Locked On Hawkeyes - Daily Podcast On Iowa Hawkeyes Football & Basketball - How Does Iowa Upset Ohio State? Crossover with Locked on Buckeyes

Episode Date: October 3, 2024

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It's a crossover edition of Locked On Hawkeyes and Locked On Buckeyes. Myself, Trent Conant, joined by Jay Stevens. As we get ready for the big matchup, we thought maybe this was going to be a top 20, maybe top 15 matchup. Well, Iowa did what Iowa does at times and loses to Iowa State a couple of weeks ago. But it is still a big matchup in the Big Ten and excited to get into it. Jay, good to see you once again. We're ready for this one once again. Hawkeyes and Buckeyes. I got family bragging rights on the line. This is always a fun matchup. We got memories of some great victories for Iowa.

They're not very plentiful, but they're great memories for us. How are you doing today? I'm doing well, man. The one big thing about this game is that it's played in the shoe. If this was played in the black hole over there in Iowa, I would be a little bit nervous. We joked about that win Iowa had, what was that, almost 10 years ago now? About six, seven, eight years ago. I forget exactly how long ago it was. But this game's played in Ohio.

It's in Columbus. And so I'm feeling really good about that part of the matchup. But then looking on the field and the X's and O's and also just the stories of both teams, they're different. Both teams are talented, but Ohio State's talent is head and shoulders above what Iowa has right now. There's no doubt about it. And, you know, the best team money can buy. In the past, that was a shot in college athletics. Now it was, it's just reality. And that's the reality that we're obviously going through at this point. So before we get too deep into things, as we got kind of both sides of the rivalry going up here, I want to get your perspective. Just the season has gone for you guys as you kind of put a cap on the first third of the season. Haven't been pushed by any means. There's been a couple of shaky moments, but a bad first quarter in week one. Michigan State was able to move the football a week ago at times but that exactly it that is you put maybe a grade on the first

third of the season the way that you look at things and where the Buckeyes are with obviously those big national championship aspirations I would put a grade on it Trent I put give them an A I'm not going A plus I'm a really tough grader there's a reason why I won't give them an A plus but big picture Ohio State's taking care of business. They have been able to do a lot of different things offensively. We all marvel at teams that can run the traditional triple

option. Well, Ohio State's triple option of the RPO, when now you have a quarterback that's a legitimate run threat, that's something that I don't know if there's a defensive college football that can take that away from Ohio State. Iowa's defense is good, but I think Ohio State offensively will just be able to wear them down over time and be able to win by a big margin at the end of the day. Defensively, the defense is good. The rush defense has been the highlight of the

safeties or two of the best safeties in the country. They're actually one of the best duos between Latham Ransom and Caleb Downs in the country as well. The weak part is the linebackers. And that's one reason why I don't give the Buckeyes an A plus. Yes, you're undefeated. So you're automatically going to get an A there. But defensively, and you talked about it against Michigan State, but even the week before that, or I think the week before that against Marshall, both of those teams started to expose a little bit about Ohio State's secondary.

The thing Marshall did was quick passes, zero step and one step drop. Michigan State, on the other hand, they were getting Aiden Childs to move a little bit, getting him off of the spot. Ohio State wasn't putting a whole lot of pressure on him at times, and he was able to get chunk plays. So we saw in two games against opponents that aren't going to make the playoff, the Buckeyes secondary struggled early, but as the game went on, the Buckeyes just sucked the life out of both opponents.

Hopefully from the Iowa perspective, it will be a step up. You know, for us this season, it's been at times frustrating. The defense has still been really good. The rush defense, as it is seemingly every year now, has been outstanding. And against Ohio State, obviously you got to stop the run before anything else happens. We'll get into those talented wide receivers here in a moment, but you go back and I'm sure a lot of Buckeye fans are wondering, well, how do you lose that game at home to Iowa State? They dominated the football game for three and a half quarters. And it was one bad read, one bad play by Cade McNamara

that really turned the tide on that one. I was up 13-0 at the half. It should have been 21-0. They had the ball twice inside the three-yard line, only got two field goals out of that, and since then they've changed things of what they do inside the 10-yard line and got with Brendan Sullivan, the former Northwestern quarterback who's become the red zone quarterback, if you will, and taken over for McNamara. But McNamara up 13-0. They get

a turnover. They get the ball in a short field. He just makes a throw that there was nothing there. He guessed instead of actually made a read. It was interception. A couple of plays later, Iowa Skates scored a touchdown. And just like that, it was a ball game. And eventually, Iowa lost that one. They dominated the game, but they lost it. And rivalry games, weird things happen. You guys know that also. Even in a game that you should win, it can go the other direction. I don't see it as some kind of indictment that this is not the exact same team that we saw come in.

But this is an Iowa team that is still on the defensive side of the football. Incredibly good. They're going to stop the run. Their linebacker crew is as good as anybody in college football with what they have with Nick Jackson and Jay Higgins. There's talent on the back end of the defense, and Phil Parker is as good as anybody as a defensive coordinator of what they do. But really the conversation with Iowa this year has been about seemingly

they've turned the page. Now this is an offense that, at minimum, is competent. And that's a step forward. We know the defense is good. We know special teams are good. But what's been the problem the last couple of years against the elite teams? They haven't had any semblance of an offense. With what Caleb Johnson's doing, what this ground game is doing,

they can now move the football. And if Cade McNamara's just okay through the air, Caleb Johnson has proven he can do it. It doesn't matter if it's an eight-man box. He's seen it plenty of times. In fact, he's averaging over eight yards of carry this year against eight-man boxes. I know it's different against Ohio State. I know this is a much more talented team, but Caleb Johnson has proven it. And I don't know if you saw earlier this week during the player press conferences on Tuesday with Iowa football, he's an Ohio kid and he, uh, he had something might be bulletin board material, but he said, well, even if Ohio state would offer it, he wouldn't want to

go there because he likes to beat the big dog. He doesn't want to be the big dog. He wants to go out and be there. I'm not sure if it'll be on the locker room there on the bulletin board, but a little bit of motivation, I'm sure for the Buckeye side there at Ohio kid, maybe talk a little junk. You know, I did see that and I didn't go back and dive into why Ohio state didn't offer him. Was it the three-star tag there? Well, Chris Alave was a three-star, so I wouldn't buy into that. That was a narrative, but I don't know exactly what the thing was. I do know he probably wants a whole lot more carries and he would have gotten at Ohio state. Maybe Ohio state got a wind of that during his recruitment and they said, eh, we're not going to do it.

We know you're an Ohio kid. He goes to Iowa. He's doing a great job of running the ball. As I was preparing for this show and for the game on Saturday, of course, you got to highlight the running back, a guy who's one of the best backs in the country. And I'm thinking, Ohio State has their hands full. I know how good the defensive line is,

and Talik Williams should be back this week. So that's going to really fix the issues on the interior of the Buckeyes defensive line. Linebacker player, Jim Knowles and James Lord-Nitus, if they play the right guys at linebacker, that should fix some of that stuff there as well. But I also understand why he says, I want to beat Ohio State. If he said, I want to beat Ohio State in high school, it hits a little bit different because you're a high school recruit trying to go and play college football. You're the opponent that Ohio State is playing this weekend. So of course you're going to say,

I want to beat Ohio State, but not picking them. That's a little weird to me. I literally did a show about that today and got a lot of traction about that one because that's generally not something you hear a recruit say. If Ohio State offered me i wouldn't have picked them man please if i'm a recruit i could be the number one kid in the country if i get a offer from ohio state that means something but he's like i wouldn't pick them okay cool like multiple material i don't think they need anymore i think they're fired up anyway plus and you when you got that quarterback at Iowa that was at Michigan that started the whole three-game losing streak against the Wolverines, that's fuel enough.

But, hey, Caleb Johnson started talking. He put some stuff out there for the Buckeyes to use as fuel, and I hope they do it on Saturday, man. I really hope that the run defense, which has been a bright spot for the Buckeyes all year, really says, oh, you're one of the best backs in the country? We're going to shut you down today. So I'm an old timer. I'm an old guy now. And I remember very vividly Tavian Banks, a great running back for the Hawkeyes back in the 90s,

played a long time in the NFL, a knee injury, cut short, but I think would have been an even better NFL career. But Tavian Banks came into the season. He was on fire. First four games of the year, he was leading the country in rushing. He rushed for 314 yards in one game against Tulsa. He went up there and then he ran into Andy Cutts, Moyer, and the rest of that Buckeye defense. It did not go very well for Tavian that day. And unfortunately, from my perspective, I could see something very similar happening here. Speaking of that, Jay, we're going to get into the game a little bit more. And if I was going to hang around, if this turns into a four-quarter game, I kind of want to get your perspective and I'll give you my perspective

of what it's going to take for Iowa to actually make this a football game. And I think a big part of it is not Caleb Johnson. Yeah, he's probably going to have to break one. He's probably going to have to have one of those big runs in there somewhere, but it's going to have to be a whole lot more because as you said, this rush defense for Ohio State's been very good. They're currently, what, fourth in the country in rush defense, just over 60 yards per game. It's going to take more. So we'll talk about that a little bit more.

We'll get into this game a little bit deeper and some perspective of what it's going to take for us actually to be entertained by the time we get into the late afternoon as the sun starts to descend on Saturday. It's a crossover edition of Locked On Hawkeyes and Locked On Buckeyes. We continue here in a moment. Stay right there. Today's episode of this Locked On crossover edition is brought to you by FanDuel. NFL fans, you can start the season with a big return on FanDuel. It's America's number one sportsbook. So when you get the hunch in the middle of the game, you can check out the

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Get a hunch in the middle of the game and place your first bet on FanDuel. $200 in bonus bets guaranteed when you place your first $5 bet. Just visit FanDuel.com. Just visit Fanduel.com. That's Fanduel.com. Back with you once again here on a crossover edition of Locked on Hawkeyes and Locked on Buckeyes. Myself, Trent Condon, joined by Jay Stevens as we go through and take a look at the matchup that we have coming up this weekend

with Ohio State and Iowa from the shoe, 2.30 kickoff Central Time, 3.30 Eastern. So, Jay, I've been to Columbus a couple of different times. I was there in 2005. That was after Iowa obliterated the Buckeyes in 2004. Drew Tate was spiking the balls. He was getting sacked all over the field. That was ugly. I was there in 2009, the de facto Big Ten Championship game, Before Drew Tate was spiking the balls, he was getting sacked all over the field. That was ugly.

I was there in 2009, the de facto Big Ten championship game. Before we got the Big Ten championship game, an absolute epic went to overtime. The Buckeyes ultimately prevailed here. So the question becomes, if I was going to hang around, from your perspective, what's it going to take? If we're sitting there going into the fourth quarter, Buckeyes, oh boy, we got a ball game here what in your mind would Iowa have to do or maybe Ohio State have to do poorly for this to turn into a four-quarter game so my first thought with this is look at the Iowa Hawkeye offense

everyone knows who's going to get the ball who's going to be the focus that Ohio State's defense is focusing on Caden McNamara is going to have to do some things himself if iowa wants to keep it close have a chance to win i don't think iowa if they win the game is going to win by 10 plus points i mean literally a one score victory is probably where you're going to find seven points or less because i was just not the team's not made up to blow out a team like Ohio State Ohio State's also just too good for that so I think it's going to be more Cade McNamara what can he do with his arm I don't think he's able to do that much I don't even think it's Kirk Ferentz is the offense that's going to hold him back I think Cade McNamara holds himself back himself if Ohio State's able to get penetration

on the pulling guards and tackles as i'm watching i'm seeing what i was doing it's not just five guys or six guys or seven guys just going straight hat on a hat and moving the line these big boys are moving over there in iowa and so they are opening up lanes for caleb johnson to move and to run and he's a very patient runner and he's also great if he gets hit the backfield he's probably not going down that's one of the best things I find about him is his yards after contact. At the first contact, I don't know the exact number, but I guess it's over 300 because he is just one of those guys. You get your hands on him, you better wrap up and squeeze and not let go

because if you don't, he's getting right past you. I see all that to go back to Cade McNamara. And I do that because he has to. You're not going to beat Ohio State with one dimension. Other schools have tried. Marshall is more of an offense that tried a little bit. Michigan State was trying to do some things, both in the air and on the ground, didn't work out.

I also had to figure out something through the air. I don't think they're going to be able to train. I don't think you're – I be able to train. I don't think you're, you're, I think you're probably thinking the same thing that even though it's Kate McNamara, he has to do a lot of things. Well, maybe play the game of his life for this to actually be an Iowa victory.

Neither one of us believe he's able to do that. So in Iowa lore, the 2017 game, 55, 24, that's going to stand there for a long time. I mean, that's going to be remembered for Hawkeye fans, certainly as long as I live. And I know I'm not alone on that one. Well,

people remember the tight ends were a dominating performance in that game, but also a big part of that is what happened in the first play of the game. JT Barrett picked off pick six, Amari Hoker went the other way for a pick six. I was probably going to need something like that. They're going to have special teams that have to dominate. They're going to have to have a defensive score. They're going to have to do it, but it's not going to be in that kind of game. I think if I was going to go in there into Columbus and at least hang around, it's got to be low scoring, slugfest, that kind of game,

where it is Caleb Johnson. Instead of that three-yard gain, it turns into a six-yard gain. Instead of an eight-yard gain, Oh, he gets 18 on that play as he breaks the tackle and you're just eating up the clock. I would can't play toe to toe with Ohio state and try to beat them in a 60 minute football game. But if you kind of condense it down and make it like a 45 minute football game, yeah, maybe something goofy happens there. Look, I'm not optimistic that that's going to happen. And the reason that you brought up is Caden McNamara, his ability. He's going to have to do some things.

We just haven't seen that ability out of him over the last year and a half. He is so limited as a thrower at this point. The injuries have really piled up. And we've seen that a lot of times throughout the course of this season, even dating back to last season as he was playing injured before eventually the ACL tear. He's so limited physically. You'll see him throwing off his back foot a ton. He's just not confident to step in those throws.

Kit McNamara has never been a guy that's known for arm strength. That is not his strength at any means. And now you take a guy that is limited in arm strength, and now he's not confident stepping into all of his throws. You get into things. And then when you're talking about that defensive backfield, the quickness that Ohio State has on the back end, that's a recipe for a disaster.

Look, if I was going to hang around in my mind, I think it's going to be Caleb Johnson not running for 200 yards because that's ridiculous. It's going to be like a game where he runs 32 times for 117 yards, something like that, where it's just grind it out, grind it out. We get a little bit of Jazzy on Patterson, his backup running back that looked really good two weeks ago in Minnesota the last time out for them.

Something like that, you get a defensive score or a short field after an interception or a fumble. I mean, those are the kind of things that are going to have to happen. You're asking for a lot. I mean, we're really talking of things that are going to have to happen. You're asking for a lot. I mean, we're really talking about threading the needle here. That's how Ohio State is. But here's a question kind of going a step further. If we would get to that point, Ohio State hasn't been tested.

I know this group has a lot of, obviously, confidence coming back after a lost season and what these guys are. You go to Ohio State, you have obviously a lot of background here. But if it does turn into a four-quarter game, could you see all of a sudden the Buckeyes maybe starting to tighten up a little bit? Yeah, I could. Honestly, I truly could. Not so much defensively tighten up.

Well, it goes back to the linebackers. I can see the linebackers tightening up in a big way. I think offensively, though though the one question i had about will howard was can he win the games with his arm so far he hasn't really been pushed to do that he's been able to have 260 270 through the air he's also he's also throwing a lot of short intermediate passes where he's allowed his fast guys to get in space and to get a lot of yards after the catch. And this is one of those games where, you know, Iowa's defense is going to be very, very solid.

And you highlighted the two linebackers that are the top two tacklers for the Hawkeyes defense. Those two guys might be able to confuse Will Howard and force him to make decisions that he doesn't want to make. I mean, literally a week ago, he threw an interception. The ball was intended for Mecca Bucca. When he threw the ball, I'm literally thinking in my head, who is he throwing the balls to?

Because all I saw was Green. Green guy caught the ball. They didn't score. Well, I think Michigan State did score on that drive. Because I believe they had a one-play drive. And Ohio State was going to score. Interception was thrown. Will Howard, I don't know man i think this is a game where will howard can but he hasn't shown it here

the luxury is you got jeremiah smith if you didn't have any other receiver on your team you got number four but with the other receivers on your team, no, you can't double cover him. If you double cover him, the guy's going to get drafted into the NFL. It's going to be a one-on-one coverage. So I do think it's going to be up to Will Howard. They can win a game if it's tight late. But I'm a little nervous about that if it's Will Howard needing to make throws for the Buckeyes to win.

Got to get there from the Iowa perspective. And that's going to be the difficult part, obviously, about this for Iowa, is just to hang around for a while, make it a conversation. So one more thing for you kind of on this front is we're just talking about Iowa hanging around. I don't think any of us are optimistic that's going to happen. But if it does, is I mentioned this earlier on Lock Hawkeyes you know the fan base here the last couple of years and I don't think I'm alone and I had a lot of people commenting about just this you know when you guys think about probably Iowa is you see the upsets that we pulled

over the last 10-15 years and the last couple of years against the best of the best Michigan in the Big Ten championship game two of the last three years. Last year against Penn State when we played you guys a couple of years ago. It just got so ugly and that's just not Iowa football. It's not the Iowa football that we've grown accustomed to and it was because the offense had grown so bad and we had the idiot offensive coordinator Brian Ferentz who didn't know his ass from his elbow and he was awful and he didn't know how to game plan. He didn't know how to scheme. And when injuries happened, it just got worse and worse and worse. And now at least we feel like we have competency as an offensive coordinator.

It's not the coach's kid. It's actually somebody that knows what they're doing in Tim Lester. And it kind of renews a little bit of that hope. We're not as talented as you guys. The likelihood is if this is a standard 60-minute game, you're going to win and win comfortably. a standard 60 minute game, you're going to win and win comfortably. But if something goofy happens, you just hang around. You just never know. And I feel a little bit of that from the Iowa fan base right now. If we can just get back to that,

make a play, have somebody have McNamara make a pass. All it is. How about Luke Lachey? You know, dad's up there in the radio booth watching down and all of a sudden up the seam, there goes Luke for a big yardage one. We go back to 1987, one of the few times that I was one. Marv Cook going up and making the game winning touchdown in that one. If we go back to way back in history to do that and you get that, that's been so beaten out of the Iowa fan base here the last couple of years because the offense has been that bad. And it's not to say that they're great by any means right now, but can they at least be confident? That's one part of this that gives that glimmer of hope. It's not a big hope by any means, but something to keep an eye on. Well, Jay, we got a lot more to talk about

here as we break things down. We're going to make our predictions of this football game, and I got a basketball question for you as well. We got a lot of crossover. Speaking of crossover here, with Iowa and Ohio State basketball, some things going on right now with the McCaffrey family from the Iowa perspective, and your former coach there with that model. We'll talk about that. Get ready for a little basketball

as we wrap up here, and give our predictions for the game. This is a crossover edition. It's Locked On Hawkeyes and Locked On Buckeyes. Back with you one final time on Locked On Hawkeyes, Locked On Buckeyes, a crossover edition here. Trent Condon on the Hawkeyes side, Jay Stevens on the Buckeye side.

So, Jay, prediction time. And I told you before we started recording. Look, I was trying last segment just to lay out all the different ways that it's going to happen. And Iowa hangs around. And I won't be surprised if they do. But eventually, Ohio State, I believe, is too talented. I look at just top of the top – I'm looking for weak spots.

The weak spots I come up with is, well, the linebackers are young. They're talented, but they're young. Yes. And Will Howard. Short of that, though, there just isn't a whole lot there. I see this being something in the range of 31-13, comfortable victory, maybe around that point spread, maybe 38-10, something in that range of 31-13, comfortable victory, maybe around that point spread, maybe 38-10, something in that range.

I think Ohio State wins it and wins it relatively comfortably. I know there's a path for Iowa, but it's really hard to come up with it. Where do you see this game going on Saturday? Kind of similar to the Michigan State game where it has a weird feel early on where Ohio State fans are kind of scratching their heads saying what is going on. Ohio State's probably going to have 20 plus points by the end of the first half. Iowa's going to have a touchdown and Buckeye fans are going to have this feeling of is Iowa going to pull this off? This guy's already got 75 yards in the first half.

We know he's one of the best backs in the country. He comes in here, and Ohio State's not able to slow him down. He's building confidence going into the halftime. But I think a big defensive stop for Ohio State, similar to the Michigan State game, is going to be what's going to propel Ohio State to ultimately win this game 38-10. That's actually been my score prediction all week long. I do just think it's too much firepower. You have too many weapons on offense. Defensively, though, I am looking at the linebackers, and I haven't really done as much talking up on Buckeyes as I need to about the linebackers, because with them

being the weakest link, they are young. They are inexperienced, but I think Ohio State's trying to do some things with them right now that they shouldn't do. Just play your best, guys. You shouldn't just be rolling guys out there to get them reps right now, to get them game reps, to see how they perform on Sunday. No, just go ahead and play the best guys. You play the best guys.

Ohio State should win this thing comfortably. Even though I think I was going to score a touchdown and a field goal, I still don't think that the Hawkeyes should ever feel comfortable with the game it should always be always climbing uphill a very steep hill and right when you think you're almost to the top it gets even steeper you realize oh this thing is a whole lot higher and taller and tougher than i thought it was going to be because ohio state just that good. Talent alone can win games, but I think the talent with the chemistry that Ohio State has right now is a formula that Iowa will not be able to handle. One final thing on the football front is something that I know gains traction on the gambling front. As we talked about our friends

with FanDuel, 19 and a half currently the number, 44 and a half is the over-under. It's the look-ahead factor. And I know there's a lot of handicappers that make that a big part of that. We know what awaits Ohio State next week with the trip out to Oregon. It's hard to believe that they'd be overlooking,

but we see that happen so many times in college football, where it does happen there. Was that asked at all to the players this week? I I mean it almost feels like it's kind of one of those narratives that you know the beat writers are kind of looking for there do you do you sense at all that there that that could be a factor with obviously Oregon a week yeah it's realistically a factor I don't believe that this team this year is looking ahead. Ryan Day, Chip Kelly, Jim Knowles, they're all focused on one school this week. However, the one look-ahead thing is Michigan. I don't think the look-ahead is going to be Oregon.

I think the look-ahead could be that 12th game of the year Thanksgiving weekend where you're looking ahead to that game because that game is just completely different. But when it goes to looking ahead to Oregon, I don't think it's a look ahead. These guys are too seasoned. They've been playing too much ball to know that looking ahead could be disastrous in this current week. So I don't think it's really a look ahead factor there.

The linebackers, though, we go to that youth once again. They are playing guys in an R.V.O. reset that hasn't played college football that long. Sonny Stiles playing a new position. Cody Simon played a long time, but he's just a solid guy, not an elite guy. He is just solid. So there could be some of the younger guys that could look ahead. However, those younger guys are very, very mature. So if they happen to have a little look ahead feeling in them, I think the older guys, the old heads in the room will say,

hey, this ain't that. You can't do that. Focus on the team at hand. This is a really good Iowa team. And if they happen to look ahead in the moment in the game on Saturday, I think we can feel it. I think we'll be able to see that and sense that while watching it, but I still think they're not looking ahead.

Ryan Day's focused on Iowa, focused on winning this game. All his energy and effort is focused on that game on Saturday afternoon. And then after that, it's then turning the page to Oregon, a really good Ducks team. One final thing for you, Jay. We were talking a little basketball before we came on. So you got Jake Diebler taking over there with Ohio State. We've butted heads here recently the last couple of years with Basketball Front.

So yesterday the preseason poll came out from the Indianapolis Star and the Columbus Dispatch with the media members that were there in Indianapolis. Buckeyes were picked to finish eighth. Iowa was picked to finish 11th. We've seen some fun matchups between these two teams. I look at both of the programs. I think both of them are kind of underrated coming into the season. I certainly think Iowa's going to be an NCAA tournament team. I think the Buckeyes are comfortably certainly in the top half of this league. And I know it's a new conversation with

18 teams now in the league. Is there any buzz for Ohio State? I know football is king in Ohio. I get that. I completely understand it. And we have the same kind of thing here in the state of Iowa. But what kind of buzz do you guys have with the Buckeyes going into the season? A lot of buzz right now. I had a lot of key transfer coming in. The names escaped me because I'm so entrenched in the football talk right now. Had a transfer from Duke, a transfer from Kentucky. Both of those guys are going to start this year. Also had a transfer from South Carolina, Amici Johnson, who started his college basketball career at Ohio State.

He's an Ohio kid, was a Buckeye, left and came back. But you also got Bruce Thornton, who was a preseason All-Big Ten guy. And I do think he is the kind of lead guard that you'd need if you want to make a deep tournament run. Ohio State has not made it out of the first weekend of the tournament in a very long time. Holtman never did it. So you're going back to the bad modern days to realize

when the last time that that actually happened. I think Deeb was the kind of coach, if the vibe I'm getting right now, of very intense. These guys are working very hard on the fundamentals and going the extra mile in practice, if that is sustainable, December, January, and February, and Ohio State does not fall into the same trap of losing almost every Big Ten game in January,

Ohio State will make some noise, not just make noise in the conference. I mean, nationally, they could easily be a top 25 team with a lot of momentum heading into the big dance i'm not ready to say they'll make it the sweet 16 right now it's a big bowl prediction without seeing them play ball but i think d was the kind of coach that can lead them to make that happen this year gonna be a fun year we'll see you guys on january 27th in this new edition of the big 10 with 18 teams and make sure you don't finish

towards the bottom or you won't be making your way to the big 10 tournament. Hey Jay, always fun catching up with you, talking some football and a little basketball here at the end should be an interesting one. I've told you I've been to Columbus a couple of different times. Now your fan base overall, I'll tell you it's a little bit different, but I've been to Alabama, Tennessee. I've been there in Bryant-Denny. I've been there. I've been to every outside of the newbies in the Big Ten, every Big Ten stadium.

I've been to about half the Big 12. I've been to four SEC places. I will tell you it has never been as loud as it's been there in Columbus. That place is absolutely crazy. Let's hope Caleb Johnson and company can keep you guys quiet this weekend. Yeah, man, I'm looking forward to the game itself. Caleb Johnson, I think he's going to score the one touchdown. I think the Hawkeyes are going to score.

The Buckeye fans are going to be wild and crazy and going to have a little look of courage when it be the 3.30 in the afternoon kickoff there at Eastern time. But I do think the Buckeye fans are ready for this. They've been looking forward to a tougher test in the Big Ten slate. Danny Cannell made a comment in the offseason. I'm going to make this quick about Ohio State needing to play somebody with a pulse.

He was correct. Their non-conference slate was weak. Buckeye fans are a little upset about it. Why? He was just saying what was true, and he was doing a betting segment about Ohio State who gets clicks. So, of course, he's going to make a big, bold quote about that. It's just what he has to do.

But also, I think as the Buckeyes start playing teams with the pulse, Michigan State has one. Iowa definitely has one. I think people around the country are going to see Ohio State's dominating not just the G5 schools, but even the good schools in the conference as well. I think you're exactly right. I think Ohio State wins this one and eventually pulls away and gets the victory in the cover of that 19.5.

Jay Stephens with Locked On Buckeyes. I'm Trent Cotten, Locked On Buckeyes. Thanks for making Locked On Buckeyes or Locked On Buckeyes your first listen every day. Catch us again on Friday. We'll be both back with you on each of your podcast feeds. And thanks for being with us here today. We'll talk to you again tomorrow.

Until then, well, for Jay, he'll say go Bucs. I'll say go Hawks. We'll talk to you tomorrow.