To no surprise, Caitlin Clark and Iowa women’s basketball will play the first and second rounds of March Madness in front of a sold-out crowd. Hawkeyes fans purchased every ticket to both NCAA Tournament games in less than 30 minutes on Sunday night.
It was yet another impressive showing from one of the most passionate fanbases in the country.
Iowa will play either Holy Cross or U.T. Martin in a guaranteed win on Saturday. It will face either Princeton or West Virginia on Monday after Mountaineers head coach Mark Kellogg called out the greatest scorer in college basketball history shortly after the bracket was announced.
Regardless of how things shake out, the first two games of the NCAA Tournament will mark the Hawkeyes’ 34th sellout of the year. The only two games on their schedule that did not reach full capacity took place during a tournament in Florida over Thanksgiving.
However, thee streak (and the home-court advantage) is likely to disappear during the second weekend— assuming that they get there.
Iowa will play the Sweet 16 and Elite 8 in Albany, New York. That is not an easy trip for fans from Iowa City. That is not an easy trip for fans who live outside of New England. Even then…
Despite the difficult logistics, Caitlin Clark does not foresee any issues with getting fans to show up. She issued a challenged to the Hawkeyes faithful in The Athletic.
If there’s any fans out east that want to come, we’ll take them. Honestly, there was a lot of when we played at Maryland and when we played at Rutgers. A lot of people showed up, and really wherever we go, I expect there to be a good amount of just basketball fans in general. And I’m expecting Iowa fans to travel really well. I don’t doubt them at this point — if we make it.
— Caitlin Clark, via The Athletic
For Clark to add the “if” on the end is gracious but unnecessary.
Should Iowa lose to Holy Cross, U.T. Martin, West Virginia or Princeton, it would be one of the worst upset losses of all-time. That would be catastrophic for the program and embarrassing.
The Hawkeyes will play in Albany during the second weekend. Will their fans come with them?
Clark expects that answer to be yes and there is no reason to doubt the fanbase!