Don’t you think Iowa coach Ben McCollum could use a Mai Tai? (Photo: Iowa Athletics) By Jane Burns Copy Editor and Staff Writer Beer and sports seem to be frequent teammates, particularly during March Madness. There are beer brackets, where fans choose their favorites, and a whole lot of beer sale s. WalletHub reports that beer sales go up 19% during the NCAA basketball tournament. Yet that’s not all that’s out there. The cocktail market is growing, and it’s bumping right up to the sidelines of sports. At the new Heroics Sports Lounge, for example, the cocktail menu includes the G.O.A.T. (Corazon Blanco, triple sec agave), the Iowa Gold Mule, the Champ-Pagne Shot Clock and even a non-alcoholic Penalty-Free Mule. With so many cocktail options out there — and so many reasons for Iowans to watch basketball this week and, hopefully, beyond — it seemed like a good call to find a few cocktails that matched the madness with a men’s and women’s Final Four of our own. We can’t confirm that any of the people mentioned below actually drink their namesake cocktails, or drink at all. But why should beer have all the fun? For the UConn women: Foe Hammer Top-ranked and defending champion UConn has scored an average of 89 points this season while allowing opponents a mere 50. The recipe from Common Man Cocktails says it has a tiki vibe with pineapple syrup and lime juice. But with rum, whiskey and sweet vermouth, it’s best to be careful so you don’t end up like the Huskies’ opponents — hammered. For the Iowa women: Cinderella Mocktail With a team of three freshmen and six sophomores this season, a good chunk of the Hawkeyes’ roster isn’t even old enough to drink legally. So whip up a Cinderella Mocktail in their honor. The version from Drink Lab has a yellow hue, perfect for the Hawkeyes and their fans. For the Iowa State women: a Smile If there’s one thing Cyclone star Audi Crooks is known for besides scoring, it’s her smile. She makes a shot, she smiles. She fouls someone, she smiles. Kids say hello, she smiles. She ties her shoes, she smiles. There are Jamaican Smiles, Royal Smiles and Wry Smiles, but this simple Smile with gin and grenadine from a travel website says it’s for a cruise, which is precisely what fans hope the Cyclones do this weekend. For the Oklahoma women: Sooner Swirl Some photos of this iconic drink from a sports bar in Norman, Oklahoma, make the blended frozen margarita/Sangria mix look crimson, like one of the Sooners’ colors, or a little more maroon … like maybe the Dowling Catholic Maroons? That seems appropriate, since Oklahoma coach Jennie Baranczyk is a Dowling alum. According to The Athletic, the signature drink at The Mont accounts for about 25% of the restaurant’s total sales. That’s about 329 drinks a day, or 120,000 in a year. The Mont uses a machine, but you could try this version from Gameday Cocktail. For the Iowa men: Mai Tai Iowa coach Ben McCollum likes his ties. While at Northwest Missouri State, he always wore a green one. At Drake, a blue one. And now at Iowa, the coach wears a gold tie for every game. So of course there can be no other drink for the head Hawkeye: a classic Mai Tai. This recipe from the tiki bar chain Trader Vic’s will have you dreaming of the warm days to come (maybe as soon as Saturday) and not the cold ones we’ve (hopefully) left behind. For the Iowa State men: TJ Slammer With his muscular build, Iowa State coach T.J. Otzelberger looks like he could slam a lot more than a drink. And this twist on the classic Whiskey Slammer comes from another T.J. — New York bartender T.J. Lynch. Take bourbon, lemon, bitters and simple syrup and shake away any frustrations you might have during the game. Cyclone fans hope those are few and far between. For the Northern Iowa men: Purple Rain This was created in honor of Prince, but it also seems appropriate to, well, appropriate it for the Panthers. Their underdog tournament run has their fans going crazy, downright delirious. This sweet and tart vodka drink gets its color from blue curaçao and cranberry juice. And if the Panthers don’t last long in the tournament, remember: They never meant to cause you any sorrow, they never meant to cause you any pain. For the Nebraska men: Fly Over Country With an Iowa-raised coach whose team nickname is literally corny, a drink made with Cedar Ridge bourbon seems like a proper choice. Fred “The Mayor” Hoiberg, the former Ames High and Iowa State star, just led the Cornhuskers to their first-ever NCAA victory since the tournament began in 1939, in a season that has defied expectations. This drink from Cedar Ridge’s website is sort of red, a Nebraska color, and sort of orange, an Ames High color. Cheers, Mayor. ...read more read less