Ben McCollum accomplished something only legendary former Iowa head coach Tom Davis accomplished: winning an NCAA Tournament game in year one.
It wasn't pretty at times, but Iowa grinded out a win over Clemson, which was a slight favorite to win the game.
McCollum was proud of the fight they showed in a closely contested victory over the Tigers, but now they face an even more formidable foe in the second round.
Fresh off a blowout win over Prairie View A&M in the first round, the Hawkeyes take on the Florida Gators in the Round of 32, and oddsmakers do not like Iowa's chances of an upset.
Iowa is a 10.5-point underdog against Florida in the second round
Iowa was a slight underdog against Clemson but ultimately won a close game. The game against Florida is a much taller task and a much larger point spread.
The oddsmakers at FanDuel Sportsbook have Florida as a double-digit favorite against the Hawkeyes (10.5), projecting a second-round exit for Ben McCollum and his squad.
While the point differential looks high, Florida is the defending national champion and has a high-powered offense that was on full display against an overmatched Prairie View A&M squad.
The spread could be even higher if Iowa wasn't so stingy on defense.
Iowa must find a way to avoid long offensive droughts and limit Florida's inside scoring if they hope to stand a chance against the heavily-favored Gators, but where there's a will, there's a way.
Iowa has shown the ability to muck games up with its slow pace on offense and aggressive defense, and everything will have to go perfectly for the Hawkeyes to knock off the Gators in their home state.