Charles Barkley harpoons Todd Golden over his costly, late-game blunder to press Iowa

After winning it all a season ago, the No. 1 Florida Gators see their NCAA Tournament run end in the Round of 32 this year. Florida had to play out of its comfort zone against No. 9 Iowa's lethargic pace. It was just enough to have guys like Rueben Chinyelu and Thomas Haugh play some of their worst games in a Florida uniform. Of course, Todd Golden was the architect of this late coaching disaster.

By pressing Bennett Stirtz, it allowed Iowa to move it up the floor for Alvaro Folgueiras' game-winner.

After the game, Charles Barkley ripped into Golden for carelessly pressing Iowa when Florida was up.

"No, you should not pressure, because if you pressure, you're probably just going to start a fast break, and you're probably going to give up a three."

Clark Kellogg echoed Barkley's sentiment by questioning why Florida would gamble up two on Iowa.

"If you're going to pressure though, you've got to make them catch it in front. Make them use some time. I don't know why they were gambling and try to steal it."

Barkley later said it best with this honest quote: "Iowa outplayed Florida for 85 percent of the game."

No. 9 Iowa will now be taking on Big Ten rival in No. 4 Nebraska in the Sweet 16 next weekend.

Todd Golden got too cute and it cost Florida a chance at a national title

Look. There was a lot to like about this year's Florida team. After a so-so start to the season in the non-conference, the Gators caught fire during SEC play, en route to winnning the regular season crown. While they did stumble vs. Vanderbilt in the SEC Tournament, there were reasons to believe they might be good enough to repeat as national champions. Instead, this team crumbled vs. Iowa.

For as talented as this team was at stretches this season, it may have lacked the necessary leadership of that of a champion. Frankly, it needed guys like Chinyelu and Haugh to step up when it mattered most. Haugh shot an awful 3-of-11 from the floor. Chinyelu saved the worst game of his life for this moment. He attempted only one field goal for no points, with three more fouls than rebounds.

In the end, Golden needed to be the one to corral this team in a critical spot, but he never could. See, he lost control of his team in the final seconds. Poor Xaivian Lee could not even get a shot off before the buzzer. Ben McCollum may coach his team to play at the pace of a tortoise, but he coached circles around Golden in this game. Golden may have a national title on his resume, but this was awful.

Florida may have been slightly overseeded as a No. 1, but the Gators did not take Iowa that seriously.