By Pat Harty

IOWA CITY, Iowa – At the age of 25, fifth-year senior forward Filip Rebraca is the oldest player on the Iowa men’s basketball team, and one of the oldest players in college basketball.

But he was only 1 1/2 years old when Iowa last played in the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 in 1999.

Rebraca and sixth-year senior guard Connor McCaffery, who is 24, are the only players on the current Iowa team that were alive when Iowa advanced to the Sweet 16 in 1999.

The Hawkeyes have made the NCAA Tournament 10 times since 1999, including seven times under current head coach Fran McCaffery.

But they’ve never advanced past the round of 32 during what is now nearly a quarter century.

Fran McCaffery rarely is asked about this topic, and he doesn’t enjoy talking about it.

And why would he?

McCaffery wasn’t even the head coach for nearly half of Iowa’s Sweet 16 drought, and it’s not a fun topic to address.

However, it would almost certainly become a hot topic should No. 8 seed Iowa defeat nine-seed Auburn in an NCAA Tournament first-round game on Thursday in Birmingham, Alabama.

A victory on Thursday would put Iowa just one win from ending the Sweet 16 drought, but it might take defeating No. 1 seed Houston to get over the hump.

Some might roll their eyes at the thought of this up-and-down Iowa team being the team the team finally makes it back to the second week of the Big Dance because fans have been letdown so many times before.

But if this strange and unpredictable season has taught anything, it’s not to assume anything good or bad, especially in the case of this Iowa team.

Because just when it looks as if you have this Iowa team figured out, it does something to squash that belief, both good and bad.

Iowa (19-13) has shown this season that it can beat just about any team when it plays well, but also has shown that it can lose to just about any team when it doesn’t play well.

The same Iowa team that lost to Eastern Illinois 92-83 in December also defeated Indiana 90-68 on Feb. 28 in Bloomington, Indiana.

The same Iowa team that was swept by Nebraska and Wisconsin also swept Indiana and Rutgers.

Iowa’s success depends largely on how it shoots from 3-point range.

And while that’s the case with a lot of teams, it takes on even more significance with this Iowa team.

Rebraca and his cohorts would be a tough out for just about any team should they get hot from 3-point range.

And that could easily happen.

Iowa is coming off back-to-back losses to Nebraska on Senior Day and to Ohio State in the Big Ten Tournament.

The Hawkeyes have combined to make just 7-of-34 shots from 3-point range in the last game-and-a-half.

So, it would be easy to assume that Iowa is in danger of making an early exit from the NCAA Tournament.

But on the other hand, Iowa won four games in four days to win the Big Ten Tournament last season, and was thought to be on a roll heading into the NCAA Tournament, but then lost to Richmond in the first round.

Fran McCaffery was asked at this past Sunday’s press conference about Iowa drawing Auburn in the first round, and his answer was predictable.

“The same way I feel about the draw every year,” Fran McCaffery said. “We’re going to play somebody really good.”

Auburn, which is coached by former Iowa assistant Bruce Pearl, has also had an up-and-down season as shown by its 20-12 record.

The Tigers could benefit, however, from playing close to home with its campus about two hours from Birmingham.

But should Iowa prevail, it would be just one step from going where no Iowa team has gone since 1999.

Iowa was riding a wave of emotion in 1999 with Tom Davis as a lame-duck coach.

The players rallied around Davis and defeated Alabama-Birmingham and Arkansas in the first two rounds by scores of 77-64 and and 82-72. respectively, before losing to Connecticut 78-68 in the Sweet 16 in Denver.

UCONN would go on to win the national championship that season, while Iowa returned home and hasn’t been back to the Sweet 16 since then.

The Hawkeyes have another chance to end the Sweet 16 drought and it’ll start by suriving and advancing on Thursday, one game at a time.