Locked On Hawkeyes - Daily Podcast On Iowa Hawkeyes Football & Basketball - Instant Reaction - Iowa Hoops falls at Ohio State

Episode Date: January 23, 2023

Trent Condon is back with an instant reaction podcast after Iowa falls to Ohio State on the road to the Buckeyes 93-77.A breakdown of what went wrong for the Hawkeyes in Columbus. Just how bad is this... Hawkeye offense? And can they get turned around before another tough trip, this time at Michigan State on Thursday night.Plus some thoughts on the Hawkeye women as they face Ohio State in a top 10 showdown on Monday and the wrestling team over the weekend.Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!LinkedInLinkedIn jobs helps you find the candidates you want to talk to, faster. Post your job for free at Linkedin.com/lockedoncollege Terms and conditions apply.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

Transcript
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Starting point is 00:00:00 The putrid Hawkeye defense shows up once again as they fall to Ohio State. Iowa searching for some answers here. And a house of whores coming up this week. Another road trip to the end zone, the Breslin Center in Michigan State. Iowa wrestling dominates up on Friday night. Then struggles on Sunday. Penn State up next for the Hawkeye wrestlers and the Iowa women with the huge matchup tonight as they take on Ohio State. We break it down here on Locked on Hawkeyes.
Starting point is 00:00:30 You are locked on Hawkeyes, your daily podcast on the Iowa Hawkeyes. Part of the Locked on Podcast Network, your team every day. Welcome in once again, I'm Trent Condon And this is the Locked On Hawkeyes Podcast Thanks for making Locked On Hawkeyes your first listen each and every day Available wherever you get podcasts And you can also find us on YouTube. Hit that subscribe button while you're there. Five-star ratings on the podcast side of things.
Starting point is 00:01:10 That's what we're looking for. Helps us get in front of more Hawkeye fans. Today's episode is brought to you by LinkedIn Jobs. LinkedIn Jobs helps you find the qualified candidates you want to talk to faster. Post your job for free at linkedin.com slash lockdown college. That's linkedin.com slash lockdown college to post your job for free. Terms and conditions apply. Well, it was an interesting weekend in Hawkeye world. No doubt about it. The women prepare for their matchup against Ohio State coming up this evening. We'll talk about
Starting point is 00:01:43 that a little bit later. Wrestlers take two meets, but definitely two different feelings come out of each of them. Great against Friday night against Nebraska, against Wisconsin on Sunday, not so much. We'll talk about that and take a look forward here this week as we'll preview the matchup against Penn State. But we kick things off talking Iowa men's basketball
Starting point is 00:02:01 as the Cagers had won four in a row, got through that stretch we talked about, the five-game stretch they had in front of them, including the Northwestern game that ultimately was postponed. They can get through that four and one feeling good. We can start talking about this team being an NCAA tournament team again. We can get that excitement level back up after what they had done, buried themselves 0-3 in the Big Ten.
Starting point is 00:02:23 The expectations start to rise once again. You go up against Ohio State, a wounded Buckeye team. Ohio State was not playing great basketball, though they lost five in a row. They were all close games. It's not like they were getting blown out, but still this was a wounded team. And Iowa had plenty of opportunities
Starting point is 00:02:39 early in this basketball game to grab control and maybe put them down you know get them down and get that doubt starting to creep in a little bit so iowa jumps out to an 8-2 lead remember then you get a bucket for the first two minutes of the game finally score get an 8-2 had the ball back had a good look and didn't hit it easily could have been 11-2 ohio state comes down hits a three and we're off and running now when you look at this game in its totality, the biggest piece was the Hawkeye defense struggled once again, and this is something that has always been something that is Iowa basketball under Fran McCaffrey. Look, they're an offensive team, an offensive system. That's what it's about more than anything. That's what Iowa works to do
Starting point is 00:03:19 is score and beat teams with their offense, and it's been plenty successful. I was one of a lot of games over the 13 years of Fran McCaffrey. And I get to the tournament, be a tournament team eight of the last 10 years. A lot to be commended about that. But on the other end of the floor was team struggling. And it struggled once again. Two-point game at halftime. Look, going to Columbus is not a difficult road trip in comparison to most of the Big Ten. It's a sleepy environment in comparison.
Starting point is 00:03:46 It's a big arena, but it's not loud. Student section's not, you know, in your face. It's not like you're going to see Thursday night, go to the Breslin Center. It's nothing like that. In an environment like that, to come out and have this kind of performance, you could tell after the game and really throughout the game. Ray McCaffrey was hugely disappointed with the team. Look, it's one thing to lose. This team was not going to rip off 16 in a row, right? We knew that was not going to be the game. Fran McCaffrey was hugely disappointed with the team. Look, it's one thing to lose.
Starting point is 00:04:05 This team was not going to rip off 16 in a row, right? We knew that was not going to be the case. There was going to be a loss coming at some point. This team is still too limited to anticipate that they were going to run off even 8, 10, 12 games in a row. It's just not realistic. And you knew this was going to be a difficult spot because, as we mentioned, Ohio State, desperate team,
Starting point is 00:04:24 knew that they had to get a victory. You look at what the Buckeyes have coming up for them next. When you look at their schedule as well, well, Ohio State now they have a road trip coming up at Illinois and at Indiana. That's their next two matchups Tuesday and Saturday of this week. So they knew they had to get this one. They did. I wouldn't play well. And you hate to simplify things just as simple as that. You didn't play very well because absolutely that was a piece of it. But to lose the way that you did, to get out hustled, to get beat on the glass, to not have the performance and not have the effort that you're looking for, that's where the frustration lies with this Iowa team. You just can't afford it. This team is not talented enough.
Starting point is 00:05:07 They're not good enough to be able to just show up, go through the motions, and be able to get road victories in the Big Ten against anybody. It's just not going to happen. It doesn't matter if you're talking about Ohio State or you're talking Purdue or you're going to the bottom of the league and you're talking about Minnesota. It's just not going to happen against these teams. We've already seen this this year.
Starting point is 00:05:21 Played poorly against Nebraska. They got blown out by a below-average Nebraska team that is the reality of this iowa basketball team but we're just just had three rebounds in the game i mean they they just need more out of him he plays 32 minutes that's all he gets of his worst performances chris murray was pretty good but they just couldn't get stops and even late in the game into the second half got it back within eight i think perkins hit a couple of free throws and just time and time out ohio state was dictating whatever they wanted to do on the offensive end of the floor for them likely comes in guy that can't shoot isn't much of an offensive player in general played a long time at oklahoma state watched a lot
Starting point is 00:06:03 of his games in the big 12 and he's just not an offensive threat. He's a defense guy. He's an energy guy. That's what he is. He's not good offensively. What does he do? He goes off for 18 points, hits a three-pointer, his first of the year. Ten rebounds, seven assists. One of those days. And that's what I want to chalk this up. Now, maybe this is me being more hopeful than anything that we're just going to chalk it up to just that. It was a bad afternoon. Hawkeyes played poorly. They'll bounce back and be ready to go Thursday against Michigan State. But you also have that lingering doubt. This team does not have a whole lot of offensive weapons. And the Tony Perkins that we saw last weekend against Maryland, he was not there again.
Starting point is 00:06:44 Did the schedule screw them up a little bit? Everything that was going into the Wednesday game against Northwestern, we go back, what, six, seven years ago to the beam that fell against Indiana, and the season kind of fell apart after that for the Hawkeyes. And you can point to that being the time being where that happened. We'll see. I'm not ready to go there. Now, do I remain optimistic about what's going to happen on Thursday night at Michigan State? I don't. You know what they're going to do. They're
Starting point is 00:07:10 going to clutch, and they're going to grab, and they're going to play that garbage style of basketball that isn't real basketball, and it's hideous to watch, and if the referees allow them to play that way, Iowa's going to get blown out. Now, if they call it tight, and Iowa gets to the free throw line 25, 30 times, and they call it the way that a basketball game should be called, then yeah, Iowa's got a chance. And they go in there. Because this is still not a great Michigan State team either. Iowa can compete with them on an even basis.
Starting point is 00:07:35 But that's where we are. And that's how we look at this. We'll get to that game as the week progresses. Back to what we saw on Saturday. I mentioned Tony Perkins, not great after what we saw before that. Aaron Uless was maybe one of the few bright spots, along with, of course, Chris Murray in the game. He played pretty well, hit a three-pointer.
Starting point is 00:07:53 He finishes with 12 points in the game, ran the team pretty well, didn't turn it over a ton in comparison to what we saw last, but he still had four turnovers. That was the other part. Talking about the lackadaisical defensive effort we saw out of this Hawkeye squad, well, we also saw a lot more turnovers than we're used to. Iowa had the fourth best turnover rate
Starting point is 00:08:12 in the country coming into the game. And they turn it over what, 15 times in the game? 14 times in the game? That's not the way Iowa can play. That's not the way they compete. Defense, that's number one. Awful. And here's some numbers for you with this Iowa team. Just take a look at how bad this team is defensively.
Starting point is 00:08:29 We've talked in the last couple of years. Last year, they're 80th in the country in defensive efficiency. 75, excuse me, the season before that. 97 back in 2020. 2019, 111. And then we go back to what at the time was the worst defense of the Fran McCaffrey era. That came in 2018. Iowa had some expectations coming into that year and completely fell on their face. They went 4-14 in the Big Ten. They lost to Louisiana Lafayette and South Dakota State in an exempt tournament. They were just bad and awful on the defensive end of the floor. It got better, but it's still not great by any means.
Starting point is 00:09:04 I mean, we are going towards that territory, though, of defensive efficiency that is that low. That was a team that had Tyler Cook, O'Hannon, Isaiah Moss. Those guys were sophomores on that team. Luka Garza, Jack Dungey were freshmen. Oh, another freshman on that team. It's just funny as I was looking at the numbers. Connor McCaffrey.
Starting point is 00:09:24 Yeah, that's right. That was his freshman year. But it seems like a billion years ago, right? You see these other guys out there have been playing professional basketball for years and years. See, Tyler Cook still bounced around doing his thing. And yet, there's Connor still out there and still trying to help out this Iowa basketball team. So we have that component of it. So Iowa mentioned 242 that season.
Starting point is 00:09:45 It's not that bad. It's 146, though, in the country. By far the worst defensive performance we've seen out of a team to this point in the season. You go back to the Eastern Illinois loss, it was the defense. You go to this game, it was the defense. Another metric, I always talk about Ken Pomeroy. Kenpom.com is a place you can go to see those numbers.
Starting point is 00:10:03 I was 35th in the country in his metrics. Another analytical base site is Bart Torvik, another math guy, college basketball guy. His numbers, though, not quite as high on Iowa. Has the Hawkeyes right now 48th in the country, still good offensively. His number's 8th in the country in offensive efficiency. But defensively, 185th. His number's usually a little bit different than what you see at Ken Pomeroy and if you don't want to pay for a Ken Pomeroy subscription part 12 it's free
Starting point is 00:10:30 there you go if you like to look at the advanced numbers like I do tells you a little bit gives you some glimpses into some things hey I don't need advanced numbers to see that defense was putrid on Saturday against the Buckeyes got to play a lot better on Thursday against Michigan State. When we come back, we're going to talk a little more basketball here. We're going to talk about the women's side of things as they prepare for Ohio State and a deeper dive into this Iowa team. What is in front of them? Michigan State, another tall task as they'll take on the Spartans on Thursday on the road.
Starting point is 00:11:01 But then after that, it's a chance to come back home. What can Iowa do? What does Iowa need to do to still be considered in the NCAA tournament and getting ready for that and have a push into February with a realistic shot to be an NCAA tournament team? We'll talk about that next here on Locked on Hawkeyes. Today's episode of the Locked on Hawkeyes podcast is brought to you by LinkedIn. LinkedIn business, a great place to go if you are a small business owner.
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Starting point is 00:12:42 LinkedIn Jobs helps you find the qualified candidates you want to talk to faster. Post your job for free at linkedin.com slash lockdowncollege. Again, linkedin.com slash lockdowncollege to post your job for free. Terms and conditions apply. Trent Conner back with you as we roll through on Lockdown Hawkeyes. Again, thanks for making Lockdown Hawkeyes your first listen each and every day. So now we look at what Iowa has in front of them. Yes, it's Michigan State.
Starting point is 00:13:09 The point spread is going to be right around, let's see, Sparty by three is what Ken Pomeroy has it for over at Bartovic. So it's not like they're a 12, 15-point underdog here. It's not a toss-up game, but they'll be a slight underdog. Got to play better. Gotta get stops. Iowa couldn't get stops on Saturday. It was just time in and time out.
Starting point is 00:13:30 Cut it down. Give yourself and they get a wide-open three, or they get to the rim, do whatever they want, or how many offensive rebounds did the Buckeyes have on Saturday? It gotta be better on the boards. And against an Izzo team, you know, that's gonna be a huge component of it, too. You have to play them, basically, even on the boards if you're going to have a chance,
Starting point is 00:13:47 unless you're shooting 60% from the floor and hitting 12, 14, 15, 3, something like that. So that's what's coming up on Thursday. After that, it is back home. The three-game homestand now after the postponement last week of the Northwestern game. They get three games being played in this fashion. Sunday, the 29th, it'll be against Rutgers. Tough. Rutgers going to be looking for payback.
Starting point is 00:14:13 We know that that game certainly was not their best that we saw this season. They're going to be ready to go. That's a difficult one. That is a one-point game, according to the analytics. 71-70 is what they have. That is Northwestern. We'll see Northwestern coming off this pause with COVID and the injuries that they've been dealing with.
Starting point is 00:14:30 We'll see. We'll get to see them. In fact, tonight, Northwestern plays Wisconsin, and that postponed game is they'll make that one up on Monday night, so we'll get to see that one. Then it's Illinois. And Illinois comes to town on the 4th of February. There's going to be a bunch of orange in the stands.
Starting point is 00:14:46 It's a sellout. Be ready, though. Illini fans are going to travel, and they're going to be there. And it's going to suck because they're loud, and they're annoying, whatever. They're going to be there doing their thing. So we have that part of it. And then, after that three-game homestand, it's a road trip to Purdue. Come on.
Starting point is 00:15:04 Purdue has not been a great place either for Iowa. No, what, 2016 coming off the Rose Bowl. I remember I was on my way back on a flight back to St. Louis is where we flew into and watching the end of that game. Tom Caker from hawkeyeairport.com, he was also on that flight. So we were walking through the airport and watching the end of that one as Iowa was able to find a win. But for the most part, going to Purdue, just like going to Michigan State, hasn't been great for Iowa basketball throughout the years.
Starting point is 00:15:32 So you put that kind of in the unwinnable category. So it's another five game set. We said before four and one is what you needed. They went four and oh, but now one of those games has moved here. Three at home, two on the road. I think three and two is a realistic goal for this team because after that stretch, the schedule definitely eases up. Now, if you put Purdue, part of the five games,
Starting point is 00:15:55 the last of the five, as a loss, well, that means you've got to go three and one now over the next four games. And remember, they're going to Michigan State. It shows you how important that homestand is going to be. Rutgers, Northwestern, and Illinois coming up next week, how huge that's going to be for this team if they're going to realistically be an NCAA tournament team.
Starting point is 00:16:15 Here's a dirty little secret. The Big Ten's not good this year. At Purdue, you can make an argument, one of the best teams in the country. After that, good luck. Good luck figuring out this league you know indiana was left for dead what they do they've ripped off a couple of victories in a row second place right now in the league is rutgers and michigan we saw that
Starting point is 00:16:33 michigan team they're not very good we've seen rutgers are those great teams so those teams in most years that you think about as a second best team the league not even close bubble teams sure something like that. Wisconsin's 4-3. They're not very good. Yeah, they beat Iowa. That was a billion years ago back in early December. Don't believe, certainly in Bucky.
Starting point is 00:16:53 So you look at this league as a whole. It's not strong compared to what we've seen a lot of other seasons. Now, as a conference, it's rated the second best in the country. Purdue, okay, they're good. Fine. Who else? Who else is sweet 16 good? I just don't see this conference being great. And because of that, you point to
Starting point is 00:17:28 boy, a 10-10 record. Well, yeah, 10-10 a lot of years is going to get you in the NCAA tournament. I don't think that's the case for this year's Iowa team. Because of the loss to Eastern Illinois, coupled with the Big Ten and the strength there, and with the right victory, sure. You still got the Big Ten tournament. You can do things there and improve your resume. I get all that, but
Starting point is 00:17:44 it just shows you. 10-10 is not going to be good enough this year. 11-9 with that loss. We'll see how things shake out. The good news is you look across college basketball, it's as wide open. We see Houston lose yesterday. They have been inconsistent, had a tight game a week or two ago
Starting point is 00:18:02 against UCF. They're not great. No, South Florida. But regardless, they're not great. Purdue, we talked about the Boilermakers. They're okay. I guess that would be fair to say. But do you think of them national championship good like some of the teams we've seen in the past? I'm not ready to go there. That's where we are in college basketball. Speaking of college basketball, for your second listen after Locked On, Hawkeyes, each and every day, make sure you check out our brand new podcast.
Starting point is 00:18:30 It's Locked On College Basketball. Everything you need to know about college basketball in one place. Hear from the big name experts, insiders, coaches, and players. Locked On College Basketball, available on YouTube and wherever you get podcasts. So we have all that going on. We have this Big Ten that feels open. It certainly spots, what, 2 through 13. You can make a compelling argument for most everybody.
Starting point is 00:18:56 Minnesota's the worst. Purdue's the best. And everything in between, good luck figuring it out. Here's Indiana, left for dead. All of a sudden, they're winning games. They're looking like a competent team once again. Trace Jackson Davis is playing as well as anybody in the Big Ten. Jalen Pickett of Penn State, for my money, I want that dude on my team.
Starting point is 00:19:14 He makes plays all over the place. Terrence Shannon, he's starting to pick it up now after they get rid of Sky Cullick at Illinois. Sensabaugh, we saw him. That dude is talented. I hope he's a one and done or get out of Buckeye land. Don't want to see him anymore. Huge stretch coming up for Iowa. We'll talk more about the Michigan State game. We got a crossover episode coming up later in the
Starting point is 00:19:34 week as we'll get the Sparty side of things and break things down coming up a little bit later on. Not just Iowa basketball this week, though. We got to talk about the women's team. A huge matchup tonight. Also on the road. Also against the Buckeyes. We got to talk about the women's team. A huge matchup tonight. Also on the road. Also against the Buckeyes. We'll break that thing down. Kaitlin Clark and company getting ready for a top 10 showdown against the undefeated Ohio State Buckeyes. That's coming your way.
Starting point is 00:19:59 Plus a little wrestling talk as we continue on Locked on Hawkeyes. Trey Conniff, back with you one final time on Lockdown Hawkeyes. Thanks for making Lockdown Hawkeyes your first listen each and every day. Hey, if you're on YouTube, hit that subscribe button. Check it out my ugly mug. If you're on the podcast side, five-star reviews, and it helps us get in front of more Hawkeye fans. As we continue, let's talk about some other things going on in the world of Hawkeye athletics, starting with
Starting point is 00:20:30 the women's team. We talked a little bit last week, tight win against Michigan State, not a great Sparty team on the women's side, but Iowa found a way late in that game. If you saw the play, if you're watching on BTN Plus, or if you saw the replay afterwards, so Iowa stacked up, trying to get the ball inbound and basically salt away the game in overtime. And as that's happening, there's jostling, there's grabbing. If you play at any level of basketball, you know all about this, right? Everybody's trying to get their position. Everybody's trying to get their spot in there. There's clutching, there's grabbing, there's all that stuff as you're just setting up for the inbound play. And as that's happening, Kaitlin Clark, her arm comes up,
Starting point is 00:21:08 and she smacks a Michigan State player in the face. Now, was it deliberate? Absolutely not. I don't think there is a chance in the world that Kaitlin Clark, in a tight game, one possession game, is going to smack a Michigan State player in the face. She's too smart to do something like that. And you also take it a step further, and you see her reaction when her hand hits her in the face.
Starting point is 00:21:28 You see there was absolutely zero malicious intent about that. Was she trying to shake free? Absolutely. Foul? Maybe. You can argue that. I would disagree with that. But come on.
Starting point is 00:21:39 To think that that was something that she did on purpose in a tight game. It's unthinkable. So they'd call it, they'd call it a flagrant foul on Kaitlyn Clark. Michigan State gets two free throws and the ball. Had a chance to win it at the horn with a three-pointer off the mark. Iowa survives, and that's the most important part. So it sets up the showdown against this Ohio State women's team. They're good.
Starting point is 00:22:05 Now, are they one of the best teams in the country? I'm not quite ready to go there. You look at their schedule that they played at this point. Certainly it's not on the upper echelon of the women's side. I mean, you look at women's basketball, South Carolina has separated themselves to a completely different level. I mean, they're playing at a level you just don't see. So you look at the net ratings right now, and this is what the selection committee uses for both the men's and women's side.
Starting point is 00:22:34 And right now, yes, it's South Carolina at the number one spot. No surprise at all. UConn is two, LSU at three, Stanford, Indiana. There's a Big Ten team that does have a loss on the year. You got to go all the way down to number eight. Kind of crazy that a team that's 19-0 playing in the Big Ten is down at eight in the NCAA net ratings. They're 10-0 at home this year.
Starting point is 00:22:57 Obviously undefeated, but just not a whole lot of depth and breadth to their resume at this point. They haven't played a schedule like Iowa's played at this point. Of course, Iowa State playing what they did earlier this year against UConn. They have not faced the kind of schedule that Iowa's had. It's going to be on the road. They're going to be fired up. Chance to play Kaitlin Clark, ESPN2. That's going to be awesome. We'll get more national coverage of this women's team, and more and more people will have an opportunity to get their eyes on them.
Starting point is 00:23:25 But, hey, give yourself a shot, right? And I think they got a real shot of pulling this one off. And that suddenly changes the narrative because if you lose this one, look, it's going to be incredibly difficult to win another regular season championship. You fall here, you're really putting yourself behind the eight ball. Had that loss a couple weekends ago against Illinois. Really going to struggle to get back there. But you look overall, this is the Big Ten women's standings going into play here this evening. had that loss a couple weekends ago against Illinois. Really going to struggle to get back there.
Starting point is 00:23:47 But you look overall, this is the Big Ten women's standings going into play here this evening. Ohio State, they're undefeated in conference play. Indiana and Iowa are both at 7-1. Maryland and Michigan, 6-2 behind them. And then you have Illinois at 5-3. Really, those six teams are your strongest teams. Illinois has done a great job of really completely revitalizing that program. Michigan's been solid here recently. We know what Brenda Freeze does
Starting point is 00:24:11 at Maryland, seemingly year in and year out. Indiana, that program has really improved throughout the last couple of seasons. And Ohio State has been a strong program for a long time with the Buckeyes. But Iowa, you win this one, you're the catbird seat then. I mean, you've got a great chance of getting another regular season crown. We can start talking about being not just a top four seed, playing a carver in the first second round, things like that. We can take it a step further when that happens.
Starting point is 00:24:37 And we can start talking about being a top two seed, being on the other side of the bracket from the South Carolinas and the Yukons and the LSUs in the world, because that's incredibly important. Look, if I was going to make a Final Four, they're going to get there for the first time in, what, 30 years? You're going to have to have a few breaks to get there. Look, you can't be in the same bracket as South Carolina. They're at such a different level. I saw a stat the other day. The South Carolina women have held something like 10 opponents for a quarter at single digits.
Starting point is 00:25:04 I mean, they're just absolutely nuts. What they do on the defensive end of the floor, the way they defend, how physical they play, the athleticism, they're in the lead level. So you got to have that. Be on the right side of the bracket, right? You don't want to be a four or five seed. You want to be a two or three, be on the bottom side of the bracket. Maybe, just maybe, there could be an upset that happens that one seed, short of South Carolina,
Starting point is 00:25:26 on the other side of the bracket. Because you have all those components. But to do that starts here. Get the win against the Buckeyes tonight. Think yourself a great chance of doing that. Iowa women are banged up right now. And it'll be interesting to see what Coach Bluter does here this evening. Hannah Stolke has been playing at such a high level here
Starting point is 00:25:44 over about three weeks now. Really coming on the freshman. Super talented. She's got an incredible future in front of her. But do you give her a first start against the undefeated Buckeyes on the road? That's why Coach Bluter
Starting point is 00:26:00 has paid the big bucks and we're just sitting here talking on a podcast, right? That should be fun. Finish up with some wrestling. So Iowa on Friday night had their full item, took out Nebraska. A Nebraska team I thought was going to push them a little bit, and Iowa wrestled so well. I mean, they were outstanding up and down the lineup. Everybody out there got to see Real Woods back out there wrestling. Of course, Spencer Lee takes on the top five opponent. We'll see two. Sticks him in 38 seconds. It was
Starting point is 00:26:30 great. And then Sunday, yesterday against Wisconsin, kind of a lethargic effort. Didn't have the full compliment. Didn't have all 10 guys out there. You anticipate we're going to see by Big Ten play. And a lot of the questions started to come back again about this Iowa wrestling team.
Starting point is 00:26:45 You know, how big the gap is between them, and they're still good. I mean, look, Iowa measures themselves by national championships, right? We knew coming into this year, Penn State was going to be loaded, and they proved that again this year. We'll get to see the Nittany Lions
Starting point is 00:27:00 coming up on Friday night in the duel. That gap, how big is it? It just felt like after their performance, great for Cassiopeia to get the win, clinches Iowa getting the victory in the duel and continues the undefeated run. But it just, it brought back after all the excitement of Friday night, it brought back for me a lot of that lingering doubt.
Starting point is 00:27:22 We're going to talk some more wrestling here later this week. Hopefully I can track down my buddy Cody Goodwin with the Register, the wrestling writer over there, talk a little bit more about this Iowa wrestling team. If you're a wrestling fan, yeah, I'm with you. Big wrestling fan. Wish I was a better wrestler. I was terrible at it. See you over my shoulder here.
Starting point is 00:27:36 We got the Carver at Kinnick Stadium when we had the outdoor meet against Oklahoma State. I was there for that one. One of my favorite Hawkeye memories. A great one there against the Cowboys and a lot of fun in a unseasonably warm duel in November. That was a great one. Love Iowa wrestling.
Starting point is 00:27:54 Love that Hawkeye team, but the gap. And what Penn State has done, gonna be a tall, tall hill. We'll talk about that a little bit more here later in the week. And some of that doubt started to creep in once again. Thanks again for making Locked On Hawkeyes your first listen today. For your second listen, check out our brand new podcast.
Starting point is 00:28:12 It's Locked On College Basketball. Our experts, Isaac Schottie and Andy Patt, bring you everything you need to know on and off the court. Plus hear from big name experts, coaches, and players throughout the basketball landscape. It's locked on college basketball available on YouTube and wherever you get podcasts. As we finish up here on locked on Hawkeyes.
Starting point is 00:28:35 Thanks for being with us. We'll be back with you here throughout the week. Sean's going to join us as camp has begun for Iowa football. It is weight training time. You're not working with coaches. It's not spring practice. We're going to go for Iowa football, it is weight training time. We're not working with coaches. It's not spring practice. We're going to go inside Iowa football, talk to a former player, LaShawn Daniels, as he joins us each and every week, get his perspective on things
Starting point is 00:28:54 and how things are looking, what these guys are going through right now. We'll break things down. Obviously, Ohio State, Iowa on the west side, Michigan State, Iowa on the men's side, and get ready for that Iowa-Penn State wrestling duel. It's a busy time. Plus, you know me. We'll always sprinkle in a little football talk. As football, we'll get some in there, no doubt, going forward.
Starting point is 00:29:15 Thanks again for making Lockdown Hawkeyes your first listen each and every day. Back with you tomorrow. Go Hawks.

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