Locked On Hawkeyes - Daily Podcast On Iowa Hawkeyes Football & Basketball - Iowa Hawkeyes' Kirk Ferentz Era: This Is The End
Episode Date: October 24, 2024The Iowa Hawkeyes football team faces a critical moment after a shocking loss to Michigan State, marking one of the most challenging defeats in the Kirk Ferentz era. With quarterback Cade McNamara und...er scrutiny, questions arise about his ability to lead the offense and whether a change is imminent. The episode explores the potential end of Ferentz's tenure, drawing parallels with other legendary coaches, and examines the tough road ahead with Iowa's challenging schedule. Meanwhile, optimism surrounds the Iowa Hawkeyes basketball teams, as key players gear up for a promising season despite limited national attention.Will the Hawkeyes overcome these hurdles, or is a new chapter on the horizon? Tune in for an engaging discussion on the future of Iowa sports.For your next listen, check out the Locked On College Football podcast! From NIL deals to never ending conference realignment rumors, Spencer McLaughlin gets you ready for an exciting season on the gridiron! Click HERE to listen now. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network. Your Team. Every Day.Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!ROYDownload Roy for iOS or Android and enter referral code LOCKED ON and you’ll automatically be entered into a sweepstakes to win $5,000 cash. Visit JoinRoy.com for additional details. No purchase necessary, void where prohibited. Get off the sidelines and into the NIL game with Roy.ZBiotics Pre AlcoholGo to zbiotics.com/LOCKEDONCOLLEGE to learn more and get 15% off your first order when you use LOCKEDONCOLLEGE at checkout. ZBiotics is backed with 100% money back guarantee so if you’re unsatisfied for any reason, they’ll refund your money, no questions asked.PrizePicksDownload the PrizePicks app today and use code LOCKEDONCOLLEGE and get $50 instantly when you play $5! You don't even need to win to receive the $50 bonus, it's guaranteed! Prizepicks. Run Your Game.https://prizepicks.onelink.me/LME0/LOCKEDONCOLLEGELinkedInThese days every new potential hire can feel like a high stakes wager for your small business. That’s why LinkedIn Jobs helps find the right people for your team, faster and for free. Post your job for free at LinkedIn.com/LOCKEDONCOLLEGE. Terms and conditions apply.GametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONCOLLEGE for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Download Gametime today. What time is it? Gametime.FanDuelYou can start the season with a big return on FanDuel. Place your first FIVE DOLLAR bet and you’ll get started with TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS in BONUS BETS - guaranteed ! Visit FANDUEL.COM 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)
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Discussion (0)
there's a big question.
What's going to happen at the end of the Kirk Ferentz era?
We break it down today.
We got biz with us.
It's locked on Hawkeyes.
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Biz, good to see you again. And boy, off a pitiful performance. And I haven't gone through
and ranked them, but it's got to definitely be up there. Some of the worst losses in the Kirk Ferentz era, losing that one,
kind of what was on the line, what was still available
for this Iowa football team.
That one stung Saturday night against Michigan State.
Yeah, I sent the trend, Trent.
I think I've been on three times this year,
and I think it's been after all three losses.
I brought good luck because we bounced back from all three losses
and played significantly better.
I think I came on before Minnesota, before Washington,
and now before Northwestern.
So, you know, maybe we'll keep that trend going.
But I'd sure like to come on and talk about more positive things.
But, yeah, that was – I don't know what the hell that was on Saturday.
It wasn't what we're accustomed to. And, you know, I don't know. There's a lot on Saturday. It wasn't what we're accustomed to.
And, you know, I don't know.
There's a lot of red flags to talk about from Saturday.
That just looked like a team that, I mean, from the very get-go,
it just looked like a team that didn't seem to be,
they seemed disinterested almost.
There wasn't a lot of energy at any point on defense.
And, you know, offense that first half was a complete debacle.
So, yeah, not good.
We start with the first half of the game, and Cade McNamara really struggled.
It did sound like there was a potential of a change in the opening drive of the second half,
changed that as they marched down the field and get a score and get right back into the football game.
But I was of the belief that Cade McNamara was shaking off the rust, that we were seeing at least incremental improvements that made you believe that at minimum he could become an average quarterback.
Now, as we kind of go through things, the guy that we saw at Michigan certainly is never coming back.
And the guy that I will believe that they're going to get, I don't think is there.
he's never coming back and the guy that i will believe that they're going to get i don't think is there it's one thing to you know just have some limitations physically throws things that
you just can't make but he's missing easy throws he's missing wide open things and these are the
same conversations we had with the previous longtime starter in spencer petrus just can't
make the makeables and in the iowa scheme, you just can't afford that. That was hideous in the first half
and though it was better,
major concerns right now and in a season that looks
like to be a lost season, I know a lot of
people clamoring, obviously, for a quarterback change.
Yeah, and I don't want to
spend a lot of time talking about the quarterback because
honestly, it's such low-hanging fruit at this
point. I mean, everybody agrees that
he's just not very good.
I've talked about it in the past. I thought the big difference that Cave was going to bring to this program was I
thought he had like a, I thought he had a confidence and a swagger about himself early last year. You
know, going to Iowa State, I just, you know, I thought he really handled himself really well
and was a great leader in that game. I don't know what happened when he got injured last year, but
that confidence and that swagger is gone and it ain't coming back at this point. He just looks less than
confident in the pocket, and he just looks like he's, you know, he is what he is at this point.
And so, you know, we all know his limitations. He's not a good running quarterback. He's not
ever been the world's strongest armed quarterback.
So if you're not those things, then you better have some confidence
and some, you know, some swagger to you.
I mean, all you got to do is look two hours to the west to see exactly that.
I mean, Rocco Beck played like crap for most of that game last week.
But his confidence and his swagger won that game for them.
He just never – he never backed down,
and he wasn't going to let them lose that game.
And right now that's just not there with Matt Kamara.
So I don't know if it was there with Sullivan either, but there's just –
I don't know.
Right now, I want to spend a lot more time talking about the defense
than I do the quarterback.
Because the quarterback, like I said, the quarterback's a low-hanging fruit.
Everybody agrees on that.
But to me, the much bigger issue from Saturday night is the defense.
So you bring back nine starters from a year ago.
There were obviously Cooper Dajin moves on. We knew that was going to happen.
But Logan Lee and Joey the Bull Evans, I guess they were that important.
The lack of a pass rush, the lack of physicality in the back end, guys that have played football that just aren't bringing out of the same level.
And we see Quinn Schulte, I think, continuing to struggle
and not looking like the guy we saw a couple of years ago.
Is it just physically he's taken too much?
And the guy that actually showed a little pop,
showed that he was more than just a walk-on, try-hard kid.
There seemed to be more early in his career than there is now
when you go through this roster,
not being able to figure out the second quarterback spot.
There's just so many concerns, so many cracks,
and 19 missed tackles, according to Pro Football Focus,
in the game against Michigan State.
That's not Iowa football.
I think what you're seeing, Trent, I mean, you talked about nine starters,
and a lot of them are 60-year guys that are 23, 24 years old.
I think what you're seeing with a lot of those guys is that they've maxed out
their potential.
I mean, they're guys that, you know, they're good football players,
but they're also 24 years old at this point.
They are what they are, and, you know,
they haven't taken a step forward this year.
You know, guys likero and higgins and
schulte and all those guys they're good football players but they haven't i mean i think what we're
seeing is this team have one absolute superstar on defense last year and a bunch of other really good
defensive players and obviously the superstar left for the n, and the rest of good players are still here,
but we don't have that superstar on defense.
We don't have the Cooper Dejean.
We don't have the – go back to Epinesa days.
I mean, we're getting zero pressure on the quarterback right now,
and that's a huge problem.
And so when you don't have a superstar on your defense,
you better be incredibly sound all across the board,
and we're not right now.
We don't have that second quarterback position,
and quite frankly, our safety has been bad.
I mean, Wampa's not very good.
Schulte's not very good.
I mean, we just haven't been very good on the back end.
And when you combine being not very good on the back end
with not being able to get a pass rush, you get what happens Saturday night.
You get picked apart by an average quarterback.
So, you know, you talked about this at the very beginning, Trent.
What happened on Saturday night just doesn't happen with Iowa football very much.
It's one of the worst losses in the last decade.
I went back and looked.
How many times do you think in the last decade
have we lost by double digits
to any unranked teams?
Five?
Three.
Three times. This is the fourth.
Three times. Two of them were
back-to-back in 2021.
We'd come off a huge win
against Penn State. Purdue and Wisconsin back-to-back. Those. We'd come off a huge win against Penn State, and then we lost to Purdue and Wisconsin back-to-back.
That was kind of the beginning of the end for Iowa's
offense. We went into a complete tank of offensive performance
since then. The third one is the one that's really interesting, and I think
is probably the most accurate comparison to what happened
Saturday night. You go back 10 years ago 2014 it's a game that i think most people probably tried to scrub for
their memory but you remember going up to uh the gophers and getting stomped 51 to 14 yes yeah
really really cold day up there i believe uh ricks and Boner were in the end zone and on TV a couple of times
that day.
Yeah.
I mean,
to me,
there's a lot of similarities to that game,
to what we saw on Saturday,
because that team in 2014 was,
was six and two going into that game.
They were not bad.
They were a team that had shown some promise.
Had actually been playing.
Okay.
And they had,
you know,
a lot of things to play for
going up there and they went up and just got stomped and I remember about that game we just
looked completely unprepared on defense you know if you remember that was the game Minnesota ran a
ton of jet sweeps and a lot of uh you know screens just stuff to get out on the perimeter and we
looked clueless and that never happens with Iowa defense until Saturday night we look clueless again we just looked like Michigan State was one step ahead of us every step
along the way I mean we looked like we were completely shocked by Charles's ability to pass
the ball and I think we were so worried about his ability to scramble that we didn't put we didn't
blitz him didn't get him uncomfortable at all, and that's what happened. So, you know, that 2014 team, after that loss,
things went south pretty quickly.
That's the year that we ended up losing three straight games.
We lost to Nebraska at the end of the year in overtime,
and then you had the huge, you know,
the offseason of complete controversy with, you know,
we had the quarterback controversy of, you know,
Rudak and Beathard, you know, a lot of similarities.
And I just worry, you know,
I worry about what's going to happen with this team the next five weeks.
It's not that, like I said, there's a lot of red flags from Saturday,
but the defense's lack of, lack of, I don't know defense's lack of preparation or desire or whatever you want to call it just
did not seem so un-Iowa-like.
I don't know what the answer is, but I think there's some concerns.
Schedule is set up in a way where Iowa can go on a run, but if they don't, it's going to be some bad
losses in there and the negativity is going to build. Well, Biz and I were around
when we were in college at the time of the transition from the Hayden Fry era to the Kirk Ferentz era.
We asked the question, how does the Kirk Ferentz era end? We'll talk about that
as we continue. It's Lockdown Hawkeyes. We're back with more here in a moment.
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Trenton Biz back with you here on the Locked On Hawkeyes podcast.
Thanks for making Locked On Hawkeyes your first listen every day.
Biz, the big question that we're all wondering.
Kirk Ferentz is 69 years old.
He'll be 70 by the start of next season.
When will it end?
How will it end?
A lot going on.
I equated, of course, the end of the Hayden era.
Now, there were health concerns that were happening at that time.
He was battling cancer that maybe led to the decision for him to walk away a little bit easier, maybe not even
easier, but just the transition became apparent that it was going to happen. Kurt, healthy,
out there, energy appears to be good. How does the Kurt Ferentz era end?
How does the Kirk Ferentz era end?
Yeah, I don't know.
I worry it's not going to end well.
You know, the thing, I think the thing that's obvious, Trent,
is I think he really wants to stick around and break the wins record.
And he needs to get five wins to do that. And I think it's probably unlikely that's going to happen this year.
So I think it's probably likely that means he's coming back next year and when you i mean if you look at that roster for next year true
yeah i mean it is i mean the good news is with the nil era you can do a better job of quick fixing
christ look at indiana look at that i mean we can go out and fill some holes you but will we? I mean, that's not really been our MO.
We've tended to try to reward people that have stuck in the program
and use our NIL money that way, which I like.
But for next year, I mean, if we don't go out and fill some holes quickly,
I mean, what's the best-case scenario next year?
Eight and four?
I mean, that would be a heck of a year with the talent we're going to have next year.
But, you know, you talked about the Hayden end.
I mean, Hayden in 1997, his second to last year, that was a team,
if you remember that, there was a lot of optimism,
and that team had tons of talent.
Tim Dwight, Tavian Banks, you know, it was coming off a nine and three year
in 96, started four and0, and then the wheels fell
off.
You know, you go to Ohio State and Michigan back-to-back, the Michigan game, remember
Tom Brady, just an absolute heartbreaker of a 28-24 loss.
Iowa was the better team that day.
Well, I mean, we got some, I mean, we had, you know, Tim Goy had a punt return, Banks
had an 80-yard run.
I mean, things were broke our way.
We're up 21-7 at the half.
I mean, I can remember that game incredibly well, and unfortunately,
everything, we blew it.
But we ended 7-5 that year, and then 98, obviously, 3-8,
and things were really poorly and poorly.
So, I mean, there's some similarities there.
I think this team this year probably ends, I don't know,
8-4, somewhere in there. And then you're looking at next year,
I mean, I don't know. It's just
you ask the question of how does it end? Just looking at how this year
has gone and the talent we have coming back next year,
I don't see any way it ends particularly well, do you? No, not
at all. And it ends poorly for almost everybody.
I mean, at the biggest levels, Joe Paterno,
different conversation, obviously, with him.
But Bobby Bowden, I mean, for our era,
Bobby Bowden, what he was doing in the ripping off
what was it, 14 consecutive years of top five finishes,
and it ended poorly.
But even programs of similar ilk,
Bill Snyder in K-State, he had that program humming
and it limped to the finish line. Frank Beamer of Virginia Tech, it rarely ends for these long-time
veteran coaches on a high note. You don't see that happen very often. It usually kind of falls
to a whimper and it appears with the momentum of the program. And that's what makes this season as
a whole so frustrating. You had a schedule that set up an incredibly good way to make a run at a college football
playoff because the future, it gets a lot more difficult.
Biz, I know you've seen the schedules going forward and what it's going to look like,
but next year, okay, you got to go to Iowa State, your other road games next season at
Wisconsin, at USC, at Rutgers, at Nebraska.
You couple it with home games against Penn State, Oregon, Minnesota,
Michigan State, Indiana.
Try to find six wins on that schedule with the roster that we have right now
coming back.
Like you said, with the NIL, they can plug holes.
They can go out and get some dudes.
And that's not alone.
26 is difficult.
27 is difficult.
The schedule this year was set up in a way where this was the year. It's not going to happen now. And now
you look towards the future, it gets scary in a hurry.
Well, all those guys you talked about, all those coaches, they all have similar characteristics
that they're all incredibly strong-willed, stubborn
individuals who have an incredible belief in themselves. And I think you have to have
that to be a great coach.
And there's no doubt, I mean,
look no further than the Chris Doyle interview this week.
He starts talking about how, you know,
they haven't even spoken to each other in four years.
I mean, that, I mean, I think you can probably say,
I could argue with the Chris Doyle was up until this happened,
probably one of, if not his best friend.
I mean, they've been tied together at the hip for 20-some years,
and now they don't even communicate with each other.
And so that same stubbornness is part of what's made our program great.
But the flip side of that is it's, you know,
that's why all those guys you talked about didn't end well,
because of their stubbornness and their unwillingness to see the right time to walk away.
And the right time to walk away was probably at the end of last year.
And now it's kind of that window for him to walk away and really feel like it was the right decision
is probably out the window now because I think he's now – he's locked in on wanting – like I say, I think he really wants to get the wins record,
and I think he wants to see things end well.
And I don't know.
Like you said, I just – it's a messy situation.
I think every true Iowa fan, even if it ends poorly, is going to love –
Hayden, look back at Hayden.
Hayden is universally loved. But we were there.
We were in college in 97-98. He was not universally loved down the stretch. It was not. And he didn't, even though he had cancer
and he had the health issues, he didn't want to leave.
He was gently pushed out the door. But looking back
at it, people have, you know,
like I said, Hayden is universally loved.
I think Kirk will always be universally loved no matter how it ends.
But, man, I'd like to see it end well.
Yeah.
Maybe it can end this year on a high note.
What do you expect bounce back?
You talked about the bounce backs,
and that has been Kirk Ferentz's greatest strength.
They'll win backs against the wall, negativity all around.
I anticipate they play well on Saturday. Yeah, and go back to that 2014 year, even after we got
followed 51-14 and even, you know, the season ended poorly, but we did turn around the next week
and beat a decent Illinois team, an Illinois team that was a bold game, bold team by two touchdowns.
So I don't think this is a decent Northwestern team. I think it's a below average Northwestern team.
And I think if we, you know, if we have any heart left whatsoever,
we should win this game by 10 or more.
So, yeah, I think it'll be a bounce back.
But at this point, Trent, this team, it is what they are, what they are.
I don't see us – we're a flawed team.
We haven't played clean football across the board all year long. We got the Washington game
you can say we played pretty close to clean football. Outside of that
I don't see there being any games where we just come out and
dominate from beginning to end. We're an
inconsistent football team. That's what we are at this point. And if you put Kim the kicker
for Michigan State on Washington,
it might be a different conversation too.
I mean, the way they were marching up and down the field early in that football game
and really throughout, and then Iowa was just able to hold them
when they got into plus territory a few different times.
With that aside, Biz, this has been kind of a negative one.
So let's bring some optimism to the table.
Let's talk a little basketball, both men's and women's.
This team, I think both of us and a lot of people,
at least on the local front,
much higher than both the regional and the national medias.
We're going to talk some basketball as we continue
as we roll through a Thursday.
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Back with you one final time on the Locked On Hawkeyes podcast.
I'm Trent.
That's Biz.
As we talk little hoops here.
All right, Biz.
Season is upon us.
In fact, tomorrow night, exhibition game for the men's team.
A week later, we'll see the
women's team out on the hardwood at Carver Hawkeye Arena. Let's start ladies first. I'll be honest.
I'm really surprised that there's not more buzz for this team. What? Just a couple of votes in
one of the polls. I can't remember if it was AP or the coaches and the other one, just one single
vote. I don't think this team is going to be a contender for a Big Ten title or a
Final Four or anything like that, but a fringe top 25 team at minimum, I think is a baseline for what
they return and what they brought in with Lucy Olsen. I guess the national media does not agree.
Are you surprised by the lack of belief that this Iowa team
can at least be solid this season?
Yeah, I guess so.
I mean, especially when you look at, I mean, obviously the media,
I mean, the television networks still love us because, I mean,
we're on a lot of big Sunday afternoon, you know, big network games.
So we're going to have an opportunity to show if we're capable a lot of times.
You know, I think the whole key to this team is Sydney Appel, if you're healthy.
I mean, I think she is the key to this team.
I think she needs to take that jump forward and be the glue, the Kate Martin.
And if her knee is a problem all year long
that i think they'll struggle but if she's healthy and you've got the the main three of
affolter lucy olson and and uh um oh god what's her name just completed on a blank on her name the
post player stulky i'm brave for it to have Stolke, yeah, exactly.
I mean, if those three are fully healthy and if Ava Hyden ends out being as good
as they claim she's going to be, then, yeah, I think they're a top 25 team.
But, you know, the Big Ten got a lot better, and, you know,
they're going to have their bumps in the road.
So, I mean, do I think they can be a top 25 team?
Absolutely.
But do I think they're going to be a, you know,
sweet 16 team or better than that?
Probably not.
I mean, but I don't know.
I mean, I'm super excited.
I mean, we've got season tickets.
They're sold out again.
I mean, I think it's just awesome.
The enthusiasm and the excitement that has continued
post-Caitlin Clark era.
We'll see how long it lasts,
but I would love for one-tenth of that enthusiasm and excitement to carry over
to the men's team.
On the men's side, new names, new faces, along with some veterans.
Of course, Sanford at the forefront of that, along with Owen Freeman.
You bring back those two guys.
That's a great starting point for this team.
But I also love the way that they filled the gaps, if you will, bringing in Drew
Thelwell, at minimum, a good, competent backup point guard that I think is going to help in a
myriad of different ways. Traore is an exciting prospect. The two freshmen that come in with
different skill sets in Kupra Koch and on the other side of Chris Tajoh. I mean, you're bringing
in some athleticism. You're bringing in with it, hopefully improved rebounding and some defense to go along
with. We know France teams are going to be able to score. I look at this team and I think that
at minimum, the baseline is an NCAA tournament team. And I think there's even more upside to
that. Now, how high is that upside? I don't know. The good news is though, the Big Ten stinks this
year in an 18 team league. Now it could be, there might be, I don't know. The good news is though, the big 10 stinks this year in an 18 team
league. Now it could be, there might be, I don't know, 14 teams that are anywhere between 12 and
eight, nine and 11. I don't think that would be a surprise by any means, but boy, I was got a real
chance. I think this year to make a big jump up and even in a down league, that's a good thing.
I think this team has a chance to be really, really solid and definitely in towards the top
third of this league. Yeah. I mean, I think you and I are probably in the minority, but I'm really excited
about this team. I think this team's going to be good. I think the name you didn't mention is Josh
Dix. I think our ability to keep our big three, to keep Freeman, Sanford, and Dix is huge because,
you know, in the transfer portal era, keeping three guys with that kind of talent and experience is not easy to do.
And then I think, like you said,
I think Fran filled in the pieces better than he usually does.
I think he brought in some much-needed athleticism,
some focus on defense.
I mean, we're never going to be, obviously, defensive focused in general.
But, you know, I think they're going to be better defensively.
I don't know. I'm tired of people.
I'm ready to enjoy
the year. I understand. I get people's
frustration that until we make
a second weekend run, none of it really
matters because it's still the same thing over and
over. But I don't know. I'm going to try as hard
as I can to just enjoy it
and hope that
I'm right because I think this team's going to be good. Are they going to try as hard as I can to just enjoy it and hope that I'm right
because I think this team's going to be good.
Are they going to be world beaters? No.
But I think they can, like you said, make a run and be a top-half Big Ten team
and win 20-plus games in the tournament. Absolutely.
For the first time in seven years, it's going to be different for Fran.
He's not going to have one of his sons on his team.
And we've talked about Connor and Patrick both a ton throughout the years, but I think that's something that might be good for Fran too.
I mean, just even if you're tough on your kid, even if you're a coach that has, there's, there's
just always at times I'm sure weirdness, there's uncomfortable moments for, for players, for
teammates, for the coaching staff as a whole. And that maybe we get a renewed Fran McCaffrey
because there were times that Fran looked tired last year.
Well, not only for Fran, I think it's good for the fan base.
I think there was some McCaffrey fatigue probably there.
I mean, as Connor, the last couple years that Connor finally earned the grudge
and earned the respect of the fan base and they realized how smart of a basketball player he was but early on people were not big Connor McCaffrey
fans and then kind of the opposite of Patrick I think most people with Patrick came in thought
man this guy's going to be a really good player and he's going to blossom into a potential you know
second third team all big 10 player and obviously that didn't happen for a variety of reasons.
And he, quite frankly, regressed the last couple of years.
And that makes things really hard when –
it makes it hard when any player regresses,
but it's even harder when it's the coach's kid.
And so, you know, I think it's probably good for everybody
that there's Noah McCaffrey on the team.
It's good for France, good for the fan base, clean start.
Like I said, I hope everybody just kind of goes into this season
with a healthy dose of – give this team a chance.
I get it.
I get it's fun to bash Iowa basketball and talk about the negatives of Fran,
but you and I have talked about it a lot.
There's way more positives with what Fran McCaffrey has done to this program
than negatives.
And so I'm going to try as hard as I can to focus on those positives.
We've been way too negative about Iowa basketball.
I'm going to try to be only positive on Iowa basketball today.
I mean, you can certainly bring up the issues with Fran,
and there are issues.
But for now, the season hasn't even started.
Let's keep it, let's keep it, keep it positive.
For now, for now.
Absolutely.
All right, Biz, let's get out of here with our-
Until they prove us wrong, I'm going to give them the benefit of the doubt this year.
Oh boy.
And I can see the text thread already as it starts up and Melt will be at the forefront
of that one.
All right, Biz, let's get out of here with our FanDuel pick of the week.
Start with Iowa.
13 and a half is the number.
You like to jump in totals.
I'll tell you, Iowa, they're an over machine this year.
37.5, give me the over in the game.
That seems like the obvious play, but give me the Wildcats at 13.5.
Whether it's Fitzgerald or whoever the hell the coach even is now,
very rarely do we go out and take care of business the way we should
against Northwestern.
I think we'll win, but like I said earlier, I don't think it's going to be –
I think this team is what they are at this point.
It's not going to be all that pretty of a performance.
I don't think we're going to walk away feeling all that –
any better about this team necessarily, but I do think we'll win.
So, you know, I see it more as a 24-13 Iowa win,
something along those lines.
So I hope I'm wrong.
I hope we come out and throttle them.
But history tells you that rarely happens.
Well, we were together a couple weeks ago.
I mentioned that Cal pick game stunk to high hell,
and it did as Cal got the cover in that one.
Anything jumping out to you this week?
Any game that you love?
Yeah, give me the Badgers plus six and a half.
I think you got a couple of things at play here.
One, Wisconsin's playing better football
and you get a night game at Camp Randall.
That place is going to be rocking.
Second, I don't know if you've paid attention at all,
but the whole controversy with the Penn State players
and the sexual assault stuff.
I mean, how James Franklin handled that yesterday was cartoonishly bad,
and I just think he's such a buffoon.
And he showed it again yesterday.
I just – until he proves otherwise,
I don't think he's capable of winning important games.
And he may win this game.
Wisconsin's not great.
But if you're going to give me a night game at Camp Randall
with a decent Badgers team and give me almost a touchdown,
I think it's 6-1⁄2, I'll take it.
I got one other one that jumps off.
I think Nebraska hangs around against Ohio State.
Huge number.
It's up to 26-1⁄2.
I'm going to grab the points.
Huskers obviously looked brutal last week, got run off the field by Indiana.
I think they'll make some plays and at least hang around here,
so I'm going to grab that big number.
Give me the Huskers plus 26.5.
A couple of Big Ten plays for us this week.
Biz, enjoy Kinnick Stadium.
Hopefully the Boo Birds stay away.
Hopefully the offense gets humming right away,
and we see a nice Iowa victory over the weekend.
We'll talk to you again hopefully next week and hopefully off a win.
How's that sound?
Sounds good to me. Go Hawks.