Locked On Hawkeyes - Daily Podcast On Iowa Hawkeyes Football & Basketball - CRISIS?: Iowa's Storied In-State Rivalry HANGS by a Thread | Will Big Ten-SEC Alliance CRUSH Tradition?

Episode Date: May 29, 2025

Could the Iowa Hawkeyes face off against SEC powerhouses soon? The potential SEC-Big Ten scheduling alliance might reshape college football, impacting the Iowa Hawkeyes' traditional matchups, including their annual clash with Iowa State. This episode explores the implications of such an alliance, with Trent Condon analyzing possible SEC opponents like Missouri and Arkansas. He also highlights the recruitment of wide receiver Taran Smith and his potential impact on Iowa's offense under new coordinator Tim Lester. Additionally, the episode covers Iowa basketball's strategic scheduling and the introduction of Stacy May Johnson as the new Iowa softball coach, aiming to revive the program's NCAA tournament hopes.Don't miss this insightful discussion on the future of Iowa sports and the exciting changes on the horizon.Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!Monarch MoneyTake control of your finances with Monarch Money. Use code LOCKEDONCOLLEGE at monarchmoney.com for 50% off your first year.FanDuelRight now, new customers can get TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS in BONUS BETS when your first FIVE DOLLAR BET WINS! Download the app or head to FANDUEL.COM to get started. Bet with FanDuel—Official Partner of the NBA.FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN)Follow Trent Condon on X: https://twitter.com/trentcondonLISTEN TO THE PODCAST: APPLE: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/locked-on-hawkeyes-daily-podcast-on-iowa-hawkeyes-football/id1441592240SPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/show/0GTyz5ygevcGXdTF6QSoEoYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/LockedOnHawkeyes

One of college football's biggest rivalries could disappear. The Cy-Hawk game between Iowa and Iowa State caught in the crossfire of a potential SEC Big Ten Alliant. You are Locked On Hawkeyes, your daily podcast on the Iowa Hawkeyes. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network. Your team every day. Hey, welcome in. I'm Trent Condon and this is the Locked On Hawkeyes podcast. I've been covering the Hawkeyes for over 20 years on the radio here in the state of Iowa including currently you can hear me on the

Iowa sports radio network each weekday from noon to two and talk in the world of sports including a lot of Hawkeye talk. We have stations in Iowa City, Cedar Rapids, the Quad City, Sioux City along with our flagship station 106.3 KXNO in Des Moines. Today's episode of Lockdown Hawkeyes is brought to you by FanDuel. Right now, new customers can get $200 in bonus bets when your first $5 bet wins. New softball coach for the Iowa softball program

after a very successful year in 2025 with a whole lot of tumult. We'll talk about the new hire on that front, what it means for the future of that new wrestling commitment for the class of 2025. He's going to be getting on campus here pretty quick. We'll talk about that and some football talk, including a name we need to remember at wide receiver. But we begin today's conversation with a look at the Cyhawk football game and the potential alliance in scheduling that is forming between the Big Ten and the SEC. If you've been missing the news this week in the college football front, the SEC has been the headliner as they continue to work to flex their muscle about what they wanna see. The new 16 team playoff look like starting next season

in 2026, one final year this year, 2025 of the 12 team playoff before. Things will change for next season. Now it's not official, it's going to 16, but almost everybody out there believes that that is going to be the expansion that we're going to see. And in order for that to happen, it doesn't have to be where you have to have a 75% vote.

It comes down to the Big Ten and the SEC. They now hold the power over all of college football, and because of that, the SEC is at the front of things. As we talked with Scott Dockerman earlier in the week, and if you missed that, you can go back. Doc had some good things to say about kind of the differences between what we see with Greg Sankey and what we see with Tony Petiti on the Big Ten side. The two commissioners in each of the respective leagues and just how differently they operate. Greg Sankey likes to be in front of the camera. He likes to jostle a little bit. He likes to talk. And that's not the case with Petiti because the Big Ten, they had their same meetings that the SEC is going through right now, but not a whole lot of news came out of it because that's not the way that the Big Ten operates. The SEC does.

And Greg Sankey with his comments are letting it be known that he wants changes and people that are questioning his work to make this sport better, he is not taking that one lying down. Back to how this though works for Iowa. And we look at the Iowa football program in the way that this is. So there's been thrown out, Les Miles the, not Les Miles, oh boy, Brian Kelly, the LSU coach. He threw out that the scheduling allowance has been

talked about a ton. I mean this is not a new conversation that has been out there for a while. There's been reporting that has been done about this, about a very real potential that the SEC and the Big Ten are gonna get together and play yearly games against each other. I wanna talk to you a little bit about games that would be incredible, I think, for Iowa, and games that make a whole lot of sense.

And we'll get to that in a moment. But it comes full circle if that is the reality. The SEC also in combination to make that happen, willing to move to a nine game schedule, a nine game conference schedule that everybody else has been playing, the Big Ten, the former Pac-12. These conferences have been doing it.

Big 12, Big 10, and the Pac-12. Now the ACC and the SEC, they've been on the other side of it. And I want us all to be running the same race. Look, as we look at these bids and how many automatic bids are gonna be handed out, is it just gonna be conference champions and 11 at large bids? However that is, let's just make sure

we're all running the same race. And it's something that I've argued with and about with the SEC for a long time, is that eight game slate and the four non-conference games the way they schedule is different. If it plays out this way, the likelihood is your nine conference games, your for a Big Ten team, an SEC game, and then two basically would be considered by games. Look, it's not to say that Iowa would have to kick Iowa State off the schedule or it wouldn't be a part of the

schedule going forward. They could. But again, you're also putting yourself behind the eight ball. If everybody else in college football at the highest structure, if the teams that comprise the Big 10 and the SEC are only playing 10 games against power conference teams, and you're playing 11, we're already starting at a disadvantage if you're Iowa. And that's why there's a very real possibility that the Iowa Iowa State game could go away. Here's another component. This thing is only scheduled through 2027.

That long term agreement, we've had a bunch of them throughout the years that seemingly comes in year in and year out just isn't there. And because of that, I think it leads to the speculation of what this is going to, I think it leads to the speculation of what this is going to look like. It leads to the speculation about how this is going to be going forward for Iowa and how it's going to be just in general for teams making their schedules and what it looks like. We saw Nebraska recently cancel their series against Tennessee, college football playoff being a part of the conversation. We can laugh and we did laugh about Nebraska talking about that. At least at that moment, of course, that's

what their goals are and their goals become a little bit easier when you place Tennessee with the tomato can. Iowa could be heading to the same direction. I don't believe it's going to get to that point because it's not just about Iowa Iowa State in this conversation. Yes, Iowa is the only Big 10 team that has a yearly opponent from the Big 12, but you also look at the SEC and the ACC and the number of rivalries that would be impacted by something like this. Not only does Iowa-Iowa State go away, which matters to us here, nationally, not quite the same level, but you no longer see us here nationally, not quite the same level, but you no longer see Florida, Florida state. I mean, come on. That game goes away. If the scheduling Alliance becomes a reality and

teams are only willing to play 10 games against the power structure, Louisville, Kentucky by Clemson, South Carolina, no more. This goes a lot deeper than Iowa, Iowa state. That's why I don't believe it's going to happen however I do believe that it very well could lead to at least some interruptions in the series that Iowa and Iowa State are not playing at a yearly basis that they're not playing every single season and there's no flexibility to do anything fun anything different play Notre Dame in a neutral site play an SEC school,

that that is completely off the board. I don't think that is fun. We get the Pac-12 schools now, the four newbies that are in there. That leads to interesting travel, new opponents, and we certainly get a lot more of that in the 18 team Big 10. Let's talk about some of those teams that would be fun to face off with, including a road trip that makes a whole lot of sense and one that should have been on the schedule before. We'll talk about who Iowa should play if the Schedule Alliance comes to fruition with the SEC. Who are the teams that would be the most fun for Hawkeye fans and the most fun places to travel? We'll talk about that. We'll also talk more football.

A wide receiver name that we haven't talked about a ton, and maybe we should be. More football talk coming up for you. This is the Locked On Hawkeyes podcast. Well, the NBA playoffs are in full swing and every night delivering highlight worthy performances, major momentum shifts, and can't miss moments.

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wins that is incredible. You can do a lot of things gearing up for football season with an extra $200 of bonus bets in your account. Are you new to FanDuel? Well it's the perfect time to sign up. Head over to FanDuel.com and place your first $5 bet. If it wins you'll get $200 in bonus bets. Make every moment more with FanDuel, official sports betting partner of the NBA. Trey Konna back with you once again on the Lockdown Hawkeyes podcast. Thanks for being with us and making Lockdown Hawkeyes your first listen every day. If you're over on

YouTube, hit that subscribe button. Just takes a moment if you're listening us on the audio side. Five star reviews, all of them help us get in front of more Hawkeye fans. Thanks to every dayers with us each and every day and a big shout out to all of you. That's what we do every single day during the week talking Hawkeyes with you. Your team every day on the Lockdown Network. Alright, let's get back into it and some scheduling talk before we talk about a guy that we need to remember, I think, at the wide receiver position. Let's start though, if this alliance comes to fruition. If, even if it is a couple year break, whatever it is. Now, another thing we don't know. First of all, this hasn't happened. This isn't official. But there's also contracts

that are out there with a lot of the teams and what kind of flexibility is going to be. And as we go back to the alliance that was forming and what looked to be a scheduling alliance back with the Pac-12 and the Big Ten a couple years back was how this is going to fit with everybody else's schedule, everybody else that has contracts in the game. Let's just play it like this though. Iowa is going to be involved with a game that makes sense for them. Look, we can shoot for the stars, right?

We can talk about how incredible it'd be for Iowa to take on Georgia, for Iowa to face off against Alabama. But let's live in reality. When the TV executives come together to make these schedules, and that's what it's going to be. It's going to be about television and creating the biggest ones, the biggest names, the biggest games throughout the course of the year. And when they're doing that, at the top of their list is not Alabama, Iowa.

Sorry, it's not. Georgia Hawkeyes. Yeah, it'd be great for us as fans. So let's come back to reality, get out of La La Land, and look at where Iowa is as a program, a successful program. And I start first with the one that is the easiest out of the SEC,

and that would be a matchup against Missouri. Now, of course, Iowa had a series scheduled against Missouri in the early aughts. Missouri backed out of that because of weakness, because they wanted to pad their schedule for more wins. I think that was a Gary Pinkle era if memory serves. We've seen a couple of credible games when these two teams have faced off in bowl games the last couple of times. Inside bowl game, what, 15 years ago, then just this past season, the great game that was played between these two teams. So we've seen it be very good. And then you couple it with the

trip. I mean, going to Columbia, it's a hop, skip and a jump. Iowa City to Columbia, incredibly easy fan bases, though the SEC Big 10 divide is definitely there. And you can feel that divide at the border, maybe a couple of counties either way on that feel that divide at the border. Maybe a couple of counties either way on that border. That's the sound. And you'd have a little bit of a culture clash, I think, down there. Talk to people. A lot of people that have been to Columbia say, great environment, great college town. Be a fun one if we could come up with Iowa, Missouri. But it's not the most exciting, right? It's not one that really gets you revved up.

Let's go to another level. Another one that is incredibly drivable, more drivable than you'd think, and it's one that I personally would love to see, and that would be a matchup against Arkansas. What do you think in Arkansas? Well, you look historically between the two programs, a lot of similarities between the two programs.

Arkansas has fallen on hard times we'll see Sam Pittman if he's going to survive this year easy guy to root for big old offensive line coach turning into the head coach down there in Fayetteville they got money they have facilities and if you've never been to northwest Arkansas it is an incredibly incredibly beautiful place my dad lived down on the Arkansas, Alabama, Arkansas, Oklahoma border, excuse me, for a number of years in retirement and driving through there just a number of times. You're always, at least for me, just awestruck at the beauty down there. Plus, I've got friends down in Fayetteville, so, well, Bentonville to be exact. So, would love to see that one come to fruition. Plus,

from the point, it's like six hours. So, it's drivable. It's not something you have to worry about a flight. If you want to hop in on a Friday, take Friday off and make your way down there. That I think would be a really fun one in a good matchup against an Arkansas team. That's very similar program that Iowa is throughout the years when he kind of look at things, big picture on that. Another one that has at least a connection that would make a whole lot of sense is obviously Kentucky with Mark Stoops there. Um, we've seen that game a couple of times in bowl on that. Another one that has at least a connection that would make a whole lot of sense is obviously Kentucky with Mark Stoops there. We've seen that game a couple of times, some bowl games here recently. That would be one though that obviously would make a whole lot of sense and

one that you'd probably put towards the top of the board. So you get after that tier and now let's get into some more of the fun trips. Well somebody's got to play Vanderbilt. Yeah of course course, Northwestern, maybe they'd be the one. Two upper tier academic institutions, you could go that direction. But come on, it's a trip to Nashville. A stadium stinks, they're putting in renovations, who cares? A trip to Nashville, have a great time. Look, I don't like country music. I am not a country music fan. One iota, but I will tell you what, I enjoy Nashville to the nth degree. That is a fun place to go and that would be a fun road trip for a regular season game, not a bowl game. Bowl games can be tough, right? You got family obligations, it's around the holidays, a lot of times just a couple of days after Christmas. You know, there's so much going on, but if you can schedule this thing in advance, you know that I was going to Nashville in September, something like that. Ooh boy, that trip. Yeah, that would be definitely one on the bucket list. And a couple

more names for you again, and they're realistic situations. Yes, how awesome would it be? I will have a home in home with Florida. You get to go to the swamp. Oh, okay. Back to reality. Two more. Now, Ole Miss has elevated themselves. But the Grove, oh boy. You're looking for a tailgate environment. That one is a good one. LSU at night, of course, again, back to reality. Ole Miss though, potentially could be one that would make a whole lot of sense for them. South Carolina is another place. I heard some good things. So what do you want to see? Let us know in the comments section what non-conference SEC opponent you would like to see if this actually comes to fruition if the Big Ten and the SEC

actually come together. Yes, we're going to schedule these games. Yes, they're actually going to be played not like we've seen in the past when the alliances did not exactly work very well. Who do you want to see? Let us know in the comments section or hit us up on Twitter at track Condon or at locked on Iowa back to the football field. And Tyler Taschman over at the Des Moines Register. Tyler's doing really nice work. New on the beat, going into another year and

really enjoy his writing style and what he talks about with the squad and some insight into a guy that frankly I haven't talked a ton about. It's Terrence Smith, the wide receiver coming in from West Aurora. And I don't think that it's hugely the thought that I have is I think we're going to see Terrence Smith on the field this year. First you start, he's a big bodied receiver. Six three, six four. Rivals had him listed at six, four. Six, three is what he is listed at over at 24, seven. So we're talking about a good size kid coming in and Iowa needs a little bit of that. You know, yes, Reese Vanderzee, he is that big body wide receiver that you're looking for on the outside. But after that, there just aren't a whole lot of them on the

roster. So that's kind of where I start. And I think the conversation starts when you're talking about Karen Smith. He's got size coming in right away. This is a deep wide receiver room. This is a wide receiver room that is as deep as has been in a really long time. Now does that mean a whole lot? Not necessarily, right? I mean, still with even that being said, you can't get overly

dramatic about the way this team looks, the way that they are built, what they're going to be going forward. There is still a ton there with this squad that you look at and say, they're going to have some issues. There's nobody that you look at as a game breaker, a guy that's going to go out there and catch 70 balls. Jacob Gill was a revelation last year, but there's a long step to go between that and what you hope to see. Reese Vandersee, we saw him explode last year, early in the year, but then injuries hit and just never was able to get back out there, certainly at the same level. So there is opportunity on top of it, but I think my biggest takeaway from all of this, from the article and talking

about Smith, is his recruitment and the ability for offensive coordinator Tim Lester to sell a wide receiver, to sell him on Iowa, to sell him on the things were going to be different. And I know there's a lot of skeptics out there. And I see your comments on social media. I see your comments on our YouTube page. I see them and I know, and I completely understand the skepticism because it's warranted.

There is a huge, huge background that you have about this to say it's not gonna be different. It's not going to be a change. It's going to be the same old thing. I get it. I completely understand where you're coming from. But seeing put into words and verbalized by Terrence Smith, Smith said this, quote, he kind of changed my whole mindset about that. I saw the vision that he wants to lead in a way, the new offense, change the playbook up and stuff. I really the vision that he wants to lead in a way, the new offense, change the playbook up and stuff. I really trusted his word and took his word on that. That's what we're hearing. The ability of Tim Lester to not only sell it, but he's

got to show us that all this rhetoric is real change. That what we have is going to be real. And it's not just lip service. And it's not just saying the things that are going to get the headlines, but actually proving it on the field. I think it's there. And we'll see if Terrence Smith can get in there. Maybe it's just for four games this year. Look, honestly, I hope that Terrence Smith doesn't have to play much this season.

I hope that we do see a breakout year, that Sam Phillips comes in from Chattanooga, and he's got that speed component that we haven't seen, a breakaway. Seth Anderson finally has a healthy season. Jacob Gill is doing his thing, game in and game out. Some of the other young guys stepped forward, and we never have to worry about Terrence Smith this year because all those guys took steps this season. That's my hope but he's a guy that has talent. He's a guy that has size and he's a guy that very

well could help this Iowa football team right away this year. We continue Locked On Hawkeyes and some news and notes. Iowa Softball with a new coach and Ben McCollum coming back to Des Moines. We'll talk about that when we come back on the Locked On Hawkeyes Podcast. Back one final time, Locked On Hawkeyes. Thanks for being with us. I'm Trent Condon. Hit that subscribe button if you're

watching this on YouTube. Just takes a moment. Really do appreciate each and every one of you and of course our everydayers as we come to you each and every day talking Iowa sports. Ben McCullums bringing the Hawkeyes back to the capital city. Former Drake coach for a season. Coming back to Des Moines as Iowa will take on Bucknell. So Iowa is finishing up their non-conference scheduling at this point. And this matchup against Bucknell. Now Bucknell 20 years ago pulled off a big upset in the NCAA tournament beating Kansas. That gives them a leg up in my mind. On top of it, they also got a kid that I called a bunch of his games in a Ru Bischek who was at Valley for a number of years and he plays for Bucknell. So a couple of connections. Here's the other thing I find, at least intriguing.

So when you look at the way to build a schedule, and in today's environment of the net ranking, it's much different than the RPI. And credit to Framicaffery, what he figured out, or maybe he just fell into, but regardless, is back in the old days of the RPI system, when you played the dregs of college basketball, those teams ranked in the 300s and absolutely murdered your RPI. When it moved to the net system, though, you played those exact same teams, but you beat them like you normally do. Not

just beat a low major team and beat them by 15, but taking on these awful teams and beating them by 30, 35, 40 points. It helps you immensely in the net ranking. Because though margin of victory is capped at 10 points, What is not capped is the efficiency rankings. And teams, including Iowa, early on found out, if you drop these awful teams, it's going to help you. That is not the case in the old RPI system, it was just based on your schedule. Iowa State's done that now recently.

We've seen another number of teams that have done just this, scheduled in a different way. But now last year was ranked about 220th in the country. So this is not one of the drags. It's still a low major team. It's not a great team by any means. That's not what I'm trying to sell you in any form or fashion, but it's a team that is better than most of the bygames that I was played in the past. We'll see if there's anything that comes out of that. What other thing? Tom Kaker from Hawkeye report, he had some reporting that I was still looking at

potentially three more by games in their non-conference. So they'll go out to Palm desert back in coming up in November. They'll play two games out there. Of course have the Iowa state game, but they're still looking to fill out their schedule and still have quite a bit more work to do. Those by games normally are against bad teams, but if we see that those by games turn into teams more ranked in that 200 range as opposed to the 300 range of the previous regime, if that's going to be different than what we've seen in the past and the way that that's going to go. Look, you got to support this team, this program. You wanted a change, you got to change. You got the new guy there. Ben McCollum has done everything right. He's brought in an absolute stud in Bennett Sturtz and

he set this out on the travel circuit this spring. Brent McCollum said, let's do it now. Not wait and see if we're going to win, but support the team and the program right away. Show up right away. Tickets go on sale next Friday. First Friday in June. That's when you'll get an opportunity to buy tickets in Des Moines. For all the people here in Central Iowa that obviously know incredibly well from the radio side of things, Hawkeye fans that, you know, that two hour drive and then get back. No excuses. Show up. Support the program. Time's here. Let's make it happen on

that front. And one final thing. As the time is now for Iowa softball, their new coach, Stacey Mae Johnson. Stacey Mae Johnson, former Hawkeye player and not just a player, a tremendous softball player in the mid-aughts. She was great for the Iowa program. And you look at her background, you look at the degrees that she's earned, you look at what she's done as a softball coach. Most recently at Fresno State, you see a coach that has gone through it. Is this open up through pipelines to recruiting in California? That would be

a good thing. As you go back to Gail Blevins and some of her more successful teams, she recruited out West and did it at a pretty high level and tried to do that and recreate some of that magic. Iowa hasn't made an NCAA tournament in softball since 2009. So we're going on 16 years. Been close? This year was close. They beat Penn State in the opening round of the Big Ten tournament. They very well could have qualified this year with all the tumult that they went through. Starting the year as Coach Gillespie stepped aside because of medical reasons. And then what they had with the tumult in the middle of the season, Brian Levin leaving the team and then Carl Golan coming in and finishing out the season.

They beat UCLA, they got a win against Nebraska, two teams that were ranked. UCLA still alive. There's some good things here. And a couple of good young players on top of it with local ties. Jalen Adams, Jenna Young, a couple of ones you have to talk about.

They got all Big Ten honors this past season. So there's a lot to be hopeful for. It's also a new environment. Things can change quickly. Transfer Portal changes things very quickly. Iowa though looks like they got a good one on the surface and good to see a softball program that needs to get back because there is a ton of talent in the state of Iowa. You know you look at the number of D1 players that come out of the state of Iowa in the state of Iowa. You look at the number of D1 players that come out of the state of Iowa

in proportion to the population, it's a high level. High level softball is played here in the state of Iowa. Now it's time for the Hawkeyes to capitalize on that. That is it for us today. Thanks for being with us and making Lockdown Hawkeyes your first listen every day. A free second listen, make sure you're checking out the portal.

Brian Smith doing a great job talking recruiting and the transfer portal each and every day here on the Lockdown Network. We got you covered on the Hawkeye side of things. We're going to be joined by Elliot Clough. Tomorrow's program, a lot of Hawkeye talk with him, including Tim DeWyte making a return to Iowa City. We'll talk about that with Elliot then on Friday.

We'll be joined by Tom Kaikert as we continue to make our way through getting ready for the offseason. Lots of topics around the corner. We got you covered each and every day. Thanks for being with us on the Locked On Hawkeyes Podcast.