Locked On Hawkeyes - Daily Podcast On Iowa Hawkeyes Football & Basketball - BREAKING: Big Ten Football Championship to Vegas, Hawkeye Football Media Day Most wanted

Starting point is 00:00:00 Live from Las Vegas, we have breaking news from Las Vegas. That's right. The Big Ten Football Championship game will be played in Las Vegas. We got the details, plus Iowa football media day is all coming up today. Locked on Hawkeyes. You are locked on Hawkeyes, your daily podcast on the Iowa Hawkeyes. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Man, I'm Trent Condon, and this is the Locked On Hawkeyes podcast.

Starting point is 00:00:43 Thanks for making Locked On Hawkeyes your first listen every day. We're available wherever you get podcasts. You can also find us on YouTube. While you're there, make sure you hit that subscribe button. Helps us get in front of more Hawkeye fans. Today's episode is brought to you by Bird Dogs. Go to birddogs.com slash Locked OnCollege or enter promo code LockedOnCollege for a free white tech

Starting point is 00:01:08 hat with any purchase. You won't want to take off your Bird Dogs, we promise you. Well, Trent Codd, I'm glad you joined us here today on the LockedOn Hawkeyes podcast, and as I make my way to Las Vegas, I told you we are every dayers yesterday, that's where I was

Starting point is 00:01:24 going to be heading. Well, here we are hanging out at Circa, the world's largest sportsbook and stadium swim back behind me. Now, you know, the angle's a little funky. You'll probably hear a little background music along with it, but I will tell you just an absolute incredible scene. I'm going to move my head for a moment. Nobody wants to see my ugly mug much anyway. That's the scene back behind us here in las vegas at stadium swim and

Starting point is 00:01:45 what should be a fun couple of days of course we await big 10 football media day but some breaking news and this comes from my radio program that's right if you just know me from the podcast yes i also do host a daily radio show on 106.3 kx and oh and the news from that one today my partner Ken Miller who had been here a couple of days in advance he got some breaking news the Big Ten will be playing conference football championship games in Las Vegas coming up the likelihood is that will be played coming up maybe 2026 is when we are going to see that for the first time. They're still crossing some D's, T's, and dotting some I's, but at this point in time, it looks like the Big Ten football championship game

Starting point is 00:02:31 will be played in Las Vegas. And I understand from a Hawkeye perspective, you might be a little bit disappointed because Indianapolis is drivable, right? And certainly for the people on the other side of the state, on the eastern side of the state, for where I am in Des Moines, it's an easy one. I shouldn't say an easy one. Yes, it's still work. It's not just a hop, skip and a jump. It's not like making a drive an hour. It's a half day,

Starting point is 00:02:55 but you're able to get there. There's no half day in order to get to Las Vegas. But what did I just show you over here, over my shoulder? You also don't have those things in Indianapolis. You do have them here. And how about a December trip to Las Vegas? Is it going to be a little pricey? It could, but you can also do Las Vegas on a budget. And there's going to be a lot of people, I think, that are going to be very excited about this. And certainly the way that it plays out going forward for the Big Ten.

Starting point is 00:03:22 Looks like a couple of games will be played here. Another piece of this is also what the potential is going to be as it pertains to the college football playoff. The Las Vegas Bowl, there's a real possibility that that's going to go away, that we're not going to see the Las Vegas Bowl, certainly as it's currently constructed, that has the Pac-12 connection. That's not going to happen anymore. As we know, the Pac-12 is down to a Pac-44 and the conference tie-ins in Las Vegas Bowl is not alone there. But it's the change that we're going through right now. And it's so interesting this upcoming football season.

Starting point is 00:03:55 We've talked about anticipation. We've talked about expectations as it pertains to Iowa, where they should be. Do we go too high? We've talked about my angle to this, but this is really the last year of, should I say normal college football, right? I mean, as normal as it can be from what we've seen over the last 15, 20 years. You don't have to be that old, or at least what I consider that old,

Starting point is 00:04:25 to remember when you didn't play 12 games in the regular season. And there was a year in the early 2000s where I believe it was Labor Day fell at a weird time. And because of that, that gave the opportunity to add an extra week to the calendar. They allowed for that season teams to play 12 games, went back to 11 for a season. And after that it bounced back once again. But it led to playing 12 conference games. You know, everything's on the table at this point in time. I think we've all been in those meetings, right, where you come up to it or somebody, one of your bosses, one of your managers says, there are no dumb ideas. And that's where we are at this point in time. There are no dumb ideas. Yes, Indianapolis is a good middle spot for a lot of Big Ten teams, but not all of them. You know, Nebraska gets there.

Starting point is 00:05:11 It's a long drive to get there. Now, Las Vegas is longer. This is also becoming a national conference. And that's what it is. It's not about, unfortunately, anymore, the fan base that's going to travel and support you. Thinking of Iowa after the 2015 season, the support that we saw in Indianapolis, just how incredible that experience was in that game against Michigan State and seeing that stadium absolutely pop and Tavon Smith having the touchdown to give them the lead in the fourth quarter. It was absolutely incredible. And are you going to get that in Las Vegas?

Starting point is 00:05:42 Not at the same level. Are you going to get that Las Vegas? Not at the same level. Are you going to get that at Giant Stadium? Are you going to get that at U.S. Bank up in Minneapolis? All depends on who's there. And that's the part we don't know. Certainly though, if Iowa qualifies, and it's going to be incredibly difficult to do that. With an 18-team league and only two teams get in, it's going to be incredibly difficult to get to that championship game. And if Iowa has one of those historic seasons and you don't find out until Black Friday after you clinched the win at a championship appearance with the win on Black

Starting point is 00:06:16 Friday against Nebraska, of course you're going to be booking that plane ticket and you're going to be getting your hotel and you're going to be hanging out here at Circa with me. You're going to be doing those things because you're excited and that's what us as Hawkeye fans do. But will it be the volume? Probably not. Look, we cashed in. Athletic departments cashed in for the almighty dollar and let television dictate everything. Let television basically do what they want it. And that's why we are where we are right now. Las Vegas for a Big Ten tournament. Basketball side, does the same thing happen?

Starting point is 00:06:57 Is the Rose Bowl part of the new mix? What happens to the Rose Bowl? The granddaddy of them all. These are the things we still don't know. We're going to talk a little Iowa football when we continue here on the Locked On Hawkeyes podcast. Football Media Day.

Starting point is 00:07:13 That is right. It is upon us. In fact, it's coming up tomorrow. We're going to talk a little bit about that. Get into what is happening with Football Media Day. What it all means. And we will do that as we continue here as we're battling a little bit. Yeah, that's right.

Starting point is 00:07:28 We're on location. Things are a little bit different. I'm trying to get everything set up in the right way. We're trying to move things around a little bit. Never easy, but we'll figure it out. We will definitely do that as we roll through here. There we go. I think we got what we're looking for.

Starting point is 00:07:42 We continue on. This is the Lockdown Hawkeyes podcast live from Circa in downtown Las Vegas. Well, football season is about to kick off. We got preseason games going on tonight. FanDuel, they're giving you the chance to win all season long. Because right now, when you bet on a Super Bowl winner, you get bonus bets every time they win in the regular season. Just pick any team to win the Super Bowl, and you'll get bonus bets for every victory.

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Starting point is 00:09:06 Trent Conant back with you again here on Locked On Hawkeyes. Thanks for making Locked On Hawkeyes your first listen every day. We are coming to you on location and I want to go this direction with you. Iowa football. We're pumped up for it, right? I mean, we're excited about this season.

Starting point is 00:09:22 We're excited about what this year is going to be and I get all that and I'm right there with you. But however, with that being said, what do we want to do? Who do we want to hear from the most tomorrow? So I set it up in that category. Who are the guys that with media day are going to be the best interviews, the guys that are the most important to hear from and really give us the insight that we're looking for for Iowa football coming up this season. And he obviously started the quarterback position. Now, Cade McNamara, he's Johnny Smooth, right? He's polished.

Starting point is 00:09:57 He understands the game. He understands the questions that are going to come his way. He gets all that. He's gone through it before. He's done it on a huge stage in the college football playoff, in the Big Ten championship game, saving Jim Harbaugh's job. He has done all those things before. He's going to be used to that, but you got to go there.

Starting point is 00:10:16 So that's number one. Cade McNamara, he's got to be part of the conversation. He's got to be one of the guys that you have to talk to for football media days. And those are the articles that you're reading. And those are going to be the quotes that you're going to be hearing all throughout the course of the guys that you have to talk to for Football Media Days. And those are the articles that you're reading. And those are going to be the quotes that you're going to be hearing all throughout the course of the season. It's important to see how this transition has gone, see the leadership qualities that he had.

Starting point is 00:10:34 Speaking of McNamara, here's just a fleeting thought. This is going to be, from everything that we've heard, how he is wired. He is going to be as different of a quarterback as I was had since 2006. Now, we've talked about recently, Spencer Petras sounds like a great guy and a great teammate, just not a very good quarterback. Nate Stanley, great quarterback, didn't maybe have the leadership skills or the ability to get guys to follow him that you're looking for. Ricky Stanzi, guy that won football games for him in 2009. Going through the history.

Starting point is 00:11:14 But, again, this is on the surface. And talking to some people that would know, came back to mirror's wire differently. And if things aren't going well he's gonna let his offensive coordinator know he's gonna let the head coach know but Kirk hasn't had to deal with the quarterback quite like this I don't believe in quite the long time Spencer Petras was the choir boy I mean he could be another one of the Ference brothers I mean that that's that's how he is he was beloved and certainly beloved by the Ferences, as we've seen over the last three years.

Starting point is 00:11:49 This is going to be something just to keep an eye on. So number one, out of less. Came back to Mara. The most wanted players for interviews. Continuing there, Caleb Brown, the wide receiver from Ohio State. We know it, right? Transfers in. We got to hear from him a couple weeks ago,

Starting point is 00:12:05 but we have an appetite for him. Iowa has not had a recruiting playmaker like this since when. They've had good wide receivers, guys that have developed, Martin McNutt, DJK, Amir Smith-Marset, Brandon Smith, on and on and on. We could play this game forever. Go way back in the day, Quinn Early, but you probably have to go back at least with anticipation. And a guy that didn't exactly translate, you got to go to Willie Guy.

Starting point is 00:12:36 Willie Guy was a long time ago. Long time ago. And he didn't get to play his first two years because of, what was it, Prop 48? And it was a whole mess. We haven't had a wide receiver like Caleb Brown we want to hear more from him how he's understanding what he's doing how he can help out this team definitely a direction you want to go now I don't have Luke Lachey on the list because we heard from him now we do want to hear from Noah Shannon here's another

Starting point is 00:12:58 interesting part of this one what does Iowa football do with Noah Shannon? He is a guy that we know is involved in the gambling investigation. There's other guys that are speculated about. We've told you, maybe look at the defensive backfield. Not going to throw names, but connect some dots there, okay? I think I've been able to lay it out, at least what I've heard. And again, that's not definitive. That's not breaking news. Breaking news is what we did earlier with the Big Ten football championship game to Las Vegas. That's not what this is. This is a different story. This is Noah Shannon was going to Indianapolis for media day.

Starting point is 00:13:36 It's not going because of the gambling investigation. Does that mean he's going to sit out four games? Does that mean he's going to sit out six games? We shrug our shoulders and wait, but we know he's a part of it. The other guys, Iowa State has already dealt with this. We saw them completely change and revamp what they do with media days. It wasn't all the guys being available. It wasn't even most of your starters being available. It's seven dudes. I was not going to do that. But how limited are there? Something else to keep an eye on here.

Starting point is 00:14:08 You're most wanted, but who's all out there? And who's not going to be made available by the football media? That's another component of this one. We've heard from Cooper Dajin. We know he's a stud. We got that. Here's another one, though, is Xavier Wampa. The kid that stayed hold.

Starting point is 00:14:24 The Southeast folk young man that made the right choice. Not like his former teammate that went down there and turn coded down to Alabama at the last minute. No, not him. No, this is about Xavier Wampa. I've called a myriad of Xavier's games back at the high school level. Great kid had an opportunity to talk with him a couple of times. Easy to root for. He gets it. He's going to be a star and he's going to be a star, not just to what he does on the football field. He's going to be a media star. So that's number five on the list. Xavier Wampa, our most wanted Iowa football players. Final thing we've been teasing this last couple of days. I got it broke down here. We're going to figure out what to do when we go to 18 teams next year in the big 10, what we're going to do with the conference tournament. I think I got it all figured out.

Starting point is 00:15:06 We'll do that when we come back here on the Locked On Hawkeyes podcast. Stay right there. We're back with more in a moment. Well, I just got off the plane. I'm here in Las Vegas, and you know what made that trip so comfortable, so easy going? It was my bird dogs, of course. Put those bird dogs on. They make you look good.

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Starting point is 00:16:11 that promo code, very simple locked on college for a free white tech hat. You won't want to take your bird dogs off that we promise you. Try to get it back with you. One final time on the Lockdown Hawkeyes podcast. Coming to you live from Las Vegas. Well, live on tape for most of you out there. Coming to you from Las Vegas and Stadium Swim at Circa, downtown Las Vegas.

Starting point is 00:16:37 The world's largest sports book. I'll be firing away. Going to be making some Hawkeye bets and certainly looking forward to the upcoming football season. We got the baseball going on back behind us and a great place. Got the cabana. That's where we're hanging out today. Pretty fun. Great, great place to come if you're making your way to Las Vegas.

Starting point is 00:16:55 Well, as I wrap things up and wrap up my workday, we got to go this direction, right? We have to take a look here at this. The Big Ten basketball tournament. I mentioned the last couple of days, and I think I got this thing figured out. I've gone through a bunch of different ideas. 18 teams. You're not going to make a ladder format. I just don't think that works. Look, you're talking about the 17 and 18 seed, how to win six games in six days to win a conference championship. Not only that, you're also renting out the building for a couple of extra days to make that happen. I think this makes the most sense. These mini tournaments,

Starting point is 00:17:30 I think, can be incredibly compelling. And what are we talking about with all these conversations is inventory for the television networks. What's more important? Some random quarterfinal game between the number one seed and the number eight seed or a championship game. Now, yes, you're playing four championship games over the course of the weekend to move on to get into the main bracket, the final four, if you will, for the Big Ten tournament. So if you missed this the last couple of days, this is the idea. Instead of having 18 teams go to Indianapolis or Chicago or Las Vegas or LA or wherever it turns out to be for a conference tournament, instead of doing that, instead, the weekend that is normally the end of the regular season, you create these mini tournaments. And you would see these tournaments somewhere in the middle of February, right after the Super Bowl concludes.

Starting point is 00:18:22 I'd say the Tuesday of the Super Bowl week, after the Super Bowl concludes, I'd say the Tuesday of the Super Bowl week after the Super Bowl is concluded that Tuesday and you just rate the teams. So you have two pods, two mini tournaments that have five teams. The other ones, the other two will have four teams in them. There's your 18 teams on Friday night.

Starting point is 00:18:40 The four seed plays the five. You'll have two of those games. And then coming up on Saturday, that Saturday, you have all the ones versus the fours, the five. You'll have two of those games. And then coming up on Saturday, that Saturday, you have all the ones versus the fours, the two versus the threes. You'd have eight combined games that could be played there. It'd be huge. You could stretch it out a little bit more over the weekend,

Starting point is 00:18:54 maybe start those first round games on Thursday. The number one seed, you'd have four number one seeds that would all host in the opening round and the championship of these mini tournaments. And then you move on and the four teams that win them, you give them some kind of incentive. You give them a number one seed. You give them not number one seed.

Starting point is 00:19:12 You give them maybe an advancement. If they're not already an NCAA tournament team, an automatic bid to the NIT. You put something like that, put some kind of caveat in there. Maybe it's a financial reward. I mean, we're kind of getting to that point, aren't we? And you go that route, whatever it is, you do something there. And then the four teams that win these mini brackets go on to Indianapolis, to Chicago, and then play for the ultimate automatic bid and a trip to the NCAA tournament.

Starting point is 00:19:37 Think something that could work. It also keeps down on the wear and tear. You play everybody once during the regular season to make this something that's palpable. You go away from the 20 game schedule. You make it a 17 or even an 18 game schedule where you play a protected rival home and home and you play everybody else once. That gets you to 18 games. Now, for Iowa basketball, it kind of stinks because it would be Nebraska would be our protected rival for basketball, just trying to make everything marry and match up. USC, UCLA, obviously. Indiana, Purdue, of course.

Starting point is 00:20:11 We're getting into a bunch of maturations there. Michigan, Michigan State, on and on and on. We'd figure it all out, but this is something I think that would work. This is something that makes a whole lot of sense, and this is something that is going to make people money. That's what it's about. I need to make some money here in Las Vegas. That's what I'm going to make people money. That's what it's about. I need to make some money here in Las Vegas. That's what I'm going to try to do.

Starting point is 00:20:30 Signing up for the football contest at Circa. We're going to be throwing a little dice, having some fun, and better hop in that pool. It is hot out here today. That'll do it for the Locked On Hawkeyes podcast. As always, thanks for making Locked On Hawkeyes your first listen every day. Enjoy media day. Enjoy following the conversation.

Starting point is 00:20:48 We'll have a full recap of that. Plus, Kids Day coming your way here for you everydayers. We got you covered on the Lockdown Hawkeyes podcast. Again, thanks for making Lockdown Hawkeyes your first listen every day. We'll talk to you again tomorrow. Go Hawks.

Locked On Hawkeyes - Daily Podcast On Iowa Hawkeyes Football & Basketball - BREAKING: Big Ten Football Championship to Vegas, Hawkeye Football Media Day Most wanted

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