Ben McCollum claims Iowa has 'not a lot of bad blood' for Nebraska

Until this past week, Iowa hadn’t appeared in the Sweet Sixteen since 1999. Nebraska had never appeared in the Sweet Sixteen in program history. However, on Thursday, the two teams faced off with a ticket to the Elite Eight on the line.

Iowa ultimately won the heated battle, escaping with a 77-71 victory. After the game, first-year Iowa head coach Ben McCollum discussed the rivalry between the two programs.

“A lot of people will talk about the rivalry. I was around it when I was in Iowa, you know, and grew up in Iowa and understand the rivalry and whatnot,” McCollum said. “It’s nice to have — I guess if you would a call it rival — that runs such a class program. … They have got great kids. They completely turned everything around from the previous season, and they have absolutely nothing to hang their heads about or anything.

“I have the utmost respect for them, all their players, and especially Coach Hoiberg. Heck of a season. I know it’s no consolation, but we still want to beat ’em every time and they want to beat us every time. But from and internal perspective, there’s not a lot of bad blood there. It’s actually a lot of respect.”

Iowa and Nebraska are certainly familiar with one another. The programs have met 45 times. Iowa boasts a 29-16 all-time record against the Cornhuskers.

As McCollum alluded, he has an intimate understanding of the rivalry. He grew up in Iowa City and grew up in Storm Lake, Iowa. He didn’t play college basketball for Iowa, but he played in the Hawkeye State, where he continued to hear about fans’ disdain for the Cornhuskers.

McCollum sympathizes with fans, but he can’t help but admire Nebraska head coach Fred Hoiberg. After failing to break the .500 mark in each of his first four seasons at Nebraska, Hoiberg led the Cornhuskers to a winning record in 2023-24 season. From there, he’s only built on the program’s momentum.

McCollum didn’t require as much time to find his rhythm at Iowa, but he can admire Hoiberg’s resilience. After all, McCollum coached for 22 years before finally receiving an opportunity to lead a Power Five program.

Iowa’s season ultimately only last one game longer than Nebraska’s. On Saturday, the Hawkeyes fell 71-59 to 3-seed Illinois. McCollum will look to put together a strong offseason, so Iowa has a chance to make another deep postseason run next year.