Sunday, September 19, 2004
Hot Seat?
Not long ago, Iowa’s Steve Alford was a rising star in the coaching profession. After guiding Southwest Missouri State to the Sweet Sixteen, the two-time All-American was hired to replace Iowa's winningest coach, Tom Davis. Within two years, his Hawkeyes had won a big Ten Tournament title.
But then his fortunes turned sour. Expected to contend for the conference title the following year, Iowa went 5-11 in conference. The year after, Alford's crew went 7-9, their fourth consecutive sub-.500 regular season of Big 10 play. Then this past year, despite a winning record and a fourth place finish in conference, the Hawkeyes again failed to make the NCAA Tournament.
Asked in March whether Alford, under contract until 2009, was at risk, Iowa athletics director Bob Bowlsby responded, "If I saw signs that led me to believe we weren't making progress, and we weren't going to make progress, then that's a time when I would have to take action...I see progress." Do you?
| Season | Overall | Big-10 | Postseason |
| 1999-2000 | 12-16 | 6-10 | None |
| 2000-2001 | 23-12 | 7-9 | NCAA |
| 2001-2002 | 19-16 | 5-11 | NIT |
| 2002-2003 | 17-14 | 7-9 | NIT |
| 2003-2004 | 16-13 | 9-7 | NIT |
