Tom Izzo did his best Fran McCaffery impression during the Cornell game

Tom Izzo is as fiery as they come for a college basketball coach, and that’s why so many people love him; plenty of people also hate his antics, but you can do nothing but respect greatness at this point.

Even at the age of 70, Izzo is turning beet red, balling his fits, and yelling at players, assistant coaches, and — of course — the refs.

Izzo and the refs have long had a rivalry, but one coach might put him to shame on that front: Fran McCaffery.

The former Iowa head coach was known for his “Francon” levels of anger, and it wasn’t truly a game if he wasn’t down a referee’s throat every couple of seconds. McCaffery was probably the most reactive head coach in the Big Ten before Iowa let him go this past offseason.

Fran’s also remembered for one of the greatest referee standoffs of all time.

Unfortunately, it came during a shocking Michigan State comeback loss. Iowa stormed back down double digits with 90 seconds left to beat the Spartans in overtime, and many believe it had something to do with this moment:

That was one of the wildest moments that I can remember watching live between a head coach and a ref, but Tom Izzo did his best impression on Monday night.

That’s one of those looks you never want to get from Izzo, but the ref ignored it and walked away after calling one of the more questionable fouls of the night on Cam Ward during a breakaway.

I think we can call this one “Izzcon 1”.

Tom Izzo can’t be pleased with his team’s performance

I know this funny Fran-like moment was the comedic relief we all needed, but Izzo’s blood was clearly boiling. He may have been angry at the call, but he was angrier with his team’s play against Cornell.

The Spartans gave up 97 points in a 17-point win, which I guess is also a Fran McCaffery impression — his defenses couldn’t stop anyone.

For one night, Izzo was Fran. Let’s leave that one night in the past now.