Locked On Hawkeyes - Daily Podcast On Iowa Hawkeyes Football & Basketball - Can Iowa basketball do damage in March Madness? Big Ten Ben breaks it down

Episode Date: February 25, 2022

We are joined by Big Ten Ben Stevens today to discuss the state of college basketball and more specifically, the state of Iowa basketball on today's show. Ben explains why he likes the Iowa Hawkeyes to potentially make a Sweet 16 run and what the numbers say about the success of Fran McCaffery's squad this season.Plus Ben gives us some insight into his experience covering the Super Bowl!Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!Built BarBuilt Bar is a protein bar that tastes like a candy bar. Go to builtbar.com and use promo code “LOCKED15,” and you’ll get 15% off your next order.BetOnlineBetOnline.net has you covered this season with more props, odds and lines than ever before. BetOnline – Where The Game Starts!Rock AutoAmazing selection. Reliably low prices. All the parts your car will ever need. Visit RockAuto.com and tell them Locked On sent you. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

You are Locked On Hawkeyes, your daily podcast on the Iowa Hawkeyes. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Welcome back, Hawkeye Nation, to another episode of the Locked On Hawkeyes Podcast, your daily podcast covering your Iowa Hawkeyes on the Locked On Podcast Network. As always, I am your host, Andrew Wade. And as I teased on yesterday's show, we have a very special guest, formerly known as Big Ten Ben, now just Ben Scott Stevens. We are joined by the man, the myth, the legend, Ben, on this show today

to talk all things Big Ten and the Super Bowl, which Ben had the awesome opportunity to be a part of. He also got to meet an Iowa legend in Lucy Rodin, who, spoiler alert, might also be on the show at some point in the next couple of weeks as well. Just dropping lots of bombs here. Before we get to asking Ben how he is doing, though, I want to thank you all for making the Locked On Hawkeyes podcast

your first listen every single day. You can find the Locked On Hawkeyes podcast for free wherever you get podcasts at and also on YouTube by searching Locked On Hawkeyes podcast your first listen every single day. You can find the Locked On Hawkeyes podcast for free wherever you get podcasts at and also on YouTube by searching Locked On Hawkeyes. So Ben, we've got you on the show. First and foremost, though, how are you doing, man? It's been a while. I feel like I haven't talked to you in person in probably like five, six months maybe. I don't know.

It has been a very long time. In fact, I think I've only made maybe one or two appearances on the Locked On Hawkeyes podcast, even in my long time of hosting Locked On Big Ten, and how frequently Andrew Wade, the host of Locked On Hawkeyes, who does a fantastic job covering all things Iowa, by the way, would be on Locked On Big Ten. I was hardly ever asked to return the favor, except for maybe around this time last year, after Iowa lost in the round of 32, I believe it was, to the Oregon Ducks in that game on a Monday.

We were able to commiserate about our time watching the Iowa Hawkeyes just run up and down the court by an Oregon offense that day. So I think that might have been my last time. I think we have spoken since then at certain points, but it feels great to be backed on, locked on just in general. And of course the wonderful program that is locked on Hawkeyes. I appreciate that, man.

I will say you haven't been on the show a lot, but you've come in a moment of need, right? I remember texting you saying, Ben, I can't do this show by myself. Like I was, I think my wife was legitimately concerned for my health. Like she was like, you are so quiet. Is everything okay and i was like i have been so excited for this basketball season for two years and then just to see them get absolutely destroyed she's like you look like you're gonna have a mental breakdown i was like i feel like i'm gonna have a mental breakdown and thankfully you were able to come on the show

because i don't think i could have gotten to that show by myself. That was honestly – this doesn't sound actually pathetic. That was one of the toughest shows ever. It was so depressing watching Iowa lose in the round of 32. Luke Gagard's been crying. Everyone's crying. Everyone's sad. Iowa was just frustrating. I do think I had you on before the start of the football season, though, just to call out here.

Yeah. So I think I had you on then, too. But that's it. I think that's it. Listen, and both great times. And we had a lot of fun. Both of those times, even as we were having a tough time dealing with Iowa's early exit, by the way, just a terrible draw last year, just a terrible draw in the NCAA tournament.

You knew it. You could see it. Oh my God. It was a bad matchup. You could see it. You knew it. It was going to happen. Terrible. Terrible.

Anyway, and then ahead of last season, too, for Iowa in football, a relatively good season, in my opinion. Yeah. I mean, hey, you know, it's been wonderful times for us here together on the Locked on Hawkeyes podcast, truly. Yeah, it has been. And we have a lot to cover today because you have made a trip to the Super Bowl. You are absolutely crushing it with your betting show, which I think is funny because I remember when we first started to know

each other, I was just hammering you on how bad you were the first week of Big Ten betting. And now, yeah, oh yeah, you were real bad. And I did not let you hear the end of it. And I truly did not think you were actually good at betting. So I apologize there. But I want to officially apologize because now the only bets I make are bets that you do. Wow. I'm not smart. I don't really bet as much.

Usually, basically, I put money at the beginning of the season. I bet on it and keep taking money out when I win. And then I'll leave it in there. And whenever I lose it, I just kind of bet on things that I feel like betting on at the time, which is usually like – because during, like, football season, I'm betting on, like, 15 games a weekend. But once I, like, win that money or eventually lose whatever, I only do, like, Iowa games and occasionally some things.

But I'll bet some money on an Iowa game. When I win, I take that winnings, and I start betting on whatever the hell you tell me to bet on. And for the most part, it's been pretty good. Your player props were phenomenal, man. You were crushing Thursdays this season. Just truly amazing. I can't remember, was it DJ Moore you had?

Like over like five and a half catches, and you had like seven in the first quarter. I was like, score, I just won. So shout out to you for that. How has that been going for you, man? It's been going very well. So the show that I host is called The Morning After on SportsGrid, each and every weekday, 9 a.m. to noon Eastern time.

It's all over the place. It's Sirius XM Channel 159 if you listen on the radio. It's a YouTube TV channel for SportsGrid now. It's on our YouTube live stream. It's on a lot of platforms that at times I don't even know how to truly describe where you can find it. People will send me photos and be like, hey, watching you today. I'm like, how?

I would actually love to know. I'm just curious of how you're watching it. So it's all over the place. But it's been fantastic. It's been a very growing time. We're doing really cool things. We were at the Super Bowl, which was awesome. It was kind of like a, you know, aha moment for us to be there even in the first place.

But certainly trying to take advantage of that opportunity as well to continue to grow, grow, and grow. Kind of like a, you know, aha moment for us to be there even in the first place, but certainly trying to take advantage of that opportunity as well to continue to grow, grow, and grow. And it's just a media, you know, option where things are really growing right now in sports betting as it becomes more and more legalized across the country. And we really just kind of present anything you would see on normal sports content and just do it through the lens of gambling. So it's not necessarily like, hey, here's my pick. Here's my pick.

Here's my pick. It's like, for instance, as we get ready for Big Ten football next year, we can focus on Big Ten basketball right now. Purdue is a minus money favorite to win the Big Ten conference with three games left. So it's like, hey, here's why Purdue is the favorite at this price.

And here's why that either makes sense or it doesn't based on what they have remaining and why there might be some value on Wisconsin who hosts Purdue on Tuesday night in what might decide the Big Ten regular season title. So it's all about trying to present that context through the odds of gambling and then hopefully driving an actionable thing

where you can go and either be like, hey, that kid Ben knew what he was talking about or that kid's an idiot. Let me go fade him and do the exact opposite of what he said. And to your point, not to agree with you necessarily or to make you feel better about yourself for absolutely slamming me when I started infamously 0-10-1 against the spread the first week and a half of Big Ten football last year in 2020. I've learned a lot more about what it actually means to be a smart sports better,

to be a smart handicapper in how you approach things. Sometimes that's making no bet whatsoever if you don't have a strong feel. Sometimes that's an understanding of why the number is the way it is outside of how you expect the game to go. There are so many different lenses, and that's what we try to do on SportsGrid is just educate you and make you the best sports better that you could possibly be. So it's been going very, very well, and it's a ton of fun, but anytime I can put on the big 10 hat and come back and could be a part of lockdown. Hot guys is a huge moment for me.

And also I heard you say this in the intro formerly known as big 10, Ben, I am always big 10, Ben, and please never are you. Yeah. Are you, you don't,

you don't house the big 10 show, not locked on big 10. I say, I'd speak about the big 10 almost on a daily basis on our show the morning after, and I don't know, were you tweeting at Frank Garza the other night, or was I tweeting at Frank Garza the other night? I was just texting Frank Garza, so.

Were you actually? No, that'd be funny though, right? Ah, you should have stuck with your guns a little bit more then. No, I texted him like a week ago and said super excited for you and Luca to be back in Iowa City, and he's like, yeah, I really appreciate that. That's pretty much it. Did you see his picture the day following? Either for you and Luca to be back in Iowa City. And he's like, yeah, I really appreciate that. That's pretty much it. So, but it would have been great if I actually texted him.

Did you see his picture the day following? Either it was from that day or the day prior and they were driving on some road in Iowa and it was just a beautiful shot of Americana with a silo in the background and the sun setting in such a beautiful way. As you looked out over the horizon, it was beautiful. And it was like Frank's point of like, thank you to Iowa iowa and i almost i think probably started tearing up a little bit dude he is truly

an amazing man to talk to just truly phenomenal like so much we when i talked to him he literally talked to me about i honestly we had to like i was like we got to get to the show because we talked for an hour before we actually started the show i had to cancel work meetings because i do this on the side and this was uh a year and a half, two years ago. Because we were talking about like me and my wife and I and when we were going to start a family and how to be a father and all that. I'm like, oh my gosh, like just such a good person, just such a genuine, authentic, amazing human being.

And for him to be a part of Iowa Hawkeye Nation is pretty phenomenal. And Iowa does have some pretty parts, man. The sunsets in Iowa can be very pretty. Now, not pretty enough to make me move from Denver, Colorado, which is significantly more pretty more often. But, you know, very pretty nonetheless. Yeah, I would agree with that. I mean, you know, I used to live in Omaha, Nebraska,

out there on the plains as well. And some of those times when you can just see, because of the flat nature of the landscape, when you can see for miles and miles, it's an absolutely beautiful it truly is well ben uh i do want to ask about the super bowl but i have decided ad hoc spontaneously i'm gonna actually do these ad reads so let me know if you want me to help at all not at all uh but we're gonna hop into it um march madness this is oh man if david or anyone's listening they're gonna to be so pissed about I just did a terrible job entering those ad reads. But March Madness is only a few weeks away,

and that means you need to start thinking now about where you're going to be running your brackets this year. Are you going to go for the usual, or are you looking for the best? We've done our homework here, and we are running brackets at runyourpool.com. Along with standard brackets, Run Your Pool offers game types like Survivor or PickX. They have options to edit scoring, and they offer more intel to make your picks, all stuff you won't find at ESPN or CBS. If you've got a business, Run Your Pool can help you take some of that madness magic and play alongside your employees or even gain customers. Plus, they offer full white glove customer support, customer branding, and one of the easiest three-minute setups you'll ever find. Clearly, we believe in run your pool because like I said,

we're running our brackets there ourselves. There's no truer test than that. So Ben, you've got to check it out. Go to run your pool.com slash locked on, and you can put yourself up against all of us and all the people who want to join for a cash prize. And while you're there,

create your own pool for your friends and family. Enter pure madness at checkout for $10 off your custom pool. All the rules and details will be available there. That's run your pool.com slash locked on for your chance to family. Enter Pure Madness at checkout for $10 off your custom pool. All the rules and details will be available there. That's runyourpool.com slash lockdown for your chance to win a cash prize. We look forward to seeing you and beating you, Big Ten Ben, right there. Yeah, you like that?

Calling out during the talk. Also, it is the end of February, which means your resolutions, your New Year's resolutions are probably struggling a little bit, right? That's what happens when you get to the second month of the year. You want to eat healthy.

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thank you all for making the lockdown Hawkeyes podcast your first listen every single day. I appreciate that. Tune in wherever you get podcasts at and also on YouTube by searching locked on Hawkeyes. Ben, are you going to join run your pool? Two comments on those wonderful ad reads that you just had right there andrew wade am i going to join your pool probably not but that being said last year my bracket it sounds enticing it sounds like a great offer by the way and you can use that promo code whatever it was but last year my bracket was so bad because it was so big 10 heavy

and the big 10 stunk it up in last year's NCAA tournament. That's something we can get to another time. And then also, Bilt Bar is still incredible. I love Bilt Bar with all of my heart still to this day. And I don't know if it was just like a mailing glitch, and I hope me saying this right now on any sort of public forum that we are on here for the Locked On Hawkeyes podcast is going to change this, but they were still sending me built bars.

Even after I was done hosting Lockdown Big Ten, I'm talking multiple months down the line, nearly, well, not quite a year. Cause I think I ended it last July, but like six months and they were still sending me built bar and it was some of the best I've ever had in my entire life. And I still love built bar with all my heart. So they're good people. They are good people there. Actually, they have my, they have my old address so they literally send built

bars to the people who bought our old home every month they're like why do you get pro because i talked to them they come over pick up your protein bars but you can have them if you want like i have literally plenty i have like actually let me just quickly those are all built bars. Oh, my God. That's a lot of built bars. Yeah. Built bar, the protein bar that tastes like a candy bar. Yeah. You're so good at this.

I should have let you do the ad read yourself. Speaking of Big Ten basketball, though, and I want to talk about Super Bowl II, but Big Ten basketball last year was the toughest conference in the country, and they did not show up when it came to March Madness. This year, I feel like the love has not been given to Big Ten basketball nearly as much. But do you feel like they have an opportunity to make a run? When you look at an Illinois team, they've been dealing with injuries throughout the year. Purdue is weirdly ineffective at weird times.

Iowa, which we're going to talk about a little bit, I think could be a matchup problem a la Oregon of last year. So I just want to get your thoughts on Big Ten basketball this year and kind of where you see them going in March. Yeah, when you look at it from a market perspective, because again, I evaluate a lot of things through the odds. Purdue has some of the best odds to win the national championship right now, but I would

be hesitant to back the Boilermakers. I think that Purdue is the best team in the Big Ten Conference. I have a futures ticket on Purdue winning the Big Ten, and I stated from last year's college basketball season that Purdue should be the favorite to win the Big Ten this year, and they have looked and lived up to that billing. But there's something when it comes to the metrics, and when you study Ken Palm that you know the results

based on what it quantifies to be a successful team in the NCAA tournament. And Purdue has that offensively, the most efficient offense in the country right now in all of college basketball. But defensively, ranking outside the top 100, that is not a sustainable metric of success for the NCAA tournament. Can you win one, two, maybe even three games? Sure. But does that translate to being a national champion or even

final four contender? That's a farther bridge to climb. So that's where I think Purdue has to shore things up to improve defensively, to have a really good shot against the best teams on a weird, you know, any given night kind of basis, which it is in the NCAA tournament to have a chance to be a true national championship contender. But there is some depth to the Big Ten Conference and I think we've seen that the last couple of years but this year when you look at it there are some teams in that spot that either in Iowa led by Keegan Murray who can take over a game and just change the course of what we will see same case for Wisconsin and Johnny Davis a veteran group there as well Illinois certainly seems like they have the makeup to make another run, but they didn't last year.

And I like that team a little bit more than I like this team, because when you think about a classic NCAA tournament team, I would assume who paired with Kofi Coburn is about as good as it gets. But Andre Curbelo coming off the bench too, just impressive. I mean, it was ridiculous. And you still had Trent Frazier there in your glue spot as well so I think this year they have a really good team Andre Curbelo when healthy has been fantastic Trent Frazier even more of a senior leadership role and controls things defensively

Alphonso Plummer has become a knockdown three-point shooter for Brad Underwood and company but I like last year's team a little bit more than this year's team so I'm not sure that really changes it really depends on their draw as well because to get Loyola Chicago as the eighth seed But I like last year's team a little bit more than this year's team. So I'm not sure that really changes. It really depends on their draw as well, because to get Loyola Chicago as the eighth seed, that was pretty miserable a season ago. But there are teams like that in the Big Ten, like even Ohio State in the core that they have led by EJ Liddell. I think they could make some noise in the NCAA tournament. So it really depends kind of on what the draw looks like for the Big Ten.

But Andrew, there's a reason. It's not just a coincidence at this point. The Big Ten hasn't won a national championship in men's basketball in over two decades, not since 2000, and the Michigan State Spartans did so. And that's why is that? We talked about that all last year after the Big Ten burned out in the NCAA tournament. I think that's because the style of play that you see in the Big Ten does not translate to the NCAA tournament. I think that's because the style of play that you see in the Big Ten does not translate to the NCAA tournament when you have referees that blow whistles at very inconvenient times

and slow down the pace of play, which is a very different picture than what we see during March Madness. That's probably the biggest reason I think the Big Ten struggles when it comes to having success in the NCAA tournament. So I am hopeful. I look forward to watching the Big Ten in the big dance.

I'm not sure there's a true national championship contender as I see it right now by the time we get to early April. Makes sense. And I do want to talk a little bit about the officiating because the officiating in the Big Ten, I feel like, has been just sloppy. And I try to make a point of it. It's not just against Iowa. It's against every team. It been just sloppy. And I try to make a point of it. It's not just against Iowa.

It's against every team. It is just bad. It is just absolutely atrocious. Joe Toussaint drove the lane and got destroyed. I mean, if he wasn't, he basically did acrobatics to get the ball up into the air to even make a shot, and they slammed him to the ground. And the only reason why the the play stopped was because they're like oh is he injured how do you go up get knocked around like that from

two guys one from behind and not call a foul but then you call a foul on Iowa against Rutgers with two seconds remaining at the top of the key on a very ticky tacky he might have barely touched him crap uh just just so freaking frustrating what are your thoughts on the officiating and how that's been this year i mean the big 10 has certainly struggled with that when you have guys like bo boroski that oftentimes want to make the game about themselves and i like listen we all joke about bo and we do a lot of memes on twitter but it's true like he does at times try to control the narrative of a game and that's why i think the big 10 does struggle in the ncaa tournament because you have referees that try to control the pace of play. That can't happen.

You can't dictate the flow of the game based on whistles and how you think the game needs to be officiated. But I think it's a bigger problem for college basketball. We have seen some questionable officiating across the entire country. You could look back on last night, depending on when this is released, the Providence and Xavier game. A former Iowa Hawkeye and Jack Dungy called for a flagrant one because there's no longer intentional fouls, but a flagrant one for one of the wildest plays you'll ever see where he just got a little bit physical with Providence's big man, Nate Watson.

It wasn't like he shoved him. It wasn't like he wrapped him up. And that play turned out to be huge in a double overtime game that eventually led to three OTs between Providence and Xavier and you had Dan Hurley two nights ago in the UConn and Villanova game get thrown out for pumping up the crowd like we're having very weird officiating across the board and that is certainly the case in the Big Ten Conference as well the thing that makes it very difficult at times when you watch those kind of games is you don't need to see the refs. We don't want to see the referees. We don't want the game to be dictated by what they believe they saw or didn't see or the call

that they need to make. You want to see the play on the court and the actions the players make decide the outcomes of games. And I think at times this year, we've lost that a little bit. I don't think it's been like, oh my God, this is the worst we've ever seen, or it's terrible, or hopefully it's not a continuing issue, but that certainly has come up time and again throughout the Big Ten and really a lot of college basketball, unfortunately. Yeah, it's incredibly frustrating. It's frustrating to me also the refs and the fact that they are the same refs each year, right? The Big Ten has their group of refs and how they treat teams is different. Tom Izzo gets a lot different treatment than Fran McCaffrey gets.

Fran McCaffrey is a bad rep. Fran McCaffrey got suspended for two, and I went on a big rant on this yesterday, but Fran McCaffrey got suspended for two games for yelling at an official in a tunnel, and Juwan Howard gets suspended for five games for punching a guy. Punching a coach, and the difference is just three more games. I mean, I know that's not officiating but just how the big 10 governs their entire process just absolutely atrocious my opinion uh i know you never agreed with me but i still think we should make fire kevin warren shirts the big 10 clearly in chaos i do want to talk a little bit more about that and get to the super bowl we only have so much time, though, with our beloved Big Ten Ben. But first, Big Ten Ben does a lot of awesome work over at –

what is this? Not SportsBet. SportsGrid. The Morning After. SportsGrid. I knew I was going to say that. The Morning After and SportsGrid, yeah. Yeah.

Gosh, I'm so sorry. I was like, The Morning After. Okay, Ben does a great job at the Morning After SportsGrid show for three hours covering all the betting needs. Like I said, I do a lot of my bets based off of what Ben says, and I think you should do your bets based off what Ben says as well. And you can do that at betonline.net. Football season might be over this season,

but basketball is in full steam with both pro and college hoops. Plus March Madness is coming right around the corner from all the latest odds, totals, player performance props to where the next fired coach is going to land. Betonline.net is your number one spot for all of your sports betting needs. And it's not just basketball. They got hockey, boxing, UFC odds, right down to the Olympic coverage from last two weeks. It's been phenomenal at BetOnline.net. So head over to their website today or use your mobile device and learn more about the trends in action.

Believe me, I wouldn't tell you about BetOnline.net if I did not trust it myself. That is literally where I go to make all my money when I follow Big Ten Ben each and every day with his Big Ben bet of the week, or you call it lock, lock, lock, or I don't remember what it's called. Buy, buy, buy. Buy, buy, buy. Buy. I'm literally butchering all the things you do. But nevertheless, betonline.net is where the game starts.

Man, really was trying to sell you there, and I was just butchering everything. But let's get into some more talk. I want to quickly get the Superbowl at some point, but first this Iowa basketball team. So last year, I will ran into a very tough Oregon team. I think Oregon was probably underseeded.

I think the PAC 12 did not have a lot of love from the tournament committee. It didn't help that it was a kind of a COVID year, a weird year. They didn't play a lot of, you know, kind of those games that normally would play to show how well they actually good or how good they actually were. Oregon, a very small team can light up the scoreboard in a hurry and their athleticism, their quickness dominated an Iowa team that was struggling with

injuries. That sucked, but it's a great example of why we do the tournament. Anything can happen on any given day. Now this Iowa team, at this point, two wins in a row. They beat Ohio State on the road. They beat Michigan State in a slaughter fest that Tom Izzo said we ran into an ambush. I feel like at this point he was just defeated. They have one of the nation's best players in Keegan Murray.

They have three guys who are 6'8 and can guard one through five and also shoot the three and drive to the basket. They have a lethal three-point shooter in Jordan Bohannon. Is this the kind of team that you don't want to face in the second round of an NCAA tournament? Or am I wrong here? Am I too excited about the last two games for Iowa Hawkeye basketball? Well, no, I think they're trending in a very positive direction when you look at what Iowa is doing right now. And a lot of times in my industry, Andrew,

when you do things through a sports betting lens in sports media, you look at how a team performs against the number because it's an expectation and an indication from very smart models and algorithms that are put out in these power ratings that come up with spreads that we bet on on a nightly basis to say how the game should go or what the most likely outcome of the game is. In Iowa this year, as a favorite, now 13-9 against the number, which is a very strong indication to me about how good a basketball team is. Because if you're a

14-point favorite in a game and you win by two, you got to win and it adds up all the same way in the win-loss column but you were expected to win that game by a substantial margin and does that show that there are some weaknesses in your repertoire and what you bring if you're covering numbers as a favorite you are expected to win the game by a certain amount and you are doing so so those high expectations are met with high results in Iowa this year as a favorite again 13 and 9 ATS who has played very very well at certain points this year to win on the road in Columbus over the weekend was huge for the Hawkeyes and then they could have been in a classic letdown spot with a hungry Michigan State team that had lost for their last five entering even with all the hoopla of

Luka Garza having his jersey retired and hung up in the rafters. And Roy Marble's family there. All of that that could have gone into maybe a letdown spot. Iowa didn't. And in fact, they stormed Michigan winning that game. Or Michigan State winning that game by more than 20 points. So again, an indication that Fran McCaffrey's group is trending in the right direction. We always know what Iowa's recipe for success is.

They are going to be an incredible offense. Ranking fifth right now in the efficiency metrics in the right direction. We always know what Iowa's recipe for success is. They are going to be an incredible offense, ranking fifth right now in the efficiency metrics in Kempom, and the defense is going to struggle. But the highlight for the defense this year is Iowa does not turn the ball over. You are not going to take it from them, and they are not going to make mistakes, and they play at a very fast tempo, which means, like an Oregon team last year, you need to match their pace, because if you can't take it away from them and they are not turning the ball over for you,

playing at a pace they want to play, there's only one recourse for you to have success against them. And that's why I think Iowa can be a dangerous team. And as Luka Garza did last year, but in a different fashion this year for Keegan Murray, if he needs to take over a game, he can certainly do that.

And that one individual player, especially on tournament stages, like we have seen in many, many decades past, you can change the outcome of an NCAA tournament game based on one individual. And Keegan Murray certainly is that guy for the Iowa Hawkeyes. So I think based again on the draw and how the bracket shakes out for Iowa, they could be a very dangerous six seed, seven seed, depending on where things end up. They could get higher than that. They could be a four seed. They could be a five seed. Right now they rank 15th in Ken Palm. It's a predictive metric, not so much based on what the committee might see and how they do their seedings when all is said and done, but that's how high Iowa is regarded by some of the predictive metrics. And I think Iowa has an opportunity through a good home stretch here to end out the regular season in the Big Ten and maybe a couple of wins in the

Big Ten tournament. Iowa could be a four or five seed when all is said and done. Yeah, it'll be really interesting. And you mentioned Keegan Murray. It's hard to talk about Iowa and not talk about Keegan Murray. What he has done the last two weeks, three weeks has been phenomenal. The efficiency numbers are just impressive. I'm going to read this down. 28 points, 24, 23, 37, 30, 24. Those shooting numbers, 7 of 14, 10 of 11, 12 of 17, 8 of 19, 8 of 12, 8 of 10, and three-pointers, 2 of 5, 2 of 5, 1 of 4, 3 of 4, 2 of 3, 2 of 4. That's absurd. So in the last two weeks, he's shooting over 50% from three, over 65% from the field. Just absolutely phenomenal production from Keegan Murray doing it all.

And we're seeing his brother Chris get involved as well. And Chris, you know, maybe not the exact level of Keegan, but Chris is a darn good basketball player himself. And if it wasn't for Keegan, I think Chris would maybe be the number one option on this team. He's the number one option when Keegan's out, which is pretty fun to see, especially considering the fact that these kids,

these young adults, I should say, did not have scholarship offers coming out of high school. And the only offer outside of Iowa was Western Illinois. And now you have two of the nation's top, most efficient players in the entire country. It's truly, truly impressive.

So you mentioned Iowa, very good against the spread. This show is going to be dropping tomorrow. So Friday morning, do you have Iowa covering against Nebraska? There are, well, I don't see the numbers yet, but I'm guessing according to Kemp, I'm roughly in that 13 point range. Would you take the Hawks on the road versus Nebraska? I would probably take the over of that game because everybody goes over against Nebraska. And although Iowa has played two straight unders, which is fascinating for a team that has one of the highest over percentages

in all of college basketball, of course, Iowa can score. So maybe not a 13-point spread on the road, but maybe an Iowa team total, because they will certainly get their points against the Huskers or just the game total overall, because Nebraska can keep up in terms of a scoring perspective for the most part, but they have an abysmal defense that allows tons of points to even the slowest offenses in the big 10.

And Iowa is the second best offense in the big 10 conference. So I would take the over in that game, whether it be the game total overall or just Iowa's team total against the Huskers. I love that. And what I've been doing when Iowa has such a big, like, so the last Nebraska game,

I waited for the first five minutes. Nebraska was playing pretty darn well. I took a bet on Iowa to cover the spread because it got down to like minus six or minus seven. And then Nebraska started just imploding, right? They couldn't keep up with that pace against Iowa. Iowa started forcing a lot of turnovers.

I was defense, as you mentioned, not very good, but they do a great job of forcing turnovers, and they can really take advantage of sloppy teams. They do a fantastic job of the trap. They have quicker guards now. Aaron Uless or Joe Toussaint with Patrick McCaffrey

and using his entire 6'8 frame and lanky arms to jump up and deflect balls. It's been truly fun to watch, especially against teams like Nebraska. I equated Iowa versus Nebraska to me playing NCAA college basketball on a PS two back when I was like 11 and putting it on rookie mode and playing the worst team in the country with like North Carolina. That's basically what it looked like.

Iowa versus Nebraska. We're running out of time here. I have to ask you, how was the Superbowl though? What was, what was the highlight of Superbowl? What was the most unexpected part about the Superbowl? And what was there? What was one thing you'd want the people to know about the Super Bowl, though? What was the highlight of the Super Bowl? What was the most unexpected part about the Super Bowl? And what was one thing you'd want the people to know about the Super Bowl

that you experienced? The highlight for me for the Super Bowl was on the final day that I was out there. I was there for the entire Super Bowl lead-up week. So that Monday through Friday, hosting my show live from Los Angeles. But the best part of that was Friday afternoon and getting to interview Ed Ogeron, the former head coach of LSU football, former interim head coach of USC, all that great stuff that we know Coach O for.

And he was just the absolute embodiment of everything you think of when you think of Coach O. Like the voice, everything, immediately. And it's not an act. It's not a gimmick. That is exactly who he is. We were talking, walking over to the set about how he was enjoying the year off in Florida. He was telling

me he hates it. He doesn't like watching daytime programming. He doesn't golf. None of that was making him happy. And then we had an interview with him, myself, and a couple of my friends and my colleagues that work at SportsGrid as well. And we were just chopping it up, having a great time. And he was really, really loving it. He was obviously there for Jamar Chase and Joe Burrow, who were a part of the Bengals team that obviously made it to the Super Bowl against the Rams. So it was a ton of fun. And Coach O, you could listen to him tell stories just constantly

and with the voice, go Tigers and go Bengals and everything that he was doing. So that was the best part by far. I think the most impressive nature of it overall was just an aha moment that I was there, that I got to host my national television and radio show live from the Super Bowl Media Center. And we were up on the FanDuel Sportsbook set because FanDuel sponsors my show. And it was the impressive first thing that you saw when you walked into the media center. And it felt like a big stage that hopefully we were able to put some good content out from

and take advantage of so that was the best part of it if i want anybody to know anything about ever covering a super bowl if you have ever seen anybody be a part of the nfl they will be at the super bowl it was one of the wildest things to just see all of the people walking around you're like oh my god lincoln riley walked through one day i was like whoa that's lincoln riley on friday morning at 6 a.m pacific time because that's when my show started joe theismann walked in the building we weren't able to get him on the show i was like what are you doing here joe at 6 a.m on a friday like go back to sleep my man so anybody that is has any affiliation with the nfl or really just celebrities in general because that's what the big nature of it's very facey it's very sceny

everybody is there Justin Herbert is one of the biggest men I've ever seen walk past me in my entire life I washed my hands in the bathroom next to Derrick Henry the most impressive individual I've ever stood next to I felt like the smallest smallest man on earth I was like oh my god it was crazy to stand next to him like that so it was a ton of fun just to see everybody to be a part of the scene and then obviously interviewing coach i was pretty great that's amazing um did you ever like feel like wow i'm here like was it like a fangirl moment at any point we're like oh my gosh there's all these amazing people but i have to act professional because that's it's my job to be professional for sure oh pretty much constantly every single day but certainly that first day on

sunday the sunday before the Super Bowl, we got to the media center. We picked up our credentials. We did that whole thing where you sign in. You get everything set for the rest of the week. And we walked in to see where we would be. And we knew that we were going to be on the FanDuel Sportsbook set. But what that meant, we weren't exactly sure.

And we walk in, and it's literally the first thing you see up to your right. It's right at the entrance of Radio Row at the Super Bowl. And we're like, holy crap. Like we're right there. It was Kevin, my good friend, Kevin Walsh and Donnie Rightside. Their show called The Early Line that was on from 4 to 6 a.m. Pacific time out there, 7 to 9 a.m. Eastern every day.

They were on that stage. Then my show for two hours. Then we had an hour break where I had to go finish my show from the sports grid set so that Pat McAfee and his show could go on right after us so it was an impressive stage it was very fun to be a part of and pretty much constantly every day i'm wearing you know a press credential as well walking around and seeing people that not just nfl stars but other media members that i admire greatly and i'm like you know fan boying out out you know seeing them kevin clark the nfl writer for the ringer who is fantastic i'm like oh i know, fanboying out, you know, seeing them. Kevin Clark, the NFL writer for The Ringer, who is fantastic.

I'm like, oh, I saw Lincoln Riley and Kevin Clark within two minutes of each other. I was probably more jazzed up to see Kevin Clark than I was Lincoln Riley. It was crazy. But you have to be like, oh, wait, I'm wearing the same, you know, press badge that you are. So you got to keep it cool. And, of course, seeing all the wonderful folks from the Locked On podcast network, like Ross Jackson was out there. Pete Bukowski, the host of Locked On Today and Locked On Packers. A lot of those people that I had worked with for a long time

as the host of Locked On Big Ten and finally got a chance to meet in person. And then, of course, whenever she comes on, the Hawkeye Angel, as she has been coined by Frank Garza, Lucy Rodin was the biggest celebrity sighting of my time there for sure. Initially, when you're talking about on friday you interviewed someone i was like are you really gonna suck up to hawkeye nation and say lucy rod not that lucy is not a phenomenal guest by any means but compared to eddo i'm sorry lucy i feel like eddo might win that you're always bagging on lucy man what did lucy ever done to

you i am never bagging on luc, but I guess I am right now. Well, at least she doesn't hear this before I talk to her, so she'll still come on the show first. And then this will drop, and then she's going to hate me, and it'll be great. Last question for you. This has nothing to do with anything we talked about, so I'm wearing this hat.

It's called Craft Coast in Oceanside, California. Have you been to Oceanside? I have not. I have heard good things about Oceanside,ifornia have you been to oceanside i have not i do i i've heard good things about oceanside though have you actually heard good things about oceanside yeah yeah isn't it kind of san diego area am i wrong in saying that yeah well i guess i to me it's like a completely separate universe from san diego but i guess it's like only 45 minutes north yeah okay okay cool yeah you have to go this place has the most phenomenal tacos I have ever had.

It was, I dream about how good those tacos were. Like it was just, it was so truly phenomenal. Like I got the hat for the tacos, not because I liked the beer, but the beer was also phenomenal too. But the tacos, man, just get the train, take it from LA. Go to Oceanside. Walk three blocks to Craft Coast Tacos. Grab yourself some tacos. You're going to thank me for it. And they are amazing. That's all I'm saying.

That wasn't even a question, really. No, that was just a final point to recommend your favorite taco place. Cool, man. I'm glad I could join the podcast for that. That was the whole point. I had to bring you on and recommend tacos. That will do it for our show today, though. I appreciate you all tuning in to today's episode of the Locked On Hawkeyes podcast

and always making it your first listen. Now make your second listen to the Locked On NFL Draft podcast. Ryan Tracy and former NFL cornerback Eric Crocker bring the NFL Draft to life every day with insight and analysis on college football prospects and NFL front offices. It's free and available wherever you get your podcasts at. Ben, I appreciate you coming in. Apologies it took a very long time, part of your day.

This is just free. You're just doing this for fun, and I appreciate that. Hawkeye Nation, tune in on Monday. We'll be back covering all the things that happened this upcoming weekend. And I have a very special guest. It is not Lucy coming on Monday. It'll be a very – I'm not going to break the news yet, but a very, very special guest to me coming on Monday and Lucy will be coming on at

some point next week, more than likely Hawkeye nation. Thank you. Have a fantastic weekend. And as always, let's go Hawks.