Locked On Hawkeyes - Daily Podcast On Iowa Hawkeyes Football & Basketball - Big 10 SQUAD - Can Iowa WIN the Big 10 Championship in 2026?

Episode Date: February 12, 2026

Big Ten powerhouses collide as Oregon, Michigan, and Penn State each make their case for conference supremacy. Will Dante Moore and Dylan Raiola create college football’s most dangerous quarterback duo and push Dan Lanning’s Oregon Ducks to Indianapolis? Or can Kyle Whittingham’s arrival in Ann Arbor steady Michigan through a brutal schedule featuring Oklahoma, Ohio State, and Penn State, while unlocking the potential of JJ Buchanan and Jamie French?The Big 10 panel breaks down Penn State’s favorable slate under Matt Campbell and the influx of Iowa State stars, debating if this revamped Nittany Lions roster can finally pull off a Big Ten title run. Discussions spotlight key matchups like Penn State-Michigan, Michigan’s West Coast woes, coordinator shake-ups for Oregon, and which team is poised to break into the top tier. With heated takes and bold predictions, this is your go-to preview for the Big Ten’s race to the championship. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Today on the show, you will hear the case for Oregon, for Michigan, and for Penn State to win the Big Ten. 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 three-man locked-on Big Ten Squad. I should probably show you who else is here. It's not just me. That would be a different type of squad. But look, it's Isaiah Hole and Zach Seiko. Look, I'm doing three different things at once here, Seiko. I forgot to click the button to change the shot.

You never have issues other weeks. I know, I know. I'll let it slide. I'll let it slide. Yeah. Well, you know what? we are the three wise men that are here this week, unless you thought I picked those three teams at random. No, in fact, I did not. So Isaiah Hall of Lockdown Wolverine, Zach Seiko, Locked on

Nittany Lions is here. I'm Spencer McLaughlin from Lockdown all over the place, sort of. So Saco, we're going to start with you. Matt Campbell, but you guys both have first year head coaches. I don't know what that feels like. I haven't felt it in like four years. It's just been such You got one of them fired, so you're responsible for that. This is objectively true. You can draw a straight line between Oregon winning and double overtime with Dylan Thineman's interception and then James Franklin going on to be the head coach at Virginia Tech. But Matt Campbell is there along with most of the Iowa State football team from 2025.

Give me the case that they break through and win the Big Ten. The floor is yours. conveniently enough having Isaiah here is perfect because I think whoever wins that Penn State Michigan game is going to have much more leverage as far as who will be that Dark Horse contender for the Big Ten. And I think that's what Penn State is. They're in that category with Michigan and USC as, okay, there's optimism. Maybe they can surprise some people. Penn State has an extremely easy schedule. That's the first point that I want to make.

It's just Michigan and USC. Granted, could they lose to Washington on the road? Absolutely. But those are the three games that I have circled and say, you know, these are the ones that I'm concerned about. It's everybody else that's it. We're talking northwestern, Maryland, Wisconsin, all of the easiest teams. There's no Indiana. There's no Oregon. There's no Ohio State. It's just a road trip against Michigan, a road trip at Washington, and then USC at home. So you actually get a favorable setup for that USC game. And then the non-conference schedule is very easy. There's no one worth notable there. So the schedule is easy. Number two, the team, I mean, Iowa State, they brought over the best players from Iowa State. You got a starting quarterback. You got a starting running back. You got some starting offensive linemen, caliber offensive linemen, but that wasn't Penn State's issue.

You got two starting caliber tight ends. You basically filled out the secondary. You got three capable linebackers, a few defensive linemen. These aren't the fringe holdovers from Iowa State. These were guys that were all-conference caliber players, and now they're only better with another year of experience. They know the system. Penn State's blending the best of what they were able to keep in-house and then add over the best of Iowa State. I think it's a great formula to win and be competitive. Be competitive. And my expectations, personally, if everything

goes well, at least 10 and 2 with, okay, Michigan and USC is the outliers. Easy schedule to try to get to the playoff. Breaking news, Penn State has joined the SEC. So, Isaiah, what do you make of Penn State's chances? We will get to the Wolverines to be sure, because I love me some Kyle Whittingham chatter. I actually live in the great state of Utah. Kyle Whittingham is more than just a little bit. Yeah, yeah, exactly, exactly Saco. But you buy that, Isaiah, Penn State, Big Ten championship year one, just because the schedule is favorable?

Well, the first thing, and I couldn't remember the exact quote as much of a Disney. nerd as I am, but to quote the rock's character, Moana, you're welcome because. Great song. Matt Campbell had been holding out for the Michigan job, and I know that on very, very, very good authority forever. And eventually he just gave up. And only to give up.

And a week later, the job opens up. He just gave up. I just want to know, when was the last time that, Penn State won in Ann Arbor when it wasn't 2020 and Michigan wasn't trotting out like, you know, through freshmen all across the place and Dan Valari and stuff like that. Last time was 2020. There was a little bit of a stretch where, hey, Penn State, they went back and forth, right? That was in the later 2000s, but those games were at Beaver Stadium.

And then, you know, well, Michigan absolutely dominated when it was at the big house. So, wait, wait, wait, can I guess? Can I guess? 2016. No, Michigan won that game 29 to 10. By a lot. Okay.

Bad guess then. Bad guess. It was maybe 2010-ish. That sounds about right. See, I'm thinking Chad Hennie. Let's bring in our resident Big Ten expert.

Craig Sheiman joining the squad here. When was the last time in a non-COVID season, Craig? Penn State won a football game in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Whoa. Is this one of these rhetorical questions or do one? No, this is a literal question at the moment. Jeopardy trivia. Yeah. This is a good one. Yeah, please put

your response in the form of a question. Could it be 2010? And I'm literally just throwing a year out there. That sounds about right to me. It's somewhere around there. Somewhere around there. So good luck. That's really all I've got. Because I don't, I mean, yeah, easy schedule, fine. You got the best of Iowa State, that sweet, you know, and the best of Penn State.

Also very cool. But, you know, it is what it is. And listen, I think that they'll get better eventually this year. I don't know. That seems like a tall ask. Answer, 2009. Ooh. 2000, 2009.

Penn State to the Big Ten championship game. You buy that? When? No. This year. No. No. They're going to take a little.

They're going to do a slow roll. I do like your chances of your organ ducks, actually. Oh, look at that. Look at that. I got to plant my flag for my Hoosiers to repeat as well. So yeah, I heard Bryce Underwood's getting lessons now from Jordan Carson getting all dialed up, Isaiah. So it's all good. Yeah, he's not coaching himself anymore.

That's a new thing. Positive staff. That's moving forward that an 18-year-old is not trying to figure out the Big 10 on his own. Since Craig brought it up, when we get back, we shall indeed talk about the odds of Oregon. Go into the Big Ten championship game. that's on today's Lockdown Big Ten squad. I'm Kleea Butler, host of Locked on Women's Basketball, and this is Mazda's Women's Basketball Snapshot, celebrating the work no highlight reel can ever capture.

Don Staley and South Carolina remain on top of the SEC standings after handing Tennessee their worst defeat in program history with a final score of 93 to 40. In the 43-point win, South Carolina shot 69% from the field, Tessa Johnson had a perfect shooting night scoring 24 points, shooting four for four from the floor, including two threes, and made all four of her free throws. And UCLA remains undefeated in Big Ten play, topping Michigan 69 to 66, as player of the year contender Lauren Betts put up a double double, scoring 16 points, collecting 16 rebounds, and adding five assists and three blocks. 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 the same drive into every detail. Winds defined the moment, putting in the work, that defines you. There's more to a Mazda because there's more to you. All right, round robin for what is now a four-man squad. If Isaiah Zach and I are the three wise men, what does that make Craig, the baby Jesus? Wow. No.

Okay. Well, we just, we dubbed our. ourselves that moniker I dubbed us with that moniker earlier and you're the fourth that I've got to start getting here on time I'm miss announced. Yeah, the the the big stuff. But Craig, why don't you, why don't you start us off? Make your case for Oregon to the Big Ten championship game next year. Well, number one, the easy low hanging fruit is they're pretty good right now. Like their base level is really good. With Dan Lennon, they're not falling off. They're going to be in the mix every year.

Oh, yeah. You know, they've got the best quarterback room in America. So that's covered. I do like their young talent on the team. I like the talent coming in, transfer port of recruiting. Everything's on cruise control for Dan Lannick. I think they're just going to keep knocking on that door until they get, get in. And, you know, the first year, they won the big 10 championship.

This year, they didn't quite get there, but probably came down to the Indiana game, to be honest with you. And I don't see them falling off. being much further often, you know, if they miss it, they miss it by a game, a key game, a key matchup that keeps them out. I think they're rolling right now. And, you know, Ohio State's playing at a certain level. Oregon got Indiana in the mix right there. I think I don't see any drop off with a lot of those.

Only two teams can make it. Obviously, I just mentioned three, but they're not going, they're not going anywhere. They're going to be in the mix knocking on the door every year. Preach, Craigithee. preach. I love the words coming out of your mouth right now. Isaiah, I will, I will throw it over to you. Oregon and Michigan will of course play in November at Austin Stadium. Could have Big Ten championship implications there. Do you buy Oregon making a return trip to Indianapolis, even though I don't know if I,

you know, really want them to while the playoff format exists in its current. I said that all year. Like I wanted Oregon to do exactly what they did. Go 11 and 1. miss the Big Ten title game, get a home playoff game, because then I was actually able to go, you know, watch Oregon in person because of my other job. And then you kind of get things rolling with a tune up. So it worked out. But you think they go to Indianapolis next year? I don't see why not at this point. I don't know their schedule offhand aside from Michigan going to Eugene in late November. And, you know, that's a, that's a tall tall ask rather for Michigan that loves to just go and lose in the West Coast whenever it goes there. So makes a habit. Yeah, that that USC, Washington, Oregon, they're over.

Yes, I would just basically at this point to say like that's a Michigan loss. I know Kyle Whittingham might might have something to say to me about that, right? But like, I mean, you've got everything going for you, really. And, you know, like bringing back a senior Dante Moore and having Dylan Riola backing him up. I mean, you just can't go wrong with that, right? Like, because now you're at a spot where you're looking at it and saying, all right, there needs to be a lot of cataclysm. There needs to be like, you know, guys forget how to play football in order to even just not show up. Yeah.

Can I ask, well, I want to ask you a question about that. Yeah. Yeah. By the way, Dante Moore, Redshirt Jr. When he returns in 2027, you're all screwed. You can just give up on the season. That's if the Jets have the number one overall pick. Yeah.

Exactly. No, nobody wants to go there. Sorry, Craig. I interrupt you. Go ahead. What is the official plan with Rihola? Is he a red shirt never to be seen?

Or if we're like eight games in, catastrophic injury, he comes and saves the day. Dante Moore goes down. I mean, is he redshirting or is he just going to be the backup? And we very well may see him a lot. I understand it in talking to certain folks. The plan is to redshirt him, especially coming off the injury. However, the injury is not so severe that he's not going to be able to play if called upon.

The way I think Oregon wants it to go is they don't have to play him, save for a few snaps here and there, just to get your feet wet with the offensive system and all of that. But if they have an actual need to play a backup quarterback, you know, you can play. Rayola up to four games and still preserve his red shirt. I think that's the ideal scenario just so that he could have two more years if he wants. But they've got a guy in Brock Thomas, who's, I believe he was a former walk-on and zero-star recruit who went to Sheldon High School, very close to Eugene. And he is like the quintessential backup quarterback. He's not someone you want to have start, but he came in against Wisconsin this year when Dante Moore broke his nose. And it was this rain, terrain,

downpour, ugly game, and they kept him out there, even though Dante, yeah, could have returned, but they didn't want to risk it. And Brock went out there. He completed like five passes, because that's all that was needed, handed the ball off, ran the offense. So I don't think that there's no quarterback drama, debate, controversy, or, you know, once Dante struggles and throws his first pick, Raola's coming in. No, they want to sit them for this year, let him learn, follow the Dante Moore trajectory, and then have him be the starter come 2020. That's the ideal plan for Oregon at quarterback. I do want to give Seiko a chance to chime in and talk about the ducks.

That's his favorite thing. I don't think there's anything that Zach loves more than talking about Oregon. Go ahead, Seiko. I mean, your audience loves me. This is actually true. This is actually true. I am a celebrity on your channel. I mean, we've all done crossovers before.

You ever get the comments from some of your listeners? Like, man, don't bring. bring that guy on again. That is not the case, not the case of Saco. So the, I, I agree with what Isaiah and Craig have said. They were somehow to able to create the best, you know, best quarterback room in the country. It's, it's, you have question marks as far as, okay, Kenyon Sadiq moves on, right? There are some key players that you're going to have to replace on defense, right? You know, face of the lineback room, Betcher. But then those names are going to be the, the star caliber production. I mean, you could argue that they were stars already. Brandon Finney gets another year

under his belt. DeCorean Moore becomes now the focal point of the offense. The only thing that I would be worried about if I'm Oregon is just how the new coordinators settle in. It's just being able to replace not one but two, your offensive and defensive coordinator, but I don't think that's going to hold them back from a Big Ten title run or a championship run. I mean, returning Dante Moore, that sets up. up perfectly for them. And then if he does get injured, your backup's Ryola. So he can be, he can be the handoff. If I mean, imagine a scenario where Moore's out for four to six weeks, knock on wood, because I don't want to see that for the sake of the competition. But Ryola can

come in and then just basically hand it back to Dante Moore going into the latter part of the season or the postseason. Perfect setup. Oregon has a lot of insurance one way or another. Yeah, I think the, the coordinators are a top of my mind. question, probably the number one question. I'll tell you another concern. I'll tell you another one that's a legit question, especially in this league as we know. And you guys are big 10 veterans. I'm still a carpet bagger to this conference, quite frankly. I don't know who Oregon starting kicker is going to be. I know who the options are. I know the names, but no one who's going to be in the running for Oregon's starting kicker will have made a field goal for the ducks in his career

when the competition sets out this spring. You had a pretty good one. Yeah, Atticus Sappington, man. He, he grew to legend status because I don't know if you guys knew this, but in Eugene, we've had some bad luck and outcomes with kickers in some big games. I see why this is important to you. Yes, yes. We have had seasons that were trending towards the national championship derailed because of a kicker's inability to hit not from 45 or 50, but inside of 40.

That's happened three times that I can tell you right here. So it's a legitimate concern. Special teams sound boring, but you know what? My Ciacs just beat the Rams because their special teams were better. Amongst other things, when we get back, we are not forgetting. getting about Isaiah's Wolverines. The case for Kyle Wittingham on today's Lockdown Big Ten Squad. Today's episode brought to you by our friends at TurboTax. Tax season doesn't have to take over your life. This year, TurboTax is making it easier than ever to just hand things off and

move on with your day. With TurboTax full service, you can have your taxes done for you by a trusted local expert. Start to finish without the stress or the guesswork. Instead of spending hours trying to figure out forms, you can meet with a local TurboTax expert in person or connect online they handle everything from w-2s to self-employed forms and work to get you every deduction you can upload your documents go about your day and get updates right in the turbotax app it's a huge time saver and gives real peace of mind knowing an expert is handling it for a limited time you can have your taxes done by a local turbotax expert for just 150 all in if a turbo tax expert didn't file for you last year just file by february 28th that deadline's approaching take taxes off your

plate get back to your life visit turbotax.com slash local to book your appointment today not tomorrow do it today at turbotox turbotax.com slash local all right isaiah you start us off with michigan cow wedding ham and you know a certain situation leads to change yeah we all know what uh went down there but end of the day the key tendency you look at what's your coaching situation what's your quarterback, what are your coordinators, what's your roster like? Michigan kind of checks those boxes, don't they? Well, before I even get into Michigan, because as you mentioned the Seahawks and special teams, I have to also, Moana, you and say, what can I say except, you're welcome. For AJ Barner?

Yep. Jay Harbaugh. Mike McDonald. Yes, yes. Mike McDonald's, my king. I mean, Sam Donald's, well, I don't know. They're kind of 1A1B in the King's department. from Penn State, Crystal. I didn't know that. I did know A.J. Barners from Michigan, though. And I got to tell you, we love the barnyard. We love the barnyard in the Pacific Northwest. He started out at Indiana, by the way.

He's a Tom Allen recruit. Just throw that out there. Then he went to Michigan. I actually, I had posted a picture of A.J. Barner on my Instagram story. And I looked like five minutes after. And I saw Jack Tuttle's name without a heart next to it. So I texted him.

I'm like, bro, what are you doing? That's your guy. Like, is there something going on between you two? I didn't know. You both were in Indiana and then at Michigan. He's like, listen, I'm just, I'm busy. And I'm like, you better get on it, Jack. You better.

Yeah. But with Michigan, I mean, I think just by virtue of the fact that last year in the regular season, they went, nine and, you know, nine and three overall, two losses in the big 10. And they did it while it was silly season the entire time, right? Like, the fact that now that there's adults in the room that are actually going to go and, I don't know, coach the team and, like, Kyle Winningham, like, he's not even on Instagram, right? Like that. Yeah, they're going to, the coaches are going to be focused at halftime.

These are game breaking revelations in Ann Arbor. Bryce Underwood, like I said earlier, he's not coaching himself. There's just so much there there. It's just wild. I have no idea what to expect from Michigan as a result. So that's, there's that. I will give the. caveat that the schedule is absolutely brutal.

Horrible. Beyond brutal. Like Oklahoma, at Oregon, like we talked about, at Ohio State, Penn State, Iowa, Indiana, like it's, I know I'm missing somebody there. At Minnesota, never sleep on Minnesota. Yeah, thankfully that's earlier in the year. So that's kind of, but I mean, it's a brutal schedule. But just by virtue of that, the fact that they got players that can actually help them, right? like, oh, they need a passing game.

Well, JJ Buchanan, look at him. Jamie French, look at him, right? Like, I think that they've got all the pieces is just a matter of can they withstand that schedule. Yeah, it's arguably, I talked about it on Locked on College football not long ago because it is one of the hardest schedules we've seen in the last few years. I like it's up there with what Oklahoma had last year, what Florida had the last couple of year. It's brutal. Craig, can Kyle Whittingham overcome? Yeah, listen, the best line that Isaiah had was, they got a grown up in the room now.

And, you know, it was remarkable that, remarkable that Shero Moore improved by two wins in year one to year two, right? And now the schedule this year is going to be a little different, like you said, it's going to be harder. But everything's in place. You've got a mature coach that knows what he's doing. I got a lot of confidence that Michigan's going to be a pretty good football team. I don't know how many games are going to lose with that tough schedule. I certainly feel like there's a fourth team that's going to make the play. I'm still honked off.

We only have three teams in the playoffs. It's just the way it worked out last year. I think the big 10 should always have four. We should always be good enough to have four, maybe five competing for it. And will Michigan be that team this year? I don't know. You're right. It all comes down to that schedule.

But the foundation, and that's the important part when you're running a program, the foundation is there. It's in place. And I think they could do some good things. I think Wittingham was just a home run to hire in what was a desperate situation because Sheromore got fired kind of laid into the game, if you will. I know it was December, but I mean, things were already in motion as far as coaches and where they were going to go at that point. And then they took forever to hire anybody.

And then they landed on Wittingham. I was a home run. Nothing like two of the biggest brands in the conference accidentally stumbling into great coaching hires. But that's what we've got. Michigan just Kyle Whittingham. What? How? Penn State. Fumble, miss, miss, miss,

Matt Campbell. Great hire. Anyway, Saco. Country roads, take us home on Michigan. Yeah, if I'm ranking the Big Ten at this point in time, and I think this is how most of the power rankings are going to go, basically Tier 1 is Ohio State, Oregon, and Indiana, in some combination, okay? Tier two is USC and Michigan.

And then I think Penn State's at the top, trying to get into Tier 2. They're at Tier 3. trying to sneak into that second tier. So Michigan, if it wasn't for that schedule, because Isaiah, I don't really know what to, you know, question, okay, Kyle, Kyle Whittingham in year one at a new program, sure, is going to have a lot of question marks, but great coordinator hires. The same thing that I said about Penn State, bringing over the key players, the key recruits

from Utah. So Michigan and Penn State have a similar, very similar setup. And, you know, with a former five-star quarterback that's, actually going to get some coaching. You bring over a Penn State didn't bring over a former five-star wide receiver from, I can't remember where French was it was at Alabama, and then he flipped to Texas. And yes, okay, there. Yeah, I was thinking Alabama.

But that's what I wish for Penn State. Michigan has that. The infrastructure, there were all these floodgates. They were able to retain recruits. So I would imagine that Michigan's going to be favored in a lot of these games, including Penn. But that's the turning point for Penn State. While I would favor Michigan in this one, if Penn State can pull off the upset, that would be such a momentum builder for the Nittney Lions,

and which is why it's circled above all else on our schedule. Good place to cap it today. Isaiah Hole, locked on Wolverines, Craig Sheiman, Lockdown, Big Ten, late arrival, but we enjoy having him here. Nevertheless, Saksako Lockdown, Nany Lions. I'm Spencer McLaughin from Lockdown all over the place, I suppose. Appreciate everyone listening, and we will see you next time. Until then, hope you have a wonderful rest of your day.