Popular CBB analyst makes bold statement about Caitlin Clark's crew's chances of winning NCAA Tournament: "Nobody's expecting Iowa to win"
The Iowa Hawkeyes fans will get another chance to watch superstar Caitlin Clark up close in a familiar environment, with Carver-Hawkeye Arena hosting the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament.
Iowa was awarded its first No. 1 seed in 31 years and was second overall after the unbeaten South Carolina. Lisa Bluder's team is in the Albany 2 region and will take on the winner of UT Martin and Holy Cross.
On a recent episode of "Maggie and Perloff Mornings," college basketball analyst Maggie Gray explained why the popular Clark is the most under-pressure player to win during March Madness.
"She is facing the most pressure, she is the one who has to live up to whatever this billing is now," Gray said. "Is it winning a national title? Obviously, that becomes like a movie script if she wins the title.
"However, you cannot deny that if you were gonna put one person who says who needs to win the most, she is absolutely the person who needs to win the most."
CBS Sports radio college basketball analyst Andrew Perloff disputed that the record-breaking Caitlin Clark was expected to lead the Hawkeyes to a national championship.
"No way! South Carolina is the heavy, heavy favorite," Perloff said. "They're undefeated, they have more pressure than her. But no one really expects Iowa to win this, do they? If they do, they're not watching."
The minefield that Caitlin Clark and Iowa have to navigate
The Albany 2 Region is one of the most competitive brackets. It contains Colorado, Kansas State, the No. 2 UCLA and the reigning national champions, the LSU Tigers, making it a minefield for Iowa and Caitlin Clark to navigate.
Rebecca Lobo, former UConn star, summarized the difficulty that Clark and crew will have to navigate on an ESPN broadcast after Selection Sunday.
“They really do have a gauntlet,” Lobo said. “Their 2 seed is UCLA, which is certainly talented enough to win a national championship. Their 3 seed with LSU is the team they faced in the national championship game a season ago.”
A meeting with last year's finalists, LSU, led by superstar forward Angel Reese, is in the offing for Iowa in the Elite Eight, followed by a clash against the JuJu Watkins-led USC Trojans, which could potentially await the Hawkeyes in the Final Four.
If, against all odds, Caitlin Clark can lead the Iowa Hawkeyes back to the national championship game, it will only add to the mystique that has shrouded her during this record-breaking season.