Iowa's Ben McCollum announces himself as rock-star basketball coach

Whether it's a producer describing a recording which is about to become a smash hit, or a young politician being destined for a long and influential career, the saying carries weight and excitement: "Sometimes you just know. " Sometimes you can see the beginning of something, the start of a career or tenure which is bound to be fruitful, and there seems to be no way failure can happen. Curt Cignetti at Indiana was like that.

Dusty May at Michigan felt like that. Ben McCollum of Iowa basketball feels like that. Iowa limitations Ben McCollum did not have a great Iowa team this regular season.

A No. 9 seed in any NCAA Tournament is generally a team with incomplete parts and a lack of top-tier talent at four or more positions on the floor. It might have two or three really good players, but a 9 seed is usually a 9 seed because it is missing key components.

This isn't always the case. Some 9 seeds can be hugely talented and simply fail to mesh during the season, but that's the exception, not the rule. Most 9 seeds are limited, and no one would dispute that Iowa was just such a team going into the 2026 NCAA Tournament.