Locked On Hawkeyes - Daily Podcast On Iowa Hawkeyes Football & Basketball - Auburn beats Iowa. INSTANT REACTION NCAA TOURNAMENT BRACKET BREAKDOWN CLIP:

Episode Date: March 17, 2023

The Auburn Tigers beat the Iowa Hawkeyes in the first round of the NCAA March Madness Tournament. We break down the matchup with Trent Condon, the host of Locked On Hawkeyes. Follow Locked On Hawkeyes for more on the Iowa Hawkeyes and keep track of all the action by subscribing to Locked On College Basketball. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

March Madness is in full swing and we have another locked on bracket breakdown as Iowa fell to Auburn in an 8-9 seed showdown in the first round of the NCAA tournament. I'm Jordan Black and we are joined by the host of Locked on Hawkeyes, Trent Condon. Trent, you were mentioning how this game was maybe a microcosm of the Iowa season at large. So give me a little bit of a breakdown of this game and kind of what it means in terms of just how Iowa basketball stands at the moment and kind of what this means for the program. You know, it was a game that Iowa certainly had opportunities to come back and win, but during the first half of the game, and we've seen this plenty of times from this Hawkeye team,

really struggled shooting the basketball early on. We heard going back to last year's NCAA tournament, a lot of complaints about the Wilson basketball that is used in the NCAA tournament, that bright orange basketball that you see. And it's just excuse after excuse after excuse. And the reasoning behind why Iowa struggled last year, getting upset by Richmond in the first round, losing here to Auburn, it's these little things that continue to crop up with this Iowa program.

That's good. They're solid. They make the tournament more times than not. Fran McCaffrey has now taken this team to eight NCAA tournaments in the last 10 years. That's something that Lute Olsen never done. Of course, won a national championship after he left Iowa and went to Arizona. We saw Dr. Tom Davis. He didn't do that during his tenure. So the Iowa program's in good shape, but it's just those little things that continue to crop up here. And ultimately, it becomes about the toughness factor. And we saw

that show up so many times in the game here this evening against Auburn, where Auburn, so many different times, they were just the more tough team. And that toughness factor is something that has been one of the missing components for Iowa basketball. One of the things that was apparent in this game was the lack of Iowa's defense. And that's been a theme not only this year, but all season. So talk a little bit about what's going on defensively for Iowa and if that will be a theme moving forward. Hopefully not. I'm sure you're thinking, right? You know, it's crazy because, well, during the fall we watch Iowa football and great defensively, one of the top programs year after year, and our offense is garbage just year after year as we have Brian

Ferentz running things over there. And then we jump over to the basketball scene and it's the complete inverse of it. Our offense is excellent year after year. Elite levels and we're not talking about an Iowa program that year after year has top level NBA talent or one and done guys anything like that but Frank McCaffrey does an incredible job of building what they do offensively. The problem is what happens on the other end of the floor and as we see here against an Auburn team there's no way to slice it. They're a bad offensive team. And yet we sit out there and let them score 52 points in the second half. And they were getting literally whatever they wanted, time in and time out, getting the free throw line, hitting three pointers from the outside. It's something that in the 13 years of Fran McCaffrey has never changed.

Fran has always been an offensive guy and that's all well and good. But you know, one thing that in the 13 years of Fran McCaffrey has never changed. Fran has always been an offensive guy and that's all well and good. But you know, one thing that I always continue to think about is John Beeline in his tenure at Michigan. You know, they were a team that was always good offensively, but never could get it done on the defensive end. What did they do? They hired for all intents and purposes, a basketball defensive coordinator. They brought in Luke Yocklage, who went in there, and they went and played for a national championship very shortly after they brought in a defensive coordinator. I believe if I was going to get over this,

and not playing for a national championship, that's not realistic, but even just to get to the second weekend of the NCAA tournament, they need to bring in a coach that has that kind of impact, a guy that knows the defensive side. And the other part of it, Frank McCaffrey actually has to let them do those kind of impact, a guy that knows the defensive side. And the other part of it, Frank McCaffrey actually has to let them do those kind of things because that's something the old Philly guy, Frank McCaffrey, he struggles with is letting go of those reins a little bit,

letting his assistant coaches do some things. If that happens, I think Iowa can get over the hump. But if it doesn't, well, we're going to be mired in the same kind of thing. Good enough to make the tournament, not good enough to make the second weekend. Any team wants to get to the tournament, but that's not just good enough, right? For fans and boosters and players, right? You want to advance. You want to advance farther, like you said, to a national championship eventually.

What does the future look like for Iowa basketball now that they're not going to be playing in the second weekend? We want to talk about the future. So what does Hawkeye basketball look like for Iowa basketball now that they're not going to be playing in the second weekend? We want to talk about the future. So what does Hawkeye basketball look like moving forward? Well, this is going to be a big change for the program. Connor McCaffrey, after six years with the program, the coach's son, he departs from the program as he moves on. And more than likely, he's going to become either an assistant coach in college basketball, or maybe he's trying to find a way to get into the NBA as a coach, not as a player.

But he'll be moving on. Phil Urbracha, the big guy, he's also going to be departing. So there's a lot of moving pieces with this program. Chris Murray, he'll be off to the NBA. And it's a chance for a retooling of this program. And that's why I do believe this is the best time for them to go out there and make a change one of their top assistants Sherm Dillard is 67 years old and I hate to go ageism here with you but it's a realistic scenario an elder coach it makes sense to go out there find somebody younger so find somebody that can go out there and and what Iowa can also do in the

transfer portal you know a year ago one of the biggest prospects out there in the transfer portal was Amok that ended up at Texas Tech. Well, Iowa at that time, their NIL collective was not set up at a very good level. Now that has changed. The Iowa Swarm is the name of their collective, and they've brought a bunch of money in here over the last nine, 10 months. And because of that, I think Iowa's going to be very well equipped to go out there and do some good things in the transfer portal. They're going to need a lot of help out there. They bring in a good recruiting class, a solid recruiting class, not an elite one by any means, but four players coming into the freshman class. But if Iowa can augment what they have with two, maybe three players in the transfer portal, I think not

only can they be an NCAA tournament team again next year, but I think they have a chance to go further than that. But big questions remain. We'll see now. And what a different world we're in right now, Jordan, right? We're talking about, can we pay the guys enough now to bring them in and to play a season or two for the Hawkeyes? It's a different world, but it's the new reality as we work in college sports.

It's so true. I think what I heard from you was not only does defense win championships, but NIL deals win championships, right? It's, isn't it wild? I mean, I've been in this business for a long time now. You know, I started over 20 years ago and it's just crazy. I never thought we would be at the point where we're outwardly talking about paying players and paying players at this kind of level just to come in and make your team better and you know what NIL has morphed into and what has changed the good news is the Iowa Hawkeyes matter in the state of Iowa Iowa basketball matters in the state of Iowa and because of that Iowa has an ability to go out

there and go big fish hunting and go after you know some of those big ones out there if they can reel a couple in, we know they're going to be able to score. Can they be better on the defensive end? That remains the big question. But even with all that, you know, there's still excitement for the future of Iowa basketball and what they can become. Well, that's great stuff, Trent. We appreciate you. For more on Iowa, make sure you're subscribed to Locked on Hawkeyes and for a full view of the

bracket and all the action, subscribe to Locked on College Basketball, part of the Locked on Podcast Network, your team every day. Thanks for watching and listening, everyone.