Locked On Hawkeyes - Daily Podcast On Iowa Hawkeyes Football & Basketball - BIG 10 SQUAD: 5 For 5 is NEARING | What this means for Iowa

Episode Date: April 9, 2026

Big Ten powers surge to national championship glory while the SEC scrambles for answers. Michigan basketball’s triumphant run, spearheaded by coach Dusty May and hobbled star Yaxel Lendeborg, delivers a long-awaited NCAA title and ignites new expectations across the conference. Indiana football and UCLA women’s basketball add to the Big Ten’s historic sweep, each dominating their postseason with relentless play and strategic excellence. Host Spencer McLaughlin leads a no-holds-barred roundtable as the Big 10 Squad celebrates Penn State’s wrestling dynasty and debate the proposed “five for five” eligibility rule. Key topics include the impact of older athletes in college sports, the rise of Big Ten coaching, and how NIL money is fueling a seismic shift in power. As transfer portal chaos and massive alumni bases reshape the landscape, can the SEC keep up or is this just the start of Big Ten dominance? Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Could five for five be coming here to college football? And Michigan wins the national championship. It was actually a sweep of Big Ten national championships. And the SEC just has to deal with it. You're talking ball with the Big Ten squad, sponsored by game time. From USC to Ohio State from Michigan to Oregon, from Nebraska to Washington, it's the local experts of the Locked-on Podcast Network, bringing you scoops, breakdowns, and the most comprehensive preview of the upcoming

Big Ten weekend. No hurt feelings and thin skin allowed. Squad up, you're part of the Big Ten Squad. Happy Thursday, everybody. Welcome to this week's Lockdown Big Ten Squad. I'm your host, Spencer McLaughlin, Neutral Arbiter of all things, college football. Of course, Zach Seiko of Lockdown Nittany Lions is here. Isaiah Hull, he's got to get A position today. His team won the National Championship. We will talk about that later. Seiko, I know this may shock you, but Penn State did not win the basketball national championship. They won a wrestling national championship. Did they really? Yeah, 13 of the last 15.

Boom. Jay Stevens of Lockdown Buckeyes is here and Trent Condon of Lockdown Hockyes as well. Well, sadly, we're not going to start with wrestling. Though this is, this is the bet. Yeah, I lied. This is the best opportunity you will have to work it into the show because, well, I look at this, of course, as the host of Lockdown College football and as a college football fan through the lens of that. sport the idea of five years of eligibility is getting discussed and it wouldn't just apply to football but it would include football so saco you can you can start us off as a national champion is it

really 13 of 15 yeah sick that's incredible oh boy trend's disgusting i would don't get mad get better i'm not mad get better yeah that's your memo trend uh anyway so seco five for five Yeah, or nay. Oh, yeah, absolutely. This is, and just fresh off of a show talking about it, 25, 26 year olds in the sport of, in college sports, it's unacceptable. It's, it's shameful, honestly. At that point, you, you have to go pro or figure something out. We have to remember that college athletics or for college students. And at what point in time does, you, you potentially having this was this is in the sport of wrestling too right where it's but same thing with football you have a potentially 25 year old offensive line whatever position doesn't matter going up against a 19 year

old and maybe an 18 year old freshman what how how is any of that fair how is any of that balance make make college sports about college again uh so i i i think the five for five is the best recommendation uh rule order whatever you want to call it here that that should stay above all Don't get mad. Get better. A Seco? Isaiah, your thoughts on five years of eligibility from it's either the time you graduate high school or your 19th birthday, whichever is first. I'm a little torn now that Michigan has, and it's going to sound weird, but it's because Michigan has a head coach in football who is of the LDS persuasion, right? And you get a lot of these guys, and you're going to be facing a little bit of that, Spencer,

with Gatlin Bear going to Oregon because you got guys going on missions and now they're only eligible for three years when they get back essentially. I don't know that that's going to be able to stand since that's part of the freedom of religion and all of that, right? Because that's, that's just what they do. They all go on two-year missions and then after that they would come by. So I think that with some tweaking, it could be good, but I don't think it would be fair to eliminate just, you know, essentially a whole religion from being able to partake within the five for five of it all. Maybe they get a waiver. But ultimately, otherwise, yeah, I think it's fine, right? I like the idea of everyone getting to play five years if you are coming straight from high school and you're

getting to getting to play. Instead of just this arbitrary like four games, right, like just let everyone have five years. And yeah, I agree. Like we don't need anyone beyond like 23, 24. I think That's, you know, you get seniors that are about that. Mari Burnett had his fifth year and he's 24, I believe. So I think that's a good barrier to have. Isaiah, you just impressed a lot of Oregon fans with your absolute ball knowledge of Ducks recruiting. That was a fantastic, fantastic poll. What a moment.

Jay, your thoughts. I'm a little torn as well because I think Ozic's really good points about the LDS and the mission. I don't know much about the religion and all the rules and stuff. I can accept for that. I mean, that can open the door, that can open the door though. Can it?

It's like, well, they get an exception for this, but maybe it would be the only one. I don't know. People are going to try to find an exception for everything. But I agree. Like,

you need to make exception for certain things, but the age thing is a little bit weird. I didn't really think four years, like playing four years of football. If you redshirt one, you play four and five, I didn't think that was broken. I didn't have an issue with that at all.

But with the way things have, gone and with the players have so much power and things you're changing so quickly, I think five and five is going to be a reality eventually. But I had no problem with you play four years, you may get a red shirt, and that's it. When they got away from that, that's where all the issues came in. But five and five is cool. I wouldn't say it's needed. I think if you went back in time and used some of the old rules and just used them now, I think the sport would still be fine. Trent, I absolutely love this because I've been yelling about it. for 15 years on the radio.

And finally, they have listened to me. Five for five, it just simplified. Someone found your show after all that time. Hey, congrats. Yeah, great ratings. Don't worry on the Iowa Sports Radio Network. Statewide on five radio stations here across the great state of Iowa. Spencer, one thing that definitely jumps out about this is the simplicity of it,

the medical redshirts. How many times have you guys had the questions that have come in for your particular school? Oh, are they going to get a medical redshirt? No, no, we're done with that. Five years. You want to play as a true friend? freshman, that's fine. You have five years to complete it. Medical red shirts out, done, completely move on from that. I love the simplicity of this. Let's make this process in what is

a goofy, crazy sport and just athletics as a whole at the collegiate level. Simplify things. This is a good thing. Yeah, I'm with you there, Trent and Craig will work you in here in just a moment, but to piggyback off what Trent just said, there is that downside. I think that has to be pointed out that guys who battle injuries or get hurt will be worse off. in this scenario. It's just that there are pros and cons no matter which road you decide to go down. And I think right now, I mean, you've got a guy at Montana who's playing his ninth year of college football this season. T.J. Finley was at seven schools in seven years. He was going to play an incarnate word. Then he left the program. It's it's just those are the sorts of examples of which there are many others where I go, yeah, I don't know that you're I think you're strange. way too far from college sports when you let a guy who is 25, 26 years old. To pick a basketball example. And look, I've met the kid before.

He's a super nice guy. Ty and Grant Foster was playing basketball for Gonzaga this past year. And I'm sorry, but that was a little ridiculous in my view. Like, he has been, I think he was a part of the 2019 recruiting class. And he was playing in calendar year 2026. So Craig, five years of eligibility. and that's it for everyone. You think that's a good idea?

Yeah, it's a good place to go right now because I think we are getting dangerously close to having some student athletes, student athletes who are just going to be going to be into the, you know, a bunch of 30-year-olds making a couple million dollars a year, not good enough to get into the NFL, keep suing their way for more eligibility.

And we're going to have 28, 29, 30-year-olds playing college football 10 years from now. I really think that's where we're headed. When I jumped on, Jay was talking about the four and five. That was perfect because that did allow for a disaster year. If you blow out a knee or something like that, I thought that was fair. So we do the five and five. We got to put a cap on it.

It's getting ridiculous. College athletics is supposed to be younger people, not older people. And I think it's a good start. Ultimately, it will get settled in the courts, though. We'll see what the courts say is legal and isn't because that's where it's going to end up. I think COVID messed a lot of stuff up too because you had to give kids the free year. But then that just things just got tacked on. know, and it just kind of cycled from there.

So, yeah, I think all of us are, our thumbs up on this idea, right? I'm thumbs up. Everybody else? Yeah. Yeah. Look at that. How about a perfect six for six?

Kind of like how the Big Ten win a perfect three for three on the last three major national championships four, four, four, sorry, four for four for four, because we count wrestling as a major sport here on the Lockdown Big Ten squad. Michigan wins it all. But they didn't cover. though so what does it even mean speaking of which this episode brought to you by our friends at fandul the NBA playoffs are here where every possession matters every matchup is magnified and every game can swing a series and every word I say at the end of last segment is directly related to

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Michigan wins the national championship. So Seco has to slide out of the number one spot. Isaiah Holes got to be in there first because once again, the Wolverines, national champions. We'll get to the implications of the Big Ten. But how about the, can we give it up for Big Ten basketball? I mean, at long last, the drought. The drought.

I'm not cladding from Michigan. The drought is over. I'm not cladding from Michigan. I'm not doing that. Come on, Jay. Come on, Jay. Be a team player. You're not doing it because you can't do it.

I can't. No, you can't. It's just peer pressure. You can't do it. You can't do it. He's biologically inclined to not be able to clap for it. I'm choosing to latch on to this as the hope that Oregon will one day break through and win a football national championship.

Because if. The big tent. Well, they've won in a bunch of sports, but just not ones that people would actually, you know, care about or count because that's the way it works. And we're just in our special form of hell over here. Anyway, it's fine. I'm fine.

I'm totally, totally fine, guys. It's going great, really, really well. Not as well as it's going for Isaiah. Your reaction to Michigan, just being the best team in college basketball. Well, first of all, I purposely stopped by sporting goods in Ann Arbor just to get this get-up, whether, just in case Jay, who I, expected to be on the show and as if Matt Sheehan had ever be on this show. Who?

That's the whole reason. Obviously, it's great to see Michigan close out the job after being considered among the top three teams in college basketball. Obviously, the end of the regular season kind of showing a little bit of chinks in the armor. And you saw that also in the Big Ten tournament. So to be able to close it out with the Axel Lenderborg playing at like, he said 50%, I don't even know if it was that much, right? Like he just was completely hobbled. And doing it while playing the game that Yukon wanted them to play, usually Michigan's the team that kind of sets the tone and they were incapable of doing that against the Huskies. So to be able to go and play the game that they were, you know, that they were forced to play.

I mean, Kenny the Jet Smith in the halftime is sitting there like giddy because, you know, Yukon was down four. He's like, oh, they're playing our game. And Charles Barkley's like, wait a second. You guys are down. What are you? Why are you so happy? So huge credit to Dusty May for the way that he was able to assemble this team.

I know a lot of people are upset about like the transfers and all of that stuff. But like what else would you expect him to do over the last couple years, considering there was a mass exodus of players, right? Like you're just supposed to be like, all right, well, we're just not going to have a point guard. Um, forward is optional. Uh, and we'll just do with what we got. Like, you know, I, I think it was a really good job by him in talent evaluation of getting everything that we're going to work together.

Isaiah, you're telling me that Charles Barkley found a way to not swell his beef with the fine folks of San Antonio. Is that as you were saying? That's, that's all, all I heard there. But, uh, say go is, is there going to be a new narrative that forms like, well, it's just Michigan schools that have won national championships in basketball this century. Doesn't even count. Doesn't count.

Is that the next step? I thought this was my opportunity to talk wrestling here since we're talking national championship. You know what? You know what? Send it. Just send it. Say a bunch of names that none of us have ever heard.

I want to hear terms that make no sense. Because they lose to them consistently. And Michigan and Ohio State, right, too. But I know they don't care. And that's fine. You don't have to pay attention. No, from the basketball perspective, hey, Penn State's got a ton of guys in the portal. But what I'm impressed is how Dusty May did it so quickly.

Okay, yeah, well, there's the transfer portal still getting settled in at Michigan. You're playing a bit of free agency. And it's not like he brought over everybody from Florida Atlantic so you could make the comparison. Well, Indiana and Kurt Signetti, I'm impressed that Dusty May jumps up to the Big Ten. Certainly Michigan is shelling out the resources for him to succeed. But how quickly you go from Florida Atlantic that it wasn't a Cinderella run as deep as deep as it went when he was there. And then he goes to Michigan. And in two years, they win a national title.

I guess for Penn State, I don't think anything's ever going to happen for men's basketball. But that just gives you hope for other programs that take men's basketball seriously. Penn State does not. They are all in on football and wrestling and men's hockey. But men's basketball, it'll give you hope whether Big Ten SEC that if you get the right coach and you give him, the right resources that they can make a run deep into the postseason and maybe even win a national title. Jay, do you want to sit this one out? No, no, actually, I wish Ohio State did more of what Michigan did with Dusty May. You find a coach that can evaluate talent, but also while

evaluating talent, he knows how to build chemistry in the offseason that carries into the regular season. Ohio State doesn't have that right now. I don't have trust in Jake DeBler to put a roster together that can be competitive in the fall. I have trust in Dusty May they can put a roster together and be competitive next season. I think that's where I will time in and compare Ohio State Michigan because the gap between these programs right now is pretty large. And Buckeye fans don't have faith that they have a coach that can do what Dusty May just did. Hey, Jay, look at the bright side though. Michigan is not Yukon, so they're out in the round of 32 next year. That's the rule. That's the way that it goes. Isn't that right, Trent Condon?

Well, I wouldn't know. I mean, I haven't seen a national championship. But one thing I do know is I will gain so much respect for Dusty May throughout the course of Trent, you're killing me here. You're killing you just knocked out the reigning national champs in the round of 32. Of course. I teed it up on a silver platter for you. I was going a completely different direction than you. I guess I can see that. Yes, yes. I missed. I missed. I can't get them all. Oh, whiff. What are you, Cal Raleigh? Uh, looking like it. I don't even have a whole. Homer, though. That's the problem out of me. I look at this in the Big Ten of what Dusty May created, and this is a good thing. You know, we finally get to end the narrative about no national championships in a quarter century. We move on from that. But now the expectations raised. And we saw this on the football field. And to give Jason credit, when Urban Meyer showed up in the Big Ten at Ohio State, it raised the expectations for everybody. And I think Dusty May and what he created by year number two is going to raise the expectations. Now, it's not good enough to make a sense. Sweet 16 early date or Final Four. It's good enough. It's about winning a national championship.

We've seen it on the football field. Now hopefully we're going to see it on the hardwood as well. Craig, you seem like you're just licking your chops to get in on this one. Well, not only has it put pressure on coaches, but how, how fast is the timeline now? Because of what Kurt Signetti did and what Dusty May did, I'm thinking of a Mike Malone. Two years. Yeah.

No, it's got to be faster. I mean, I'm thinking if Mike Malone at North. Carolina isn't ranked number one in the country by Christmas. He's on the hot seat. Get him out. You're going to wait as long as Christmas? I'm with, I'm with Isaiah. You can't, you can't wait that long by mid-December. We've got to see national title potential. Darren DeVries is feeling that at Indiana, I'm sure. Yeah, no, I mean, it's, it's, everything's upside down. There's no more honeymoon period. There's no, hey, I got a three-year plan. Five, six years. Let's see how we do here. You got to do it

now. Yeah, you're not a financial planner. Everyone needs the get rich quick scheme of coaching. The Big Ten's apparently found those guys. Like, look, hi, I'm Dusty May. I'm going to be a five-seat and then I'm going to dominate the rest of the tournament. And hi, I'm Kurt Signetti. I'm going to take the worst program in the history of college football and I'm going to run through everybody's face and there's nothing you can do about it and, you know, throw a back shoulder along the way too. So is this just life for the Big Ten now? Well, it certainly feels. that way. I'm Kleea Butler, host of Lockdown Women's Basketball, and this is Mazda's Women's Basketball Snapshot, celebrating the work no highlight reel can ever capture.

UCLA made history by winning its first NCAA Women's Basketball National Championship, dominating South Carolina 79 to 51. The Bruins controlled the game from start to finish with elite defense and balanced scoring, finishing the season 37 and 1. Star Center, Lauren, Betz was named most outstanding player, leading a team effort that caps a 31 game winning streak. Under head coach, Corey Close, UCLA secured a landmark title that has been decades in the making. These moments are earned off the clock, those long before the lights ever come on. The sweat, the fakes, the doubt, the scrapes, and coming back for more every time. Mazda puts that same drive into every detail. Wins defined the moment, putting in the work,

That defines you. There's more to a Mazda because there's more to you. All righty. So football, Indiana, check. Men's basketball, Michigan, check. Women's basketball, UCLA, check again. These weren't just magical runs by these Big Ten teams. These were dominant performances.

Now, Indiana was the least. Think about this. Of the three national championships that the Big Ten just collected in, sorry, the four biggest sports, the four biggest sports, Seiko. The least dominant team in the postseason run was Indiana. They were the, they, they were the one that was pushed to the limit the most. And it's not to say they were challenged in a big way. Isaiah, is this just life in the big 10 now? I think maybe now that we talked about this last week, it's, it's, there's a reason why the SEC is pushing so hard to be like, we need rules. We need guidelines.

I know. It's because now that suddenly the Big Ten can play the same game as everyone else, they're just going to do it better. So, I mean, I think the sky's the limit, right? You can you look at your team at Oregon and football this next year. I mean, that would be my favorite to win it all right now between Oregon and Ohio State, to be honest. Vanilla or chocolate ice cream. You can't play quarterback at Oregon.

Oh, man. So, I mean, it's now that Dusty May has been able to crank through, I guarantee you're going to see like Indiana is already spending a lot of money, aren't they, Craig? Like, I mean, I know it hasn't worked out yet, but like you've got Indiana, you've got, you know, teams like Purdue. Oh, you're talking about basketball. Yeah.

Yeah. You're like, I know it hasn't worked out. Yeah. What does working out look like? No, Indiana. He's right. Indiana, the second highest. NIL for basketball. Michigan and Indiana were both over $10 million.

Michigan got the right players. Indiana is just trying to stream together 12 new guys with the program. So they better get more bang for their buck in year number two next year. Or he's fired. Yeah, year two. That's the standard. You win a natty in year two or you stink. Anyone know off the top of their heads. I'll be wildly impressed if you do. How long the UCLA women's coach has been in her position? 15 years. I thought it was like over 20. Craig's guy. I thought it was 20. I think it's 15. See, now that would have been the ultimate trifective.

They were all second year head coaches. That would have set the standard there. Saco, does the Big Ten's role slow down anytime soon? Well, think about, I mean, football, it's not like this was just a consecutive in each sport for this year. Football is now three in a row, right? Men's basketball finally gets a breakthrough. through the women's basketball in this same. And I don't see it slowing down anytime soon. I really don't. The Big Ten seems to dominate all of the lesser recognized sports as well. And I'm not just

saying wrestling. I think the Big Ten actually won six of the, I think it was six national titles that in Michigan won gymnastics too. So it's it's not slowing down overall. The SEC, since they don't have money, since they don't have that leverage anymore, how do they How do they compete? Because they're losing, they are losing the coaching and development battle. That's really what this boils down to is that the best coaches are in the big 10. So, yeah, Nick Saban, they're not replacing them. Nick Saban retires and they don't find that next kind of, I guess they would, they would argue Kirby Smart.

That's fine. But when Kurt Signetti is at Indiana or, you know, and pick Dan Lanning. I mean, he was at Georgia, but he leaves and goes to Oregon. So the best coaches, the best development is in the Big Ten and the SEC. That's why they're behind and then they don't have that unfair, that unfair competitive advantage. Did Michigan win a national championship in gymnastics, Isaiah? Yeah. Yeah.

Actually, they have been long, very good in women's gymnastics for like decades. Well, that I, that I knew. I honestly forgot when the, when the championship match or championship meet, was Washington won men soccer. I mean, we won every sport. Yeah, it wasn't, it wasn't why just stop at the three main, the three main sports, wrestling, gymnastics. They were just on my mind. You've got you in the Frozen Four this coming up this weekend as well. And in the Big Ten, I'd, what, three of eight in the elite eight because he had Iowa, Illinois and, uh, and Michigan, or was it four with Michigan State?

Yeah, Michigan State was in the elite eight as well. No, were they sweet 16? Sweet 60. Wait, Purdue was there. Purdue. Yeah. Yeah, Purdue there as well. So,

Jay, if you want to, if you want to chime in and say that Oregon's going to be next, we'd take some optimism right now because at this rate, Craig might be our starting center for men's basketball next year. I'm not that crazy. I'm not. Okay. Well, yeah, thanks for being a wet blanket.

Yeah, appreciate that. No problem with that right now. Not going on the rabbit hole. I think it's going to continue. I firmly think that the Big Ten has not just has a great, they're in a good spot right now, but there's a belief that the Big Ten can compete in everything. And I think that's a lot of the things that you need. Like, you can have the talent, you can have the coaching that's good, but do you believe you can do it.

And once you get that belief, you have the confidence, I think everything is going to be fine. So, no, this is, it feels good to be in the Big Ten right now and to see people from the South try to figure out where this money came from. Money's always been there. They can just use it for sports right now. Oh, Isaiah, were you talking about men's gymnastics? I was talking women's. I didn't, I have no idea when it comes to the last year. I did just say gymnastics because I didn't know if it was the men's or women's team off the top of my head. But I didn't see gymnastics. Yeah, because, yeah, I don't think they've had, I don't think the women's have, have competed. This is the most we ever top gymnastics on, on the show. I'm here for it.

I actually broadcast gymnastics at Southern Utah. I do it all the time. It's a really fun sport. But anyway, Trent, how does it feel to be in the Big Ten as an Iowa fan right now? It's great. And we've had a little bit of success, not national championship success, but coming off in a lead aid, obviously on the basketball floor, the way that the investment has continued there. And it's something that we've all known. Yes, we had free tattoos that Ohio State was given out and Ed Martin doing his thing at Michigan back in the day. But the way that the SEC cheated was just a different level. And now that we're at a level-playing surface, we see what actually happens here.

these huge institutions in the Big Ten with the money that is there when things are, for the most part, above the board, we see where they're really the cream rising to the top. And that is the Big Ten. It's not a surprise. Things are cyclical somewhat, but I don't think the Big Ten certainly is going away anytime soon. By the way, Craig, because I'm sure you already know this, but I'll let you know on the women's gymnastics side of things. They are the semifinals are April 16th a week from when this show originally airs. They are down. to eight. The Big Ten has got two represented five from the SEC and one from the ACC, that being that being Stanford. So another chance, another chance for the league to take a jab at the conference down south. Final word, I think, by the way, I think the men did win at Michigan in December. Corey Close has been their 15 years, 2011 at UCLA. And final word on this continuing, something I didn't even know is an Indiana grad when they were going through their

run. I kept hearing it on TV that we have the biggest alumni base in the country at 800,000 people. And I guarantee you, Michigan and Ohio State and Penn State are right behind them because we've got huge campuses with undergrad classes, the size of 50,000 students cranking them out every year. So the donor base, people that get degrees at these schools, get real jobs, make real money, keep donating at a larger number than those poor SEC schools down in the south. This is going to continue forever. That's as good a note as you can end the Lockdown Big Ten squad on Isaiah Hall, Lockdown Wolverine, Zach Saccoe, Lockdown, Netney Lyons, Jay Stevens, Lockdown, Buckyes, Trent Condon,

Lockdown, Hawkies, Craig Sheeman, Lockdown, Back 10. I'm Spencer McLaughlin from Lockdown all over the place, really. I appreciate and we appreciate everyone listening. We'll see you next time. And until then, I hope you all have a wonderful rest of your day.