All eyes will be on the Iowa Hawkeyes and the Colorado Buffaloes when they tip off in the Sweet 16 this Saturday. In a rematch of last year’s Sweet 16 battle, the two now meet again for a spot in the Elite 8.
Iowa survived a scare against West Virginia but nonetheless, they lived the NCAA tournament mantra of “survive and advance” and are right where they want to be. Colorado, the No. 5 seed in the Albany 2 Region, took care of one Iowa team already in No. 12 seed Drake in the first round and knocked off No. 4 Kansas State to get to the Sweet 16.
Iowa did take down Colorado last year in the Sweet 16 87-77. The Buffaloes enter this one with a record of 24-9 and with all of the circumstance surrounding this game, it sits atop CBS Sports’ rankings of the best Sweet 16 games.
Iowa survived an upset scare against a very disruptive West Virginia defense in the Round of 32, but the Hawkeyes showed their resilience and earned their second consecutive trip to the Sweet 16. Iowa has the top scoring offense in the nation, but West Virginia was able to hold the Hawkeyes to their lowest scoring half of the season. If Colorado was taking notes, we could have another nail-biter. – Isabel Gonzalez, CBS Sports
Colorado has big wins under the belt this season. They have wins against LSU, Utah, Stanford, and USC. This team knows how to handle some of the top teams in the country and are not going to be afraid of Iowa.
The Buffaloes are also not a team that should be overlooked. They made a huge statement in November by upsetting LSU in the season-opener. Colorado was one of the hottest teams in the nation until Pac-12 conference play — which might actually say more about the conference than Colorado itself. The Buffs are led by junior center Aaronette Vonleh’s 14 points per game, but this is a very balanced team that can be hard to guard. Against Kansas State, six players scored at least nine points. – Gonzalez, CBS Sports
The Hawkeyes will have their work cut out for them in the paint and Hannah Stuelke, who wasn’t 100% in the first round of the tournament, should be ready to go as she has been all season.
Come Saturday at 2:30 p.m. CT on ABC, the college basketball world will be tuning in to see the Hawkeyes square off against a tough Colorado team.
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