Locked On Hawkeyes - Daily Podcast On Iowa Hawkeyes Football & Basketball - Iowa Football: Do the Hawkeyes have any hope vs. Michigan? Hoops thoughts

Episode Date: November 29, 2023

Trent Condon and Biz return in the latest Locked on Hawkeyes Podcast.Some thoughts on how this team got to 10 wins for the football season and why it should be celebrated and what the Hawkeyes did to overcome one of the most unlikely Iowa football seasons.Then a look at the Big Ten Championship game vs. Michigan and any hope that the Hawkeyes may have against the Wolverines.Locks of the Week presented by Fan Duel and thoughts on the spread in the Iowa/Michigan game.A look at the basketball team as they prepare for a huge week next week with Purdue, Iowa State and Michigan on tap.Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!LinkedInLinkedIn Jobs helps you find the qualified candidates you want to talk to, faster. Post your job for free at LinkedIn.com/LOCKEDONCOLLEGE. Terms and conditions apply.eBay MotorsWith all the parts you need at the prices you want, it’s easy to turn your car into the MVP and bring home that win. Keep your ride-or-die alive at EbayMotors.com. Eligible items only. Exclusions apply. eBay Guaranteed Fit only available to US customers.PrizePicksGo to PrizePicks.com/lockedoncollege and use code lockedoncollege for a first deposit match up to $100! Daily Fantasy Sports Made Easy!GametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONCOLLEGE for $20 off your first purchase.FanDuelScore early this NFL season with FanDuel, America’s Number One Sportsbook! Right now, NEW customers get ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY DOLLARS in BONUS BETS with any winning FIVE DOLLAR MONEYLINE BET! That’s A HUNDRED AND FIFTY BUCKS – if your team wins! Visit FanDuel.com/LOCKEDON to get started.FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

How did this Iowa football team win 10 games? Trenton Biz with you here on today's Locked On Podcast. We break it down and do the Hawkeyes have any hope against the Wolverines? We break it down. You are Locked On Hawkeyes, your daily podcast on the Iowa Hawkeyes. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Hey, welcome in. I'm Trent Condon.

That's Biz. And this is the Lockdown Hawkeyes podcast. Thanks for making Lockdown Hawkeyes your first listen every day. We're available wherever you find podcasts and you can also find us on YouTube. While you're there, make sure you hit that subscribe button. Helps us get in front of more Hawkeye fans. Today's episode is brought to you by PrizePix.

Go to prizepix.com slash LockedOnCollege and use code LockedOnCollege for a first deposit match up to $100. Daily fantasy sports made easy. Biz, good to see you again. Unfortunately, we'll not be seeing you in Indianapolis duty calls as Coach Bizgard will be manning the sidelines across Central Iowa over the weekend. I'll make sure to cheer extra hard and have a couple of beers beforehand for you. Yeah, it'd be the ultimate uh

kick in the gut to end the season that the one the one time i don't uh go chasing the hawks around expecting a miracle they actually actually pulled a miracle off but i'd be happy to uh happy to be wrong but but uh i figured i'd save the money this year because uh it's awesome that we're going to indy as we we'll talk about, Trent, the odds of us winning in Indy are not good. No, no, we'll get into that certainly here. Any hope at all against the Wolverines, and it is a tall, tall task. But before that, celebrating 10 wins with this team. And coming into the season, I think you were with me, Biz.

The expectations were very high. My FanDuel account certainly is paid out as I already got my Big Ten West Championship tickets that have been paid. So I put my money behind my mouth and invested in the Hawkeyes this year. I thought they were going to be a good team and they have been. But if you would have said before the season, you're going to lose your quarterback. You're going to lose your two all Big Ten tight ends. You're going to lose Cooper Dijon for the final couple of games of the season. The injuries that piled up, coupled with more futility offensively,

there's no way this team is winning 10 games, and yet here they are at 10-2 and a booth review away from being 11-1. Yeah, Trent, I mean, you know I don't tweet much, but usually my tweets consist of Hawks Day today, and that's about it. But after the win on Saturday, I tweeted out, we're never going to see a season like this ever again. I mean, I think you can make a clear argument that this was the craziest season of Iowa football ever.

I mean, go back to the very beginning. Before the season even starts, you've got the ridiculous gambling saga that was unique to only the Iowa schools, and then you've got the completely idiotic 25-point-per-game contract fiasco, which again was unique to only Gary Varda and the idiocy of his going out on a high note as an athletic director was the stupidest thing of all time. And then you get into the season, like you said, you lose your best four players. You have the fair catch BS.

You've got the in-season firing of the head coach's son. And somehow this team found a way to keep it all together. I mean, it's amazing. I mean, you look back at it. I'm not sure you could script, like a Hollywood script, you couldn't script a more ridiculous ending to this season, the way that it played out. I mean, the season ended with our backup kicker,

who was only on the roster because our original backup kicker was kicked off the team for betting on his own team steps in on a 20 degree day where he'd been sitting there doing nothing all day long except for freezing his butt off and steps out there and makes a 38 yard kick i mean it was a i didn't realize till afterwards just how ugly the kick was and it probably wouldn't have made it from 40 yards but i mean give that kid credit I mean yeah literally I've been sitting there on the sideline for three hours straight doing nothing and steps in and makes a 38 yard kick to to win the game and I mean that Nebraska game in general Trent the last two minutes especially was kind of a microcosm of the season just absolute chaos trying to find a way for it to fall apart, and the team

just wouldn't let it happen. I mean, you have to give a huge, huge, huge amount of credit to the guys on the field because, quite frankly, anybody that says the coaching staff helped win that game on Saturday wasn't watching. They tried to give that game away with a minute to go. The decision to call the timeout with 45 seconds to go, one of the stupidest coaching decisions of all time, and then you double down with an even dumber coaching decision of throwing a pass down the seam with a quarterback who's shown that's not a pass he can make regularly,

and especially isn't going to make it in third and 12 when they're sitting back and basically waiting for it to happen. So our coaching staff actively tried to lose that game but give a huge amount of credit to the players because from game one all year long they've shown up every single game and just competed their asses off and so I mean give me I mean to win 10 games given all the circumstances is amazing and as an Iowa fan, you've got to celebrate it. I mean, it doesn't happen all that often, especially going forward with the new Big Ten.

It's probably not going to happen more than once a decade, win 10 games a year. And so enjoy it. And honestly, the last month of the season, I really kind of sat back and just enjoyed the chaos for what it is. I mean, it's been a crazy ride, but looking back at it, you got to enjoy it. So, I mean, give credit to this team and we'll talk about it. I don't think they have a chance in hell on Saturday, but for now let's focus on the positives, which is an unbelievable Tim

Wynn season, given the circumstances. It really is. And you know, one of the reasons that I want to go to Indianapolis and I don't think I'm alone here. You mentioned the kind of way it's been over this last month. And after the firing of Brian Ferentz and him maintaining his job, though, through the end of the season, we talked about this after Chicago. It almost felt like a cleansing for the fan base. Look, we don't have to bitch back and forth anymore about Brian Ferentz and should he, shouldn't he, you know, those kind of things. That was lifted.

And after that has been lifted, I think you've seen a fan base that has just, but more, much more engaged and even in the ugliness has embraced the ugliness and been happy. Yes. It's not going to be pretty, but just taking what this team is for what they are and celebrating what it is. And I think it's been really a great thing for just the fan base in general to have that. And you really see Hawkeye fans everywhere let's move past all the complaining all the back and forth that we have and just celebrate which

has been one of the most ridiculous seasons in Iowa football history yeah and I think it's really I mean people finally have realized I mean you look at Florida State they lose just their quarterback and they're a totally different team I mean we've lost clearly our four best players i mean there's pretty clear i mean i'm not sure you can even make an argument i mean kate mcnamara all lache and cooper are our four best players i mean maybe you can make an argument for jay higgins or something of that nature given what he's done for this year but uh i mean pretty clear argument those are our four best players. And to lose all of them and to still find a way to get it done is pretty amazing. And, I mean, we talk about it all the time,

but it's another just absolute testament to Phil Parker and his amazingness. I mean, last year when Cooper went out mid-game, we were screwed. But this year when Cooper got injured five days before, you give Phil Parker five days to figure it out, that defense didn't look any different the last two games than it did with Cooper. I mean, they were amazing. They've given up – I saw a stat, they've given up three touchdowns

in the last six games. That's absurd. When you can do that, you're going to have a chance in any game. I mean, is our chance against Michigan high? Absolutely not. I mean, I saw somewhere they have a 97% chance of making the playoff, which means we've probably got a 3% chance of winning. And that sounds about right.

But, I mean, anytime you've got a defense like ours, if you've held teams to three touchdowns in six games, you've got a chance. And that they do. Well, we will get into how good of a chance Iowa has in this one. What's it going to take to knock off the Wolverines? It is a tall task and even taller with the injuries as we've talked about. Iowa, what's it going to take to pull off the shocker of the world? We'll do that as we continue.

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That's where you want to go. It's prizepix.com slash lockdowncollege. And make sure you use code LOCKDOWNCOllege for a first deposit match up to $100. PrizePix, daily fantasy sports made easy. Trenton Biz back with you once again here on the Locked On Hawkeyes podcast. Thanks for making Locked On Hawkeyes your first listen every day. Biz, seven o'clock, well, probably what, 725 before kickoff actually happens in Indianapolis, which means out there

eight o'clock in the Eastern time zone. It'll be a late night. That means a full day of getting well lubricated for the game for me. And it is Michigan. You were there two years ago, a game where I would try the halfback pass to a fullback. Didn't work. Opportunities. That game got away in the fourth quarter, but what was it? 14-3. They hung around for a while. That was a team that had their own limitations offensively the wheels really fell off in 2021 in the back half of the year on the offensive side of the football but this iowa team is different and what what would be the one glimmer of hope if you had to point at one thing that gives you just that every once in a while you know what maybe just maybe

what would it be? The defense. I mean, our defense against their – and more simple, the running games. I mean, to me, this game comes down to running the football. Both teams badly want to run the ball. And we have shown over the last six weeks, we take out the Illinois game. I mean, we've run the ball really well the last six weeks, we take out the Illinois game. I mean, we've run the ball really well the last six games. We've consistently ran the ball for over 100 yards.

You know, going back to the Wisconsin game, from that point forward, we've been a pretty good running team. And Michigan's run defense is not world – it's good. I mean, everything about Michigan is good. But if they have a weakness on defense, it's good i mean everything about michigan's good but if they have a weakness on defense it's run defense and that's i mean we talked about this going back to the wisconsin game and i think i said at the time i'm fine with us running the ball every single play against wisconsin going into that game and that's basically what we did i mean we very rarely especially the second half that's all we did and i'm fine with doing that again i mean i'm i'm truly fine with us running

the ball every play and punting i mean you go back two years ago you talked about it was a 14 to 3 game but I went back and look Trent Michigan's first eight possessions they had two huge plays they had the halfback pass for the touchdown and they had a 75 yard run for a touchdown their other six drives were zero points and four of the six were three and outs. I mean, if we can do something similar to that again where you just – I mean, Jim Harbaugh is nothing if he's not stubborn. He is a stubborn, stubborn guy, and he will continue to try to run on repeat. And I think you and I talked about it. Halfway through the year, I thought our run defense,

especially against Penn State, I was like, but we're just not very good at run defense. And, boy, that changed. our run defense, especially against Penn State, I was like, we're just not very good at run defense. Boy, that changed. Our run defense has just been phenomenal the last month. Our best hope is to make it

a... We run it, they run it, you make it a limited possession game where both teams only get the ball seven times in the game or whatever, and then you hope for some breaks. You hope to get lucky a couple times. Maybe you run that trick play, a similar trick play, and it works this time, or just create some turnovers. Everything has to go perfect for us to win the game. There's a reason they're 97%

likely to win the game. That 3% is why we're going there, and it's why you're going there. So, you know, let's be patient. Don't screw up. You know, punting truly is winning in this game. I mean, it's an indoor environment. Torrey Taylor should be able to punt for 50-plus yards a punt in that type of environment and just, you know, limit the big plays.

And, you know, if they do what Penn State did, if they drive 15 plays and 75 yards, so be it. We'll live with that. But you've got to limit the big plays, and you've got to make them just beat you with four or five yards at a time. Got to get lucky. The real key, Trent, honestly, is get off the field on third down.

I mean, you watch – I mean, Michigan is the king at getting to third and two or fourth and two. I mean, they will pound you and pound you and pound you and they're confident enough to go for it in those third and fourth down short situations. You got to stop on third down, whether it's third and two, third and three, you got to win those plays. You know, it would just be so much fun.

I mean, not just the angle of Cade McNamara and Eric Hall playing against their own team, but if this just team had a full compliment here. Think about it from the other perspective. If Michigan came into this game, Iowa was healthy, and J.J. McCarthy wasn't available, and Blake Corum wasn't available, and Wilson wasn't available, and one of their top defenders wasn't available. I mean, the conversation would be just so different. And as we talked about at the top, taking those four players away from Iowa, it's just, it's unthinkable, but put it in any perspective of any other team in college football. And you take away four players like that, Michigan all of a sudden looks pretty average, right? You take four players away like that. And it's just, it's so disappointing in a game like this with the national spotlight that yes, I would, if they would have got there with the full compliment of players, the jokes would have been the same. It's not like this offense would have been averaging 35 points a game or anything like

that. We know that, and it wouldn't be a different narrative, but there at least would be some hope going into this one. And he do feel bad because you know how important this would have been for McNamara and all to get a shot against Michigan. Well, the ironic thing is Trent, you know what the narrative would have been if all those, and you're right. I mean, if we had a full complement of players, it'd be a different discussion, but you know what the entire narrative would be this week. Can Brian Ferentz get 25 points? Because if we'd have been healthy, we probably would have averaged what 20, somewhere

around 25 points a game, somewhere in that, somewhere in that ballpark. We probably would have averaged, what, 20, somewhere around 25 points a game, somewhere in that ballpark. We were doing that through, you know, until McNamara got hurt, and we were in that area. So we'd probably be still – and if everybody's healthy, and we're, what, 11-1 coming into this game, Brian Ferentz obviously doesn't get fired midseason. And the conversation is, can you get to that 25 points?

I mean, that would be the narrative because that was the narrative up until he got fired i mean there was obviously people doing uh weekly uh you know the the hill climber going over the cliff with the 25 points every week and the drive to 325 that's exactly what we'd be talking about right now is you know where is the drive to 325 so uh honestly i i some ways, I kind of enjoy this narrative better than I do that narrative. Because like you said, that narrative just got so damn old that I'm happy to be celebrating a 10-2 season

and be looking at the positives rather than just be beating my head against the wall bitching about Brian all the time. Because that would have been the narrative. I mean, it really would have been. People would be talking about that still and talking about will he get fired won't he get fired should he get fired all those all those things and now we don't have to deal with that part so but in addition to the four players you mentioned I mean we're also the good news is we're getting

back it sounds like our center our right tackle and two wide receivers I mean that tells you just how crazy the injuries have been is I mean all those guys sound like they're going to be back. And, I mean, we need every man, every healthy person possible needs to be able to play. And, you know, having Caleb Brown and Deontay Vines can only help because, I mean, our playmakers are limited. At least with those two, you've got some options to consider for, you know, if you're going to run a trick play, if you're going to run a, you know, some sort of a flea flicker or something, at least having some

athletes on the field to run the play will help. That helps. Yeah. And Caleb Brown, you know, I, I mentioned this on the Monday podcast earlier this week, biz, I saw the play. It was right before the drop touchdown. He got absolutely crushed by Ornworth on a crossing pattern and sound like he was, dinged up. I don't think they've officially said a concussion, but you can see on that play. And, well, you can see why he dropped the ball. Because Caleb Brown, if I was going to win this football game,

I believe you're probably going to have to have a defensive score. I believe you're going to have to be, at minimum, plus two, probably plus three in turnover margin. You have to dominate special teams. And Caleb Brown's probably going to have to have a huge performance. You know, eight catches, a hundred yards, a touchdown, something like that. A couple of jet sweeps for 25, 30 yards. I mean, they're going to need that kind of performance. Somebody has got to step up in a big time way and out of the passing game, likely the only guy that can do it against this Michigan team is probably Caleb Brown.

Yeah. I mean, I think he's, he's clearly shown over the last month. He is our, our best athlete or best weapon. Hopefully he is fully healthy. It sounds like he's practicing. And if it was, you know, if he wasn't the concussion protocol, I would assume he wouldn't be practicing at all if he was still in it. So I was sure that means he's in the clear, but I mean, I don't know if we need to go plus two or plus three and and turnover margin we just can't be negative for the turnover margin because in michigan if we go into

a michigan doesn't turn the ball over they're they're just very sound with the football um but we just can't you know we can't make mistakes that's why like i said i mean to me i'm i'm fine with running the ball, running the ball, running the ball and just stay patient and either get into the fourth quarter and see what happens. But it, you know, we can't, what happened two years ago can't happen again. We can't give up the halfback pass. Can't give up the big run. We've got to keep them in front of us and, you know, can't happen.

Even what happened last week. I mean, defense was phenomenal, except for the one play. I mean, those types of things just can't give up the big run. We've got to keep them in front of us. Even what happened last week. Defense was phenomenal except for the one play. Those types of things just can't happen. It's a tall task. Like I said, we're basically asking to play perfect, but that's what it's going to take. That's where we are. We're going to make our pick for the game presented

by FanDuel when we come back. Also, our lock of the week, Biz. He hit his again last time we were together. I was on the losing side of it. We'll make our Lock of the Week and make our pick in the Iowa-Michigan game. We'll do that as we continue on the Locked On Hawkeyes podcast. Today's episode of Locked On Hawkeyes is brought to you by LinkedIn Jobs. When you're hiring for your small business,

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and make the process even easier and quicker. Post your job for free at linkedin.com slash lockdowncollege. Again, that's linkedin.com slash lockdowncollege to post your job for free. Terms and conditions apply. Trenton Biz back with you one final time on the Lockdown Hawkeyes podcast. As always, thanks for making Lockdown Hawkeyes your first listen every day.

All right, Biz, time for our lock of the week. There's been some interesting numbers that have also come out in the Iowa-Michigan game. I'm sure you saw that. First half numbers over under a half point. That is out there at a book out there. It's crazy, and it would still be difficult for me to bet the over on either half. Yeah, I've never seen that before, where in advance the over under on anything is a half. In game, you'll get that every once in a while, but before the game, I guess to me, there's two numbers I like.

One, I saw Michigan is 16-and-a-half over-under the first half. I like the under in that a lot. I just don't think Michigan's going to come out aggressive at all. I think Michigan's blueprint is going to be to copy what Penn State did against us, which is just bullying us. I mean, they're not going to want to make mistakes. They're not going to be to copy what Penn State did against us, which is just bully us. I mean, they're not going to want to make mistakes. They're not going to want to take risks. Either is going to come out and say, we're better than you,

and we're going to bully you. And I think they'll do something similar to what Penn State did, and they'll probably score 10 to 13 in the first half. So I really like the under in 16 and a half Michigan in the first half. If I had to pick, I'd say the second half over 0.5, just because I could see us getting some garbage time points late. Yeah. It might be, you know, but that's, again,

it's a sad state of affairs when you're offense, when you, when you get a, all you have to do is score a point and you don't feel confident about any of those bets. But yeah. But lock of the week, any of those bets. But, yeah. But lock of the week, Trent. I'm going to – this is kind of a homer pick, but as you know, my son goes to Boise State. Yes.

Boise State locked their way into the Mountain West Championship game. They're playing good football. They rallied under their interim coach. UNLV has stumbled to the finish line. So give me Boise minus two and a half. I think they're going to kick crap out of the Rebels. Really? All right.

Go into Vegas, right? That's in Vegas? Yeah. They've played really, really good football the last month. Getting the insider info from my son, he told me a week before that there were multiple guys that strongly disliked the head coach. I don't know if you follow Boise football at all but their best wide receiver just quit midway through the year and a couple other guys were threatening to quit and that's basically why

they uh fired him and since they fired him they went back to the they were doing a stupid two quarterback system and they stopped that and they brought in the the athletic quarterback and they basically become a run run run the ball down your throat team I mean they run the ball 90 percent of the time and they do it well so uh that's my it's my lock of the week which means uh I'm probably probably kiss of death so give me Boise minus two and a half all right my lock of the week I'm gonna go to the SEC championship game a lot of eyes are gonna be obviously on that one three o'clock central kickoff as Georgia takes on Alabama we've seen that this

throughout the course of the season. When Georgia has their head screwed on straight, they're incredibly good. In fact, they might be impossible to beat. Alabama obviously will have their attention. Alabama survives a week ago against Auburn. Though the improvements for Alabama have been significant, I don't know if they're significant enough to compete with this Georgia team. We've seen Carson Beck take a big step forward as well. I just don't think Alabama can keep up with them. So I'm going to take Georgia. I'll lay the five and a half and take the Bulldogs. I think I made that same bet two years ago, Trent. Oh, that didn't go well. I think it was very similar. I think we made that same argument, same everything, and then

Bama whooped him. All right, we get into the big one. 23 and a half is the similar. I think we had that same argument, same everything. And then Bama whooped him. All right, we get into the big one. 23 and a half is the number. I did find this one on FanDuel that maybe I might throw a couple of bucks on. First half tie, 15 to one. Can Iowa be 3-3, 7-7 at the half? Maybe. At 15 to one, I'm going to dabble on that one. a little bonus play there, and throw a couple of bucks on that one.

But as it pertains to the number, Biz, I just can't get there. I just cannot find a way where Iowa moves the football, puts anything up on the board enough to hang out. I think it's going to be a similar script to what we saw in the Penn State game late in the football game. And Michigan, as we saw in the championship game two years ago, they're not going to rest. With Harbaugh back on the sideline, this is going to be a team that is going to play for four quarters. And because of that, I'm going to lay it, give me the Wolverines minus the 23 and

a hook. All right, I'll take the other side, Trent. I think unlike two years ago, I think Michigan will rest. I think they will be very conservative in this game. I think they just want to get out of this with a W. I think two years ago, they were trying to send a message. They hadn't won a Big Ten title in however many years. I was there. It was a complete celebration. I mean, they were fired up to win a Big Ten title. This year, I think there's going to be some letdown a little bit from the Ohio State game. They might come out a little sluggish. I think we can fight with them, stay with them for, you know,

maybe like last time. I mean, it was 14-3 late in the third quarter last time, and then they put the pedal to the metal. And I don't think they'll do that this year. I really don't. I think it'll be a competitive game. I think they'll win relatively easily. But I think we can make it 24-3, 24-6,

something like that, and cover. But with the caveat that I'm not actually betting this game. Okay. So I don't in any way feel confident that we'll cover 23-1⁄2, but I see a world in which it happens. So I just – I don't think Harbaugh will run it up this time. I think he'll – if they get up by two touchdowns or more, I think they'll get their starters the heck out of the game,

and I think they'll just take their W and move on. But part of me, that's probably just my own hopefulness that we can keep it close. But I don't know. Again, I go back to the fact that this defense has given up three touchdowns in six games. I mean, that's amazing. That's an amazing stat.

And Michigan is not a juggernaut of an offense. I mean, even against teams like UNLV and teams like that earlier in the year, they weren't putting up 60, 70 points this year. I mean, they're a very, very good offense. But they are a methodical offense. They're not Ohio State with just absurd three, four wide receivers that are just going to beat you all over the field. They're going to pound it down our throats,

and I think we can, at least for a portion of the game, we can slow that down. Let's hope. Let's hope that you're right and at least get a four-quarter football game. That would be something, I think, to be celebrated, even with this Hawkeye team. A business final moment. Having said that, we are due for a Deacon Hill,

like foreign reception trainer. So I mean, there's a, he's pretty loose at the football and that's, that's probably not a good, probably not a good sign, but you know, my love for Deacon.

I still, I do until, until he has that fourth turnover game, I'm going to keep right. Keep riding. Deacon Hill, man, the guy,

he's been dealt a difficult hand this year and he's handled it really well. So, Until he has that fourth turnover game, I'm going to keep riding Deacon Hill, man. He's been dealt a difficult hand this year, and he's handled it really well. All right, Biz, last minute or two here. And quick hoops thoughts from you over Thanksgiving. Iowa loses on the men's side to Oklahoma, bounces back at Seton Hall. They take on North Florida tonight. They should dominate in that one before next week with Purdue and Iowa State on tap, Michigan after that. A really important week. And the women's side avenged their loss against Kansas State down in Florida. Yeah, you know, you and I are on a text chain with a group of friends

and we have multiple friends that really dislike the Iowa men's basketball team this year. I'm on the opposite side. I like this team. I came in with no expectations. I still think they've got some flaws, but they play hard. I mean, honestly, defensively, this is probably one of Fran's better teams in the last. I mean, the young guys especially, they at least put in an effort on defense. And I think Krikey's a pretty good defensive player.

And I don't know. I mean, they are what they are. They're not going to win the Big Ten. They're probably not going to make the NCAA tournament. But I think they're going to be competitive all year long, and I think they'll surprise some teams. And I don't know. If you came into this season expecting 20-plus wins,

then you're not going to like this team. But if you came into it and you look at it – I mean, I talked about it before. I just think every guy on this team has a role, and I think the young guys especially have some talent. I mean, look at this and i'm like hey this team they can keep everybody together and you know not have people enter the transfer portal i don't late this year early next year this team's got some talent they can be a good team down the road and the good uh good thing is also the Big Ten stinks this year. After Purdue, this conference is going to be bad, and there might be a real opportunity for this team to pile up 11,

maybe 12 wins in the conference and, at minimum, get to a tournament. That's a long way ahead. Biz, we will talk to you next week. Best of luck to the girls here in the capital city, and we'll talk to you next week. All right, go Hawks.