Iowa Stuns Florida Late After Golden, McCollum Get Into Sideline Spat Over Double Technical

There are a TON of classic rivalries in college basketball: Duke vs. North Carolina, Kentucky vs. Louisville, Indiana vs. Purdue, Michigan vs. Michigan State and many more. But what if I told you there is a budding rivalry that you didn't know you needed? 

Well, during their Round of 32 matchup, Florida head coach Todd Golden and Iowa head coach Ben McCollum got INTO it on the sidelines during a timeout. 

Florida and Iowa got heated in the Round of 32 when a Folgueiras-Condon tie-up drew double technicals and sparked reactions from Todd Golden (left) and Ben McCollum (right).

(Imagn Images)

At the 8:34 mark in the first half, with 9th-seeded Iowa leading No. 1-seeded Florida 19-13, Hawkeyes forward Alvaro Folgueiras and Gators forward Alex Condon exchanged "pleasantries" while wrestling (hard) for a rebound that drew matching technical fouls on both players. 

It appeared that Folgueiras tried to throw a punch during the skirmish, but it looked like he was trying to punch the ball and didn't seem to contact Condon. Still, tempers flared, and the emotions spilled onto the benches. 

Golden didn't like the double-technical call, to say the least. He clearly felt that Folgueiras attempting to throw a punch should have elicited an additional penalty for Iowa. 

It's unclear when or why Golden and McCollum ended up getting into a verbal altercation, but it happened shortly after the Folgueiras-Condon wrestling match. 

"I don’t know. They were just going for the ball," McCollum said during an in-game interview. "Then, everybody got all sensitive. Then, their people got sensitive. We’re just trying to play ball. It’s whatever. We’ll compete. We’ll fight. We’ll see what happens."

Look, I'm going to be real with everyone. This is awesome. College basketball needs more of this fire and seeing coaches scream at each other is part of what March Madness is all about. Emotions are high, every game is win-or-go-home and no one wants to lose. 

The fascinating part is that the biggest sideline blowup came between McCollum and Golden because, to my knowledge, there's no previous connection between the two. Iowa and Florida isn't a traditional rivalry, obviously, with the teams competing in different conferences. 

Prior to Iowa, McCollum coached at Drake and Northwest Missouri State (Division II). Golden spent six years in San Francisco before going to Florida in 2022. 

It appears that the two started a rivalry out of whole cloth right there on the floor in Tampa during an emotional and hotly contested Round of 32 matchup in the NCAA Tournament. 

That's exactly how the best rivalries start, by the way. 

UPDATE: Alvaro Folgueiras, Ben McCollum and the Iowa Hawkeyes got the last laugh as Folgueiras hit a go-ahead three-pointer with under 5 seconds left to send the Hawkeyes into the Sweet 16. 

With Florida now out, there will be a new champion in college basketball this season.