Locked On Hawkeyes - Daily Podcast On Iowa Hawkeyes Football & Basketball - BIG 10 SQUAD - How Iowa Football Can Benefit from Spring Game Changes

Episode Date: March 19, 2025

Deion Sanders' bold proposal for spring football scrimmages could revolutionize college football. Imagine the Florida Gators clashing with rivals in off-season showdowns, boosting fan engagement and team readiness. Is this the future of college sports?Explore the NCAA basketball tournament's controversial selections, with UNC's inclusion sparking debate. Craig Sheeman and other experts weigh in on the Big Ten's tournament prospects, questioning if any team truly stands out. Discover insights on new coaching strategies at USC and Ohio State, with Eric Musselman's influence already making waves.Join Spencer McLaughlin, Craig Sheeman, and Mark Culkin as they dissect these pivotal topics. Will the Gators' spring games become a trend? Can the Big Ten rise to the occasion? Tune in for expert analysis and insider perspectives.

Dion Sanders had a great idea. Should we bring that to the big 10? We should be getting the NCA out of the big 10. At least that's how Indiana feels. That and more on today's Locked On Big 10 Squad. You're talking ball with the Big 10 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 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 Wednesday, everybody, and welcome to this week's edition of the Big Ten Squad. I'm your host, Spencer McLaughlin. We have Craig Schiemann of Locked On Big Ten, Mark Kolkin, Locked On USC,

Zach Anderson-Yokshimer of that other school in UCLA area. I meant to say Los Angeles, but you know, you get the point. Jay Stevens of Lockdown Ohio State, Roman Tomashoff of Lockdown Huskies, Jacob Goens of the Tournament List, but now newly coached Indiana Hoosiers, and Ryan Herrings of Lockdown Badgers who wishes we would talk about basketball for the entire show. But I'm sorry, Ryan, we aren't going to do that. Craig, I want to start with you. Dion Sanders had a great idea and Fran Brown legitimately seemed to accept his offer on

Twitter because that's the world we live in now. Dion said, yeah, let's have a, I want to bring someone here and scrimmage them for spring ball. And Fran Brown on Twitter was like, yeah, man, sounds good. I mean, this is a great idea. And I would love, I mean, love to see this in the big time. I share your love for this. This is the one of the greatest ideas

I've heard in some time because listen, I like the idea of spring football. I don't know, people that make a living keeping track of teams like us, I like to see spring football and see who's coming in. Very disappointed in Matt Ruhl for canceling the spring game. It was one of the most successful spring games in the country.

They get 60,000 people there. Last year I wanted to see Dilla Riola. I got to see Dilla Riola. Now we're canceling it. Dion has taken a whole new idea now. Let's do it NFL style. Let's do two days of inter-squad practice and then let's play a game. I'm not going to lie, Deon has taken a whole new idea now. Let's do it NFL style.

Let's do two days of inter squad practice and then let's play a game. I'm all about this. Absolutely love the idea. Of course, the NCA will rain on this idea. It's against the rules.

Can't do it. Yeah, boo. Exactly. But I love the idea. Yeah, I think it's great. Now, Mark, I get the distinct impression. I don't know why, that you don't like Deion Sanders that much. But do you think that this is a good idea from Colorado's head coach?

Because I tell you what, I'm not saying you could orchestrate rivalry matchups, because USC UCLA is scrimmaging. Well, that would just be embarrassing for the Bruins, you know? But on the whole, you could bring a lot of fun matchups into play, right, Mark? So I need to understand the preface

for why I don't like Deion Sanders that much. Oh, it's just a hunch. Anyway, the idea itself is cool. I mean, the NFL's been doing it forever. All the football's following the NFL model. Here's my skepticism. Here's where I kind of go, no, I don't like the idea. Generally, I like it. I think it's good. But why do we keep chipping away at the fabric of what we know college football is? We're losing that traditional, that traditionalist part of it. All of a sudden, it's just a little bit here, it's a little bit here.

Before you know it, you're gonna have company logos right next to your team logo. They already have that though. They already have Nike and Adidas and Under Armour logos on Jersey. That's been there for decades. Well, I mean, the person who made, the company that makes the jersey, that's a little different. All I'm trying to say is can we just try and remember this is still college football? That's all.

Yeah, I mean, I'm very much in that camp, Mark. I just think this is something that could enhance it. You could start rivalries without trying to. Colorado and Syracuse, that's suddenly. I mean, I'm always here for chippy stuff. We're all in the media space. That's what we live for. Change is inevitable.

Change is a good thing. And I just think that's where college sports are. They're not what they were in the 90s in the 2000s. I think it's okay. We're pro ball now. Let's just all, can we all agree that it's set in the middle of the same football. Yeah.

Yeah. Zach Anderson, Yaksha, I mean, your thoughts on this notion. And look, USC, UCLA, that's not what it would be. But I mean, the idea of the Bruins bringing in, I don't know, like Arizona State and having them scrimmage and go against each other, that sounds like a blast. No, they don't. They'd lose by 40.

Oh. Well, you know, that's why we practice and we get better by the fall. I don't know. And every other sport, think about it, right? You have basketball closed door scrim we get better by the full. I don't know. And every other sport, think about it, right? You have basketball, closed door scrimmages, or they have an open scrimmage. You got baseball, you got softball.

They're playing scrimmages year round. Soccer, they're playing spring schedules. We just don't care about it. Why are we playing offense versus defense, one versus two, when we can have somewhat of a legitimate game? We're trying to watch the UFO. You know, some people like it. Why not get some real college football action in

there? Where you know, you get Syracuse versus Colorado, I think it's a great idea. And it's been something that we should have done years ago, in my mind. Zach's over there is a sun zebra with good takes here on today's show. It's Jay, would you like if the Buckeyes even if it wasn't against you know, a high caliber opponent? What what if Akron drove up to Columbus pretty sure it wasn't against, you know, a high caliber opponent, what, what if Akron drove up to Columbus? Pretty sure it's up. And, and then you were scrimmaging against the zips, you know,

doesn't that sound great? I wouldn't be mad about it. I've been calling for this for a long time, mainly in the fall is when I've been trying to push for Ohio state to try to get somebody in there to scrimmage more of the NFL model where you get it in the fall during the preseason and all of a sudden it helps you get Acclimated and more of the feet for the football in the spring is great a lot of coaches I don't I don't think a lot of coaches will want it in the fall Because they're trying to find through their thing that he's coaching to try to keep

Everybody and their mama outside of the facility to practice to watch practice for doing in the spring. It's great You can keep it scripted. You can make sure that your starters are against their starters for a limited period of time. They can still get the young guys a lot more reps. I think this would be great for the sport and everybody could be could benefit from it. Roman have heard Josh Pate suggest before that this should essentially happen.

But with FCS programs would Washington have any PTSD bringing Montana or a school that Caldor Seattle? Whoa, man. The Jimmy's Lake years are over. We don't need to go back down that Cal. Whoa, Seattle. Whoa, man. The Jimmy's Lake years are over. We don't need to go back down that road. Okay. We can, though. We could.

That's true. I'm hosting the show. We could go in that direction. By the way, I'm just bringing it up as neutral arbiter of all things college football. Yeah, we all know you spent to the neutral. Nothing back there to indicate you have no evidence. No fishing back in the Lake era. No fishing back in the Lake era. Nice. Nice. That was good. Yeah, that was quality. Anyway, Roman, yeah, you can go ahead and answer the question.

Yeah. Oh, hey, okay. We can get back on track for this one. I absolutely love this idea. I think it'd be so much fun because to what you guys have said already, it's so much more valuable to get a chance to play as another team. Because obviously there's the whole injury risk. I understand that that aspect of all this. But it's it's so valuable to have a team come in and you you're able to run against another offense or another defense, even if it's just for a couple days. And if it is, you know, an FCS caliber program, it gives it still gives you an opportunity to have that in the spring where you're not just hitting your own guys week in and week out. And with what some teams do for their spring game,

where they split it up and it's not even all of your offense versus all your defense, you inter-squad basically. So having an opportunity to just really gain some chemistry for a team like Washington last year that really could have used that with 44 new players in the program, that's something that could be really, really beneficial. Yeah. That was the reason Washington only won six games. Jacob Goins, college football. Yes, indeed. Yeah. Indeed. And nothing else. Jacob Goins is not though. He doesn't need to pretend to be though. He's got the Indiana shirt on and everything.

You think the Hoosiers would be up for this sort of deal? Bring up, I don't know, like a, a Northwestern or you know, somebody that's not on Indiana's level. I love that or Purdue. Yeah, we could just play Purdue twice a year. That's fine. Once in the spring, once in the fall. That seems like such a bad idea. Can you imagine like Roman? Can you imagine an Oregon Washington spring scrimmage? Oh gosh. No, why not? Why not let it happen? I mean nothing

nasty would happen at all, right? I think there's an interesting take to this to where you could still make it you brought up FCS programs, right? Spencer, you could still do a game where the fans still have their opportunity because a lot of these spring games being canceled fans are upset because it's that opportunity to get into the stadium for five or 10 $15, whatever the case may be. They get a chance to see the team.

Some have autograph sessions. Like you could still do all of that and have the FCS team benefit from it. And then you could take away one of those crappy cupcake games in the actual regular season. And a team won't have to worry about money if it's an FCS program, give them a spring game donation.

Whatever the case may be, I think you could do something like that to further implement this idea and further benefit from this rep, I guess more than just the on-field benefits. Because in terms of the game and practice in the spring, I think it's a genius idea, but I think there are further steps you could take it

for financial reasons, fan reasons, and a whole lot more. Good condensed squad answer there. Ryan, take us home on this topic. It's exhausting waiting through eight people. I hate it. Just jump in, Ryan. Just jump seven. I hate this idea. I think it's silly. I think it's gimmicky. What does weak one in college footballers look like? It looks like terrible football. What's a spring game between two teams that don't know each other? We're gonna look like what's gonna watch it's gonna look like the UFL. On top of it you never want an FCS is better than what spring games look like

now. That's why they charge five bucks because they're supposed to be spring games or practice and go charge five bucks. Well, yeah. No FCS coach is going to come up and scrimmage a D one coach who's going to raid half their roster. They don't want you to get a look at their young guys. We live in a transfer portal era where you don't want another coach practicing with your guys where they get an inside look at what's coming up on your roster. You could do a cross practice with Dion.

He's going to leave with seven bigger players like people practice over. Like I wouldn't want that and on top of it practice about getting better about developing your guys. It's not about putting on a gimmicky thing to try to get people out there to watch it. I, I hate the idea. And I don't think it worked for the very reason that coaches aren't going to trust other coaches to not tamper and post with their players even more, which I know is happening, but it's going to happen more if you cross scrimmage with them.

Well, that's why we had Ryan answer at last, but coming up next, uh, Jacob Goins and Craig Schieman have a serious beef that they need to hash out on the airwaves. First this episode brought to you by our friends over at Upwork. Scaling your business requires the right expertise at the right time. With Upwork you can find specialized freelancers in marketing, development, design, and more. Experts ready to help you take your business to the next level. Upwork gives flexibility by connecting them with top freelance talent across multiple industries including IT, AI, web development, and marketing. Whether you need

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Slash locked on college. All right, we got a couple of Indiana guys here in the chat no Nebraska and I would just like to point out that I am not a fan of Nebraska getting rid of their spring game. I hope that trend doesn't catch on Jstephens figure it out Good good that that makes you a wise man, but I already knew that what I didn't know is how much Craig and Jacob could Really have an opportunity today To rag on the NCAA because guess what?

I got to give you guys the floor a little bit here Indiana basketball left out of the tournament, North Carolina. I thought there was a great, there was, I mean Twitter's always good for memes guys, but the Barack Obama putting the Medal of Freedom on Barack Obama for the North Carolina athletic director putting the Tar Heels into the tournament. He gets a $106,000 bonus as a result. Craig, what are we doing here? Bob Cunningham should be fired from both his jobs. This is an egregious error. This is unreal. It's the hundred. Jacob, no one

heard you clapping. You muted your mic. Try it again. What's that? I have to keep I have to keep quiet from saying for announcing that you would try it again after you clapped. That was great. You're welcome. That's what I'm here for. Well, I don't really want Bubba to be fired, but my gosh, does that look bad when he's

getting $100,000 bonus for putting the Tar Heels in when you can make a great argument that West Virginia or Indiana should have been in instead of the Tar Heels for the Tuesday night play-in game. And yes, I still call it the play-in game, not the first round. It just looks bad all the way around. And again, the numbers don't lie. I think the best line was from a former colleague of mine, Sean Farnham. I used to work with him back in the day with ESPN. He said, I thought it was a typo when I saw UNC on selection Sunday. And he went on to to say in no way does North

Carolina deserve to be in the show. Goins? It's a joke, it's a disgrace and the NCAA is a joke, it's a disgrace. I heard a joke and I was like are we going the Doke Campbell award winner here? How did we change topics so quickly? No, I mean it's embarrassing really for the NCAA. North Carolina should be embarrassed. I mean, the fact that they're playing at a tournament game that they don't belong in is

it's just incredible to me. But it's not surprising because the AD is not only on the committee, guys, you know this. He's the chairman of the committee. He is the top dog and then had the, I don't know, stones to step on national TV and try to defend it and say, I wasn't in the room when they made that vote. Give me a break. It's ridiculous. And now you look at the resumes, not only is West Virginia mad,

Indiana's mad, Boise State has an argument. And look, it was to Indiana's benefit it turns out because we just went and took West Virginia's head coach because not the team made the NCAA tournament but it is what it is I mean you're you are not shocked anymore with what happens behind closed doors and there's no repercussions and so I guess you just have to take it. Yeah I think him saying I wasn't in the room it's like the jury foreman from the OJ trial being like dude I wasn't even there I think him saying I wasn't in the room, it's like the jury foreman from the OJ trial being like, dude, I wasn't even there.

I wasn't a part of that process at all. But we've kind of navigated towards basketball a bit here, Ryan Herrings, who look how excited, he's all fired up. He's Jews, didn't make a bowl game for the first time in 23 years and the Badgers are back in the NCAA tournament where they have a sparklingly great record. Yeah, let's go. I mean, we're putting all of our football in on the basketball.

It's going to be Xavier Georgetown is a basketball school now. It is what it is. And North Carolina, like Cunningham, listen, he did his job. North Carolina is AD. Craig said he should be fired from bowl jobs. He should get promoted at North Carolina. They should give him a bonus, another bonus. Like that's what the man's supposed to do.

Listen, I'm going to be straight up. It was Constance athletic directors on the committee. I want him cheating for the Badgers too. That man did what he was supposed to do. Um, but it's, it's a, it's a, it's an absolute shame and travesty. Obviously. Yeah, I'm stoked. Badgers had a great year.

John Tonje, second team All-American. I don't know if we're getting into seeding brackets or whatnot now, but like, I am so excited for March. I'm taking Thursday off. I'm taking my kid out of school. My wife said, don't do it. He's gonna have a sickness. It is what it is.

He can miss a day. That's excellent. Let's go. I fully support that. Mark, you're the most senior member among us. What would you wisely do with $106,000 if it was deposited into your bank account tomorrow? Well, what's interesting is how much of that one oh six is Bubba actually going

to keep because before he left the room for the vote, there was what? How many five thousand ten thousand dollar handshakes? So that's how it works. We all know it. Let's not be naive here. I mean, we're I mean, we're guessing, but we can say we know. Well, we're actually guessing just to be clear. I don't know exactly how much it was, but there was a few handshakes given to make sure my boys get in.

Look, this is the way the game's being played now. Why is, I mean, look at your new head coach at Indiana. He's leaving the Big 12 to come to the Big 10. What did Fox do? They started their own basketball tournament. They're driving the NAO into the Big Ten. What did Fox do? They started their own basketball tournament. They're driving the nail into the NIT. You've got four power conference teams playing in the NIT tournament. I know it's like being the tallest in a room full of midgets, but the NIT used to be the tournament and

now it's all about money. So Fox Sports says you know what ESPN they're in bed with the SEC, Fox we've got the Big Ten, let's get our conference some money. Go look at that bracket. It's Big Ten loaded. So whatever North Carolina's AD did to everybody's point to Ryan's point, yeah, he's doing his job. And see a double A football, they're doing the same thing. It's all about money now. Well, I think the polar opposite of Ryan Herring's in this chat are Jay and Roman, who are sitting over there going,

why are we talking about basketball when it's spring football time? Yeah. Jay wants to relive this past season. Roman wants to relive a lot of past seasons, but not 2024s. You know, like, it's all about football this time of year. Right, guys? I'll start with Jay.

It is all about football. It's a thing that lives in Ohio State all year long. Basketball season, people don't really care about. And as the Buckeyes declined an invite to the crown, the college basketball crown, to play in that, and by doing that, they basically said the season is over. My focus is like everybody else's, stick with the football team.

I have my own issues with the basketball team itself and they've been contractually obligated to either play in the college basketball crown or to not play in any full season tournament. I don't like that at all. I think it's really weird when you're focusing on one tournament, which is why the NIT only has four power conference teams. I think a lot of those guys didn't want playing the crown and they're like, oh, I'm good. Season's over. But yeah, we don't

care about basketball. It's all about football here. Let's fast forward to April 12th and watch whatever this spring showcase is and be happy. We have football back on TV. Yeah. Sounds like Jay's just trying to cope with the fact that Oregon walked into Columbus and won on the hardwood. Where it matters. Where it really matters. Nobody can. Neutral arbiter, hey. Neutral arbiter indeed.

Yeah. Don't you forget it. Yeah. So Roman, spring buzz for the Huskies. Basketball is not leaving the Washington fans in a good place right now but is football given him that that spring hope that spring optimism. First of all you said don't you forget it and you clearly already forgot about the Rose Bowl so thank you Jay for bringing

that up yet again. Please continue to do so I insist Spencer needs that that humbling every now and again. But yeah I never forget that game. I'm just I just got trust me. I've tried I've tried. I've tried so hard. And it doesn't work. It doesn't go away. I can forget so many things. My friends call me goldfish brain. I'm so forgetful and not in a good way. And I can't forget what happened in that game. Anyway, go ahead. Don't try just do. That's great advice. Now I'm really excited about what this is going to

look like. Washington is making the adjustments needed to play in the Big Ten, where I got widely criticized on this show last week for saying Washington only had a spring portal to work with. And seeing what Jetfish was able to do in the winter portal makes me really excited because I think they're going to take a step forward at the trenches. I'm so excited about what Damod Williams brings to the table. You're bringing back Jonah Coleman, you're bringing back Denzel Boston, and then, hey, you're bringing one of the best cornerbacks in the country into Kario Davis. I think Washington has a whole lot of talent, and once spring football gets going on April

2nd, I think it's going to be a really fun month, and we're going to see a big step forward on a team that looks like it can compete in the Big 10 where down the stretch there was a massive physicality gap that showed up when Washington had to go play three college football playoff teams on the road. I think we're gonna see a much different scene this fall on Montlake. Well, Zach Anderson-Yokzheimer has been waiting patiently but I know what he really wants to dive into and that is the NCAA tournament. How's the Big 10 going to fare? We'll start with the Bruins, we'll hit everybody else. Coming your way next. But first a reminder this episode brought to you by Monarch Money. Ever

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Monarchmoney.com. The NCAA Tournament is here, and so is the bracket breakdown. Locked On Podcast Network and Amazon Fire TV channels are teaming up to deliver NCAA tournament coverage like never before. Watch studio shows featuring former players and Locked On's local experts as they guide you through every upset,

buzzer beater, and bracket matchup. Stream it all for free on Amazon Fire TV channel. Search bracket breakdown to see it all for free. It's your team every day. How about that studio? How about that studio? Andy Patton had a little Ricky Bobby. I don't know what to do with my hands,

but only a little bit. And Andy is still great over there from Locked On Zags and Locked On College Basketball. Speaking of hoops, Zach Anderson-Yorksheimer, in my last bracket rerun, I've had about 20 cycles through. I haven't hit submit on a single one of them yet because this is how this process just kind of goes for me every year.

I'm putting UCLA in my Elite Eight right now because someone's gotta make it. So how nuts am I for thinking that? I don't know, it's not like you were influenced anyway on that decision. I think UCLA has a good chance to do just about anything, whether it's lose to Utah State Thursday night, or if they win that first game, I think they go on a run.

I don't think there's really an in-between for this team. It's either completely just crap the bed, or you just wake up and they're going to figure it out in March. McCrone has only cared about the tournament. He clearly didn't care about the Big Ten tournament. Of course, the Badgers didn't miss a single three in the big 10 quarterfinal against UCLA 19 threes. And the other thing is off topic, North Carolina, that one quad one win came against UCLA. So sorry, Indiana. Sorry.

Sorry. UCLA 16 point lead. Man, wear that proudly. Craig, when you look at the big 10 in the big dance, you're looking at the big 10 in the big 10. I'm sorry. Sorry. UCLA 16 point lead. I'm proud of me, man. Wear that proudly. Craig, when you look at the big 10 in the big dance this week, how do you think they do after a stellar tournament performance last year? I'm a little concerned. I've been concerned since November.

I think we're a really good conference. I think we had a really good year, but I don't think anybody is elite. I mean, maybe Michigan State, you can make the argument. You know, Ken Palm has them ranked 10th. That tells me there's 10 teams, nine teams better than them. If you look at both the SEC and the great year they had and the Big Ten, the year they had, both teams had seven teams ranked in the top 25 at the end of the year problem is all season long the SEC Their rankings had single digits next to them and the Big Ten littered the teams in the 20s And I think we just have a bunch of really good teams I don't think we have any great teams

And I'm a little concerned about our outcome in this in this tournament. You think the Big Ten sends a team to the Elite 8? Maybe one I don't think so. Maybe Michigan State. I really don't. I have, I could go down the list of the eight teams. I got problems with a lot of them. You know, Michigan, you know, they play twin tower basketball. I don't know if that's going to work in the NCAA tournament where you need guards. It's really good basketball. What are you talking about? They have a seven foot point guard in a seven foot center. That's as dominant as it gets. I don't think it's going to work. I really don't

in this tournament. I'm intrigued by Maryland, the crab five they got, but if they have to go six, seven, eight deep, I don't know if they can do it. I don't know what Illinois is. They haven't had a consistent lineup since the middle of January. Really good, Craig. I agree with you. I don't know that they're there yet. Wisconsin, is Tange going to score 30 or is he going to be shut down like Michigan did in the first half of the Big Ten tournament? I don't know. Purdue, I have no faith in. Oregon, I'll ask you, Spencer, you know, they got the nice wins earlier this year against A&M and Alabama. the game. I think that's the reason why I think that's the reason why I think that's the reason why I think that's the

reason why I think that's the reason why I think that's the reason why I think that's the reason why I think that's the reason why I think that's the reason why I think that's the reason why I think that's the reason why I think that's the

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reason why I think that's the reason why I think that's the reason why I think that's the reason why I think that's the reason why I think that's the reason why I think that's the reason why I think that's the He just wanted to go 30 minutes and talk some ball with his boys and not be reminded of that time He gave up a 17 point lead at home and lost in overtime because Jackson's shell stat has ice Corsading right about here and all throughout I hate shell stat Yeah, yeah, you're not the only ones that have that have that have ever said that herrings I'll get to you in a moment. But I mean, on Oregon, Craig, they could lose the Liberty on Friday. I think they

probably win that game after that. They could go to the Final Four, they could lose as early as this Friday. I really think their range is that big. You look at the teams they have wins against an Oregon for a change has the same team is what they were playing with early in the year. Usually Dana Altman's mixing and matching and pro probing about what lineup he's got to have because guys are getting injured. It's the same team. They've stayed healthy knock on wood throughout this year.

So the team that beat Texas a and I'm a four seed Bama, a two seed, Wisconsin, a three seed San Diego state, uh, a last four in team. That team is still on the court and it's right there, but it's the same team that you know, has some head scratchers lost to Minnesota. Got beat badly by UCLA on the road, lost to him at home as well.

Like you know, and UCLA is obviously a good team, but I don't really know what to make of him. But Herrings, are you going to take that Badger Slander from Craig Schieman? Man, that game I don't, what to make of them, but herrings. Are you going to take that badger slander from Craig Sheman? And that game I don't that's brutal. Now, I think so. So with the big 10, I think Illinois to six.

I wouldn't want to see Illinois as a 60. That's a tough team to play. Michigan is going to kill a lot of shot up. Wait, hold on. Can we can we just can we can we just hubble Spencer again with the largest loss for a top 10 team at home ever when Illinois came in, whenever that was, that was, that was, that was then this is now, this is a boy, a boy Roman, get on the trash at that point. To Craig's point about Conj, uh, that was the fourth game in four days,

no excuses, but they were just gassed. Michigan was gassed too. That's why both teams scored in the 50s. That looked like a game from the 1970s. It was just brutal basketball. Wisconsin's gonna go as far as they can shoot. Wisconsin's got, as Zach rightfully pointed out, Wisconsin can get really hot

and they can shoot the hell out of anybody that's next to them. But they can also go in a slump because teams that live by the three die by the three. They got a pretty good matchup around one. They're gonna beat Montana. Montana is no size. Their biggest guy's six to them. But they can also go in a slump because teams that live by the three die by the three. They got a pretty good matchup round one. They're gonna beat Montana. Montana is no size. Their biggest guy's six, eight.

He's built kind of like a Jeep Cherokee, like nice and thick, but they got no size. They're gonna beat Montana. Not an official sponsor of the network, by the way. Just something to say. He's on the line. No, Briana. But then they're gonna round two.

They're gonna get BYU or VCU. That's a really tough matchup. BYU can shoot the heck out of the ball. VCU has three really good guards. So I think Wisconsin's the sweet 16 team, maybe. If they get really hot, they can shoot their way into the Elite Eight, but they don't have the defense. I don't think they get past that point.

Well, Jacob's got a new coach, so obviously, they're going to win the national championship next year. At least that's probably what he's going to tell his audience. But I'm curious, between USC, Washington, Ohio State, you guys are gonna have the same coaches next year as you did this past season. Which of you feels the best after missing the tournament, Ohio State came the closest?

Oh boy, Jay doesn't need to warn anyone to hear what his thoughts are. Oh man, it's that bad? It's that bad, Jay? Imagine muting your mic and not figuring it out. What a... Yeah, it's very weird. I don't have confidence in the new coach.

He's first year this year. It didn't work out too well. Team kind of collapsed late in the year, losing five of the last seven. I already have one guy going into the portal who's a young big who you think is going to be there for a couple more years. My gut says there's going to be more guys going to the portal and I don't have much good to say about the team right now, which is weird about Ohio State basketball. At one point it was respected. They got to the national championship. Right now they're trying to figure out why they've missed tournament three years in a row. So I feel pretty good about the state of Washington basketball right now where, Jay, I feel your pain, man.

It's five of the last six years, I want to say, and I don't even remember how brutal it's been. Like the last time Washington made the tournament, I was senior in college, that was 2019. It's been a very- That was like 10 years in a hot place. Yeah, it feels like it, right? But I'm encouraged where Washington's bringing in

the number 13 recruiting class in the country, I want to say, headlined by Nico Badala, who I'm a huge fan of. I think he's going to add the big presence that Washington really didn't have outside of great Osprey this season. And if they're able to retain their young core of Zoom Diallo, Tyler Harris, and Mackay Mason,

you're bringing in a couple of nice pieces in that recruiting class where JJ Maticwitz, a top 50 player in the country, real nice four-star point guard who can just really run the floor. You add a couple of nice pieces from the transfer portal. I think there's a lot to like. And when you go back and you look at Danny Sprinkles' history, I think he's got an opportunity to figure it out. So I'm willing to let that situation play out and see what happens.

All right, Mark. You get the final word on today. Eric Musselman, year one coming over in a crazy coaching carousel sequence that saw Mark Pope go to Kentucky, Calipari to Arkansas, Musselman to USC. Any optimism after year one? Oh yeah, no, I'm on the must bus. You can, you can, you can see the influence that he's had on what, 11 transfers that he tried to couple his team together with.

And that's just the way it goes. You become a new coach at a new program, everybody bails, you gotta bring guys in. But I think they found a potential first rounder in Wesley Yates, who I think probably deserved to be freshmen all-American. I might be biased. I love the way Rashaun Agee plays the game.

I'm hoping they can get him one more year. You've got a couple of young guys in Jason Shelley and Elo Piem who were top 50 recruits, I believe, that Mus brought along. And you've got arenas coming in in the next class. So they're on the right trajectory. They need to get bigger inside. That was, I think their biggest issue.

Um, they, they show that they can play with anybody. The problem was they couldn't finish the games, um, that the game against Purdue in the tournament. Ficheting maybe sort of kind of sucked, but cop and rent had a great game like Craig I see you over there you know which calls I'm talking about yeah yeah we've all been there unfortunately this year was college basketball officiating yeah I'm not saying he was he was gonna win five games in five nights that's not gonna happen but you can see how hard this team plays they have bought into

coach must and once you get past that hurdle, bring in talent and see where you go. Am I the only one who, when Mark said Musk bus thought of the Gus bus from the bench warmers? No, you were not. Good, good. I'm really glad that I'm not because that's the best possible note

that we could end on today. And that is how we wrapped the Big 10 squad this week. Craig Schieman locked on Big Ten, Mark Kolkin locked on USC, Zach Anderson-Yaksammer locked on UCLA, Jacob Goens locked on Hoosiers, Jay Stevens locked on Buckeyes. We have a full house. Roman Tomashoff locked on Huskies, Brian Herring's locked on Badgers. I'm Spencer McLaughlin of Locked on Whatever. We'll see you next time. Until then, hope you have a wonderful rest of your day.