iowa State knows it’s almost certainly going to qualify, Iowa is in a good position if it keeps picking up quality wins, and even Drake is leading the Missouri Valley Conference and could win its first appearance since 2008.
This year, it’s even more important for Iowa-based teams to do well because Des Moines is one of the eight sites for the first two rounds of the tournament. Iowa’s going to have to string together a lot of quality wins to pull that off, but even if they don’t land in Des Moines, they should still qualify for the tournament.
Whether the Hawkeyes will have success there is another question entirely. Iowa fans painfully remember the past two seasons, which saw them earn their highest seed ever in 2021 (a No. 2) and win the Big Ten tournament in 2022. But both times, the Hawks were quickly dismissed, getting outraced against Oregon two years ago and losing a grinder to Richmond last year.
It’s been 24 years since Iowa last reached the Sweet 16, so success in March has been a tough task for this program. But it has happened, and these teams marked Iowa’s best in the Big Dance. Check them out here!
1956: The Fabulous Five
Long before a group of Michigan freshmen earned the nickname “Fab Five”, Fabulous Five meant something else entirely in the Big Ten. It meant a group of Iowa seniors who had dominated the league for two years and earned the right to represent the Midwest in the NCAA tournament both times.
Back then, there was no such thing as an at-large bid. Each conference got one bid, with a few independent schools per region included. Plus, only the ACC played a conference tournament, so there was no saving your season with a late push in March.
You had to be strong from the beginning to the end of your conference schedule, and Iowa’s five seniors were that and more. The Hawkeyes’ quintet of Sharm Scheuerman, Bill Logan, Carl Cain, Bill Seaberg and Bill Schoof ran through the Big Ten with a 13-1 record, losing their first league game to Michigan State and then not losing again for two months.
Fans of Fran McCaffery’s modern Iowa squads would feel right at home rooting for this group, because the Fabulous Five put up points like nobody’s business, especially for that era. This was basketball without a shot clock, without a double bonus for fouls and without a 3-point shot. The Fabulous Five still topped 75 points in 11 of their 14 Big Ten games, including breaking 80 points in each of their final seven games in the conference. In the final weekend of the season, the Hawkeyes were at their best against No. 2 Illinois, knowing only one team could go to the NCAAs. Iowa won that game 96-72, setting up its run at the title.
The Hawkeyes had the good fortune to play the Midwest Regional in Iowa Field House and took full advantage, beating Morehead State 97-83 and Kentucky 89-77 behind Cain averaging 31 points per game. In the Final Four against Temple, Bill Logan played the hero, scoring 36 points to lead the Hawks to an 83-76 win over the Owls.
But the dream ended there against the defending national champions. San Francisco built a national power behind Bill Russell and K.C. Jones, and the combination of Jones’ speed and Russell’s shot blocking made the Dons’ defense a nightmare for their opponents. Iowa’s Fabulous Five did make San Francisco’s defense work, as the Hawkeyes’ 71 points marked the second-most the Dons conceded all season.
Still, this Iowa team was built on offense, not defense, and it wasn’t going to stop Bill Russell. Russell led all scorers with 26 and snagged 27 rebounds, keeping San Francisco a step ahead. The Dons won, 83-71, completing an undefeated season and leaving Iowa one step short of the ultimate prize.
So, 1956 was definitely one of Iowa Hawkeyes’ best seasons ever.
How long has it been a Hawkeye State? #Hawkeyes pic.twitter.com/XjA8FcG99a
— The Iowa Hawkeyes (@TheIowaHawkeyes) September 12, 2021
1955: Running Into the Champs
To those who saw the 1955 team, the success of 1956 was something expected. Iowa fans could see the glory coming because the Fabulous Five had done much of the same the previous year. They weren’t as dominant in 1955 as they were in 1956, but they were still pretty strong, going 17-5 and 11-3 in the Big Ten. For the first time ever, Iowa was heading to the NCAA Tournament as the Big Ten champion.
And once there, the Hawkeyes turned up the offense. Future Big Ten foe Penn State couldn’t keep up, losing 82-53 to the Hawks. Fourth-ranked Marquette was next to fall to Iowa’s speed, losing 86-81 and sending the Hawkeyes to the Final Four in Kansas City. That meant defending champion LaSalle, and that meant trying to stop Tom Gola. Iowa fought gamely against the legendary big man, but there was only so much the Hawkeyes could do against an athlete of this caliber.
The Explorers won 76-73, ending Iowa’s run in the Final Four. The Hawkeyes just didn’t have much interest in playing for third and barely put up a fight in a 75-54 loss to Colorado in the consolation game. But fourth place was far better than anyone in Iowa expected for their first trip.
1980: Ending the Drought
This was supposed to be the path of the 2022 team, but the 1980 Hawkeyes managed to get through the first game and make a real run at the title.
For the first time, the NCAA tossed aside geography in favor of competitive regions, which meant Iowa didn’t have to go through any Big Ten schools to reach the Final Four. Given that the Hawkeyes went 10-8 against Big Ten teams and 9-0 against everyone else, this was a blessing.
Just like in 2022, Iowa drew a No. 12 seed from Richmond. This one came from the other Richmond school, Virginia Commonwealth, and the Hawkeyes never faced any danger. Iowa handled the Rams with ease, winning 86-72 to set up a meeting with local favorite N.C. State.
The Wolfpack were in the field for the first time since 1974, when they won the title on the same Greensboro Coliseum floor that Iowa now faced them on. Home court couldn’t save the Wolfpack against Kenny Arnold, who led the Hawkeyes with 18 points in a 77-64 win.
Iowa then moved to the heart of the Big East in Philadelphia for the Sweet 16, where Vince Brookins took over. Brookins scored 21 points against top seed Syracuse and 22 against Big East runner-up Georgetown, as the Hawkeyes beat the Orangemen 88-77 and the Hoyas 81-80, landing them in Lute Olson’s first Final Four in Indianapolis. Now back in Big Ten country, the Hawkeyes found their path blocked by the Doctors of Dunk from Louisville.
The high-flying Cardinals boasted national player of the year Darrell Griffith, no doubt one of the best Hawkeyes basketball players of all time, and ended Iowa’s season with an 80-72 victory on their way to a national championship. Iowa would settle for fourth again, as Big Ten nemesis Purdue blitzed the Hawks by 17 in the third-place game.
Iowa will visit the Palestra in Philadelphia on Jan. 4, for a Big Ten game against Penn St. It will mark the Hawkeyes’ first visit to the historic building since 1961. Fran McCaffery played inside the Palestra for three years while a guard at Penn (1980-82). #Hawkeyes pic.twitter.com/9yavTkszVF
— Iowa Men’s Basketball (@IowaHoops) August 23, 2019
1987: The Last Time Elite
This one hurt because this was Tom Davis’ best team. The Big Ten was loaded in 1987, with Indiana, Purdue, Iowa and Illinois standing above the rest. The Hawkeyes finished third behind the two Indiana schools, which meant an assignment to the West Regional as the No. 2 seed. That was the good news, but it was also the bad news, because it meant potentially facing No. 1 UNLV to go to the Final Four.
Truth be told, Iowa proved fortunate to even make it to the regional final in Seattle. The Hawkeyes almost didn’t make it out of Tucson, Arizona, as UTEP gave the Hawkeyes all they wanted in an 84-82 Iowa win, saved by Roy Marble’s 28 points. Iowa escaped again in the Sweet 16, winning 93-91 over Oklahoma in overtime, a preview of when the Sooners would reach the 1988 national championship game.
That meant UNLV, and for a half, everything was perfect. Vegas couldn’t stop Iowa’s attack, as the Hawkeyes built a 16-point lead with a 58-point first half. But when the Runnin’ Rebels got hot and solved the Iowa press, the Hawkeyes couldn’t answer.
Over the final 20 minutes, UNLV’s amoeba defense and timely 3-point shooting outscored Iowa 42-23, turning a trip to New Orleans into a painful defeat. When Indiana beat UNLV a week later, the pain only magnified, because Iowa knew it could beat the Hoosiers. Indiana won the title, and the Iowa opportunity was lost.
1999: Davis Says Goodbye
The 1999 NCAA tournament was widely seen as the Duke Invitational, thanks to the Blue Devils’ 32-1 domination of college basketball. Two states didn’t buy into that. One was Connecticut, where Jim Calhoun’s Huskies believed they could stand up to Duke and win the school’s first national crown. The other was Iowa, which couldn’t have cared less about Duke. The Hawkeyes just wanted to send Tom Davis out with a strong final run.
When Bob Bowlsby announced he would not renew Davis’ contract after the 1999 season, Davis and Hawks fans knew this year would be his last. And Iowa gave him a fine season, reaching the NCAA tournament as a No. 5 seed despite only one NBA draft pick (J.R. Koch) on the roster.
The Hawkeyes handled Denver’s elevation just fine, beating UAB 77-64 and Arkansas 82-72 to set up the meeting with the Big East champions.
For 30 minutes, Iowa proved Connecticut’s equal. The Hawkeyes battled the Huskies for every loose ball, winning the rebounding battle and playing Connecticut to a 53-all draw with 10 minutes left. But the Huskies showed their heart of a champion, outscoring Iowa by 10 over the last 10 minutes to pull away and reach the Elite Eight. Davis left Iowa’s sidelines with a triumphant exit in going out to the national champions, but since then, Iowa has never made it past the second round.
The Street family with Tom Davis before today’s game // #Hawkeyes pic.twitter.com/ZbSM9YFOZj
— Iowa Men’s Basketball (@IowaHoops) January 20, 2018
Credits on Featured Image: University of Iowa/Flickr/More information about this image here digital.lib.uiowa.edu/cdm/ref/collection/ictcs/id/6965
