Chaotic. Overwhelming. Unpredictable. Those are some words that have fittingly described the 2020-21 college basketball season for the Iona Gaels.
Due to positive COVID-19 tests and health and safety protocols, Iona didn't play a single game during the month of January -- their season was put on pause from Dec. 23 to Feb. 12. And when the Gaels finally returned to action, the program only squeezed in five games before the pandemic disrupted their schedule again. All together, Iona managed to play just 17 total games.
But, somehow, someway, Iona survived this anomalous season. And in spite of the adversity and obstacles, they still reached their desired destination.
The Gaels, led by Hall-of-Fame coach Rick Pitino, won their fifth consecutive MAAC (Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference) title this past weekend, and were awarded the East region's No. 15 seed in this year's NCAA Tournament. On Saturday, they'll face No. 2 seed Alabama, the SEC champion, in Indiana.
"The bubble [environment] is easy," Pitino told Tiki and Tierney on Tuesday. "I mean, we're stuck in our rooms, stuck in the conference room with our team. Can't go outside. But, it's a lot easier than playing Alabama."
According to ESPN Stats & Info, Pitino, 68, is just the third coach in the history of college basketball to lead five different programs (Boston University, Providence, Kentucky, Louisville, Iona) to the NCAA Tournament, and the first to earn an automatic bid from six different conferences.
"One of the things you have to do in the MAAC -- and you guys will appreciate this -- somebody said, 'Is this pressure, being in a one-bid league?' And I said, 'Boy they should know pressure -- coaching the Celtics and Knicks, Kentucky and Louisville,'" Pitino said. "And then all of the sudden, I'm in the second round [of the MAAC tournament] and I'm thinking to myself, 'If we don't win this game, we're not going to the NIT!'
"If I'm out in Louisville and we're ranked fifth in the nation, we can lose in the first round and we're still going to get a great seed. And I realized the pressure was enormous! I couldn't believe that the pressure in the MAAC would surpass Kentucky and Louisville..."
March Madness officially begins on Thursday, Mar. 18, with the traditional 'First Four' play-in games. Due to the pandemic, all tournament games will be played in the state of Indiana.
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