Locked On Hawkeyes - Daily Podcast On Iowa Hawkeyes Football & Basketball - DEFENSIVE LIFELINE: How Iowa Hawkeyes Might WELCOME Back Aaron Graves After COURT Decision

Starting point is 00:00:00 Louisiana judge has opened the door for players in NFL training camps to return to college this season. With Iowa facing major questions at defensive tackles, the Hawkeyes could be looking at a former player to fill the void. 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 Lockdown Hawkeyes podcast. Thanks for making Lockdown Hawkeyes, your first listen every day. Today's episode is brought to you by Kalshi for a limited time. Download the Kalshi app and use Code Lockdown to get $10 when you trade $10.

Starting point is 00:00:47 Coming up today, we're going to take a look at some bracketology for college basketball and update from On 3 along a look at Joe Lenardi over at ESPN, where they project the Iowa Hawkeyes to be coming up this basketball season. We'll also be joined by David Eicholt from Hawkeye Insider.com. The latest of what he saw over in Iowa City over the weekend. We'll get thoughts on the quarterback race. How good this wide receiver group can be and who's going to be the center for the Hawkeyes coming up this season. But we begin today with the story that comes all the way down in Louisiana,

Starting point is 00:01:19 where a judge has granted a restraining order that has given a number of players an opportunity, including players that are currently in NFL training camps, a chance to come back and complete their eligibility with the five-for-five rule. Now, as we know, the class of 2022, there's been a few of these cases out there, the guys that have just finished up there four years at the collegiate level, which normally means they're going to move on, and that is that. Well, not the case going forward. And for those players that were, in a way, stuck in the middle,

Starting point is 00:01:50 the players that just completed their eligibility, they're looking for avenues to potentially come back. We talked about this a little bit when 5 for 5 first happened. And when that story came out, potential with the women's basketball team, a couple of seniors that departed with Hannah Stalkie, who's across the pond getting ready to play basketball over there. Taylor McCabe, who of course lost her senior year to that ACL injury and still rehabbing, though she's going to be going through schooling at Notre Dame

Starting point is 00:02:16 with them grad school that she's going to be going through. And the likelihood that neither of those players are going to be back in an Iowa Hawkeye uniform. Of course, Tavion Banks has been the one that we've talked about a ton on the basketball side of things. And it looks like it's not going to be Iowa City for him. He's got some finalists out there, LSU, Gonzaga, a couple of the schools that were mentioned for his services. And then we talked a little bit about the football side of things. And this is where it becomes interesting,

Starting point is 00:02:43 because there are a couple of guys that played four years that graduated in the class of 2022 that would make a ton of sense. Now, one of them is one that we know the likelihood of him coming back now seems incredibly small. And that is Iowa kicker Drew Stevens. We saw Drew Stevens put together a great career. There was the one downturn a couple of years ago where struggled at the end of the season, didn't get the chance of the game winner against Nebraska, and then did get opportunities

Starting point is 00:03:10 to kick in both the Big Ten championship game and the bowl game that season, outside of a kickoff to begin a half. That's all we got to see out of him. He bounced back and had a really nice career. And of course, Iowa year after year, what they do in the kicking position has been nothing short of excellent. So you have that component to it. Well, if you miss the news, Drew Stevens is going to be the starting kicker for the Washington.

Starting point is 00:03:32 to commanders. His career already off to a great start, beat out a veteran for that job. So you cross that one off. All right, that's not going to happen. Another name that we mentioned was Xavier Wampa. Xavier Wampa, of course, the five-star prospect coming in from Southeast Polk. I've told this story of watching this kid at the high school level, just how impactful he was, what a fun player he was. And though it never completely translated, I think, to what a lot of people wanted or expected out of Xavier Wampa this season. He's been turning heads in Kansas. Kansas City Chiefs camp. And I talked to Mitch Holtes, the voice of the Kansas City Chiefs, every day during training

Starting point is 00:04:07 camp. He comes on my radio show. Every day, if you're a Chiefs fan, check that out at 1240 on ESB and Des Moines in the Rush Radio Network where he can catch my show each weekday from 11 to 1. But Mitch, when he comes in, he's been talking about Wampa a ton. And not just because of the local connection, because he has been a headliner. He's been a guy that a lot of people now believe after coming in as a camp body that he's got a real chance of making the chiefs this year, helping out on special teams, and then be a

Starting point is 00:04:34 dept piece at defensive back. So you cross Xavier Wampa off the list. And next up on the list that we had was Aaron Graves. Now, this is the one that makes the most sense and talk about a need position. We'll see at the kicker position what Eli Ozek or Caden Burr, what that eventually is. I think a minimum, they'll be okay. Certainly not going to have the leg strength of a Drew Stevens, but still, they'll be fine there. We talk about the defensive backfield. Yeah, it'd be great to have a veteran with Xavier Wampa, but let's be honest. I think there are plenty of times. Also Wampa frustrated us and we're excited to see the new transfers coming in from a Tyler Brown and Anthony Hawkins, both of those guys and what this defensive backfield led by Zach

Starting point is 00:05:14 Lutmer has a chance to be coming up this season. But the biggest question mark for Iowa football this year, and I don't think it's close, is defensive tackle. I like Bryce Hawthorne. I think that Will Hubert is going to do a decent job in there going through his final season. But with the potential a guy like Aaron Graves to come back. And that's what we're talking about here. Aaron Graves coming back. Now, right now he's in Baltimore Ravens Camp. And of course, if he makes the team, this is a conversation that is completely moot. He is not going to turn down a chance to be on an NFL roster to be part of the 53 man roster to come back to Iowa City. The guy has gone through a lot, a guy that graduated already at the high school

Starting point is 00:05:55 level with his AA, a very veteran guy speaking of good leaders that Kirk loves to talk about. definitely leadership qualities are there. You get all that from Aaron Graves, but you're talking about bringing back a big time player. Graves showed up on campus right away, started to play as a true freshman back in the 2022 season. In that year, he had 10 sacks, six tackles for a loss as a freshman out there, had three sacks on the year.

Starting point is 00:06:20 He was good, and he's continued throughout the course of his career. 16 and a half career sacks, 25 tackles for loss, finished up his career with 122 total. tackles and we know in the Iowa scheme where the defensive tackle is not asked to rush put up a big numbers that's not what you're asked to do there it's occupying space it's doing the right things that's what you're looking for in a defensive tackle and you know Aaron Graves obviously knows the system this is one of the smartest guys that you're going to find it would translate incredibly well if it happens if we find out here in the next couple of weeks that Aaron Graves

Starting point is 00:06:56 he has been cut you do wonder are the wheels in motion And here's the other component with the dismissal of Smith, the wide receiver back in the early in the summer, who's going over to Iowa Western. And Kirk talked a little bit about that at Iowa Football Media Day, that he's over at Iowa Western and trying to get healthy over there and potentially maybe a return to Iowa City. But what we do know, that also means Iowa's got an open spot. Iowa has an opening on the roster in the 105-man roster. Currently, they did not bring anybody else in paving the way for potentially Aaron Graves to return. I'm not saying it's happening. I'm not reporting anything. We're speculating. We're talking. That's all this is, but at minimum. If something like this happens, definitely changes the equation for the defensive tackle spot for Iowa coming up this season. Let's go over to Iowa City. Once again, David Eicholtz is going to join us from hawkeye insider.com. What he saw at Kids Day in the open practice on Saturday. Talk a lot about the offense, the quarterback spot, the battle between Hank Brown and Jeremy Hecklinski. And he gives us some good insight as well. Well, also, we saw one practice.

Starting point is 00:08:03 One practice. He's got to report a little bit more about what he has heard about what's happening outside of the one practice that we got to see at the quarterback spot with Hecklinski and Brown. We'll talk about that and more coming up next. On the other side is David Eichold from hawkeye insider.com. Stay right there. This is Locked on Hawkeyes. There are more live events than ever we're seeing right now. Games, concerts, comedy shows, festivals.

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Starting point is 00:09:42 your first purchase. Terms apply. Again, create an account and redeem code locked on. L-O-C-E-D-O-N for $20 off. Download the Game Time app today. Trenkine back with you once again here on the Lockdown Hawkeyes podcast, your daily Iowa Hawkeye podcast. Thanks for being with us. as always, and making lockdown Hawkeyes your first listen every day. David Eichold from hawkeye insider.com. Part of 24-7 sports, our weekly conversation with David here as we get ready for football season. David, good to see over in Iowa City on Friday, over at Media Day, and then I saw you walk around on Saturday, though. I know you're working hard.

Starting point is 00:10:25 I had my little guy with me, so that changed the equation a little bit for me. Great to see you once again. And boy, we got a lot of information packed into those 24 hours. Yeah, we were pretty well dive into everything, man. So, you know, it was great seeing you. I wish we got catch up more. We'll make time eventually down the road. But, you know, I think we learned a lot.

Starting point is 00:10:44 Surprisingly, Trent, I think we learned more on Saturday than we did on Friday. And usually it kind of feels like the polar opposite when we get ready for a season. Really does, obviously, the starting conversation is at the quarterback spot. And after what we saw on Saturday, feels like it's a runaway. It should be Jeremy Hecklinsky. This should be easy. but we also put in the caveat that was one of nine practices to that point. There'll be a lot more practices before we get there.

Starting point is 00:11:10 And I thought you had an interesting nugget over at hawkeye insider.com where things at the beginning of camp when things started, not exactly a rosy picture for Jeremy Hecklindsay. He's starting to settle in a little bit. What's the latest that you've heard outside of what we saw on Saturday? Yeah. So let's go through the timeline kind of after I've been talking to some people. So Hank Brown clearly outplayed Hecklinsky through the first four practices. And then practice number five is when Hicklinsky really started to ramp it up.

Starting point is 00:11:37 And obviously, I think they've kind of kept even keel. And then Saturday, it was no question. I mean, Trent, if we're being real and talking solely based on the eye test, Hank Brown is the worst quarterback on the roster on Saturday. I thought we saw some really good stuff from Trained Bessinger, the true freshman. Jimmy Sullivan seems to be farther along than I thought, especially with some of this vertical routes. And then everybody, when they came back on Monday, it was kind of a rough day for all of the quarterbacks. But I'm with you.

Starting point is 00:12:03 I know you and I probably share the same opinion. It has to be Jeremy Heklinsky taking the first snaps against northern Illinois. If they're so set on giving Brown another shot, I do think you can get away with playing two quarterbacks because Iowa is going to be a 30-point favorite. But what I've kind of said is let's look at the last few times Hank Brown has been seen by the public. And this is not the pile on him. We're just talking about the facts, right? You think about his first half interceptions against Arkansas when he was at Auburn, through three of them got bench. came to Iowa.

Starting point is 00:12:33 I kind of throw that first spring game away because he really can't take too much away from it. He was thrust into a difficult situation, getting all the reps despite just getting to campus. Okay, fair play. The fall of practice, that scrimmage, again, I'm not taking too much into account. We know what happened against Indiana, right? You know, the missed screen, which I feel like every FCF, NAAD2, Juko, quarterback has to hit 99 times out of 100. That's the way it goes. And then obviously what I think we saw in spring,

Starting point is 00:13:02 fall. The public, it doesn't really matter what happens behind closed doors to the public. They've seen enough of Hank Brown at this point, and they saw Jeremy Hecklinsky ball out where if you're the Iowa coaching staff, you have to put in some value that when the lights are bright and butts are in seats, Jeremy Hecklinsky stepped up to the plate and Hank Brown for some reason has just kind of fallen short of that standard, which Iowa quarterback needs to have if they're going to have a successful season. Yeah, there's the concerns that I see some pocket presence kind of happy feet getting out of their bailing a little too quickly. Some of the things we've seen some of the frustrating quarterbacks recently for Iowa football.

Starting point is 00:13:37 I'm with you. It needs to be Hecklinsky. It needs to be hecklinski because of what we've seen and the history now that Iowa fans have. Regardless to who it is, though, at the quarterback spot, you and I, our buddy Chad Lysdickal with the register. He was like, I'm not going to buy in to the Tony Diaz hype. You and I, we went head first into the pool here. We'll see if it was the shallow end of the pool. but this offense looks absolutely loaded,

Starting point is 00:14:00 certainly for Iowa standards from the running back spot, what they have at wide receiver, we know about tight end, and then he throw an offensive line that I think is going to be pretty good. Speaking of that offensive line, though, my question is, is it settled, do you think that it is going to be Kale Winter

Starting point is 00:14:14 at the center position from Waukeen Northwest? He's going to be the guy there, and Kate Piper is going to go back to what he's played over the years, and that is back to the guard position. I'll take a back seat on this from this standpoint. Right now, if I had to guess, I do think Kail Winter will be the starting center. And I think that's kind of funny just when you look at the AP All-American list

Starting point is 00:14:32 and all the All-American list, Kate Piper, I don't know if he's the first guard to ever be first or second team center and not play center. Just but I think that goes to show what Kale Winter's been able to do. I mean, I have a good authority that Kail Winter, if they had to pick their best five linemen, which is what Iowa typically does, he is one of the best five linemen. So if he is at center, it would make sense if they move Kade Piper to center

Starting point is 00:14:54 and they want to have Kail Winter at golf. I still think that's a remote possibility. Because here's the thing also, Trent, you don't want to rotate centers, right? Well, if Kail Winner's at right guard or if you move Kade Piper over to right guard, you'd be foolish to take Kade Piper out. So all of a sudden that Iowa offensive line rotation goes from about eight to about five, maybe six, if you want to rotate Layton Jones. The late in Jones, by all accounts, is really impressed as well.

Starting point is 00:15:21 But again, I think you look at Kail Winter's story and his ascension going from 245 pounds to about 300 now, walk on to potential starter and taking over a great center tradition. It's a really good story, but he's had a really solid camp. And, you know, again, it started about, what, two months ago. We heard rumblings of it turned into a buzz, and then we saw at the forefront during Saturday's open practice. So come September 5th, it will not surprise me if Kail Winter's at center. But even if he's not, I do expect him to be heavily in the mix at that right guard spot.

Starting point is 00:15:52 But right now, my expectation is Kate Peeper holds down right guard. and Kale Winter is at center. David, we have used a ton of bandwidth talking about Tony Diaz. Probably should have talked about Evan James a little bit more. Talking to both Lester and Bud Meyer, they both brought him up at his speed a couple of times when I was around them in the media scrums on Friday. There is a lot of buzz about Evan James.

Starting point is 00:16:14 He kind of has that look of a prototypical, what we think about as a speedy slot receiver and potentially has that spot maybe locked up there. The speed element is something that Tim Lester has wanted his first couple years, didn't quite get it. He's got it now with Evan James. Him and the rest of the wide receiver group has a chance to be really good this year. I feel pretty good about buying stocking that early.

Starting point is 00:16:36 I know you probably do Trent, but I will say this. I mean, one of my most intriguing storylines of this off season was the wide receiver three through six battle. It's wider receiver four through six now. Evan James has to be a top three receiver on this team with what he showed. His first catch is a four-yard touchdown. Had a great route, back-shoulder catch. caught another deep pass to the end of practice.

Starting point is 00:16:57 And, you know, he ran an outstanding route. I mean, a beautiful route against Rashad Godfrey early in that practice. Hank Brown overthrew him. But Evan James time and time again, I felt like kind of got free from the secondary. And I think that's less indicative of where the defense is at. I just think that's how good Evan James kind of was. And he's still got four years of eligibility. He still a really young player.

Starting point is 00:17:19 He just got back to practicing about two weeks ago after suffering a minor setback. But look, I still feel really good about my Tony Diaz hype. I mean, you watch him move, Trent. He just looks a lot different than past Iowa receivers. And then you throw in Evan James and Reese Vander's his toe tap. Like, it really does, dare I say it, man. Like Iowa has a pretty good top three wide receivers, I think. We'll see what happens after that.

Starting point is 00:17:43 But I think that can at least be around the middle of the big time. Like they finally have some dudes that I think are capable of running what Tim Lester wants to run with further wide receivers. And my listeners definitely know I am all in Nigeria. Bowie, I think he's going to have a rebound season this year. It'll be a fun one out of that group. Now, you can make the argument, and I know there's plenty of people over on the message boards at Hawkeye Insider.

Starting point is 00:18:07 They'll probably have, oh, that's all well and good. What does this mean? Now the Hawkeye defense stinks. I'm not ready to go there. It's still Phil Parker on that side of the football, but at minimum, I got concerns on that side of the ball. Oh, I mean, I'm with you. concerns about it. But I'd also, I think it's very important to point out this.

Starting point is 00:18:26 This is all about individual improvement at this time. Like, that's what Paul Camp's all about. You earn your spot and then you move forward. This has nothing to do with Phil Parker's develop. Like, you talk about season, the off seasons for development, obviously in season matters. But when you get to game week, you're implementing a game plan. You're making sure your players follow that game plan. You make adjustments. Phil Parker and Seth Wallace's game planning is second to none with what they've done. So I'm kind of a the opinion where, yes, I have my concerns. Defensive line, I'm still pretty concerned about.

Starting point is 00:18:56 We did not get to see Tyler Brown, James Madison, and transfer safety. We'll see where he's at come game week. I still think the linebackers are going to be really good. I think they just need reps. I know Seth Wallace feels great about their depth, but until we're proven otherwise, like, I'm always going to buy stock into Phil Parker and Seth Wallace's game playing. And like, regardless of who's out there, it can be 11 media members out there. They're going to put us in a position, us as in the media,

Starting point is 00:19:21 members to succeed, right? At least have a good shot at succeeding. So yes, I have my concerns. There's no doubt. But every time I feel like I doubted Phil Parker or I've been concerned about the Iowa defense, for the most part, they've delivered at least in a good enough sense to where Iowa has a chance to win. No doubt.

Starting point is 00:19:42 David Eichol joining us, Hawkeye Insider.com. Put all that together. And then we also get two special teams. I thought it was really, really uneven. And even the punting game that was okay, it was just okay. And we know for Iowa football, being okay in special teams is not good enough. And certainly if there is going to be a step back out of the defense. And maybe there is a little bit more reins on the offense than we want to believe special teams got to be good.

Starting point is 00:20:06 And right now, I did not see good special teams on Saturday, David. Yeah, I'm kind of with you. Kay and Burr was a little bit surprising to me, just be how consistent he was compared to Eli Ozek. I still think Eli Ozick wins the kicking job. but he did not have a good day at all. I think he finished three of seven by my charts on different field goals. You feel really good about Zach Lutmer at Returner. I think you're going to be fine with Tanner Philponting, even Boston Everett.

Starting point is 00:20:33 Like I actually thought the punting was a little bit farther ahead than I initially thought. We'll see what happens with kick return. We know they really don't practice kick returns a lot, maybe just catching the football more than anything else, especially in a public setting. But I think Iowa is going to be okay. I mean, we kind of knew that they were in the midst of a giant overhaul. And I think Phil Steele, with all the respect to him, because he is absolutely tremendous. I think he overrated Iowa is picking him as the best special teams in the country with so much turnover.

Starting point is 00:21:01 But at the end of the day, man, like Iowa works on special teams all year. You can tell Chris Belize he really wants this job and you really wants to succeed at it. And I do think that holds value. And I think Kirk Farrance is willingness to teach special teams all year. It is going to have an impact. So I think they're going to take a set back. my big questions is will special teams cost them a game this year? Because how many games have they won over the past five years? A big portion due to special teams. Let's go back to that

Starting point is 00:21:28 Jordan Bowen quote from years ago. He always believed that everything progresses or regresses to the means. Well, Iowa football is kind of won games in a lot of crazy ways that, you know, at times you could argue they probably shouldn't have won. So I'm very curious if Iowa special teams is going to be able to kind of hold true of the standard, the ridiculous standard that they have. slightly more concerned about special teams now than I was before we were there on Saturday. Talking with David Eichol from hawkye insider.com, a look at the hawks over the weekend and they look forward. So as we kind of forecast forward and we look at this squad, one thing I mentioned at the top of the show today was just about maybe concerns about across the state of Iowa, how things

Starting point is 00:22:07 could be. Iowa state with a new roster. You and I has not been able to figure things out recently. Drake's got to do coaching staff. Here at the state of Iowa where we haven't really grown used to this lately where we've had is to the teams that we keep an eye on. What if things go south? What if it is an 0-1-3 start in the Big Ten? And they limp their way into a seven and five finish. It feels like they're building and progressing for 2007, but all of a sudden you have Trevor Loughke departing. Kate Piper could leave early and we can see Lutmer leave early and Bonami leave early. And suddenly look at that 27 squad and it's not quite at the same level. If it is a disappointing type of season, what do you think the discourse at Hawkeye Insider?

Starting point is 00:22:46 on social media. What's it going to be like with a coach that is an hour in a 70? Yeah, I mean, it's not going to be fun, but I also point to the fact that Iowa was going to have two really good basketball teams. So, I mean, if they go 0 and 3 to start big template, like people are like, okay, well, Ben McCollum team starts in a month, right? Jan Jansson's Hawkeye is starting a month. Like, I think it'll be a little bit easier to swallow, but then once you get the winter months and the transfer portal opens, that's when all chaos is going to do. But I'll give you a hot take right now and we'll see how this age is, okay? Because you know I'm one for that. Of the group of Kate Peeper, Trevor Loutke, Zach Lutmer and DJ Venami, I bet Iowa gets at

Starting point is 00:23:24 least two of them back next season. I don't think they lose all four. I don't think they'll at least get two back. I'm not going to predict two because I think that's a little bit too far, but I think they'll get two of them back. It does feel like they're loading up for 27. I think they have a realistic playoff shot, to be honest with you. In 27, when you look at the schedule, they have a second year starting quarterback likely at the helm on a Ray and Bessinger makes a great rise here over the next 12 months or so. But it'll be interesting. I really do think that as we get closer to season, a lot of national pundits are finally

Starting point is 00:23:55 starting to doubt Kirk. And I think that's when his teams respond well. I mean, I still think this is an eight and four floor. I think this team goes nine and three this season trend. I know there's the question marks. I think they knock off Michigan. But I'll tell you why, if they go 0 and 3 in that stretch, man, like I'm with you. I think everybody's going to kind of flip the page and say the season's over because

Starting point is 00:24:14 that that's where the opportunity lies. And I know Iowa fans probably wish they had that stretch in November and not the end of September or in early October. David I Cole, Hawkeye Insider.com, 24-7 sports, the latest on all the Hawkeye work. You can find him, Sean Bach and Elliott Clough doing great work over there. What are you working on? I know you guys have put out some articles,

Starting point is 00:24:35 some camp intel outside of what we saw on Saturday. Love those articles. What else can we find at Hawkeye Insider? Yes, we have a bunch of different profiles right now. on several players. We're going through all of our coaching conversations that we had, you know, throwing out the transcripts from our interviews with them,

Starting point is 00:24:51 some film breakdown. Ellie had a tremendous film breakdown of all the quarterbacks the other day, and we're previewing the season, and we're getting ready for in-state recruiting ramping up. And basically the works, man. I'm ready to go. I love the offseason. I love my couple vacations,

Starting point is 00:25:06 but now I'm kind of getting that football fever. I'm ready to get back to it, Trent. But like I said, 60% off at hawk-ansder.com, and we're going to keep the train. rolling. Thank you, David. We'll talk to you again next week. Appreciate you, Mike. Thanks. David I. Cold, Hawkeye Insider. Mention that great deal happening over there as well. Just go to hawkeye insider.com for the latest. Thanks as always to David for his time. Joining us here as we talk a lot of hawkeyes and break things down with somebody on the beat,

Starting point is 00:25:34 David Ikeld from hawkeye insider.com. Coming back on the other side, little hoops talk and updated bracketology, where do the Iowa Hawkeyes fall? Where is Ben McCull? Cullum's year number two squad going to be we'll talk about that next day right there this is your daily iowa hawkeye podcast locked on hawkeyes before the season even kicks off everyone's making predictions who wins the division who makes the playoffs who's lifting the trophy at season's end on cal she america's number one prediction market platform you can make trades and trade those predictions in a live market will the bears qualify for the playoffs this season right now the bear's are trading at 54% probability, meaning a $100 trade would pay out $154 and change if they clinch a

Starting point is 00:26:26 playoff spot. That's what you do on Cali. They got you covered. Playoff wins, wins getting into the playoff, number of games on the season. How about winning the NFC or AFC championship game? They got you covered in the futures market there on Calci. On Calci, you're trading against peers in a live market, meaning there's no house. And as the probability changes, you can.

Starting point is 00:26:48 by in and out of your position. Trade the draft pick, the game, and more on CalShe. Download the Calci app and use code locked on to get $10 when you trade $10. Calci, K-A-L-S-H-I, Calci trade on anything. 18-plus only restrictions and eligibility restrictions apply. Event contract trading involves risk and may not be suitable for all investors. Cal-She products are not available in all jurisdictions. Prices, values, and available markets may differ from those mentioned. For more information, see calshy.com slash regulatory. Try and count them back with you one final time here. Lockdown Hawkeyes, your daily Iowa Hawkeye podcast. Thanks for being with us and making Lockdown Hawkeyes your first listen every day. So a couple of hoops, no, story to wrap things up. I saw our friends

Starting point is 00:27:40 over at On 3 have updated their bracketality, James Fletcher. The third is the guy that does it over there. And he has the Iowa Hawkeyes, well, in the NCAA tournament. I will tell you one thing also looking at these brackets during the off season. It is so weird now seeing the expansion up to the 76 team. So you got the playing around where all 16 seeds are playing in to get to the main bracket of 64. Then you have a couple of 15 seed matchups to play their way in. Then you have all 11 seed matchups. It is Oklahoma against Villanova, Marquette against Stanford, Sincere against Oregon, Auburn against Arizona State,

Starting point is 00:28:16 a 12 matchup in there and also a 10 matchup to get into. the main bracket. So Iowa, as they were a year ago, they are on the line. The eight, nine line is where they are. For a comparison, by the way, Iowa State, a number five seed in this Midwest, Midwest bracket. The number four seed in that region is the, a Vanderbilt Commodores is who is in that one. But they have Iowa as a number eight seed here, taking on nine-seeded BYU. The winner that one likely advances on to take on Yukon in the second round. Now, we know what? happened in the second round, the round of 32 a year ago with Iowa pulling off the shocker against Florida. Oh, boy, would that be sweet to do that against Danny Hurley?

Starting point is 00:28:58 You also have update of bracketology from Joe LaNardi. His latest update on that front from back a while back. He has Iowa as a number 10 seed, though in the main bracket not playing in to get to the round of 64. He does have them as a number two seed in his matchup. That's the way that it sets in Joe Lenardi's bracketology with each. ESPN. Look, it's going to be a fun season. By the way, taking on Miami, something to keep an eye on. And then Michigan in the round of 32, remember, if you play a team only once during the regular season, you can play one of your conference teams in the round of 32. We've seen that a few times recently in Des Moines. Michigan State and Minnesota played in the round of 32 as they only played once during the regular season. That is what it is. That's where the expectations are for the Hawkeyes coming into the year. They're going to be an NCAA tournament team, but it's going to depend on the development of Cooper Koch becoming the star player for this team. How they're going to be able to finish games with how Bennett starts out there.

Starting point is 00:29:56 Some of the big questions that are still there for Iowa basketball, but always fun to take a peek at a bracket any time of year. That'll do it for today, back with you tomorrow on your daily Iowa Hawkeye podcast. We're going to dig back into last week over at Iowa Football Media Day. Going to have some interviews for you from a couple of the players and the coaches and a few other thoughts as well. Thanks for being with us and making Lockdown Hawkeyes, your first listen every day with you each and every day.

Starting point is 00:30:22 And now on video, we send you the first ever 24-7 YouTube channel on college sports. And on audio, you can also check out Lockdown College Football with Spencer McLaughlin for your second listen each and every day. Spencer does a great job of keeping everyone alive of what's happening all the way across college football. We'll talk to you again tomorrow. Thanks for being with this as always. Until then, go.

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