Brad Underwood Faces 'Great Friend' Fran McCaffery in NCAA Tournament

Sometimes it feels like the NCAA Tournament selection committee can't resist an intriguing story line when a reasonable opportunity arises to create one.

That's what immediately came to mind when No. 3 Illinois vs. No. 14 Penn popped up during Selection Sunday. Because, in what could be a lopsided game – Illinois is a 24.5-point favorite on the DraftKings Sportsbook – at least the coaching matchup should be entertaining.

Illinois coach Brad Underwood will go up against a friend in Penn coach Fran McCaffery, who coached Iowa from 2010-25. In his first year at his alma mater, McCaffery led Penn to its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2018.

"Congratulations to our opponent, to Fran – a great, great friend and obviously a guy that we had some battles with over the years – our first opponent," Underwood said. "... So we know any time we face a Fran McCaffery team that we've got our hands full. But very, very excited for our players. Very, very excited for our fans, and it's a great opportunity to just let it rip, to go play and have fun."

McCaffery and the Quakers punched their ticket to the NCAA Tournament in dramatic fashion, as a late three-pointer from TJ Power forced overtime in an eventual 88-84 victory over No. 1 seed Yale. That made it all the more fitting, because McCaffery had a flare for the dramatic as Iowa's coach, too.

Along with his fiery sideline demeanor, McCaffery's Iowa's teams played an exciting brand of offense-first basketball for years. Across 15 seasons, the Hawkeyes made seven NCAA Tournament appearances, won the 2022 Big Ten Tournament and had consensus All-Americans like Jarrod Uthoff, Luka Garza and Keegan Murray.

But after going 17-16 last season – and never making it past the NCAA Tournament Round of 32 – McCaffery was fired. He won his first five matchups against Underwood, who bounced back and holds a 9-6 advantage in head-to-head matchups across eight seasons.

Underwood built a good relationship with McCaffery while they coached against one another in the Big Ten, so he was happy to see his friend when Illinois played Penn State in January at The Palestra, Penn's home arena in Philadelphia.

"It was great being in The Palestra this year and seeing him," Underwood said. "You got a guy that we have a lot of common in terms of our kids played for us and coached, and he came up through the lower ranks as I've done. Then, to just see him genuinely so happy at Penn, and he's in The Palestra and he's back home, a lot of acquaintances. His sheer joy for coaching and being at his alma mater was really cool."

McCaffery generated an impressive turnaround at Penn, which went from 8-19 overall and seventh out of eight teams in the Ivy League last season to 18-11 and an NCAA Tournament berth this year. Along with stops at Lehigh, UNC Greensboro and Siena, McCaffery became one of five coaches to lead five or more different schools to the NCAA Tournament, joining Rick Pitino, Tubby Smith, Lon Kruger and Steve Alford.

Fran McCaffery and Brad Underwood — Feb 25, 2025; Champaign, Illinois, USA; Iowa Hawkeyes head coach Fran McCaffery and Illinois Fighting Illini head coach greet each other before the start of a game at State Farm Center. Mandatory Credit: Ron Johnson-Imagn Images | Ron Johnson-Imagn Images

First-year coaches often overhaul the roster at their new school, but McCaffery retained five players who are among Penn's top-seven leading scorers this year. That includes double-digit scoring senior guards like Ethan Roberts and Michael Zanoni, who fit McCaffery's offensive approach by shooting at least 39 percent from three-point range.

McCaffery also made a key addition in the transfer portal, landing former top-25 recruit Power, who previously played at Duke and Virginia.

Power is a 6-foot-9 forward who made the All-Ivy League first team after averaging 16.8 points on 42.7 percent three-point shooting. Underwood said Sunday he hadn't watched a lot of Penn yet, but it happened to be the one game he chose to watch Sunday.

"The Power kid is special," Underwood said. "He's been at Duke. He's been at Virginia. He's a high-major player. He can really shoot it. I think he had seven threes. But, yeah, Fran's one of the best offensive minds in college basketball, and when he gets good players he's gonna give them the freedom to be special and play. He's done that with this young man, so we'll have our hands full, I know. I've watched him on the circuit back a few years ago. He's very talented, and he's found his niche at Penn and he's found the right coach in Fran to let him go."

TJ Power was recruited by Fran McCaffery out of high school.

He became the first ever 5-star recruit to join the Quakers program after stops at Duke and Virginia.

The duo in their first year with Penn helps lead the Quakers to the NCAA Tournament.

Incredible. https://t.co/13S9z616wj pic.twitter.com/GVY1Bcr01F
— Cory Nidoh (@Cory_Nidoh) March 15, 2026

Underwood and McCaffery's history should give both coaches a sense of the style of play they'll be facing. But how much that impacts the game is debatable, as Penn doesn't have any Iowa transfers and Illinois has six new players.

Competing against someone they know well could add a challenging dynamic for both coaches.

"It is not easy, but I also know he's an elite competitor, as I am, and for those 40 minutes you hook it up and then you hug after and wish the winner the best," Underwood said. "But I know we've had a lot of battles with Fran over the years, and I know we're gonna get a team that's very, very well-coached and is gonna play extremely hard."