Locked On Hawkeyes - Daily Podcast On Iowa Hawkeyes Football & Basketball - Greatest Hawkeye Hoops comebacks, How bad is Fran McCaffery's sideline behavior?

Episode Date: February 28, 2023

Trent Condon is joined by Biz for the latest edition of the Locked on Hawkeyes Podcast.They open with a look back at the comeback win against Michigan State and what it tells us about this team.Then a look at the greatest comebacks in Iowa basketball history over the past 35 years.Some thoughts on the sideline behavior of Fran McCaffery and why it continues to be a good look for Iowa basketball.Finishing with Biz's Beat including the great Caitlin Clark.Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!Built BarBuilt Bar is a protein bar that tastes like a candy bar. Go to builtbar.com and use promo code “LOCKEDON15,” and you’ll get 15% off your next order.FanDuelMake Every Moment More. Place your first FIVE DOLLAR bet to get ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY DOLLARS in Free Bets – win or lose! Visit Fanduel.com/LockedOn today to get startedFANDUEL 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) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Well, we have to continue looking back at the epic weekend that was at Carver Hawkeye Arena. First time in a couple of weeks, Biz stops by. We'll break things down, take a look back, and a look forward. Iowa-Indiana coming up on Tuesday evening, a big one. Can the momentum actually go on the road? We'll talk about it today on Locked on Hawkeyes. You're locked on Hawkeyes, your daily podcast on the Iowa Hawkeyes. Part of the Locked on Podcast Network, your team every day. That's biz, I'm Trent, and this is the Lockdown Hawkeyes podcast. Thanks for making Lockdown Hawkeyes your first listen every day.

We're available wherever you get podcasts. You can also find us on YouTube. Make sure you hit that subscribe button. Helps us get in front of more Hawkeye fans. Biz, what a weekend, huh? Over at Carver Hawkeye. I mean, just moments away from your front door. You can get there and back.

It's not like me. A couple of hours there, a couple hours back. No, you're 10 minutes away from Carver Hawkeye Arena. Boy, it had to be enjoyable to be in the building for both of those games. Yeah, very funny, Trent. So, yeah, as you know, I go to literally 80% of men's and women's games. But I was 0 for 2 this weekend. But, yeah, great weekend to be a Hawk.

We can talk about why I wasn't there. But I chose to be a good dad rather than a good Iowa fan this weekend. Fortunately, I did get to see both games. I just was watching it from the comforts of random gymnasiums around eastern Iowa instead. But, yeah, I mean, what a weekend. Iowa instead. So, but yeah, I mean, what a weekend, you know, from the men's epic comeback to a hosting game day to Caitlin Clark's crazy shot to the baseball team pulling off a first win

against the number one team and first time they even played number one team. I think it was 50 years. So yeah. So a fun weekend to be a Hawk. And on top of that, you also had the Hilton Magic disappearing and the Badgers losing in heartbreaking fashion as well. So you really can't get, you can't, you couldn't script a better weekend, guys. No, absolutely not.

And I've said my piece. I had to go on, do an instant reaction podcast right after the game on Saturday. It was just, it was too much fun, the comeback that happened there. It certainly covered up a lot of warts about this team. And it felt like very quickly, they were trending to bubble territory.

Even before the game was played, Iowa throughout the last couple of weeks, they've been solidly, they had for a long time, the fourth, fifth, most quad one victories in all the college basketball. Well, they're in good shape. Well, a lot of those quad one victories have changed and they're no longer quad one victories, but they're down to four here. And if they would

have lost that game to Michigan state, which looked like was going to happen for 38 and a half minutes, but they're going to lose that one. They were training towards bubble territory very quickly. And I thought even, you know, if they would have lost a couple of games and maybe just only beat Nebraska here to finish things up in the season, I thought, no, that's not going to happen. The resume is not, that is too good for that to happen. Well, it was going the other way. Seton Hall has dropped down. Wisconsin's dropped down.

Michigan dropped out of the top 30 and on and on and on. It was getting scary in a hurry there. And I had everything ready to go with just how bad that loss was going to be to Michigan State. But there's something about Carver and this Iowa men's basketball team. They've had a lot of comebacks now from the Peyton Sanford four-point play, what they did against Wisconsin, though they ultimately didn't win that game. This team, they're special.

Something special is happening in Carver with this squad. Yeah, I mean, it's hard to overstate how huge that comeback was, Trent, given the circumstances. As you said, it went from a team that was staring down a likely four-game losing streak and being firmly on the NCAA bubble to a team that, you know, is now playing with kind of house money on Tuesday night. You can go to Indiana, and as long as you don't lose by 30, you're not going to – I mean, Indiana's really, really good.

They're probably the best team in the Big Ten right now. And you go there and battle them, and you beat Nebraska, I think you can have a chance to get hot down the stretch here. And, you know, it's – the more important thing, honestly, was just the mental aspect of this team. They were such a – just seemed like such a fragile team the last couple games, and the confidence was obviously low across the board, and you just had a couple guys that seemed like that last 90 seconds,

the confidence just came back. I mean, the two guys I think of right away, obviously Chris Murray played a lot better those last 90 seconds and into overtime. The overtime Chris Murray is what we've been waiting for. They got the ball to him in the post. He went up strong. He didn't hesitate.

He just kind of said in overtime, I'm the best player on the court. Give me the ball. And that's what they did. He got to the line a couple times. He scored a couple times. The other guy who I know the Iowa fan base kind of beats on him sometimes, I thought Patrick McCaffrey was huge that last 90 seconds. He's the guy that forced the travel.

He's the guy that got the offensive rebound on Chris Murray's first miss, kicked it back out to him, had the wherewithal to kick it back to him, hit a three. And then he hit a three as well. And I know Patrick McCaffrey's not played great basketball the last month, but we need him. I mean, we're a team that only is seven deep right now. And is he going to be a 30-minute game contributor?

No, we need him for 10, 15 minutes. And when he's playing with confidence and is at the front of that press, we're a different team. So those two getting their confidence back and kind of getting that mojo back i think it is huge i mean it's just the the psyche of this team i think changed significantly in that 90 seconds you as most everybody listening knows i love tony perkins i love tony perkins from the first time i saw him strap it up in a Hawkeye uniform. There's just something about him. And listening to the beat guys after the game, I mean, he is limping around after the games. He is struggling physically.

He's got some kind of injury that he is dealing with. But the tip in that he had, the putback dunk in overtime, just all these different things that Perkins has. He is out there grinding. And he was also the one that went up to Hogard before that last free throw and got him laughing a little bit, you know, and maybe just because they were hitting every free throw. This is so different.

People remember probably the last big comeback like this in the NCAA tournament when Texas A&M came back against UNI. That was just UNI collapsing. I mean, there was dumb turnovers and missing shots, and it was a collapse. That's not what this was. This was Iowa making plays. This was dumb turnovers and missing shots and it was a collapse. That's not what this was. This was Iowa making plays. This was Iowa coming back and doing it. Michigan State until that final free throw is making every single one. And Perkins, he's got an edge to him. We talk about Connor McCaffrey and playing with that edge. Rabracha has that too. One other guy I think we

maybe have to throw in the mix is Peyton Sanford. But Sanford, when he was asked after the game, you know, when did you think that shot was going in? He said, well, as soon as he missed the free throw. I mean, that confidence that he has, and also when Fran was over doing a stare down, and we'll get to that, don't worry. When he was over there, it was Peyton Sanford in the huddle talking to the guys.

He is a real leader. Even as a sophomore, he's a real leader to this team, and he's got a little bit of that dog in him too. Well, and that's why, honestly, you kind of hit on all the different enjoyable people that are on this team. That's why this comeback to me really is that much more enjoyable. I did not want this team to end with such a negative note for the year. I mean, are they going to win the national title?

Absolutely not. They've got plenty of flaws, like you said, but they're a fun team. They really are a team that they play really hard. I mean, the Wisconsin game, we could hit the broad side of the barn and we were still in the game. I mean, at Michigan State, we could hit the broad side of the barn there. We're still in the game. This team, they've got some flaws, but they've got a toughness that some friends teams have lacked and it's across the board. I mean, they really do. That toughness is what won them the game. So real quick, Trent, we won't spend too much time on it, but I figure whenever we talk comeback,

we got to bring the return of Stat Boy for the first time. Oh, yes. Multiple months, because you're ready to talk comebacks? Yes. This is going to be a fun trip down memory lane. And boy, you didn't even give me a heads up on this one. So I'm looking forward to this. I didn't, my mind hasn't even gone to that point.

So I'll be like the listeners here. We can reminisce about some of the great comebacks. Well, no, you're not going to be like the listeners, Trent, because you're going to get quizzed here. You ready? Oh, okay. All right. Yes.

Here's the reason you're going to get quizzed. This is how old and forgetful you and I have become. I reached out to Statboy and said, hey, amazing comeback on Saturday. I'm talking to Trent tomorrow. Get me the info on maybe top 10 comebacks. And Statboy, who is way more knowledgeable and is a genius when it comes to this stuff, immediately went and found episode 85 of the Degenerate Hawkeyes, which was four years ago after the J-Bowl game against Northwestern

when we had this exact same conversation. Oh, okay. Great, great. So rather than have the exact same conversation, Trent, I'll quiz you. Yeah. We talked about 10 great Iowa comebacks in February of 2019 with the J-Bowl one being the most recent of those 10. So let's hear it, Trent. How many? And this is just for ease. It's starting with the Tom Davis era to now. We're not talking.

I'm not going to make you remember a comeback from before you were born or while you were in diapers. So I'll put you on the spot here, Trent. We talked about 10 of them back then. How many of the 10 can you think of? I think you can get at least six or seven just off the top of your head. Well, you have obviously the comeback against Illinois, the big comeback when I was still ranked number one, I believe, at the time. Number two.

Take that one down. That's number two in the all-time. No, we were number two. We were number two at the time. Okay, number two in the country. That's one,. And we were number two. We were number two. Okay. Number two in the country. That's one though. Yep.

Yep. One out of 10. So there's one of them. Uh, let's see another comeback. One that jumped to mind. I don't know if they came back and won this game. It was Justin Johnson hitting a bunch of threes against Indiana.

Did we come back? We did not win that game, but he hit like six threes in 90 seconds. So, uh, Yinka Daray, George Washington, come, comeback win in the Dr. Tom Aaron, the NCAA tournament. There's a second very good one, 1996, down 17 with eight minutes to go

in an NCAA game and ended on a 25-6 run. That was a very good one. All right, so we got a couple. And also, to go back, the Illinois game you referenced in 1987, we were 15-0, down 22 with 16 minutes to go against the number eight, flying a lion eye, and came back in one. So there's your recap of that one. There's two.

You got eight to go. So we crossed off two off the list. Well, Bohannon, you mentioned that one against Wisconsin. The J-Bow game was one of the ten. 2019, down 12 with under three minutes to go. And J-Bow goes off, hits the game. 2019, down 12 with under three minutes to go. And J-Bow goes off, hits the game winner at the buzzer. So three out of 10. If you can get at least two more, I'll start giving you some hints.

Well, do we count the one on Saturday? No, that's number 11. That's added to the list. That's added to the list. All right. There's a couple you should. There's one obvious, obvious one, Trent. Well, the Chris Street game.

The Chris Street, 1993. First game at Michigan State. you should there's one obvious obvious one trend because well the chris street game the chris street 1993 first game at michigan state down 15 with three and a half to go so there's four if you can get me one more i'll share the other five with you big comebacks i'm thinking through going through the ncaa tournament were we down to down to Oklahoma by double figures before the UNLV collapse and the Sweet 16? I don't think we were. If we were, we were down. I think we were down by six to eight, but it wasn't a 20-point comeback by any means. No, not at all.

There's a couple from your college years, two different ones from your college years. Oh, the Indiana game. Luke Recker, the comeback against Indiana. Yes. Thank you for recessing the memory a little bit. Yeah. Got to put that one there. All right.

That's five. Luke Recker, 2001, down 17 at the half. He comes out, hits three threes in a matter of 90 seconds. We storm back and win in Recker's triumphant battle against his home state school. So there's five. Do you feel confident anymore, or do you want me to walk you through the other five walk us through the other ones yeah there's there's nothing that jumps to mind at this point so and of course you're going to say them and i'm going to be kicking myself for not remembering but help me yeah i

think there's only one you're going to kick yourself on the first one we'll go back in time the first one's way back in 1987 the same year as the illinois game early in the year we went to the old great alaska shootout which was legendary at the time i think we'd be bill and nova that year somebody else in there okay yeah help me out northeastern that's who we that's who we so the funny thing is northeastern is who we played in the championship of the championship coach there theyoun was the coach there? They upset Villanova, I believe. Oh, okay. That's what it was. But we played NC State in the semifinals,

down 12 with two and a half minutes to go and came back and won. NC State was the bane of our existence in the 80s. Football and basketball. Two years later in 1989, the saddest game, the end of the Armstrong-H, Armstrong Horton marble era. That's a whole nother podcast. So that's six. Next one's the one I think you should have got.

At Fog Allen in 1998, the Kent McCausland game. Oh, yes. Yeah. There was a kid on my floor at Mayflower that he was a Kansas fan, grew up in Kansas City, and he always wore his Jayhawk gear. So I remember watching the game with him and definitely had a lot of chuckles at the end of that one and the big comeback. And then the following year happened in Carver and a nice win there. But yeah, Kent McCausland just going absolutely crazy. Yeah, Kansas had the longest

home winning streak in the nation at the time, down 18 with 13 to go, and we pull off the miracle on the back of the legendary Kent McCausland. The last three, Trent, I wouldn't expect you to remember them all. They're all within the last 10, 12 years, but the first of the three, by far the worst opponent, but the biggest comeback. Gardner Webb? Gardner Webb, baby. Down 23 and down 20 at the half. And came back to beat the legendary Gardner Webb squad, which Buckeye reminded me, or stopped by reminding me,

coached by Chris Holtman at the time. Yeah, that's right. Good pull on that one. I remember that game eight because he said bad opponent, and that jumped into mind. And I watched that one from the water park here in Des Mo des moines the indoor water park and uh found a little corner bar and was able to watch the game there oh what memories so last two on the list that we talked about and again this is back in 2019 so it doesn't count the indiana comeback this year but last two 2016

at purdue top 10 right purdue team We were down 19 and stormed back and actually won pretty easily at Mackey. We won like 70-63, but we were down 19 in the unbelievable second half. Was that the game that was like January 2nd? Because I think we were coming back from the Rose Bowl, if I remember, because I flipped it on my phone after we landed. We landed in St. Louis and watched the end of the game with Tom Kakert from Hawkeye Report as we were watching and walking and going landed. We landed in St. Louis and watched the end of the game with Tom Caker from Hawkeye Report as we were watching and walking and going to get our bags in St. Louis.

So if memory serves, that's when I won. I think we beat Michigan State right before that while we were in Pasadena and then right after we had the miracle comeback. And then the last on the list, two years after that, 2018 at Illinois. We were down 20. That was the year we were a bad, bad team. One of France's only bad team in the last seven, eight years. We were 0-5 to start the Big Ten and looking squarely at 0-6.

That was the team that lost every road game by like 20 that year. But somehow we miraculously came back and beat a good Illinois team down 20. So that's the 10, Trent. So you add in Saturday's Miracle. Here's the question for you. Where does Saturday's Miracle fit for you if you had to rank those 10 and then put Saturday's Miracle in there? I went through and did it, so I know where I have it listed. Where would you put it on the list? I know latest is always the greatest, right? Your most recent memories start to go up there.

The George Washington one, because it was in the NCAA tournament and they had Yinka Darre and they had that five foot four point guard too. And it was just because of the tournament that's going to be there. And it was also time. I mean, it was the nineties and it was a little different time. I was in high school at the time, but you were in college, right? And I'm sure that was a fun celebration after that one. That's going to be up there for me. But I mean, in terms of improbable factor, this is number one. I mean, there's no doubt about it. The improbable nature of this one, this one is going to, this is going to be one that I won't forget. When we do this in another four years, this one will certainly be a whole lot memorable. George Washington, NCAA tournament, big. Illinois, same kind of thing, just time

period. And that thing has resonated for a long time. It's definitely top three. I'd have to say out of this list, where'd you put it? I put it as four. I still think the Chris street one is number one. I should have put that up because of the, because of the circumstances. I had George Washington too. And then the Illinois 97 is three. And then this one falls in four just because the other three, I mean, the circumstances of those other three, I mean, the Chris Street game, an NCAA game,

and the greatest start in Iowa history. We were number two in the nation at the time. But as far as improbable, I think you're correct. It was number one. Because looking at the other numbers, almost all of them, the comeback started with three, three and a half, four minutes to go. And this one didn't start until literally 89 seconds to go. We were down 13 with 89 seconds and down, what, 10 with 40 seconds to go.

So improbable number one, but as far as like just historic, I'd say number four. No, if this ultimately is the difference in Iowa, they end up as a seven seed. And boy, that draws really good. And they get to the sweet 16 for the first time in 25 years. Then that also probably builds the lore a little bit more with it. I mean, it's the story's not done for this Iowa basketball team.

Now, if it ends in a thud, you know, they get beaten the first round again. And it just kind of ho-hum is just kind of a footnote. And what that team was really good at Carver that year and awful on the road. It's just going to be one of those footnotes. And remember that game that goes there. So still a lot more to be said, but oh, what a fun one. Biz, I've watched it, that final 90 seconds now, I don't know, a half dozen times already.

And I'm going to watch it a whole lot more. That's definitely one going to be part of the summer viewing also coming up this summer when you're looking for something Hawkeye and your Mets aren't playing, the Twins are off, and I'm looking for something in July. That's going to be on the DVR for a long time, I have a feeling. Yeah, put on the list of DVRs that you go back to five years later and watch again.

Well, Biz, we're going to take a quick timeout. We'll come back here. There was a whole lot more. It ends in a victory, but there were still some things that left you scratching your head. The defense was deplorable at times. It's also times Michigan State just making shots.

Also, the Fran stared down. We'll get Bez's thoughts on that when we come back here. Rolling through on a Tuesday. It's Lockdown Hawkeye. Stay right there. We're back with more in a moment. If you're looking for a delicious treat,

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They have the four bar boxes right now, cookies and cream, double chocolate, and coconut puffs. And if you're close to a Sam's Club, they got the big box there, the 13 bar box with their hip flavors, brownie batter, and churro. You can thank us later. Trenton Biz back with you again here on Locked On. Hawkeyes, as always, thanks for making

Locked On Hawkeyes your first listen every day. And I see you salivating over there. What, did you miss lunch? What's going on? So I'm just wondering, if you live down south, can you get milk bars at milk stores? Because isn't the milk bowl like a supermarket down there? It is.

I think it's actually, it's like a Kohl's. I think that's the kind of thing that it is, yeah. Can you get milk bars at a milk store? That's a good question. We'll check on that next time we make a trip south. Alright, Biz. The France stare down. I've said my piece. I had my tweet. I called it embarrassing.

I still agree. I think Fran agrees because he didn't want to talk about it after the game and said, I don't know what you're talking about. With a little chuckle in his voice when he was asked about it in the post game. I just saw it as a bad look, but I'm going gonna leave it open-ended to you your takeaway from that well i honestly i think there's two things that are embarrassing here the first thing is his friend's behavior it's embarrassing it's you know it's childish it reminds me of my six-year-old kid and how he acts

and it's that's the first thing that's embarrassing the second thing that's embarrassing is the number of quote-unquote Iowa fans who justify it and claim that because we came back and won it was somehow a great coaching move and that I just can't be any further from the truth the fact of the matter is Trent he quit coaching that team he was done coaching and you said it. Fortunately, Peyton Sanford was the adult in the room, and he got everybody together. And the other adult in the room was Tony Perkins,

who had to go stop Fran from going over and getting ejected from the game. And fortunately, he's got a mature team that handles themselves well in these situations because they won in spite of Fran McCaffrey on Saturday. They didn't win because of him. in these situations because they won in spite of Fran McCaffrey on Saturday. They didn't win because of him. You and I grew up in a town that had an unbelievable basketball coach and one of the best basketball players I've ever played with in my entire life. He was also a coach, but he also was prone to doing things like this every once in a while.

And I remember a game when he just stopped coaching and went and sat about the fourth row of the stands. I saw the exact same thing in a different game than the one that you're talking about and I remember at the time I mean as like a 16 year old kid thinking this is ridiculous act like an adult and I love the guy you love the guy you know but you can make mistakes and what frustrates me is that Fran just has no – there's no remorse at all for it. There's never a time when he's like, you know what, I shouldn't have done that. Because you know – I know, I'm a Fran apologist. I like Fran.

I think Fran – it's interesting to kind of go behind the curtain here. It's interesting to kind of go behind the curtain here. A few of our listeners, we're lucky. Trent and I have a group of 15 friends that talk about Iowa sports all together. We're all diehard Iowa fans. And most times Trent and I are the ones backing Fran in these situations. There's no backing him in this situation. It was embarrassing.

And it was embarrassing to the point where a few of our friends have gotten to the point where they're like, I'm done with Fran. I'm ready to move on from Fran. I'm not. But I really, really wish he would show some remorse from time to time. I wish he would, instead of giving the stupid smirk and acting like it didn't happen, I wish he, because he does such a good job of doing so many other things. Supporting his players, being a good person in the community. Building a competent basketball program. Exactly.

Building a program, identifying talent, those types of things. Like I said, if you made a pros and cons list, there's 20 pros about Fran McCaffrey, and there's one con, and that con is his continuing embarrassing behavior on a national level. And it's becoming worse, not better. And you and I know the administration in Iowa is never going to be the adult in the room and stop him. So I just wish he'd show just even a tiny bit of remorse and be like, you know what, if I had it to go back and do it again, I wouldn't do it Because that's what pisses me off. Because I think he thinks the same way some of these so-called fans do,

which is, yep, it worked. No, it didn't. It didn't work. You're just really lucky that Kelly Pfeiffer was the adult in the room also and didn't kick you out. Because we've won two games now in spite of our coach. The Indiana game, he should have got ejected. I was there.

I watched him walk over across over there. He should have got ejected. I was there. I watched him walk over across over there. He should have got ejected. In fact, he did get ejected. They gave him a second technical and then said, oops, never mind. And this game, he should have got ejected. From what he did, Kelly Pfeiffer should have ejected him. But, you know, I've ref for 20 years. Kelly Pfeiffer's a good official.

And there's some bad officials. Courtney Green. Courtney Green. I mean, there's a bad official in the Big Ten. And if you would have tried that against Courtney Green Courtney Green I mean there's a bad person the big 10 and if you want to try that against 40 green he would have been yeah yeah and and even some good officials have ejected him but Kelly Pfeiffer fortunately stayed calm and because if he takes one more step or Pfeiffer rightfully ejects him the whole story right now is all about freeing thank god the team came back and won, so we're not dealing with it.

And it's a secondary story. But it's going to cost us wins at some point. It should have cost us two already this year. And it just infuriates me that he stops coaching his team. And it happens regularly. And I just, I don't know. At some point in time, somebody's got to get through to him, whether it's one of his assistants, whoever it is.

The guy's like, hey, you're not helping the team in these situations. And it's embarrassing, but it's also embarrassing that we have a certain part of our fan base that likes it, that thinks, oh, that's a good thing. It's not a good thing. There's nothing good about what he did. It takes away from an amazing comeback. People still talk about the story, and it becomes a national joke because he shouldn't be.

He's a good guy and a good coach, and he makes himself look worse by doing these types of things. Like you said, Biz, I'm a friend defender. I like what this program is and what they've become, and their identity should be the great offense. You think back when people talked about Iowa basketball when we were growing up, and certainly in the Dr. Tom, it was about the full-court press, hard-working Iowa kids. This is what you know what you're going to have.

The flat 2-3 zone, and you're going to shoot threes over top of it, and that's going to drive us nuts. But you had an identity. The identity of Iowa basketball. People knew what it was for a 15 year run. Our identity, unfortunately today on a national scale is, oh yeah, the program with the psycho coach. That's how people nationally look at it. And every time one of these incidents happen, you're going to see the Seth Davises of the world, and you're going to see the national college basketball media and the Gary Parish and people like that. And what they're going to say

is not, wow, what a comeback. Ah, here goes Fran again, doing his thing. And that's the unfortunate part about it. Does it work? Well, that, not the stare down, just in general. His technicals work quite often. He does a good job of his team. And because he has his players back, it seems to motivate them.

I have no problem with the technicals most of the time, but it's these instances when it goes from freaking out, getting a technical, and your team comes back. When it goes to that next level, and that's what Saturday was with the stare down, was taking it to that next level, that's what I have a problem with. I love the passion. I love passionate coaches. I'm fine with that part of it.

It's just the angles when he goes to that level that just makes it makes it unseemly and makes Iowa basketball kind of a laughingstock when it comes to the National Empenia. When people talk about Hawkeye basketball, that's what they talk about. Well, and you hit the nail on the head because it really is. There's a fine line between getting a technical that I do think some of his technicals are strategic, but there are certain times when he's very lucky that Kyle Denning is there to tackle him.

I mean, that's basically his job is to get that guy, like you have on the sidelines for football. I mean, when he gets to the point when he can't, when he just loses his mind and he stops coaching, that's a problem. I mean, that is a problem that, again, is going to lose us a basketball game eventually. And it probably should have lost us a basketball game or two already this

year. But if you get to the point where you lose your mind to the point where you cannot coach anymore, you're hurting the team. And that's the fine line where he, I agree with everything you said, but the passion is good. The inability to control that passion sometimes is bad. With that, we will wrap things up on the other side here as we take a look at that Iowa baseball team,

a five and one start, including the win against number one LSU, a huge performance there. Brody Breck, wild. He was effectively wild in the game as they get it done against the top team in the country. We'll talk about that a little on the Iowa women's basketball team.

And what is the ceiling for this men's team? We'll do that when we come back here on Locked On Hawkeyes. Back with you one final time on the Locked On Hawkeyes podcast. As always, thanks for making Locked On Hawkeyes your first listen today. For your second listen, check out our brand new podcast. It's Locked On College Basketball with our experts Isaac Shade and Andy Pratt and bringing you everything you need to know on and off the floor.

Hear from the big names in the sport, coaches, players, all throughout the college basketball landscape with Locked On College Basketball available on YouTube and wherever you get podcasts. Biz, as we wrap things up here, you posed an interesting question, I thought, to me. We've talked a lot about this men's team. What is the upside? They've won, what, four, five improbable games now

in Carver-Hawkeye, well, four, and five when you throw the Wisconsin comeback to at least force overtime in that one, though they fell short in Carver back in December. They're great at home. On the road, though, they stink. They can't shoot it. They beat an average Clemson team in the neutral court,

but the other two games against TCU and Duke, they were run off the floor here. And this just in, they will not be playing men's games this year in Carver-Hawkeye Arena. So what do you see the upside? Because until I see something different on the road or a neutral venue, it's hard for me to believe that they could even win a game in the NCAA tournament. Yeah, I mean, I think the absolute ceiling for this team is probably the Sweet 16. I mean, if you could, if they make a Sweet 16, I hope everybody agrees that that would be phenomenal success. I mean, they've got too many flaws.

I mean, the thing is, Trent, we've talked about this before. This team can beat any team in the nation. There's not a team for a couple reasons. One, because they can score with anybody. Second, there's just not a great team this year. I mean, there was that stretch of three, four years in a row where we got, you know, we were a seven seed, eight seed, somewhere in there. And the second round, we just ran up against the Gonzagas and the Villanovas of the world that were just, I mean, they're going to beat us 95

times out of 100. Right now, there's not a great team right now. So they can beat anybody, but they've got too many flaws to realistically think they can string anybody, but they've got too many flaws to realistically think they can string together more than probably two wins in an NCAA tournament. And so the ceiling to me, the absolute upside is a sweet 16, but you know, things go really well.

They got, I mean, like you said, they got to shoot in those games because they're so offensive oriented. And, but you know, the same thing you said about Iowa basketball applies to a lot. Look at Maryland.

They're the exact same as us. Maryland's a totally different team at home as they are on the road. Iowa State's a totally different team as they are on the road. I mean, there's a lot of teams that are pretty flawed when they go on the road. So, you know, whoever we get to play in that, you know, we're going to be probably somewhere between a best-case six seed worst case scenario probably 10 or 11 seeds we're gonna be somewhere in that 6 11 7 10 8 9 seed we're gonna be playing someone flawed i mean somebody that's you know somebody that's got as many flaws as we do so you know i think this team if everything

falls together they can get to 16. But that's as far as they're going to go. They got too many flaws to make a run of 5, 6, 7 wins in a row. Let's hope it's in Des Moines. That'd be cool to see. And maybe get the shot against Kansas in Des Moines. That wouldn't be a bad thing in the round of 32. Obviously got to get there, but a lot still in front of them. Women's basketball, the Kaitlyn Clark shot coming off the screen.

First of all, how's the nano was able to set that screen and get her that free. Got to give a ton of credit to Monica for making that one, but you're Indiana. Aren't you double triple teaming her there? I mean, what are you doing? You can't let her question is your Indiana. Why the hell didn't you intend to miss the second free throw?

Absolutely. You've got the one of the top five players in the nation at the line. She looked over to the coach and was like, you want me to miss this? She told her no. No. I mean, Mackenzie Holmes could – this isn't some random person off the street. Mackenzie Holmes could easily intentionally miss that free throw, make them run after it, and then all of a sudden you got.7 instead of 1.5.

So, Indiana did a lot of dumb things, but that is a really good Indiana basketball team. They're excellent, aren't they? I mean, from a depth perspective. They might be, they're one of the few teams, I think, that can beat South Carolina. Yeah. I mean, their depth.

Their depth, one to five. I mean, there aren't many women's basketball teams that all five players, all five of your starters, can score 20 in a given day. And they definitely can. And they're, yeah. But, you know, yeah. Things had to go, a lot of things had to go right

for Iowa to win that game. Fortunately, they all did. So, yeah, capped off one hell of a weekend at Carver. We were certainly spoiled, and then as the men's game on Saturday is finishing up, I flip over and I see Iowa's up against LSU and not just beat LSU. I mean, they throttled 12-4.

They kept extending the lead. They were swinging the bats incredibly well. LSU has been practicing outside for a while. Not the case for this Hawkeye baseball team. I posed the question to a couple people to follow Iowa baseball a lot closer than I do and said, is this going to be a chance to be their best team since the last NCAA tournament team four years ago? And they said, absolutely. I mean, it has that kind of upside there. Brody Brecht was wild, but eight walks in the game, but he was able to get out of the jam in the first inning, loads up the bases and three straight strikeouts. He's really, really talented in this team. They got three good pitchers now at the top.

They got depth there and they can swing it a little bit. Should be a fun season this spring for the Hawkeye baseball team. Yeah. Unfortunately, as you learn every year with Iowa baseball, the margin of error is just so ridiculously thin. The purpose of these midweek games against random teams should be to get in

players 20 through 30 and get in some opportunities to play, but Iowa can't do that because you lose to one midweek game to Cornell. That looks a lot worse than, unfortunately, the one win against LSU. They got to keep winning.

The LSU win looks awesome for a week or so, but it's how last year was at Rutgers that was second in the conference, made the championship game, and still didn't make it. I mean, there's just zero respect for the Big Ten. I mean, hopefully it gets them a little bit of respect, but it doesn't matter.

They're going to win 65% of the game if they have any chance to get in. They will have an opportunity, it feels like, with this team. Coming up this weekend, they head down to South Alabama. The home opener happening on Tuesday, the 28th, against Loras, weather permitting. Then they go to South

Alabama, Invitational, Southern South Alabama, and Pepperdine await down there. And then they have a big series coming up in the beginning of March as they'll go down to Lubbock to take on Texas Tech. Had one game against them last year and had four errors in that game. Had an opportunity, obviously, to win that one,

but all important here for the baseball team. But good stuff there. Well, Biz, before we get out of here, you got a business beat for us this week. Yeah, my business beat goes back to the great Caitlin Clark, Trent. I know it's fashionable for Iowa people to freak out online about her being the National Player of the Year, but I feel like we're just being baited by trolls because I got news for everyone that's on this.

I'll just go ahead and call it, Trent. Kenna Clark is going to win the National Player of the Year award. Just because somebody has the audacity to put other names in an article to try to get clicks doesn't mean you have to get fired up and respond every time to that article. She's going to win it. She may win it unanimously. She's going to win it. I know you're mad that she didn't win it last year, but she's going to win it. She may win it unanimously. She's going to win it. I know you're mad that she didn't win it last year, but

she's going to win it this year. I will lock it up, guarantee it. We are a degenerate gambling podcast. Whatever the odds are, if there's odds about who's going to win, go ahead and bet it because she is going to win it. Quit worrying about it.

That's my business beat. Lock it up, guarantee it. She I quit worrying about it. So that's my business beat that lock it up, guarantee it. She is the national player of the year across the line, pretty much everywhere. I mean, every legitimate service, she is going to be the national player of the year this year.

So there you go. Lock it up, lock it up, throw the key away. I'm looking at our, our friends over at FanDuel. They do not have, they have the wooden award up for men's college basketball, but nothing for the women's game.

By the way, Zach Eadie, minus $10,000 to win the National Player of the Year. I guarantee, Trent, you can go find an article that talks about other options than Zach Eadie. Purdue fans probably aren't freaking out that someone else mentions Trace Jackson Davis or

whoever, Jew Timmy or people like that. The fact they're getting mentioned i mean they have a job to do they have a job to write articles they're told by their boss go write an article the national put it for the year just because they write the article doesn't mean you have to uh freak out about it she's going to win so uh don't take the bait that's my lot my lock of the year right there. Good stuff. Hey, Biz, we'll try again next week. We'll see what the schedule is. We'll have the Big Ten tournament bracket in front of us and making their way to Chicago this year.

Still a lot of scenarios. And even with the loss against Indiana, they're still not realistic, but a plausible way for Iowa to still get the double bye, which is crazy to think. But that's how jumbled up this thing is. Two games in front of us. It's Indiana, and then finishing up against Nebraska. Biz, have a good week.

Maybe somewhere between 5 and 8. We'll get the single bye. But that's... Like you said, there's scenarios, but be ready to play on Thursday. We'll be ready. Hopefully they are too. Go Hawks. Go Hawks.