It is incredibly rare for a team to repeat in the NCAA Tournament, as Florida just learned in losing to Iowa. In fact, it’s hard to even make a second deep run. In the last several tournaments, only UConn has even defended its title with a Sweet 16 berth the next year.
They also happened to win in 2023 and 2024, but they’re the only example of a title team having a really good run after a title. Florida got beat on a last-second three-pointer by Iowa forward Alvaro Folgueiras.
Iowa ends Florida’s repeat title bid
Title teams don’t often have good seasons after they win. Most often, players leave for the NBA after winning, and the Florida Gators lost a few stars, including Walter Clayton. Despite that, they entered the tournament as a number one seed.
They fell victim to an early upset, though. The ninth-seeded Iowa Hawkeyes stunned the Gators on a last-second three-pointer. They took the lead with 4.5 seconds left, and the final play resulted in a failed pass, so Florida didn’t even get a shot attempt to win it at the buzzer.
It is the first game-winning three-pointer over a number one seed in the final five seconds since 2016, when Kris Jenkins hit a buzzer-beater against North Carolina in the title game. Alvaro Folgueiras is now up there in basketball history.
“The play was drawn up for me to get downhill, and then this dude came up to me and he’s like, ‘I’m going to be ready, and I’m going to make it,'” Bennett Stirtz said about his teammate who scored the winning shot. “That’s what he actually did.”
Stirtz got free on the inbounds play. It is genuinely unclear why the Gators decided to full-court press as if they needed a turnover. They should’ve played up to prevent Iowa from rolling the ball in, but they defended like they couldn’t allow the inbounds pass to take place.
The result, after a brilliant play by the Hawkeyes, was that Stirtz had numbers and was ahead of the pack with momentum. He ran ahead, and when the defense closed on him, he dished it to a wide-open Folgueiras. He calmly swished the winner.
Alvaro Folgueiras’ story
The forward’s story is impressive. ” sent a 16-year-old kid to America without knowing any English … without anything but dreams and hunger. And this one is for her and my dad. He’s watching up there,” said Folgueiras.
“Sometimes, when I struggle through basketball — and basketball is life — I think of my mom as an example of resilience, and that really inspires me and gives me confidence,” the Hawkeyes star added. “Because she’s not just a fighter; she’s a super special person. I’m so lucky to have her as a mom.”
It really looked like Iowa’s impressive upset bid was about to fall short. Stirtz missed a layup, and Florida extended the lead to two after hitting one of the two free throws. That miss proved to be catastrophic, leaving the door open for Folgueiras to walk right through.
“He caught it in rhythm and buried it and didn’t hit anything but net,” first-year coach Ben McCollum said. “And it was surreal. Like, ‘Oh my gosh, he just made that.'” Now, the Hawkeyes are on to the Sweet 16 this weekend.
They’ll face the Nebraska Cornhuskers, who are also on a Cinderella run. They had never even won an NCAA Tournament game, and then they earned a four seed and are in the Sweet 16. Given the fact that Iowa is the second-lowest seed left, there’s a good chance the Cornhuskers can keep going, or the Hawkeyes will become the NCAA darling.
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