Bennett Stirtz, Alvaro Folgueiras, and 39 Years of Waiting: Iowa Is Going to the Elite Eight

Learn These Names Before Saturday

Bennett Stirtz and Alvaro Folgueiras. Write them down. If youre still calling them some Iowa guards you dont know, youre running out of excuses.

Stirtz finished with 20 points against Nebraska, doing the steady, composed work that a team needs from its lead guard when the game starts getting tight in the second half [1][2]. Hes not flashy. Hes not going to give you a highlight you can put on Twitter. What he gives you is the kind of performance where you look at the stat line afterward and realize he was a problem all night without ever demanding the spotlight. Thats a valuable player.

Then theres Folgueiras. The Spanish forward — who most casual fans had never heard of before this tournament — delivered the two plays that effectively finished Nebraska. First, a critical three-point play when the Cornhuskers only had four defenders on the floor, keeping Iowas momentum going at the worst possible time for Nebraska. Then, with 34 seconds left and Iowa needing to ice it, a dunk that made it 76-68 and effectively ended the game [1]. He finished with 16 points and played with the kind of physical confidence that you usually only see from players whove been doing this for years.

And dont sleep on Tate Sage. The freshman hit a three at the end of the first half to close the gap to 43-46, a shot that kept Iowa close enough to make the second-half comeback possible. For a freshman to hit that shot in a Sweet 16 game — when your team is trailing, when the stakes are as high as they get, when every possession matters — thats the kind of composure that tells you this program is building something real.

The Ben McCollum Factor

The thing about first-year coaches in March is that they usually dont look like this. New coaches are still figuring out their roster. Theyre still getting buy-in. Theyre still learning what their team can and cant do under pressure. Ben McCollum arrived in Iowa City having won four Division II national championships at Northwest Missouri State — and immediately brought that championship DNA into a program that had been waiting 39 years for this moment [1][2].

What McCollum has done is give Iowa an identity. This isnt a team that fluked its way into the Sweet 16 and barely survived. This is a team that upset a #1 seed on a Folgueiras three in crunch time. This is a team that came back from halftime deficits twice in a week. Thats not luck — thats culture. The way they defended in the second half against Nebraska, holding a team that shot well all season to 28.1% from the field, tells you theres a system working here.

The Nebraska Angle No One Is Talking About

Its worth taking a moment for Nebraska. Fred Hoibergs Cornhuskers were not supposed to be in this game either. They finished the season 24-12, got into the tournament on the strength of a competitive Big Ten schedule, and then won games they had no business winning before running into a team that was just a little bit better when it counted. Pryce Sandfort put up 25 points and six threes. Braden Frager added 16. Nebraska played well enough to win that game — they just ran into a hot Iowa team at the wrong time [1].

Thats March Madness in its purest form: two teams that surprised everyone, playing each other with an Elite Eight spot on the line. Both deserved to be there. Only one could advance. Iowa was the better team on March 26.

What Comes Next

Saturday, March 28. Iowa vs. Illinois. Elite Eight. A Big Ten rivalry that has played out all season long, now with a Final Four spot on the line.

Illinois is a better seed and were expected to be here. Iowa was not. Thats the fun part. McCollums Hawkeyes have now beaten a team they were supposed to lose to, and a team they were really supposed to lose to. Illinois is going to look at this matchup as a formality — and thats exactly the kind of mindset Iowa has been exploiting all tournament long [2][3].

Look, Im not going to sit here and tell you Iowa is going to win the national championship. Im not even going to tell you theyre going to beat Illinois on Saturday. But I am going to tell you that if youre not watching this game, youre making a mistake. Bennett Stirtz will be locked in. Alvaro Folgueiras will be physical. Ben McCollum will have his team ready. And thirty-nine years of waiting — of Iowa fans who watched their team go cold in March every single season since 1987 — will be riding on every possession.

Thats the story. Its a good one. Dont miss it.