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March Madness Highlights Iowa Basketball's Ascent

Tom Woodward
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This year marks the second year in a row that all three of Iowa's regents universities have made an apperance in the NCAA tournament, and for the first time, part of the tournament is being held in Iowa. Rick Brown, veteran sports journalist, says the trio of Iowa coaches has made this type of prominence possible for the state.

"To have three coaches of that stature in our state at the same time is one of the reasons that these teams are having great success. When you consider that Iowa has more teams in the tournament than the Southeastern Conference, one of the country's strong, strong conferences, it tells you a little about basketball in Iowa."

That, combined with the first round of the tournament in Des Moines, makes it an exciting time to be a basketball fan in Iowa.

"I never thought I'd live to see the day when the city of Des Moines hosted an NCAA regional. It's terrific for the economic punch it delivers, but more importantly, for basketball connoisseurs, this gives them a chance to see three of college basketball's bluebloods, so to speak, in Kentucky, Kansas, and Indiana, at one site, in one arena."

Iowa State beat Iona Gaels yesterday in Denver, the Hawkeyes face Temple University in Brooklyn this afternoon, and Northern Iowa faces off with the Texas Longhorns later today. 

Also in this News Buzz edition of River to River, host Clare Roth talks with Jean Lloyd-Jones  about 50-50 in 2020's See Yourself Here initiative at the Capitol; with Joyce Russell about the outlook for the budget at the Statehouse; with Sarah Boden about an Iowa Supreme Court case that affects Iowa's Open Meetings law; with Ryan Koopmans about President Obama's pick for the U.S. Supreme Court; and with Ruth Lapointe about a Peeping Tom bill in the Iowa legislature.

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