Locked On Hawkeyes - Daily Podcast On Iowa Hawkeyes Football & Basketball - BIG 10 SQUAD: Spring Ball is HERE | How Iowa looks headed into 2026

Episode Date: March 19, 2026

USC’s defense gets a major overhaul with Gary Patterson at the helm—can the Trojans finally shake last year's woes and thrive in the Big Ten? Spring football storylines heat up as the Big Ten Squad debates the impact of fresh coaching hires in Los Angeles, Washington’s reliance on true freshmen in the trenches, and the mysterious "Drawergate" distraction on the Big Ten Squad. On the hardwood, Purdue, Ohio State, Wisconsin, and Nebraska’s NCAA Tournament fates spark passionate predictions. Has the Big Ten’s championship drought gone on too long, or will this be the year a team breaks through? Insightful banter explores Matt Painter’s March reputation, Wisconsin’s upset potential, and whether top seeds like Arizona and Florida are ripe for defeat. Don’t miss this lively roundtable packed with Big Ten insights, bold calls, and a dash of locker room humor. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Spring football and the most wonderful time of year at the same time. All of that. On today's a Locked-on Big Ten Squad. 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. Come to this week's Lockdown Big Ten Squad. I'm your host, Spencer McLaughlin. Mark Colkin of Locked on USC is here. Jacob Goans, locked on Hoosiers, Nick Arvin, locked on boiler makers, our lone representative today on the squad for the big dance in men's hoops. Zach Seiko, locked on Nettney Lions, Roman Tomashoff,

or is it Tosinoff, I forget, of Locked on Huskies. So, anyway, we're going to go around and talk. Nick, I know you're excited. And Ryan Herring's blocked on Badgers is by proxy excited to talk about basketball here. But we're going to start with football. You're going to have to pay your dues a little bit. Is that okay? Will you survive?

Is it okay down there? I'll do my best. Okay. Well, that's all we can really, all we can really ask of folks. Mark out west in Los Angeles. What is the biggest question facing USC? Oh, look, another tournament team. It's Jay Stevens of Lockdown Buckeyes.

That's a weird thing to say. Anyway, yeah. Mark, go ahead. What was the question? The question was, what is USC's biggest spring football storyline? Lincoln Riley now has an adult in the room coaching the defense. And he brought along a really cool uncle to coach up the linebackers and special teams and Mike Eckler.

So the combination of a Hall of Fame, Gary Patterson, taking over the defense inside of the ball, is going to compliment Lincoln Riley's offensive side of the ball really well. And then again, I don't think you can find a better special teams coach than Mike Eckler out there. So USC addressed their biggest,

hugest, most pressing needs heading into spring camp, and they've gone through two weeks on spring break right now from spring camp. We'll be back next week for the final eight sessions. So yeah, that's something going on in Los Angeles. Needed a pause from all that tackling

that they usually do at practice. They had to stop. They did it twice, and they were like, whoa, slow down. We don't want to shout out. Locked-on host Gary Patterson, former Lockhart. I know. I was also going to shout out Lockdown legend,

Gary Patterson, as well. Goins, it's a football school in Bloomington, right? Yeah. Yeah, I mean, yeah, basketball, you know, when you miss the tournament, people kind of crawl out of the hole and realize that, Oh, basketball still sucks. But, uh, what the heck?

Yes. Uh, football is. Craig, are you done closing drawers over there? We are live. Craig, I'm talking about the Hoosiers, man. You cannot be making noise. The, the paper ruffling was my bad. The drawer was not me.

That was somebody else. Oh, we're a football school. We've played. I sacrificed basketball to become a football school. Are you saying we have a mysterious drawer slammer on the Big Ten squad? Yes, yes. Should I be conducting an investigation? is host of the Big Ten squad?

Yes, you should. Okay. I named Nick because he didn't want to hear about Indiana football in the national championship again. That's my guess. Nick, how do you respond to that accusation? How does the defendant plead? How fun in Cancun, Jacob.

Well, you didn't say the words not guilty, so we've got our primary suspect in Drorgate. I'm not guilty. I'm not guilty. You had your chance. You had your chance to enter a plea of not guilty. So Drorgate is squarely focused on Nick Arvin. I expect you all to lead your shows with this for a week, a week minimum.

Roman. We'll get 100,000 views for Craig. Hey, 200,000. He corrected me last time. That's true. That's true. We can't be shortchanging what Craig is really doing for the rest of us, right? Rising tide lifts all boats, something like that.

Don't look at my numbers this week. They're embarrassing. Oh, it's only 150K? Oh, man. I'm so sorry. Yeah. If we all lead with Drorgate, then it'll just be, it'll be, it'll be off to the races from there. Roman, what's going on in Seattle?

We're actually still about two weeks away from spring football. Doesn't start until the 31st. Also, I'm going to answer my plea of, yeah, it starts a little bit later. I'm answering my plea of not guilty in Drorgate, this desk is not a hand drawer. So it wasn't me. But no, it's one of the things I'm really interested in. I know I mentioned this a couple of weeks ago on the show is Washington is going to be relying a lot on young players. especially in the trenches, where there are at least three true freshmen that are going to burn their red shirts in the trenches between edge rusher, Derek Comabruza,

defensive tackle TIA Mou Kais, and the number one player in California and former Oregon commit Spencer, offensive tackle Cody Green, who might wind up starting at left tackle for Washington. Jedfish has played some very high expectations around this group of guys, and early returns from winter workouts, sounds like these guys are just lightening up in the weight room, all that sort of stuff. So when I get out there, that's the number one thing that I'm going to keep an eye on because in order, to compete in the Big Ten as Washington has, you know, had that trial by fire, especially in 2024, you need these kinds of guys in the trenches. They're young.

They have the upside of the physicality that are needed to succeed. Yeah. Notably, the, the weight room's been a place where Washington has thrived in the last three years, right, Roman? What a dig, man. Got him. Got him. Got him.

Absolutely. It's still the same amount of national championships as Oregon in that time period. Oh, gosh, I've never heard that jab before. Look at Mark passionately nodding in agreement. Look, there's even an O back there. By the way, Jay, were you around for the 1939 men's basketball championship? No. Not at all.

We didn't want to bring that one up. So I'm just going to throw that out there. Anyway, Seiko, how's... Jay, you put the Rose Bowl, though. How is it? No, no. We don't, no. Seiko, how's Matt Campbell doing?

So two things real quick. One, it sounds like you should take under seven and a half wins for Washington based on what Romans said. And two, it sounds like USC is bitter that Danton Lynn was poached away by Penn State, his alma mater. And then you replaced him with a personality, Zach. You hired a locked on host. You said, we're not. Hold on. Out of context, it sounds really bad.

A hall of fame host. Watch your phone. I think Coach Patterson is great, but out of context, the headline could easily be USC hires podcast host to be next to D.C. It's not wrong. It's not true. We have something better now. We're good.

Good luck with Dantlin is all all set. Have fun with them. Top 10. Something must have been wrong at USC because why did he have a top 10 defense at UCLA? Well, we already knew that. Because it inherited a bunch of NFL guys. They don't have that at USC. Mark just made an unfortunately good point.

They don't have that at USC. Like I said, we'll see what happens this year. Good dodge, Mark. That was like dodge ball. If you can dodge a wrench, you can dodge a tough question. I just know that Zach is looking forward to playing USC this year because everything else on that schedule is baby dokey soft. Penn State's win totals greater than USC's and Michigan. I get.

If I had that schedule, I'd feel the same way, Zach. I mean... I think if you, to be fair, say, go, if USC had Penn State's schedule, they might have a win total of 11 and a half, especially because they would find a way to get out of the Penn State game and replace it with San Jose State. Anybody from Oregon probably shouldn't be bringing up out-of-compet schedule, just saying.

Why? We tried to schedule. an actually good program. It's not our fault that they failed to sustain the level. This is why this is, by the way, this is why scheduling should be done every single year, not eight to 10 years in advance or whatnot. But no, Oregon actually was about what was about trying to find a quality opponent. What? That's an unfortunately good point by you. Ah, thank you. Thank you. We love unfortunately good points. That should be the title, the locked on big 10 squad where some people unfortunately make good points from time to time.

All right, Jay, why don't you and Nick, what you can, you can kind of kick us off getting the ball rolling on, on basketball here. Tell the rest of us what it's like. Like, you're George and we're Lenny, and instead of the flowers, it's the NCAA tournament. Wait, I didn't even, I didn't even realize. Roman got it. They don't know. They don't know. Tell us about the flowers, Jay.

I didn't even realize how to go on this. say that we were the only two hosts that are covering teams in the tournament. It never dawned on me that that's the reality. Well, Ryan Harries was supposed to be here, but he had better things to do. He did. He did. Yeah, then prepare for Wisconsin's eventual loss in the round of 32. I think he's not here. Harvey? Yeah. Anyway, Nick, you feel good about your boiler makers right now? I feel a lot better about the basketball team than I do about the football team. Shocker. Four games in the Big Ten tournament or win total for football. is three and a half.

That's where we sit right now. That's the way, that's the way to view it. Now is Prime Purdue season. All right, Craig, we're going to get you into the fold when we get back because we are indeed. Going to look at where the Big Ten sits in the big dance. Will they finally break the drought and win it all? It has been, how long did the woman in Titanic say?

84 years. It's been 26 since the Big 10 won at all. So all bad or terrible things come to an end, right? Gosh, we hope. First, this episode brought to you by our friends over at Five Hour Energy. Welcome to the Five Hour Energy Flavor Draft. It's a good thing. This isn't a locked-on host draft because then I would make even more enemies than I already have amongst the group of people you're listening to right now. But Five-Hour Energy's got 18 different flavors to choose from. We've never had that many people. on a big 10 squad. They've got new options like confetti craze, fruity rainbow or cotton candy. There's something for everyone. The board is set. Flavors, you're ready.

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Find it now and get a kick with zero sugar. Find your new favorite flavor of five-hour energy shots available online at five-hourenergy.com or Amazon. Check them out at five-hour energy.com. Craig, I want to start with you. Does the Big Ten break its national title drought in basketball? I mean, in football as a conference, it's all the Big Ten knows how to do anymore. Just Michigan, Ohio State, Indiana, maybe somebody else will be next. Please, I'm tired of waiting.

Anyway, in the basketball world, it has been a minute, as the kids say. Matt Sheehan of Lockdown Spartans does exist, but isn't here. And his team was the last one to win it all in 2000. Does that end? I think that's the last time Matt appeared on this show in 2000. A couple weeks ago, I would have told you I really liked Michigan's chances to win it all. I was even looking forward to a rematch with Duke. I thought in the Duke loss about a month ago, I thought those things were very fixable.

This LJ. Kason, I know he's just a backup guard, but it's kind of ruined the rotation. This was a team that was blowing people out by 20 points, and then they barely won all their games in the big 10 tournament, and then obviously lost the championship to produce. So I don't know if I can be comfortable with Michigan all the way, although they would still be my favorite out of the conference. I was big on Illinois all season long with those two freshmen, Wogler and Merkovich, but they've lost five or their last 10, so I don't know about that. I think Wisconsin or whether Michigan State, I think, look,

I think they'll get to the Sweet 16 at the very least. I don't know if they're deep enough beyond Jeremy Fierce Jr. to go all the way. And look, Purdue, preseason number one, kind of disappointing. appeared for a little while, got hot in the Big Ten tournament, taking on a team named Queens. It's never been in the tournament before. We're all thinking it. We're all thinking it. Be careful, Purdue.

You have a history of bouncing early out of these things. Nick, I don't know how confident you are. You'll probably beat Queens. I didn't even know it wasn't even in New York until earlier this week. It's not. Good luck against them. Their first year eligible, they were D2, just finished their transition period, batting a thousand. are the royals right you're not helping your case i mean produce gonna take care of them

produce gonna take care of yeah just like they took a little took care of farley dickinson yeah we're still talking about this this happened three years ago oh we're still right painer still head coach yeah i mean so what so what this is a new year we're not he's a loser in march brother that's all there is i tell you nick you would make a nick nick you would make a great oregon fan you would fit right in just forget about how to you've been tortured in the past and be like, nope. We're here, man. We're here.

I'm not saying Purdue's going to win it all this year because there are so many tough teams in that top six range, but they're not losing in the first round. They're making it to at least the Sweet 16. They were gifted a two seed and an easy path in the West. After everyone says the Big Ten tournament doesn't matter for seating. Well, guess what? We jump Michigan State and Illinois. Gonzaga, BYU, and the Sweet 16, I invite that matchup.

Gone Zaga, but yeah. Jay, Ohio State in the big day. I don't think they've been there since Aaron Craft was playing. Am I correct? It feels like it's just Aaron Kraft. Last time was in 2022. Kraft wasn't there, but. Oh, I remember.

Wait, wait, wait, wait. Didn't they lose to Oral Roberts? That was 21. Yeah, yeah, that's right. Oral Roberts, the Sweet 16 has a 15. Actually played at Mackey Arena because the whole tournament was in the state of Indiana and they went to Mackey Arena and then lost to O'Roberts. They're a pretty empty gym that day.

Yeah. This team is feeling good that they're there. I don't know how things are going to go because they're fully healthy for the first time in like two months, two and a half months. And so you insert Brandon Null back into the rotation. That could change things. It could help it in a big way or it could hurt it. So really looking to see what Jake Dibler does on Thursday as a Buckeye step off the tournament.

Mark Jacob, Roman and I, the, top liners here on the squad have the same thing in common. We are yearning for the days of NCAA tournament appearance. Oh, oh, oh, oh, look at this. Look at this guy. Ryan Herrings of locked on badgers. Yeah. Yeah. Ryan, are you mentally prepared for the inevitable exit in the round of 32? Oh, did I miss football talk? Oh, no. Yeah, we moved on to the big dance. way. Please, please. Give us the snapshot of the Badgers. Yeah, playing high point, a 512 matchup out in Portland. High point scores 90 points a game, but a little undersized. They do have an IL budget about $4.5 million,

which for a mid-major is comparable to some lower tier Big Ten programs, actually. So it won't be a cakewalk, but this Badger team has been rolling. The back court of Boyd and Blackwell has been absolutely one of the better duos in all of Big Ten basketball. And I just don't think, ultimately, uh, Nick Boyd is not going to lose in the first round of his last season of college basketball. He gives Wisconsin some swagger that they haven't had in a lot of years. So I'm excited for it. It's an early game, which I hate. I like to be able to enjoy a day of games before I have to stress about my team.

But I'm super stoked for it, man, and I can't wait. Yeah, high point. And they're a head coach, Flynn Clayman, a former colleague of mine. Great guy. Good coach. And that makes it very tempting to pick against your badgers in the first round. It is a classic 5-12. It's very tempting after they almost let an 18-point lead slip away to Washington team

with seven scholarship guys too. Oh, yeah. That is, that is almost. They did lose to Indiana, though, who missed the tournament. So that's true. Mark, believe it or not, I want to bring you in here. Why, I'm not entirely certain. I just feel contractually obligated at this point.

What's your favorite upset in the slate of games this week? I have no idea who's even playing this weekend, to be honest. Oh. Ah. Okay. Cut it out. Cut it out. Do you know what's happening this weekend? Just in winning the whole thing.

That's all that matters. Okay. Okay. That was something. That was something. That was, we're going to call that progress. Anyway.

I care much about this year's tournament as I care about Oregon winning a national championship. So it's on your mind every second of every day? Big zero back there is how much it's on my. Okay, gotcha. Hey, Goans, who's your favorite upset of the week? And can I interest you in the California Baptist Lancers over Kansas? You can because I don't trust Kansas by doing it's been hit or miss. And I mean, Bill Self is just on the way out of my opinion. He should have, I think he should have hung it up a couple years ago, in my personal opinion. So I like Cal Baptist. I'm fine with that. I also have Wisconsin for what it's worth making a run in the tournament. So. Oh, I do too. After saying me things about Ryan, I do as well. Wait, so do you have him knocking off Arizona? I do. I do. Listen to that faith, Ryan.

Faith in the Wisconsin Badgers. Also, one more that I have. I have Troy taking down Nebraska. Believe that's the 13th. Oh. In a historic game, does anybody know why? Because Nebraska never won. Troy's never won either.

It's a game of two teams who have never won a tournament game. I have Troy getting the upset. Hold up. Wait, wait. Nebraska's never won a tournament game. They're the only power four that has never won an NCAA tournament game. That's crazy. How did Nebraska fans, how do they exist?

Football. Yeah. They missed a bowl game every year from 2016 to 2024. Volleyball. Volleyball is lit. I got to tell you, Nebraska volleyball is sick. When 90,000 people in the stadium watching volleyball, that was pretty cool. It's fantastic. It's fantastic. Volleyball is a great sport.

So when we get back, more picks from around the upcoming slate of college basketball games. On today's Locked on Big Ten Squad, which is brought to you by our friends over at TurboTax. It's tax time, but for a lot of us, the old way of doing taxes is a lot. Trying to book an appointment, that's not the most convenient. Sitting in a waiting room with a stack of papers, emailing back and forth and wondering if they really get your situation. but this year you're getting a major upgrade into it turbotax now has in-person locations nationwide you can meet face-to-face with a real tax expert and your documents get uploaded straight to your turbotax app on the spot and just like that you're done your turbo tax expert works to get you every dollar you deserve while you get real-time notifications as you go about your day it's the relief of walking in and meeting a real person and walking out knowing your taxes are being handled right head to turbotax dot com slash local to find a store near you and book your appointment. Check them out at turbotax.com slash local. And if you want to go to any type of event of event, game time is the way to do it. The biggest stretch of the basketball season

is here at the collegiate ranks. We're about to be flooded with buzzer beaders, bracket busters, and those unforgettable moments that everyone's talking about the next day. Being there live for it, that's bucket list sort of stuff. The hard part is always actually getting tickets. Long queues, prices jumping around, surprise fees at checkout. That's why you want to use the game time app. It gives fans the advantage with constant innovation. It's how you unlock amazing tickets and experiences in just a few taps. Do you see this phone right here?

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Download the GameTime app. create an account, use code locked on for $20 off your first purchase terms apply. Again, create an account, redeem code, L-O-C-K, E-D-O-N for $20 off, download the Game Time app today. All right, if there's going to be a bracket that looks unlike last year, which I have to tell you, with no dog in the fight, that's what I'm rooting for. Last year's final four of all one seeds was an abomination to the entire sport. I mean truly, truly awful. So in that sense, Ryan, I'm rooting for your badgers. Someone needs to beat these one seeds.

Every time, and I haven't even finished filling out my bracket yet, every time I look at it, I struggle to get past almost every one seed. going to the final four. They're so good. Yes. Sorry. Yeah, Ryan, if you want to unmute yourself, then you can actually start. Yeah. Woo. Really actually handed over to anybody. You just kind of I felt that way too. I got to say. Wait, how many people? The same way, Spencer, you suck. Hold on. Shut up, Goins. You were just saying that because they said that and you know it. So of the four others, did you feel like I'd handed that off to Ryan after saying his name and then stopping talking.

There was a gray area, but I'm with Spencer. I was expecting somebody to fill the void. You don't need to kiss up to the host, Craig. Nick, Craig is neutral arbiter of all things, college sports. Nick, thoughts? You blame me for the drawer or you, you, you blame me for a drawer gate earlier. No, no, you didn't hand it off to Ryan.

Okay. My friend Ryan Herring's, the host of Locktop Badge. Yeah, we all know that Goans is, we all know that Goans is a shmars. mock. Okay. All right. Herrings, go ahead. Can anybody really knock off all of these one seats? Like, could we see a final four, like the one a few years ago where there's only one, one seat in it? Yeah, no, I think there's a couple teams you would circle. I think Yukon, the way they're coach, their offensive efficiency, Carabon on a team with his veteran poise and his ability to hit shots. Yukon's a team that I would always imagine to be a one seat because of the way they play offense because of the way they're coached. I think Illinois is a team, haven't seen them up close in personal a couple times,

tremendously long and skilled with the lottery pick running the show. They can absolutely take down anybody. I would look at those two teams as both squads capable of beating a one. And then I'll just make a plug for Wisconsin. Wisconsin has beaten Michigan already. I mean, they've literally already beaten a one this year on the road. So in their last game against Michigan went down to the wire, a three-point shot at Michigan to win it.

Wisconsin's proven they can beat a one. I don't think you're going to see a tournament with all four ones advancing this year. Somebody will knock them off. I would look at an Illinois, a Yukon, and I'm going to take Wisconsin. That's definitely a team that's proven they can beat anybody in the country. I need this year's version of DJ Burns led NC State going to the final four is an 11. I need Doug Eddard taking St. Peters as a 15 to the elite. Stop, Spencer.

Stop saying stuff like. I just, I need it. I need it after last year. It'll be like a tournament juice cleanse after everything got cluttered up a season ago. Goans, which one seed loses first? Ooh, that's a good. God, that's a good. I guess Arizona, because I have them getting beat by Wisconsin.

I guess that's by mathematical purposes. Yeah, I'm going to Arizona. Roman, which one seed goes down first? Florida. Where? I have Illinois in my final four. Okay. Respect.

That's where I'm going. Okay. Where do you have Florida losing? In the Elite 8? I have to check my bracket real fast, which everyone go joined, by the way, in our everyday club. So, oh, nice. Good, good.

Nice plug. Nice plug. Nick, which, which ones? I won't pick Florida the final four on principle. Going back to back is so hard. Vandy in the Sweet 16. Ah, it's tempting. It's tempting.

Vandy got him last time they played. I have Vandy as well. Could also see Duke losing to the Johnny's in the Sweet 16. They have two really big injuries right now. Caleb Foster's out, and I don't know if Caden Boozer at the point guard position is going to be able to fill that same role. They're centers out as well right now.

So Duke is a big question mark going into this one for me, but I have Vandy beating Florida again in the Sweet 16. They absolutely whooped them in the SEC tournament. I'm not big on Floyd. I think there are three teams in that region that could beat Florida. Illinois could beat Florida. Houston could beat Florida. Vanderbilt could beat Florida.

I think that Florida is the most vulnerable out of any of the one seats. I think I'm with you there because last year Florida's run was let's play a great game and then give the ball to Walter Clayton for the last four minutes, literally nonstop. And the guy just didn't miss a big shot. Craig, send us home on this, which one seat goes down first? I'm really twisted on Michigan because I think they could go all the way. Maybe they get tripped up. Well, they may not get tripped up until they take on like Iowa State late.

Look, I'll propose this. The NCAA does almost nothing right. But one thing they do well is they run a good basketball tournament. And I think they've gotten the seatings right the past couple of years. And I hate to say it. I mean, I'm having this conversation earlier today. It looks awfully chalky. Yeah.

You know what region I hate? I hate the Midwest region. I hate everything about it. There's nothing. There's nothing to enjoy. I don't trust Iowa. state. I don't think Virginia is worst free throw shooting team as a

power conference team as Iowa state. Yeah, I don't want to, I don't want to deal with that in a March Madness game or in an NCAA tournament game. And then there's, there's a lot. But we'll wrap it there for today. Jacob Goans, locked on Hoosiers, Roman Thomashoff, locked on huskies, Ryan Herrings, locked on badgers, Nick Arvin, locked on, which shows

that again? And Craig Sheiman Locked on Big Ten. Nick Arvin hosts Locked on Boilermakers. I hope you all know that by it now. That's where we wrap for today. Appreciate everyone listening. We will see you next time. And until then, hope you have a wonderful rest of your day.