Locked On Hawkeyes - Daily Podcast On Iowa Hawkeyes Football & Basketball - BIG 10 SQUAD - Which Iowa Hawkeyes Rivals Are on the Hot Seat in 2025?

Episode Date: March 13, 2025

Are the Big Ten's top coaches feeling the heat? With the college football season in full swing, the spotlight is on the Big Ten Conference, where coaching legends like Lincoln Riley and Kirk Ferentz face mounting pressure. As the NCAA basketball tournament looms, predictions are flying about which teams will rise or fall.Join hosts Jacob Goins, Roman Tomashoff, and others as they dissect the potential coaching shake-ups and speculate on the future of figures like Luke Fickell and Sherrod Moore. The conversation heats up with insights into the Big Ten's basketball prospects, featuring teams like Ohio State and Michigan State. Will the Big Ten break its March Madness curse?Tune in for expert analysis and spirited debate on the Big Ten's path forward. Don't miss out on the insider perspectives and bold predictions that could reshape your view of college sports.

As the 2025 season gets closer and closer, who's on the hot seat or who can't afford a bad season to maybe become on the hot seat? Plus NCAA tournament right around the corner. We discuss all of that and more today on the Locked On Big Ten Squad. You're talking ball with the Big Ten Squad 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. Know her feelings and thin skin aloud. Squad Up, you're part of the Big Ten Squad. Welcome in. It is the Locked On Big Ten Squad. Some say it's the best time of the week. We feel that way because we're the ones that show up all the time and we represent the big 10

better than anybody I'm your man Jacob going to host of locked on Hoosiers also Roman Tomas off locked on Huskies Zach Anderson the ox timer of locked on UCLA Zach Seiko of locked on Nittany Lions and Trent Condon locked on hot

guys we're all here perfect timing there Trent we appreciate that we're got a lot to get to on the show today we'll talk some NCAA tournament for the basketball side of things since that does get started and we'll talk about guys we're all here perfect timing there currently appreciate that we're got a lot to get to on the show today we'll talk some NCAA tournament for the basketball side of things since that does get started in less than a week plus coaches who could find themselves on the hot seat after a bad year

in 2025 but guys there's some names on this list in terms of head coaches around the big 10 who are already on a hot seat going into the season i made a list of a couple and I want to start with Zach Anderson, Yaksheimer because of your Crosstown rival. What about Lincoln Riley? Are we are we jumping on the train that it is time for him to win in Los Angeles? I thought the idea was he was supposed to win right away. He had his best season in his first year and it's kind of just been like, what are they doing?

You you said, like, all right, what's, what we talked about today. And I was like, Lincoln Riley just comes to mind. It just has to come to mind, right? What, what, what is he going to do and actually when is he going to get bigger? The trenches, are they going to do something? He seems like that clear cut guy that is it time to win L L in LA or is he going to shut down the media? Like he always does.

I don't know. Well, I mean, I know the Seiko, I think you're on the Lincoln Riley hot seat train too. Aren't you? I would give it. It's mostly about the expectations at USC. So I would give some grace to Lincoln Riley because I think they are building in the right direction. So I'll play a little bit of devil's advocate that I wouldn't personally fire Lincoln Riley. I, you, you landed a really good head coach, but you got to figure out what the disconnect is. Why was it working in Oklahoma and why is it not working in SoCal?

So Mark would be great to weigh in on this obviously. And so, uh, but to be able to, they, they seem to be building out a really strong staff. They were able to retain their defensive coordinator. I look at this, the big tens already had so much out a really strong staff. They were able to retain their defensive coordinator. I look at this, the Big 10's already had so much of a coaching shakeup. I would add maybe Maryland's Mike Loxley to this list, especially since he is getting the support.

They're obviously doing something because if they're going to land some of these top tier recruits or even be in the running or the conversation for them, there's probably been some sort of unnamed increase in NIL. But besides the point, everybody's still relatively new to start there. I don't look at Shiro more as being on the hot seat,

potentially. Guys who succeeded right away, Jacob, your team, Kurt Signetti, so he already has the backing, the support. Everybody else is, for the most part safe. James Franklin would never be on the hot seat here. Dan Lanning just got an extension. Obviously Ryan Day, who was a common name a season ago, just won a national title.

So the Big Ten Conference, there's a lot of stability here outside of maybe Maryland and Northwestern because they don't care about football. Well, that's fair. And I was going to ask Jay Stevens if he was able to join us from Lockdown Buckeyes, the irony of going into a playoff where if they lose in the first round, Ryan Day could be fired. And then he said, ah, no, it's fine. We'll just win a national title. I mean, it's kind of crazy, right, Roman? Oh, it must be nice, right. So I want to take it back to the Lincoln Riley thing, because I love what both Zach's just throughout there. I want to take a middle ground because on the positive side of Lincoln Riley, USC is recruiting at a very, very high level right now.

They've done a really great job on the recruiting trail, especially getting back into California, which has been such a truly embarrassing struggle for that program as of late. But on the end, so like that's a nice thing for him But on the other side the success has not translated on the field hiring dancing Lynn was a really nice move Didn't necessarily pay off in the way you hope it would in the first season and at the same point What are you gonna do with that contract where USC's got money? Like we all know that but that 10 million year, what's that buyout going to end up being as of this point? 70, $80 million? You're not necessarily going

to make that move right away. And USC could certainly go out and hire a top tier coach, but it's a really interesting just topic to bring up because both sides have a very fair argument where even in 2023 with Caleb Williams, you didn't do enough to be considered one of the elite coaches in college football, but we know he has that pedigree. So USC is kind of in limbo, but I think Lincoln is doing a really good job on the recruiting trail right now, trying to turn down the heat a little bit, let's say. That's fair. I think that's okay.

And look, we know in college football, if you could recruit at a high level, they'll give you a little bit longer of a leash, right? And I'm curious on what Trent has to say, because I made a little bit of a list and I got to admit, I put your guy on there. I put Ferentz on there. Any chance there's some sort of a any chance of a conversation here, Trent? And that's what it is. Go ahead, Trent. Yeah, no, that's, that's what the conversation is. the the the

the the back to back years, we might be having a different conversation. And that's kind of the way that it ended almost 25 years ago now with Hayden Fry when his regime came to an end. So that's what we're looking at is that kind of conversation. He has built enough, he has enough equity in the program and for the people that really do matter, the people that write the checks, that it's not going to come to that even if they take a step back. And you just look at the consistency.

Yeah, we make the jokes about the offense and they certainly made big improvements this season and they anticipate that the passing game is gonna improve coming up this year. It's a tired narrative though. It really is. Oh, make the jokes about Iowa offensively. This has been a problem for three years. It's been a team, yes, built a certain way

and a certain style, but you go back and you look at their teams, you know, that put 55 points up against Ohio State and did those kinds of things. When you look at the way that Iowa has been built, it's just a narrative that unfortunately is tired. Now, Kirk Farris isn't in trouble. I have a couple of neighbors though. I want to get your guys' thoughts on first bat rule. All right. They made a bowl game, but what if they take a step back in year number three? The native certainly wrestles there. And then our neighbors up to the Northeast up in Wisconsin,

Luke Vickle has been maybe as disappointing of a coach as we've had in what the last 10 years in the big 10 with all the fanfare Wisconsin's gonna do it a different way and they've been nothing short of a disaster yeah i mean i put Luke Fickel on this conversation and possibly flirting into the next segment of if he has another bad year then then do those conversations ramp up. But maybe you guys disagree. Maybe he's already on the hot seat. Maybe 2025 is the year that Luke Fickel has to get it done there in Wisconsin. Jay Stevens, host of Lockdown Buckeyes.

It's tough, man. You're talking about a former Buckeye player being on the hot seat, but it's reality. I do think Luke Fickel has to get it done. And if he doesn't, he could be on the list with other guys that are in the big 10 that are just guys that you know, their names, but they haven't done it consistently. I don't know if anybody said this at all.

Lincoln Raleigh to me is a guy that has to get it done this year. If they have great, I know I'm hopping in the middle of the segment, but he is a guy that come in, you come from Oklahoma, did a lot of great things in Oklahoma. Last year was really, really bad. If you do that again in back and back seasons,

people aren't gonna want you out there in LA anymore. Oh, we do, we do. If you're doing it bad, I don't know what to say. Oh, hey, I'm glad you spoke up, Zach Anderson, Yach Saimer of Locked on UCLA, because your guy is on my list for the next segment of if a 2025 season doesn't go the right way, could we have this conversation again 12 months from now?

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Hawkeyes, and the Nittany Lions. And some of these names we're about to talk about here, gentlemen may not be on the hot seat in 2025, but could be if 2025 doesn't go well. And Zach Anderson, Yach, Simer, I mentioned you on the way out. I wrote your guy down to Sean Foster. What if 2025 isn't

what you're looking for? Would they be willing to pull the plug that quickly on your man? Not gonna happen. I mean, if things go badly, of course, my emotions would swing and maybe I'd call for his job, but I just don't see it realistically happening. I kind of from what I know what I've seen, it doesn't seem like there's any chance barring controversy or like an 0-12 That he would be gone. It would take the worst possible season, which you know, it could happen You never know I just don't see it happening because if we remember you have Chip Kelly who was looking for NFL jobs Try to get the Raider offensive coordinator job

Then went to Ohio State to get a national championship as an offensive coordinator then became the Raider offensive coordinator the be better, but he's not on the hot seat into 2026. If the next two years are bad, time to call first job though. I was going to chime in. What are the odds that he takes an offensive coordinator job and just leaves on his own? Sean Foster, I don't know, a running back job maybe. Which, which we've seen that become kind of popular though, right? I mean, we've seen several big name coaches, whether it's power four or even some of these group of fives who have said to heck with head coaching, man, let's just go be a coordinator. Don't have to worry about NIL. Don't have to worry about transfer portal. You just play with who you got and you just go and be a coordinator, right? It seems to be kind of a more popular

move nowadays. In general, I'm bowling green. Just I know it's an NFL job, but the bowling green head coach just Scott Leffler and I know because Penn State played Bowling Green this past season, but I saw that pop up on my feed. I said, man, he just gave up, you know, it's a group five head coaching job, but to be with the Eagles and the NFL. So I think it has to do more so with there are fewer headaches and you actually get to, because when I, when I heard Tom Tom Allen Speak after for the first time when he took the Penn State defensive coordinator job and one of the first things he emphasized that it was Just great to get back to coaching football

What does that tell you when you were at the head coach of a power for program? Regardless of where it is that is one of that is the peak for most coaches and you're saying that You know, actually this coordinator gig might be better at the end of the day that's that's pretty telling about college football and then we got all these legal hearings going on about nil and and revenue sharing and everything else so it's only going to get worse before it gets better and i just saw cal poly just cancel a couple of programs i think it was swimming and diving and they cited the fact revenue sharing. So before we know it, football and men's basketball are going to be the predominant sports. And if you are a non revenue sport, a good luck to you. That's all I have to

say is just good luck. And it's, it's just where it's going, unfortunately, and a name that I think we should throw in here too, that seems to be overlooked because somehow, some way he ends up having a good year by the end of it. PJ Fleck at Minnesota, anybody, anybody considering him in terms of whether they would get rid of him, whether he'd leave or maybe he'll just coach there forever. I don't know. What about PJ Fleck at Minnesota? I start with that one because Phillip Fleck is one of my least favorite people in general. His personality drives me crazy. He is the last. I'm gonna go to the end of the list. I'm gonna go to the end of the list. I'm gonna go to the

end of the list. I'm gonna go to the end of the list. I'm gonna go to the end of the list. I'm gonna go to the end of the list. I'm gonna go to the end of the list. I'm gonna go to the end of the list. I'm gonna go to the

end of the list. I'm gonna go to the end of the list. I'm gonna go to the end of the list. I'm gonna go to the end of the list. I'm gonna go to the end of the list. I'm gonna go to the end of the list. I'm gonna go to the

end of the list. I'm gonna go to the end of the list. I'm gonna go to the end of the list. I'm gonna go to the end of the list. I'm gonna go to the end of the list. I'm the the the the the the the the

the the the the the the seven and five, they're completely fine. They're not the disaster that they were back during a lot of the eighties and nineties. And because of that, he's probably not ever gonna have to worry about the hot seat as long as he can be an okay winner.

That's what it is at Minnesota. That's the one kind of angle that I look at. And I had one name I wanted to throw your guys's way in and Jay, maybe I wanna go to you first with this. Sherrod Moore, yes, it ended great. Beating Ohio State, beating Alabama in the bowl game, but it was also a five-loss season. You do that again next year, also losing to Ohio State

at the end of the season, stubbing your toe. It's Michigan coming on the heels of a national championship. They're not gonna accept back to back five-loss seasons, are they? No, I don't think they will, but you also have to realize there's the coming punishment from the NCAA for their sign stealing thing. And if you go, let's say they do go back to back five one regular seasons,

whatever it was, they got to the bowl game. But they're 500 at the end of the day in the regular season. If they lose to Ohio State and then they get punished, that's the formula to get him up out of there. The issue is you're bringing in someone else that doesn't want to deal with that nonsense. So maybe Michigan is willing to keep him a little bit longer to try to figure things out with him and because it's gonna be really hard to bring somebody in

when you're losing scholarships, you're losing money, you're losing X, Y, and Z that the NCAA is handing down. But he's so new to the head coaching thing. I can see Michigan giving him three or maybe even four years to try to figure things out. They allowed Jim Harbaugh to lose six, maybe seven times to Ohio State. A lot.

Yeah, way too many times to think about. I enjoyed every one of those losses that he had. But they gave him a lot of time to figure stuff out. The difference is Harbaugh played at Michigan, Sherone Moore played at Oklahoma. So I think his leash will not be as long as Jim Harbaugh's. But I think next year, even if it's kind of a mediocre average record, I think they'll give him one more year

after that, but in year number three, he has to figure it out or if not, he's up out of town. And you could be in a Washington situation where it's still fresh, it's still new. Like you guys talked about earlier where you shouldn't have any big time worries, right Roman? I mean, you should have a little bit of time to get things figured out in Seattle.

Oh, absolutely. See, I wanna call 2024 just year zero for Jetfish. Where in essence, you wanna strike it from the record. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, that's not allowed. You can't call it your zero. It's like we zero in football. Nobody wants that call a week one. PJ Fletcher pull that off your water, Minnesota. But see was PJ Fleck replacing 44 players coming off a national championship birth with only

I'm not, I'm not. Excuses other than like a national championship game, everybody's replacing 20. Is there a transfer portal you can use? I think there's a portal you can go. Well, players. Yeah, but they didn't have the winter portal. That's my point. You didn't you didn't.

Do you take advantage of the winter portal? The only places they could pull guys from were Alabama. After that, that wasn't happening. UCLA, once their coach left Arizona and San Jose state. That was the epitome of the winter portal that Jed Fish had to work with last year. And I'm not trying to whine and moan and say, oh, you know, he got the short end of the stick. Sounds like it though. That's because I've got five guys all saying that to me right now. No, it was, but the spring portal, that was gross, but

this is a true year one for Jetfish. He's got the quarterback that he wants in Daman Williams. We'll see what that looks like. And if it's not a significant step forward from six and seven, where it's eight and four, nine and three in the regular season, plus potentially a bowl win, then things might start getting in that direction. But I think he needs time because of, especially with the offensive line was last season,

you're replacing the Joe Moore award-winning offensive line, you're replacing 20, 21 starters from that team that went to the national championship on a shorter off season, it's tough. Where Jacob, like Kurt Zignetti at Indiana, he did a phenomenal job rebuilding that program, but he also had that entire winter portal to work with, which I think is something that really does go

just unnoticed when he's getting replaced that late in the cycle. So that's Deshaun Foster on year zero. I mean, that was year zero for Deshaun Foster. I mean, that's for years. I mean, it's been year zero for UCLA for what? 10 years now? You know.

Year one, year one's right around the corner. Let's go. I'll take your zero. I give you your zero. Don't you? I'm happy to give it to you. I think that works. We've got basketball coming up. So Zach is going to be just fine. Do not feel bad for Zach. And it's the ox on our block. But for Zach's sake, oh yeah, you should be. Yeah. And Roman too. I think you may end up having to get that on this. What's up, Roman? Hey, hey, hey, Zach, what's, what's pro season basketball like? It's a crown. It's a tournament. Who's going to make it from the Big Ten and can this conference

win a national title? We're talking about that next right here on the Big Ten Squad. Today's episode of the Big Ten squad is brought to you by TurboTax. This is a message from Intuit TurboTax. Taxes was waiting and wondering and worrying if you were going to get any money back and then waiting wondering and worrying

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because the NCAA tournament is almost here and we're going to talk about teams that we think are solidly in ones that can make a run and if the big 10 can claim a national title in this college basketball season and I wrote some things down because this is as of Tuesday March 11th and I know there's some moving parts because of conference tournaments and things like that but. Jay Stevens you and I are really the only ones in terms of bubble teams that are going to be sweating on selection Sunday because Zach Anderson the ox ITime review CLA in Iowa. You guys are fine. Zach Seiko, we appreciate you being here, man. And yet Jay, you and I are going to be stressing on selection Sunday because we just can't get an answer. Stressing big time. The Buckeyes are a team that if they lose on Wednesday, I believe it's against Iowa, they're probably not going to be dancing at all. And it's one of those

seasons where Ohio State has a talent. There was some internal stuff that went on where they had some adversity. A guy that was supposed to be one of the top scorers is no longer on the team. And the Buckeyes are like Indiana. They gotta make some noise in the Big Ten tournament. They have to. You can't just roll in there against Iowa and think, we have a Bruce Doherty that can get the thing done and be the kind of lead guard to make some noise

in a Big Ten tournament and do enough to cement the spot and the big dance. You as a collective unit must go all out, control everything you can control, get the hustle stats and dominate that area. But I don't have faith in Ohio State's basketball team right now. I have lost faith in them shortly after we got into

Big Ten play, I was like, oh, this team has a talent. They just don't play well consistently, which is a massive problem. But Jacob is weird, man. I'm going into the year. I said, Ohio state can make the tournament this year. And I'm sitting here right now, early in the week saying, there's not going to make it. I know it's still possible that they can. I just don't have faith in this team to do anything against Iowa to win that game on Wednesday night. Yeah, I thought Ohio State was preseason. It was them in Michigan because of what they did in the transfer portal finale, which may have just put us in the NCAA tournament But as of this recording, okay Ohio State at Indiana are the last four in you've got Michigan State as the two seed as most of us would probably say is

Our best chance at a national title from the conference itself. You've got three teams as a four seed Listen to this guys, Wisconsin Purdue and Maryland are all four seeds. You've got Wisconsin, Purdue, Maryland. Yep. And then the five seed and a six seed, three of them, Illinois, Michigan, and Zach, your UCLA Bruins. And there is a six seed as well. So my question to everybody is who has the best chance to make some noise? Let's say a sweet 16. And then can we get a team to the final four and win a national championship open ended to whoever wants to jump in? One, I want to shout out Nebraska because their end of the season choke got them from like next four out to not even in the big 10 tournament. That was an unbelievable like they lost to Michigan in the forties. They had what quintuple? What was it Jay? Something

crazy over times over with Nebraska. That was a crazy game. Then, you know, that was a big flame. I thought Nebraska lost a Penn State. They're awful. But you know, the shout out to them, because I thought they're good enough. And then they went downhill. Couldn't you make their own conference tournament for UCLA? I think the biggest thing is with all the travel you have, I think it's more important for these teams on the further coast, the West and the East coast that you get UCLA, they want to play in Seattle or Denver in the first round, get in the West regional, East regional, right? You want to go play your first round games and I have to travel to the West coast or go. So I think for the Bruins, it's a little

bit matchup based, right? If UCLA is a sixth seed, the latest bracketology from Joe Lunardi had Kentucky as a three seed. Give me that. Let's feast. Let's go. You you want Kentucky as the three seed? There's much better three seeds out there than Kentucky. Let's be real. That's fair. That's fair. Yeah. I mean, UCLA is as likely to go to the final four as they are to lose in the first round. Like I am going to be all over the place for the men's side. Like it's all possible. I was very confident earlier in

the preseason went all when I UCLA can be a third weekend team but they have a lot of flaws but they play mick cronin defense so anything is possible to winning the big 10 tournament to losing two in a row in their seasons done that is the UCLA way at this moment I like this UCLA team coming into the year too I have of all the just talent roster wise one through 13 however you want to kind of grade it I kind of like there's the best I just didn't think it was going to go very well your number one of the big 10 all the just talent roster wise, one through 13, however you want to kind of grade it, I kind of like there's the best. I just didn't think it was going to go very well. You're number one of the big 10, all the new faces, plus the travel in year number one,

and kind of figuring that out. I still love the talent of this team though. And Michigan State spent great recently, but Izzo's had so many flame outs recently in the NCAA tournament, it's hard to really wrap your arms around him and say, yeah, this is going to be a final four team. I'll be surprised actually. I think the big town is down again this year. I'll be surprised if we see a team in the regional final, a team in the elite

eight. I think we're going to have everybody knocked out, maybe a couple of sweet 16 teams, but that's going to be it. When we get to Saturday and Sunday of the regionals, I don't think we're going to be watching a big 10 team. I hope not. I mean, I hope now Indiana again, we're trying to get off the play in game and just get into the NCAA tournament. My confidence is not very high because it's Mike Woodson and we just never know what we're going to get on his way out. But you have teams like Purdue and Oregon was the one I was trying to get to earlier. If you write down the wrong name, you're going to read the wrong name. Oregon is a five seed that

I think is very dangerous offensively along with Wisconsin who can get extremely hot from behind the three point line, but they can also get extremely cold behind the three point line. So it seems like those teams, I feel like personally have the best chance to get to a second weekend because they can shoot the ball very well. But Seiko, you on the outside looking in, who's your pick? Who's going to make the most noise in the NCAA tournament from the Big Ten this season? Well, I'm glad that we can talk about wrestling now. I'm just kidding. Because there is an NCAA tournament going on very soon for college wrestling as well. March Madness, right? That's what they call it? March Madness. So that's where I will be focused on. Even if Penn State basketball had made

it to the Big Ten tournament, just kind of, it gives me a little bit of tunnel vision here. But Penn State basketball is kind of seeing some of these teams periodically throughout the season. And Maryland's a good team, all right. Michigan State's the, hopefully the juggernaut here. Just a lot of these teams have been up and down

and shown inconsistencies because I want to believe in Oregon. I want to believe in Illinois as those true, hey, they could be a dark horse to go to the Final Four. They could, they should be expected to make the Elite Eight, right? And then there's just days that they really don't show up. And I'm going to echo Trent here. I don't think, I am pessimistic that there aren't any teams from the Big Ten that make the Elite Eight, let alone the final four. I'm concerned that they're not even gonna be in the top eight.

If you go to Ken Palm's rankings, the only team I think that is in the top 10 is Michigan State from the Big Ten. And then the next closest is Wisconsin at 12, 11 through 20 is filled with big 10 teams, but that's clearly not top eight, that's clearly not top four. And Ken Palm's rankings are essentially an estimate, right,

of how teams do on average. It's not a predictor, it's not an indicator, but it gives us a decent idea of where those teams are. And the big 10s just not built for March. They're just not. Outside of Purdue getting to the final last year, there really just isn't this consistent group of Big 10 teams that constantly make these deep title runs.

The SEC has college men's basketball on a lockdown here with, you know, some other select teams here and there. But the Pac-12 dissolves, so this is really, this is the SEC sport until further notice. We'll see how it goes. The Big Ten tournament happening as we speak or as you see and listen to this.

And then the NCAA tournament coming up next week, maybe somebody surprises us and the Big Ten can have a little fun in March Madness. Be sure you check out all of our shows apart of the Locked On Podcast Network across the Big Ten. And until next time, we appreciate you being here. This has been another episode of the Locked On Big Ten Squad.