![Iowa faced off against Eastern Illinois Dec. 21 in what was supposed to be an easy victory for the Hawkeyes heading into Christmas, however, it ended up being more than the complete opposite: the biggest upset in college basketball in 100 years. [YouTube/Screenshot/Public — User: Big Ten Network]](https://images.dailycaller.com/image/width=960,height=411,fit=cover,f=auto/https://cdn01.dailycaller.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Screenshot-2022-12-21-7.32.08-PM-e1671669294180.png "Iowa faced off against Eastern Illinois Dec. 21 in what was supposed to be an easy victory for the Hawkeyes heading into Christmas, however, it ended up being more than the complete opposite: the biggest upset in college basketball in 100 years. [YouTube/Screenshot/Public — User: Big Ten Network]")
Did the NCAA move March Madness to the holidays like FIFA did with the World Cup?
An 8-3 Iowa faced off against a 3-9 Eastern Illinois in their final non-conference game of the 2022-23 college basketball season. The Hawkeyes were supposed to head into Christmas with an easy victory on their resume — it was anything but that.
Going into the Dec. 21 game, Iowa was listed as a heavy 32-point favorite over the Panthers, according to KenPom.com. But with only eight minutes and some change to go, Eastern Illinois shot up to a nine-point lead at Carver-Hawkeye Arena, which was an absolute shock. When the smoke cleared, the Panthers maintained that advantage for an outright glorious 92-83 win. The team had previously lost to Illinois by 30 points, Ohio State by 22, Northern Illinois by 20, and Ball State by 17.
🚨 🚨MAJOR UPSET ALERT
Eastern Illinois by 9 over Iowa at Carver-Hawkeye as a 31.5-point underdog.
That’s the largest spread upset in a Division I men’s basketball game this century.
Not UMBC over UVA, not SFA over Duke. Eastern Illinois over Iowa.
— Jared Berson (@JaredBerson) December 21, 2022
It’s worse than just the loss for Iowa as well, they’ve evolved into getting chewed out by their own fans now:
A fan just came down from an upper row in Section NN to the Hawkeye bench to chew out Iowa’s lack of defense. He is being escorted from the arena by security.
— Chad Leistikow (@ChadLeistikow) December 21, 2022
And with that little incident, you had this gem:
Per @josephwcress the fan was told by Brad Floy (I think), “you’re not the coach.”
Fan replied, “I’m the coach now.”
— Chad Leistikow (@ChadLeistikow) December 21, 2022
And I just want to say: That guy might have gotten escorted out by security, but he knew exactly what he was talking about. The numbers back him up on an atrocious level. Check it: Iowa actually started out this game with an 18-4 lead, and at halftime, they still held on to a 45-37 advantage.
When the second half came, all hell broke loose, and with the last 26 shots that Eastern Illinois took, they hit 20 of them — 76.9%, Hawk Central reported. The Panthers were even up 82-68 with 2:50 to go in the game. Quite frankly, they beat the hell out of Iowa in the second half.
Just absolutely unreal numbers that led to a massive upset in college basketball.
Thst winning locker room feeling pic.twitter.com/Cav5V5xg2R
— Eastern Illinois Athletics (@EIU_Panthers) December 21, 2022
And then when you break down the stats even more, it gets even worse for the Hawkeyes. In dunks, Eastern Illinois was a perfect 11-for-11, and also hit 12 out of their 18 layup attempts. Also, heading into the game, the Panthers were listed as one of the worst rebounding teams in the nation. In this game, they outer-bounded Iowa at a 42-38 tally. And then you also had the fact that Iowa shot 40% (6-for-15) from behind the three-point line — they were averaging 25.8% entering the game, according to Hawk Central. (RELATED: Kentucky Fan Goes On Epic Rant After Another Loss To Top College Basketball Program)
Just flat out embarrassing for Iowa, this is one of those games that can completely kill your chances of making the NCAA Tournament in March. Just an absolutely terrible look for the Hawkeyes.
Man, what a loss to take right before Christmas.