Locked On Hawkeyes - Daily Podcast On Iowa Hawkeyes Football & Basketball - Flat: Iowa Hawkeyes DEFENSE Falters in Penn State Loss - Hawkeyes SUBSTITUTIONS Questioned in Loss

Episode Date: March 2, 2026

Iowa Hawkeyes’ NCAA tournament hopes take a hit after a frustrating loss at Penn State. Substitution patterns, defensive lapses, and late-game decisions come under scrutiny as Bennett Stirtz and Coo...per Koch deliver strong performances but can’t overcome the Nittany Lions’ hot shooting. Are defensive struggles and rotation inconsistencies threatening Iowa’s postseason outlook? Trent Condon breaks down how the loss complicates the Hawkeyes’ tournament resume, examining their results-based metrics (Wins Above Bubble) and where they stand among bubble teams. The episode covers key contributions from Tavion Banks, Cam Manyawu, and Kael Combs, Coach Ben McCollum’s endgame strategy, and the impact of recent losses on seeding. Plus, Iowa women secure a No. 2 seed for the Big Ten Tournament behind Ava Heiden and Taylor Stremlow. Will Iowa’s men regroup in time, or is March Madness slipping away? Follow Trent Condon on X: https://twitter.com/trentcondon LISTEN TO THE PODCAST: APPLE: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/locked-on-hawkeyes-daily-podcast-on-iowa-hawkeyes-football/id1441592240 SPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/show/0GTyz5ygevcGXdTF6QSoEo YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/LockedOnHawkeyes Everydayer Club If you never miss an episode, it’s time to make it official. Join the Locked On Everydayer Club and get ad-free audio, access to our members-only Discord, and more — all built for our most loyal fans. Click here to learn more and join your team’s community: https://lockedonpodcasts.com/everydayerclub Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors! 5-Hour ENERGY Have your cake & drink it too. Birthday cake-flavor is back, no fork needed. Vanilla-y cakey flavor, caffeinated kick, and no sugar. It's party time. Order Now at https://5-hourENERGY.com or Amazon. Mazda Like our players, we’re driven by the details. Because highlights make the reel. What it takes to get there makes it count. There’s more to a Mazda. Because there’s more to you. TurboTax This year you’re getting a major upgrade — Intuit TurboTax now has in-person locations nationwide. Visit http://TurboTax.com/local to book your appointment today. Robinhood You’re no longer just a spectator. Play by play. You decide. Trade Every Play with Robinhood. Now available across the U.S. Download the Robinhood app now to begin. Futures and cleared swaps trading involves significant risk and is not appropriate for everyone. Event contracts are offered by Robinhood Derivatives, LLC., a registered futures commission merchant and swap firm. Indeed Listeners of this show get a $75 Sponsored Job Credit to help give your job the premium placement it deserves at http://Indeed.com/podcast Gametime Today's episode is brought to you by Gametime. Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDON for $20 off your first purchase. Terms and conditions apply. FanDuel FanDuel is giving you a way to turn that energy into even bigger potential wins with a College Basketball Parlay Profit Boost. Visit https://FANDUEL.COM to get started — Play Your Game. 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) Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

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Starting point is 00:00:00 Another trip to Penn State, another missed opportunity. The Hawkeyes fall flat at Penn State. Now the questions are louder than ever. Rotations, late game decisions, and where this team is actually heading. You are Locked on Hawkeyes, your daily podcast on the Iowa Hawkeyes. Part of the Locked on podcast network, your team every day. Come in, I'm Trent Condon, and this is the Lockdown Hawkeyes podcast. Thanks for making Lockdown Hawkeyes your first list.
Starting point is 00:00:35 listen every day, your daily Iowa Hawkeye podcast. I've been covering the Hawkeyes for over 20 years on the radio here in the state of Iowa, including currently on the Iowa Sports Radio Network. You can hear me each weekday from noon to two in stations in Iowa City, Cedar Rapids, a Quad City, Sioux City, and our flagship 106.3 KX&O. Today's episode of Lockdown Hawkeyes is brought to you by Fandual. Fandul is giving you a way to turn energy into an even bigger potential win with college basketball, Parlay profit boost. Head to Fandual.com.
Starting point is 00:01:08 Do get started. Well, the Iowa women got a win to finish the regular season. They'll be the number two seed in next week's Big Ten tournament. We'll talk about that. Nice victory for them. But a lot of talk today about the Iowa men's team. We're going to talk about where the Hawkeyes' NCAA tournament resume looks at this point in time, how the committee is going to look at them.
Starting point is 00:01:29 And if there should be real concerns about this squad down the stretch and what these final two games of the regular season and the big 10. tournament are going to mean for their seating come tournament time. But first, we have to look back at the difficult, frustrating head scratching loss against Penn State over the weekend. It was a game that we talked about leading in. It was going to be a terrible environment. It was. It was going to be a sleepy spot, absolutely.
Starting point is 00:01:54 And coming on the heels of that victory against Ohio State that really solidified themselves as solidly on the NCAA tournament, we feel good about that. To give one back in that kind of fashion and just the way, that the game played out, it is really magnifying this team and the issues that they continue to have on the defensive end of the floor. Now, coming into the year, I think if you would have pulled most Hawkeye fans and put them in the position they currently are, I'm sure most people would have signed up for that. And the reason that I thought at minimum they were an NCAA tournament team, but the way that the season is played out, we're all talking about getting more, right?
Starting point is 00:02:31 and the dreams of getting to a second weekend in a sweet 16 and the potential of that happening at different moments this season, we've seen a team definitely capable of doing that. And the reason I didn't want to put a ceiling on this team and just say, oh, they're good enough to make the tournament, maybe win a game, is because they have a potential all-American point guard in Bennett Sturts. Bennett Sturtz is an important piece in the Big Ten as you're going to find.
Starting point is 00:02:56 And there are tremendous individual talents in this league. There are tremendous individual talents all over. college basketball season and what a great season it has been. But when you have a player, this dynamic, this elite, that's why I never wanted to say just that would be enough. That would be where we paint it and call it a successful year. Look, they make the tournament win a game. It is still a successful season, year number one.
Starting point is 00:03:19 But all these conversations, there are nuance to all of them. And when you go through, and that's why maybe I become a little bit more frustrated, but then take that step back. And that's what we try to do from time to time is not just get so involved in just an individual game or an individual performance. And he looked through the rest of this roster, there's just not a whole lot of help there. The inconsistencies that we continue to see out of Elverill-Fulgaris, the game-in, game-out nature of what you're going to get out of the freshman guards when you get that. You finally get a great performance out of Cooper Cotch who was shooting the crap out of the ball. And then we don't see him for long stretches during the second half of that one, another one that just kind of.
Starting point is 00:04:00 it leaves you wondering what exactly is going on. Cooper Cotch finishes the game, and he hits five, three-pointers, absolutely what we've been looking for out of this guy. It was great. But in the second half of the game, you wonder, where was he? Why wasn't he up there nearly as much?
Starting point is 00:04:17 It's just another one of those that you wonder about. And the substitution patterns, I think, were a big part of this. Bennett Sturts, he was solid once again, had a couple of shots rim out. And in a two-point game, that very well could prove to be the difference. Had a couple of good looks.
Starting point is 00:04:33 They just didn't go win. Okay, that's going to happen. He finishes with 16 points. And one of the few games this season where Bennett Sturts was not the leading score in the game. It was Cooper Cotch, who finishes with 18 points in 31 minutes in this one. Davian Banks definitely doing his thing. I mean, he was just what you expect, right? He's going to make a shot when it's there.
Starting point is 00:04:55 He's going to play tough. He's going to be rugged on the defensive end. You know what you're going to get. it feels like every single time with Tavion Banks. Cam Maniow had a really good performance. Again, he's continued to stack these up inside. In fact, when you look at the plus minus, he was the best guy. Now, just played 24 minutes, seven rebounds, had a couple of assists.
Starting point is 00:05:15 He three or four from the field, made both of his free throws. I mean, these are the kind of performances that you want to get out of Mania. And they definitely got that out of him. Kilcombs was solid. At minimum, he was okay. and that's an improvement outside of what he's been, really outside of the Ohio State game for the better part of the month.
Starting point is 00:05:34 There were a lot of the performances that you have, but we go to the substitution pattern, and this is something that just continues to befuddle me. Now, we've talked a ton about Brandon Hassan throughout the course of this season and getting him minutes and a guy that can maybe stretch the floor for you. We know he is a good three-point shooter. He's done it throughout his collegiate career,
Starting point is 00:05:52 going back to Villanova, Kansas State. This is a guy that can shoot the ball. It was always about the defense. But after not playing in the three previous games, for him to be out there for 15 minutes in this one, 11 minutes in the second half, those are the things that are just difficult to wrap your mind around. After the game, Tyler Tashman of the Des Moines, asked Coach McCollum about that, said that the assistant coaches are the ones that handle the substitution patterns. That's the case, you need to get to work. Because it just to go for not playing for three straight games and then go out there and play that man. And it's not that he was knocking down shots.
Starting point is 00:06:29 He was 05 from the floor. Okay, he was playing better defensively than he has in the past. I get that. But boy, we saw bursts out of Isaiah Howard, out of Tate Sage. We've definitely seen both of those guys who both had three pointers in this one. And what they can do, certainly on the defensive end, it was head scratching. In the end, though, it comes back again to the defense. Now, Penn State in the first half was red hot.
Starting point is 00:06:51 They're making three pointers that they normally don't. You point to that and say, all right, this is the reason the game's playing out like this. They're going to cool down. I was going to take control and they're going to get the victory. You're up four at the half. All right, you're feeling good about it. In the second half of the game, after they made six of 11, three-pointers in the second half, they only attempted four.
Starting point is 00:07:10 They made three of them, which, again, another one of those head-scratching numbers, but they go 13 of 18 from the field. 13 of 8, 72%. For the game, they shoot 64%. This is not a good Penn State offensive team. This is not a team. Josh Reed looked like an all-American himself in this one. And yeah, Delon, he was really, really good.
Starting point is 00:07:33 He was making shots all over the place. Stewart, both of his rainbow threes fell in. It was one of those days where everything was falling for them, but it goes back to the defense. And McCullum mentioned after the game, you look through and you kind of look at this squad and some of the losses that they've had throughout the course of the season. One thing jumps out in the more head-scratching ones against Maryland,
Starting point is 00:07:54 against Penn State. We saw it against Wisconsin. Guards that can get downhill continue to be a huge issue for this squad. And I don't know if it's something that they need to do on the defensive end because this is not an overly athletic team. This is not a team that's going to wow you. They're fine.
Starting point is 00:08:11 There's perimeter defenders that are okay. But when you're up in their grill, you don't have a shot blocker back behind it. If this team was built differently, if they were able to land a big in the portal and were able to play differently, I think we would be having a different conversation certainly about this team and the way that they play defensively on the perimeter.
Starting point is 00:08:29 But it's continually, it's the same thing, straight line drives. And when you go through it, you look at this team as a whole defensively, they've taken a huge step back from where they were for the first two months of the season. Now, this was a team that was definitely built on the defensive end of the floor. And you could talk about all the teams that they played and those kind of things. And I completely get that. Look, the non-conference was not overly daunting. We found out that obviously that old Miss team was not very good.
Starting point is 00:08:52 Grand Canyon, probably a little bit better. than they thought. But overall, defensively, they've taken such a huge step back. And you look through on the defensive end of the floor and outside of the game against Ohio State, Nebraska, they've had defensive ratings now in every game dating back to the USC game in the 100s. That's just not good enough for a team built like they are, playing the pace that they are, they have to be better on the defensive end of the floor. You know, another thing, and you go through and you look at the overall profile, you might be saying to yourself, well, Trent, this team's still a pretty good defensive team.
Starting point is 00:09:25 Looking at the numbers right now, they're 33rd in the country and defensive efficiency out of 360 teams. That's pretty dang good. And I completely understand that sentiment. But when you go through and you just cut off that beginning part of the season, what we've seen now for the better part of six weeks, this team is really tailed off. They're 7 to 4 dating back to the game against Rutgers. During that time, though, their defensive efficiency number is 107 in the country. tree. Offense at 36, but the defense, that is where the big step back has been. How do you fix it?
Starting point is 00:10:01 That's why the coaches get the big bucks. They are the ones that need to figure that out. We got more here. I want to talk about the NCAA tournament resume. And I mentioned over the weekend, if you're on social media, the honeymoon is over. Get to explain that for Ben McCullen because some people, they struggle with nuance. We'll talk about that. And what the resume looks for looks like for the Hawkeyes. As we continue, this is Locked on Hawkeyes. College basketball is nonstop. Big games, tight spreads, momentum swings every single night. From early tip-offs to late-night West Coast shootouts, there's always action on the board. And now Fandul is giving you a way to turn that energy into even bigger potential wins
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Starting point is 00:12:49 Trent, kind of back with you once again on the lockdown hawkeyes podcast. Thanks for being with us in making lockdown hawkeyes your first listen every day. your daily Iowa Hawkeye podcast. All right, want to bring something up here over the weekend. And for everyday listeners, you know, part of our everydayer club, I'm not as active on social media as I once was. Kind of a mental health thing, stepping away from the cesspool that many of these places have become. Some news that was not news over the weekend about a former Hawkeye coach.
Starting point is 00:13:18 My wife got duped by something on Facebook about an Iowa basketball recruit that passed away. I thought that wasn't true. had a bunch of different programs. I mean, the AI slop that is out there is absolutely mind-boggling. But that aside, I didn't put this out because I was ticked off. I was incredibly frustrated at the loss of Penn State because like you, I'm a fan. Yes, I work on the radio. Yes, I have to at least try to see things and take off my black and gold glasses from time to time.
Starting point is 00:13:45 I'm a fan. And yes, I still get vestrally upset when Iowa loses a game like that. I was ticked. So I fire this off right after the game. Honeymoon is over. Awful work out of McCullum. Terrible substitutions in the second half. Awful end game coaching situation.
Starting point is 00:14:03 The end game situation made that final play, whoof. And it wasn't just that. It was the lack of just want in the final minutes of that game and doing like they did against Nebraska and just sitting back and hoping that you're going to be able to run out the clock and need to be better, certainly on that front end of game situations.
Starting point is 00:14:19 I thought it was bad. And I thought the substitution patterns as we talked about earlier were bad. But what I said, honeymoon over, this is what I meant by this. And you can't get full context when you have a limited amount of characters when you're doing it. That's why I love this platform is because we can explore, we can talk, we can dig deeper when we're doing it in the audio or video form if you're watching this on YouTube. And what I meant by Honeymoon Over is not that I think Ben McCollum sucks because I don't. I think he's a great coach.
Starting point is 00:14:48 That I think Ben McCollum is not going to work at Iowa because I don't. I think it's going to. those are not what I'm meaning. What I meant by Honeymoon Over is I'm no longer going to just rely on, hey, it's year number one. They'll figure it out. The reason that I use that kind of terminology is because the questions are real now. You make the move up to the Big Ten and the people that had the questions about a guy
Starting point is 00:15:12 that was just two years removed from the D2 level, a guy that had one year of success at the Division I level that came for the Missouri Valley, that brought in a huge piece of his roster with him, to Iowa City. It is a roster comprised of a bunch of mid-major players a year ago and Cooper Koch, who's injured a season ago. And when you're doing that, a lot of questions start to come up. And that's where the questions are.
Starting point is 00:15:36 I'm not just going to sit back and say, oh, it's here number one. I'll figure it out because, A, that's boring. And that's not how I think. I'm not going to do that. So, again, this is not to say that I want Ben McCollum fired. That's not at all what was coming out of that one. A little thoughtfulness definitely helps, and that's why we have these conversations. That's why we dig in a little bit more.
Starting point is 00:16:00 So what does this all mean? We're all thinking about the NCAA tournament, right? I mean, that's all that it is about in the end. Fortunate, unfortunate, that is our reality in college basketball is what happens in March badness is how you're remembered and how we remember these teams and the disappointment and all the greatness. And go back to just a couple years ago, Iowa wins the Big Ten tournament, then plays an absolute clunker against Richmond, and that's what sticks with us. We go back to Bruner and Holuska and Horner and that group.
Starting point is 00:16:33 And what do we remember, Northwestern State? That is how you are measured in, as a team overall, what you do in the NCAA tournament. Now, we've talked about Iowa potentially getting off the 8-9 game, getting away from having to face in the second round of the tournament. If you win that first game, getting past, to play a Duke, a Michigan, one of the top-level teams in college basketball. That might happen, but it might happen the other way than what we thought. Not moving up to a seventh seed or even a sixth seed, it might be a 10th seed or even
Starting point is 00:17:05 an 11th seed, but there's still a lot that has to happen. Now, this week is a great opportunity. Either of these wins would be huge for Iowa's NCAA tournament resume. Currently in the predictive markets, these are the places we're talking about when we mentioned, and Pomeroy, Bart Torvik, the rankings are still really good. In fact, they have them. If you just strictly look at the predictive markets, this is still a top 25 team, which is crazy because they definitely don't look like a top 25 team.
Starting point is 00:17:33 That's what the predictive markets say about this squad. The problem and what the NCAA tournament committee uses more than the predictive metrics, though that is a piece of the resume is results based. What you've actually done, not what you can do, what you've done to this point in time. wins above bubble, bubble, wab. That is the one that we found out, and we have found out now for the last year and a half, this is an incredibly important metric
Starting point is 00:17:58 that is being used more and more by the NCAA selection committee. Iowa ranks 36. That paints a concerning picture. Here's the great news, though, even with that. And the likelihood that Iowa goes 0-2 this week is still pretty high. And upset would be incredible, but that is the likelihood that's going to happen for this Hawkeye squad. They're going to finish the year, 20 and 11, go into the Big 10 tournament.
Starting point is 00:18:21 Likely, the double by is also off the table, meaning they're going to have to play as the nine seed, an opener. They win that, then they get the eighth seed. And then who will be waiting, number one, Michigan, if it plays out in that fashion. But that is what we're looking at with this squad. And if you go to the Big 10 tournament, even if you lose to the eighth seed, you lose to probably in Ohio State, somebody like that, you're not out of the tournament. because again, the whole resume is good enough when you look at them in comparison to other teams. That's what you have to do. It's not just about Iowa in a vacuum.
Starting point is 00:18:55 It's not just about what the Hawkeyes are and the frustration. Because if you look through college basketball and the teams in the same kind of spot as Iowa, those teams in the 7 to 11 seed range, there were a ton of losses. It wasn't just Iowa losing to Penn State. It's also what's happening around you. And that is good news for the Hawkeyes. Now, there's going to be teams here over the final week of the regular season, and in the conference tournaments that are going to go on runs, there are going to be bubble teams that pick up what we think are huge victories.
Starting point is 00:19:23 Just another thing to file away. What happens in conference tournaments is incredibly overrated. First of all, it is at that time one of 32 data points throughout the course of the season. It actually doesn't help you that much. One other thing is what you do down the stretch is not supposed to matter. Now, I still don't believe that that is exactly the case. we're still talking about humans putting this together. And when you have a team that is struggling down the stretch,
Starting point is 00:19:48 though it's not supposed to matter, I really think it does. And Iowa at this point in time, and if they go 0 and 2 this week, this will be a team that is 2 and 6 in their final stretch of games of the season, and then you have the Big 10 tournament. That is also a component. I think we have to remember when we're talking about this squad. Hope is not lost. This team's not going to miss the tournament.
Starting point is 00:20:10 I don't think unless every bubble team game, gets red hot here in the final couple of weeks. The Hawkeyes should, should be in good shape. It is all not doom and gloom, though, in the world of the Hawkeyes. On the hardwood, the women's basketball team, a young team had injuries this year, and now they're the number two seed in the Big Ten tournament. Slow first half, domination in the second. We'll talk about the Hawkeye women wrapping up the regular season when we come back with a big
Starting point is 00:20:37 win against the Badgers. Stay right there. This is Locked on Hawkeyes. What if sports were traded like markets? Now you can put your sports IQ to work in real time with Robin Hood prediction markets. If you're, it's not you against the house. It's you participating in a live market. You can buy or sell your positions live all game long.
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Starting point is 00:21:36 Futures in cleared swaps, trading involves significant risk and is not appropriate for everyone. Event contracts are offered by Robin Hood derivatives LLC. a registered futures commission, merchant, and swap firm. Trent, kind of back with you here on the Lockdown Hawkeyes podcast. As always, thanks for making Lockdown Hawkeyes, your first listen every day. Well, the bracket is set for the Big Ten women's basketball tournament. Iowa's earned themselves a number two seed after the win against Wisconsin. 8172, the final in this one.
Starting point is 00:22:15 Just a four-point lead at the half, a little bit slow getting out. No Hannah Stulke in this one. but in her stead, boy, once again, we saw a bunch of different players stuff up. And there was some players that we haven't talked a ton about throughout the course of the season as well. How about a Balani coming in there, knocking down a couple of three-pointers, going back home and getting it done against the Badgers. That was absolutely great to see the kind of performance that she had. You had a new starting lineup, Journey Houston in there with Stolke out as she was able to go out and have herself a solid day once again. And that's just what we expect it feels like all the time now for Journey.
Starting point is 00:22:50 Houston is she's going to be solid. Ava Hayden, tremendous again. She finishes with 16 points, got to the rim, knocked down a couple of jumpers in this game, but maybe the stories of the game come in the back court. You know, you're going to get good defense again out of Kylie Fearbach and that happened. And when she can knock down a three point or a two as she does, it just opens up so much more for this squad. You know you're going to get great on-ball defense from Fearbach. It happens all the time. You couple that, though, with what we see out of her on the offensive end being able to help just a little bit that goes a long, long range. But the other two players in the back court, Chichette Wright has been struggling here
Starting point is 00:23:28 recently and really struggling with her shot. She was sitting hovering right around 50% from behind the three point arc. And that's a number that's probably not sustainable. And certainly with the volume and the way that she plays coupled with her size, that that's going to be something that is going to be something that you can do over the course of 35 games throughout the course of the year. But she found her shot again, four three-pointers in the game. game needed that. But the big one again is Taylor Stremlow. And we talked about Stremlo's game so much.
Starting point is 00:23:55 There is some flare to it. She likes to make the nifty pass. She's got a little bit of funk to her game. Didn't have a three-pointer, didn't matter. She was able to get into the paint, pull-up game, but nine assists again against no turnovers. And that's a huge thing. Talk about that flare, making the special pass. She's always had that ability. But cutting down on the turnovers has been a huge component to that. And this team as a whole, how about that? Seven turnovers in a 40-minute basketball game. Great second half and now sets the scene as the Iowa women make their way to the Big Ten tournament. They will be the number two seed meeting, potentially a rematch in the semifinals against Michigan, and then probably if they get there a championship game against UCLA. So that is what is still in front
Starting point is 00:24:41 of this squad, mentioned what they have in front of them. And we talked about the tournament committee and what they have thought about this Iowa team, what their resume looks like. Let's dig into the Iowa basketball. So we got a second reveal yesterday, and if we remember back, Iowa was 11. I think that came as a surprise when that happened back on February 14th when the first bracket reveal came out.
Starting point is 00:25:04 Now they have jumped up even further. And the Hawkeyes currently sit at number six now on the overall seed list. I think they've locked in a number two seat. Now we know they've locked in hosting the first couple of rounds at Carver Hawkeye Arena. That's going to be happening with them. But you couple of what the committee thinks. You look at their resume as a whole,
Starting point is 00:25:23 something we talked about a ton. I think better than most anybody nationally even understands this team at 24 and 5 and just how good it looks in comparison to a lot of other teams kind of in a similar boat. Seven wins against Quad 1, 7 and 0 against Quad 2, a combined 14 and 5 mark in that one. Have the win against Michigan. That's a top 10 win at home.
Starting point is 00:25:45 road victories against Maryland against Nebraska. Those are in the upper part of the resume. The home victories against Michigan State, Ohio State, Nebraska, all quad one victories, the neutral court win against Baylor. They're in great shape. And I think even if they lose their first game in the Big Ten tournament, they still would be a number two seed. They will face likely Michigan State or Illinois.
Starting point is 00:26:07 That is going to be likely who the matchup is going to be for the Hawkeye women. They will wait until Friday to play. tournament begins on Wednesday. Women's side, they did not invite all 18 teams had to be in the top 15 to make the Big Ten tournament on the women's side like it was a season ago for the men. But Purdue is also there to be Purdue, Illinois
Starting point is 00:26:28 in the first game. A winner that gets Michigan State and then the winner of that will get the Iowa women 530 on Friday evening in the Big Ten tournament quarterfinals. And again, with the victory, the semifinal round against Michigan. We got a lot to decipher this week, a huge week. opportunities on the hardwood for both sides. We also had the Big Ten wrestling tournament coming up.
Starting point is 00:26:49 We will get into that. And football, getting closer and closer to spring football inside of four weeks now until that begins. We got a lot going on here. And we got you covered each and every day on your daily Iowa Hawkeye podcast, Lockedon Hawkeyes. If you want to go ad free with Lockdown Hawkeyes, then the everydayer club is built for you. Plus, you can get members-only Discord access. Hook us up at Lockdownhawkeyes.
Starting point is 00:27:13 dot com. That's locked on hawkeyes. dot supercast.com. We'll talk to again tomorrow. Appreciate you being with us. As always, if you're watching on YouTube, hit that subscribe button, five star reviews on the podcast side. All that helps us get in front of more Hawkeye fans.
Starting point is 00:27:29 We'll talk to again tomorrow. Until then, go Hawks.

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