Friday, March 24 — Sweet 16

• No. 4 Villanova vs. No. 9 Miami | 1:30 p.m.| ESPN
• No. 2 Utah vs. No. 3 LSU | 4 p.m. | ESPN
• No. 2 Iowa vs. No. 6 Colorado | 6:30 p.m. | ESPN- ON KJAN 6:15 p.m.
• No. 5 Louisville vs. No. 8 Ole Miss | 9 p.m. | ESPN

Friday, March 24 (Sweet 16)

• No. 1 Alabama vs. No. 5 San Diego State | 5:30 p.m. | TBS
• No. 1 Houston vs. No. 5 Miami | 6:15 p.m. | CBS
• No. 6 Creighton vs. No. 15 Princeton | 8 p.m. | TBS
• No. 2 Texas vs. No. 3 Xavier | 8:45 p.m. | CBS

Iowa coach Lisa Bluder says freshman standout Hannah Stuelke will play tonight (Friday night), when the third ranked Hawkeyes take on Colorado in the NCAA Sweet-16 in Seattle. Stuelke missed last Sunday’s win over Georgia with an ankle injury.

A year ago Colorado lost to Creighton in a first round game in Iowa City.

Bluder says Colorado runs a similar double-post offense to Georgia.

Junior guard Caitlin Clark says balance has been a key for the Hawkeyes in the post season and it will be needed against Colorado.

Iowa is the highest seeded team remaining in a regional that has featured several upsets.

Iowa center Monika Czinano says just like George, Colorado’s size is a concern.

Czinano says Stuelke’s return will be a plus against Colorado’s size on the front line.

Louisville and Ole Miss meet in the other regional semifinal. Listen for the Hawkeyes game tonight, beginning at 6:15, on KJAN.

Iowa State coach Matt Campbell says the Cyclone offense is working to become more consistent this spring. The Cyclones finished 4-8 last season and finished at the bottom of the Big-12 in scoring and total offense.

Hunter Dekkers had 19 touchdown passes and 14 interceptions in his first season as a start and Campbell says there will be a lot of competitive position battles this spring.

Campbell says another area that needs to make strides this spring is the offensive line.

Iowa State’s spring game is set for April 22nd.

Off to its best start since 1939 the Iowa baseball team is scheduled to open a three game series at home today (Friday), against Western Michigan. The Hawkeyes are 16-3 and that includes are early season win over top ranked LSU.

That’s Iowa coach Rick Heller who says the Hawkeyes have had a consistent approach no matter who the opponent is.

Thursday, March 23 (Sweet 16)

• No. 3 Kansas State vs. No. 7 Michigan State | 5:30 p.m. | TBS
• No. 4 UConn vs. No. 8 Arkansas | 6:15 p.m. | CBS
• No. 4 Tennessee vs. No. 9 Florida Atlantic | 8 p.m. | TBS
• No. 2 UCLA vs. No. 3 Gonzaga | 8:45 p.m. | CBS

Iowa State men’s basketball freshman Eli King will enter the transfer portal. The 6-foot-3 guard from Caledonia, MN was a reserve for the Cyclones this season and scored 11 points while averaging 3.4 minutes per game.

King was a three-star recruit out of high school and picked Iowa State over offers from Iowa, Marquette, Minnesota, Nebraska, Northern Iowa, and Stanford. He’ll have three years of playing eligibility left.

UNI softball coach Ryan Jacobs does not want his team to focus on Illinois-Chicago’s record as the Panthers get ready to visit the Windy City for a three game Missouri Valley Conference series. The Flames are 0-25 and Jacobs says a big part of that has been a challenging schedule.

Eight of their losses were to teams ranked in the top 25 and they opened Valley play by dropping three games at Indiana State.

As usual the other battle this weekend will be against the weather.

The Panthers are 14-9 and opened Valley play by sweeping a three game series at Murray State.

Iowa football coach Kirk Ferentz hit the transfer portal hard and several newcomers are in the two-deep as the Hawkeyes open spring drills. Michigan transfer Cade McNamara is listed as the starting quarterback though he will be limited this spring after undergoing knee surgery.

Ferentz says McNamara is taking part in seven-on-seven drills and is still a couple of months from being full strength.

McNamara led Michigan to a win over Iowa in the Big Ten Championship game in 2022 and quickly took on a leadership role with the Hawkeyes.

Another Michigan transfer in tight end Erick All practiced on Wednesday. He missed the second half of last season with a back injury.

IOWA CITY, Iowa — Juniors Josh Ogundele and Ahron Ulis have notified head coach Fran McCaffery of their intentions to transfer from the University of Iowa and the men’s basketball program.

In three seasons as a reserve center, Ogundele saw limited action in 38 games. The London native totaled 21 points, 19 rebounds, four blocks, six assists and six steals in 11 games as a junior.

In three seasons as a guard, Ulis competed in 84 contests, including 27 starts as a junior. The Chicago native averaged 6.1 points, 2.1 assists and 1.6 rebounds in 32 games this past season.