Locked On Hawkeyes - Daily Podcast On Iowa Hawkeyes Football & Basketball - Iowa's Quarterback Situation with Gronowski Speculation | Ferentz Keeps Wisconsin Guessing?

Episode Date: October 8, 2025

Iowa Hawkeyes football faces a pivotal moment as quarterback uncertainty looms before the Wisconsin showdown. Will Mark Gronowski's potential return reshape the Hawkeyes' offensive strategy?Trent Condon and Todd Brommelkamp dissect Kirk Ferentz's press conference, analyzing the implications for Iowa's game plan. The duo explores Wisconsin's struggles under Luke Fickle, including their surprising offensive line woes. Iowa basketball takes center stage with insights on Ben McCollum's men's squad and the women's team's post-Caitlin Clark era. The hosts cap off with college football betting picks, offering their takes on key matchups and long-term predictions.Tune in for expert analysis on Iowa's quarterback dilemma and discover if the Hawkeyes can exploit Wisconsin's vulnerabilities on the gridiron.Follow Trent Condon on X: https://twitter.com/trentcondonLISTEN TO THE PODCAST: APPLE: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/locked-on-hawkeyes-daily-podcast-on-iowa-hawkeyes-football/id1441592240SPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/show/0GTyz5ygevcGXdTF6QSoEoYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/LockedOnHawkeyesSupport Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!SupplyHouseJoin the free TradeMaster program today and score serious perks like priority shipping, lower prices, and a dedicated support line. Visit https://www.supplyhouse.com/apply-for-trademaster to sign up for free and use promo code SHCOLLEGE5 for 5% off your first order. SquareTo learn more, go support your favorite neighborhood spot and see what Square has been up to in your neck of the woods. And then if you have extra time, check out https://square.com/go/lockedoncollegePelotonLet yourself run, lift, flex, and push forward. Explore the new Peloton Cross Training Tread+ today at https://www.onepeloton.com.PrizePicksDownload the PrizePicks app today and use code LOCKEDONCOLLEGE to get $50 in lineups after you play your first $5 lineup.PrizePicks — Run Your Game.Click Link Here: https://prizepicks.onelink.me/LME0/LOCKEDONCOLLEGEDoorDashWith DoorDash Streaks, you save every Saturday you order — stack it up all season and you could save up to $250. Order this Saturday. Keep the streak alive. Fuel your gameday — only with DoorDash. Terms apply. Promo period through 11/18.MazdaIt’s the small details that make the big plays. And just like there’s more to every player, there’s more to a Mazda vehicle.Mazda. Move and Be Moved. GametimeToday's episode is brought to you by Gametime. Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONCOLLEGE for $20 off your first purchase. Terms and conditions apply.Monarch MoneyTake control of your finances with Monarch Money. Use code LOCKEDONCOLLEGE at https://www.monarchmoney.com/lockedoncollege for 50% off your first year.FanDuelToday's episode is brought to you by FanDuel. Football season is around the corner, visit the FanDuel App today and start planning your futures bets now.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)

with you today as we take a look at Mark Grunowski, suddenly a real possibility that he's going to go for the Hawkeyes on Saturday. We'll talk about that. Kurt Ferens coming off a bye week. Plus, we got basketball talk all today. Locked on Hawkeyes. 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 Todd Bromelcamp, and this is the Lockdown Hawkeyes podcast. Thanks for making Lockdown Hawkeyes your first listen every day. Todd and I, well, we've been covering the Hawkeyes for a combined 50 years. I mean, we're getting old over here. And we got you covered here today as we took a look at Iowa coming off the by week, Mark Gernowski. And yesterday's press conference with Kirk Behrens. I thought a very interesting one. Todd, good to see you once again and to talk with you as we get ready for the matchup against Wisconsin. One of my favorite matchups of the year. every single season. And as we get ready for that, they're not always intriguing. They're not always interesting. You've been through a ton of them throughout your time on the Hawkeye beat.

But I thought we gained some insight yesterday, a little bit more maybe Kirk Barents. And was he playing coy with this quarterback situation? You know what? That was kind of my takeaway, too. It's not something we've normally seen him do in the past. But if Grinowski's able to go, I think he gives them the best chance to win. And And we'll see. I think we'll all find out. We're all looking forward to Saturday, seeing whether or not he takes the field.

You know, it went into yesterday, and boy, some of the people that I was talking to, it felt like a stretch that he was going to make it. And kind of what I had been hearing, maybe a possibility of Penn State, even that could be a stretch. This was my takeaway from yesterday. Just hearing Kirk,

I think Kirk was surprised. And I don't know what happened at practice or what he saw at practice, but it was very uncirk-like. that press conference. I think he was surprised that Grinowski probably is closer because I had the feeling

that they were going into this week with the anticipation. He wasn't being able to go. And then it leads to the speculation and that's what we do, right? As we speculate and kind of read between the lines of what Kirk is saying here, I think that he was surprised by that.

And now Mark Grinowski, if he is able to go, I think at minimum, we have to understand, he's not going to be the same quarterback. Him minus his running ability is not the same guy out there. And he kind of getting this yang

and Yang, well, it makes more sense. Mark Gronowski almost strictly as a pocket passer or going with Hank Brown, going with Jeremy Hinklinsky, going that direction. I wonder if that's a little bit of that pullback that we heard yesterday from Kirk. Yeah, you made a great point. A lot of what Grinowski does or his value on the field is what he can do with his legs. And if you take that aspect away from him, then maybe it makes more sense to go in a different direction. Or maybe we see. And I know Kirk is a big, does not like the two quarterback system, but maybe we see two quarterbacks in Madison. That's something that you're right. I mean, if there's anybody and we go all the way back. And for whatever reason, I've said for years, it feels like Kirk's brain is just

broken with quarterbacks. I mean, we go back to Spencer Petrus and Alex Padilla here in the most recent part of it. And Petrus was struggling so much and just the refusal to do anything. And Padilla at minimum had shown in a couple of those games. He was okay. He wasn't good by any means. And just the inability to do that. And C.J. Bethard against Jake Ruddock. Going way back, Kyle McCann against Brad Banks and everything in between and there's been a ton of them. And just something seems off with that. What do you think that is? Is that just old football guy Kurt Barron's our leader? He's got to be the guy manning the team. Is there more to it, it's something that is so befuddling because we see it in every other position on the

football field. We saw it two years ago in the kicker position and the most important kick to win a ball game and he was fine, trotting out a guy that never kicked a field goal for him before. But for whatever reason, a quarterback, Kirk, he struggles making those kind of polls. I think whenever Kirk decides to authorize the autobiography, maybe we'll get an answer to that. But until then, I think he's the only guy to know. I think there, you know, a lot of coaches don't like to be wrong. And maybe there's a little bit about that stubbornness, especially at that position, but for whatever reason, dating back pretty much to 26 out of the 27 years, you know, the first year he was just trying to find somebody that could stay on the field and make plays.

But, you know, you go all the way back to Kyle McCann and Brad Banks. And I don't think Brad Banks was ready to do what Brad Banks did in 2002 and back in 2001. But he prefers to to have a guy and quarterback. And I can't necessarily fault him for that, but you know the old saying that immediately makes the backup quarterback the most popular guy on campus at Iowa. And I always come back with how often have you seen the backup quarterback truly be better than the guy that Kirk stuck with. Now, we have seen a couple instances where you could probably make that argument, but

for whatever reason, he likes to pick a guy at that position and ride him to the end of the season. And they have a significant financial outlay for Mark Grinowski. It's a one and done a year for him. So obviously, I think they're going to, they want to get everything that they can out of his services. But it's, it's tough because if he's showing, and we don't know what's going to happen between now on game day. He could have looked great early in the week and he could have a setback. And Kirk can legitimately come out Saturday and say he had a setback. and everybody will think that he was playing coy. So whatever happens in practice,

I think this week is going to dictate whether or not we see Mark Grinowski. But if I were Kirk, I'd err on the side of caution a little bit and maybe have that backup plan ready to go. It's a knee injury to the knee that he sustained an ACL tear during his freshman campaign. How severe it is. Well, that's anybody's guess outside of the doctors. And the coaches and him, I don't know if anybody really has the insight into that.

but when you're going through, I think it makes a lot of sense. And we're going to talk about the matchup against Wisconsin. A Wisconsin team that is not the Wisconsin team, we've grown accustomed to over the last, what, 30 years. And what they've certainly built as Barry got that thing turned around and what they turned into, they look completely different. Another interesting part about that, though, is no Jaden Herald this week and middle linebacker.

And it's going to be another Jaden, Jane and Montgomery, that's going to get the start there. Now, we speculated about Carson Shire, maybe him moving to middle. and then you get Rexroth over there on the wheel side when they're going 425 with the cash position. But it sounds like it's going to be Montgomery and boy, good story. And again, making us feel old once again. We remember Jerry back when he was playing with the Hawkeyes and the move from Kirk from Hayden into Kirk.

So he was part of those kind of swing teams. And Jerry, boy, he was a big body inside. His son not built the same way. No, not at all. You wouldn't know that they were father and son if you looked to the football pictures side by side. but I spent a little bit of time with Jerry back in the college days. He wound up marrying a girl from Dyersville. My roommate freshman year was from Dyersville,

so always appreciated Jerry's contributions and then a long-time coach with Green Bay for a long time. But these are the types of games where you get those stories that those of us that covered the team for a really long time like to break out. The young player bursting onto the scene and making his impact, for the first time. And I think this sets up as an opportunity to have that type of storyline here this

weekend. Looking forward to that and seeing him out there. Kurt talked about him. He's not the tallest guy by any means. You can see that as a short guy, though, I'm always rooting for those short guys to get it done and to be able to play well. You know, and Harold, he's had some issues there in the middle of this season. Now, the question that I have is if it doesn't go very well here with Montgomery

and he struggles out there, is it time to break class and go to one of those young linebackers We've been hearing so much about over in the triangle over by you there in eastern Iowa, Preston Reese, Cam Buffington, Derek Weisskoff. If it's time to see what you got with those redshirt freshmen. I think this is the type of season where you've already got a couple losses on your ledger. Kirk will probably look for some answers. I think in the past when they've had a start to the year where maybe they haven't run the table so quickly, they'll have an occasional tendency to dip into the younger ranks to see what they've got there.

And remember, you've also got a head coach that is 70 years old and we don't know how much longer he's going to coach. So there may not be that what we've seen from him in the past where you want to keep these guys, you know, keep their eligibility intact and stuff. Well, I guess the rules have changed now because you can play four games and still be eligible. But if ever there was a year to see what some of the young guys can do in a handful of games, maybe this is an opportunity. and this looks like one of those games to maybe do it. No doubt. We're going to get into the matchup against Wisconsin. A different Badger team that we're certainly used to

and pressure on Luke Fickle going into this one. We'll talk about the matchup plus some numbers. Kirk Farrant's coming off a bye. Good news or bad news. We'll do that as we continue. Locked on Hawkeyes. Mazda crafts cars for those who do more than simply move, Mazda delivers confidence with every ride.

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All right and Todd back with you once again here on the Lockdown Hawkeyes podcast. Thanks for being with us and making Lockdown Hawkeyes your first listen every day. So Todd, as you are a gambler like I am, I want to take a look at what Kirk is like coming off a buy. And the numbers, either overall and against the spread, not exactly elite. In fact, overall, during his career, he is 11 and 15, no, check that, 12 and 15 coming off a buy against this spread. It is 11 and 1115. So the numbers are exactly the same, both against the spread and overall twice.

Recently, they've taken on the badgers coming off a buy. they lost both games back in 2021, 27 to 7, and then a very frustrating game 2422 back in 2019. So history says doesn't really paint a real great picture for Kirk Farrants. Now we hear about Andy reading the NFL, how great his teams are coming off the buy. Not the same with Kirk Farrants. No, and I think the biggest thing about a buy week for the Hawkeyes is trying to get the players healthy. but also it gives the coordinators another week to maybe try to get everybody on the same page.

And I know right now looking at Iowa and the record, and I know maybe some Hawkeye fans aren't necessarily happy about the way things have played out so far this year with the Indiana and Iowa state losses. But this is a very good opportunity. The only way that this would be better is if the game were in Iowa City going up to Madison obviously adds a couple wrinkles. But this is, as you said, not a very good Wisconsin football team. And Trent, to be honest with you, I wasn't quite sure we would have Luke Fickle on the sign lines for this game, the way the season started for Wisconsin.

He is in desperate need of a turnaround. And sometimes that can make a game like this really scary because a desperate man will pretty much do anything that he can to hang on to his job. And I think the ship has sailed for him. I don't think there's anything Luke Fickle can do in Madison that's going to save him at this point. but never underestimate a big win over arrival. No doubt.

And after Iowa put a 42 spot up on them a year ago, we heard all offseason. This has been kind of one of their rallying cries at the end of very practice doing 42 push-ups to end it to signify what happened in that game. They want to get better. They want to get physical. It doesn't look like it's going great at this time. But this is a game that Wisconsin absolutely had circled.

And you look at their schedule the rest of the way, this might be their easiest matchup. It's either this or the home game against Washington, I think showing you how. difficult their schedule is the rest of the way. These are still college kids and they still know this might be our best chance of getting a victory here against the Hawkeyes on Saturday. Hey, look at, look no further than the UCLA Penn State game last week.

We can all sit here and everybody does it. We can sit here and we can tell you this team's better than that team. At the end of the day, you hit the nail on the head. They're college kids. You don't know what's going to happen until they get out there on the field. And we've seen some upsets and we've seen some blowouts in this series. And the one thing that you can't account for in the series is the rivalry factor. And you take the fact that Iowa sort of rubbed their nose in the dirt last year.

And I think, I don't know how good Wisconsin truly is, but I do know Iowa is going to get their best effort this weekend. You know, I thought Wisconsin, the record wasn't going to show it, but I thought they were going to be improved this year. Boy, I really haven't seen that. I mean, that home lost to Maryland now, they've had some time to heal and get ready at Michigan last week. And they hung around against the Wolverines. I think maybe the most surprising thing when I was going through Wisconsin is they go out, they bring in a new offensive coordinator. They're going to get back to their DNA, right?

They're going to give it back to some smash mouth football. We're not going to be the dairy rate anymore. We're going to go back to that. They haven't been able to run the ball very effectively. And really maybe the biggest part about that is our offensive line has not been good. How about this? Run blocking grade from pro football focus for Wisconsin. Is 99th in the country past blocking grade better?

but still just 53rd. That is the part about the Wisconsin thing that is just so befuddling. All right. They went out and tried to get Billy Edwards. I didn't get that at quarterback. Fine. He's a guy that can move around a little bit. Maybe that was a piece of it.

But how they can be as bad as they've been to this point up front, that's just so un-Wisconsin. Yeah, and I feel bad for our pal, AJ Blaswick, the old Hawkeye who's up there on Luke Fickle's coaching staff. And it seems like every time that I've watched them on TV this year, they've had an injury on the offensive line. I know their center was hurt. They had a guard that was hurt.

So some of that probably has to do with injuries. But this is a great example of why you, if you have a program that has an identity, don't sell out that identity, even for a couple years, because now it's so hard to go back and try to rebuild what you were, you know, the Barry Alvarez, the Brett Bilema, that type of Wisconsin Big Ten smash mouth football, that was their identity. And they did really well with it. And for whatever reason, they tried to move away from it a couple times. And Luke Fickle decided to come in and just completely rewrite the rule book.

And it hasn't worked out well for them. So now it's too late. It's too late to go back to the way that you were because the first thing that erodes is the foundation. And if you can't run the ball, if you don't have a great offensive line, you're not going to have much success in the Big Ten. And they had a program that when he took over, I don't think it was in necessarily great shape, but I don't think it was in bad shape. But trying to completely remake the DNA of the Wisconsin football program, it's another cautionary tale for Iowa fans that, you know, you look at programs

like Purdue, that success didn't last. Wisconsin, it certainly looked like Barry Alvarez had built a lasting tradition there. And here we are 30 years later, where the badgers are now sort of teetering on the brink. So another cautionary tale about making a change. And, for the sake of change. And I never understood why Luke Fickle left Cincinnati, knowing that they were going to the Big 12. If I were him, I think I would have stayed put and continue to have the success that I did there. But I think he probably got some big money. And that'll change guys. But yeah, the biggest mistake Wisconsin made was going and hiring someone they knew was going was going to come in and try to alter the DNA of that program, and it hasn't worked.

The answer to all your questions is money. And Donald Meyer said that years ago, and it still rings true today. Yes, Fickle got paid, and probably might be getting paid to leave this one. And certainly if it goes ugly on Saturday for Wisconsin, you wonder if the cavalry is going to be ready for him after that. So let's go into the game and what it is. I look at this game and the way that I look at it is I think this is going to be a traditional slug fest, right?

low-scoring, grinded-out type of game with Iowa and the concerns a quarterback. The inability for most teams to run the ball against Wisconsin, and we know that's still part of the Iowa DNA, right? It's trying to do that. So because of that, I think this is going to be destined for 17, 13, 13, 2017, something like that, going to come down to the wire, who makes one big play in the fourth quarter. I think Wisconsin hangs around.

I was going to have to make a couple of plays, though, in the passing game. And that's a great unknown because we don't know who's going to be throwing those passes. Yeah, I think this is a game that really sets up to maybe get the tight ends involved a little bit more. And if you look at the history of the Iowa-Wisconsin series, tight ends have played a pretty key role in some games. I remember Tony Mojaki having a great game up in Madison many, many years ago. It may not have been Barry Alvarez's last game. They're all running together at this point. But maybe get the tight ends involved a little bit more.

We know Iowa doesn't like to stretch the field, but they don't have Caleb Johnson this year. I think it's been very apparent watching Iowa the first half of the season. The run game is not necessarily where it needs to be at this point. So some short passes, use the run game to maybe keep Wisconsin a little bit honest and just try to move the sticks. And the problem here for me is in a tight game like this, I always had some special teams issues. Drew Stevens hasn't necessarily been a lockbox type guy this year that you can count on.

So just trying to move the ball and get into field goal range may not be enough. They're going to need to score a couple touchdowns to distance themselves this weekend. Iowa, Wisconsin, a night game at Camp Randall student section, always late arriving. I wonder if a few of them are going to be staying away with the frustration of the season and just keep tailgating there in Badgerly. Trent, I'll tell you, there were some Iowa Wisconsin games up there where some of the media were late arriving because they had too much fun on State Street the night before. So it happens in Madison.

I've been there, done that, no doubt. All right, Todd, let's get into some basketball when we continue here. Want to get your thoughts preseason number 20 for the Iowa women's team. That came out today. We'll get your thoughts on the women's team. And, of course, the men's team, a lot of buzz and a lot of preseason accolades coming the way of Bennett starts. We'll talk about that as we continue.

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Let's start with the men. I saw CJ Moore of the Athletic and mentioned this to our everyday listeners last week. He had Iowa 4th in the Big 10 in his preseason prediction. Now, I also know CJ is a Kansas City guy. He comes on my radio show from time to time. So he knows obviously what they have at the coaching position with Coach Ben McCullum. He knows obviously what he's done there. Now, that might be the high water mark if everything breaks, right?

What do you think about this team? I've said, I think the baseline is an NCAA tournament team. You start there in year number one. Is that where your expectations are for the first year? I have little to no expectations this year, and I want everybody to understand that I view that as a good thing. I'm ready to, I bought the ticket, and I'm ready to take the ride. Ben McCollum won me over on day one.

I had an opportunity to go to a couple summer workouts before I lost my radio gig and got to see most of the team. It wasn't the full team. There were a couple guys missing, but the hands-on coaching, watching that young coaching staff that he's assembled there, the way that they are working with these guys, I know the, I think the preseason prediction that the Big Ten Media Days was eighth, which is right going to be on that borderline of NCAA, NIT. I don't expect this team to make the NCAA tournament this year, especially if anything happens with Sturts health-wise because they're going to be heavily reliant on him so far in year number one.

But if they make the incidentally tournament this year, then I think there's reason to believe that Ben McCollum is going to have this program turned around and having some long-term success in Iowa City. But I'm ready for basketball season. I'm ready for a fresh start. I think Beth gets made the right decision. It's always tough to move on from the guy who's got the most wins in program history.

But Bob Bullsby did that and look where we are, 25, almost 30 years later, back at the very beginning. But I think it was time for a fresh start. I think Iowa got a tremendous coach. And thank goodness for the transfer portal and those Drake Bulldogs, because you look at up and down the roster guys like Tavian Banks. And you're there in Des Moines, you got to see those guys up close and personal more than I did here in the eastern part of the state. but those kids can play basketball. And now the challenge is to see whether it translates to the Big Ten. And my only worry with that is it's one thing to dominate the Missouri Valley from start to finish.

But you get into an 18-team Big Ten schedule, and halfway through, it's going to be a lot harder to have that type of success that they did last year in the Missouri Valley. Just the competition is so much stronger on a weekly basis. And as I said, I bought the ticket and I'm ready to take the ride. I'm not expecting to be thrilled at all times on the ride. But let's see what Ben McCollum can do with this Iowa basketball program because there's nowhere to go up but up at this point. When you have a preseason All-American a point card and a point guard that, I mean, if he lives up to those expectations, this is at minimum the best point card they've had since Andre Wilrich.

I mean, they haven't had a guy, a point guard like this, if he plays up to those expectations. And maybe it's just that, that that is changing my perception of this team. And I start to get crazy. Now, Todd, I also got to tell you, Iowa basketball is my first love. You know, football is the one that pays our bills. Yeah, I mean, football is the one that what we do, that's what it's all about is football. But for me, it's basketball. I still get more viscerally upset with Iowa basketball than I do football.

And it's just growing up. and we're the same age growing up in the 80s. We know, that was it. I mean, that was the only sport during the week that you could watch during the winter was Iowa basketball games. And because of that, that's probably a piece of it too. Sometimes because of that,

I think my fandom starts to cloud a little bit what we're actually going to see on the floor. But my expectations are big, fair, unfair. I really think if Bennett starts, is that dude, this team is going to be really good. And dare I say, we could be talking about getting to a second week of an NCAA tournament. I think that's the fan talking there on you, but I love the Andre Woolridge reference.

And one thing I will say, if Andre Woolridge walked past you on Clinton or Dubuque Street, you'd know that was a basketball player. If Bennett Sturts walked past you in downtown Iowa City, a lot of people wouldn't even give him a second look. Now, maybe that changes in December, January, February, but he doesn't look like he should be as good as he is. And yet, again, those open practices that we were invited. to. And I know it's practice and don't get too much into what you see there. We say that all the time with Kirk and football, but that kid can play basketball. And Iowa is very lucky that he's going to be wearing an Iowa uniform this year and they don't have to go up against him. Let's put it that way.

But Elvaro Fulgaris, there's some Gaetavian banks, Cam Maniwaniw. There's some talent there. And I think there's reason to be optimistic. We'll see what happens. with that let's jump over to the women's side preseason number 20 in the i believe it was the eight people uh that came out earlier today hannah stulke obviously going to be kind of the bedrock of things but you got veterans coming back kiley fearbach which he showed defensively at the end of last season i thought that was an eye opener we know about mccabe and then he got the youngsters and speaking of those open practices on the women's side talking to a few people that went addie deal oh looks like the real deal i mean part of the ton pun there but she sounded like she

was outstanding, shooting the ball at a high level. You got Chit Chatt Wright coming in to run the point of Rodriguez, who is upside is through the roof. This team, we're talking about the future and what they're doing the recruiting trail, but the here and now looks like this is going to be another good team. Yeah, I had an opportunity to see them once, and Addy Deal is the real deal. I know you're going to get tired of hearing people say that, but it's the first thing that comes to mind.

Chit Chat, right, is really an intriguing case here because she's making a big leap as far as the talent level that she's going to. going to be playing against in the Big Ten on a daily basis, but I liked what I saw from her at Georgia Tech a year ago. And I view this as sort of a bridge year, like the final bridge from the Caitlin Clark era to the post-Katlin Clark era. You know, you're going to start saying goodbye to the likes of Hannah Stolke. And this team is really going to be in the hands of the young players moving forward. But this is a year where I think you're going to get that blend of vets and young players, and 20th is a pretty good way to start out. I don't think

Jan Jensen is going to take that personally. The competition in the Big Ten is just so strong as far as women's basketball is concerned. They're going to have some frustrating losses, but I bet you they're going to have some pretty good wins along the way, too. And at the end of the year, we're going to be talking about an Iowa women's basketball team that going back to the NCAA tournament, you're always going to be talking about Caitlin Clark with them, even though she's been gone for a couple years now. But this is a program and a team that I think is really excited to make their own mark, to prove that the Iowa Women's Basketball program is not just about somebody that was on campus a couple years ago.

That is basketball. Let's finish with betting. And our picks of the week presented by Fandul, Iowa, a three and a half point favorite in Camp Radle, something that is a rarity. Iowa being favored in Wisconsin for this one. I don't think I'm going to have this part of my card this week, but if I had to make a bet, I'd probably grab the points. I told you, I think it's going to be low scoring.

The total tells us that another low one at 35 and a half. And because of that low scoring game, like to take points and certainly north of a field goal. I think it's going to be a tight one. You've got to feel one way or the other in the point total for Iowa, Wisconsin. With that half a point, I'm with you. I think you take the points. And this is a game that I think will be within the margin of error here.

Maybe you're looking at 16, 14, 14, 12. But the way that Iowa has struggled with Drew Stevens in the kicking game, I will take the points here with the Badgers. I think Iowa can win that game. But, yeah, this is going to be a one-score game. In the Big Ten, this was my first bet of the week. I was looking Saturday night as the lines were starting to be released at Fandul. And what pops up right away?

Michigan State coming off the Lost in Nebraska, where Charles looked awful for a while, then he looked good because that's what you get with Aden Childs, against UCLA coming off that monstrous win, everybody in the world is slapping them on the back. There's still a bad football team, regardless of the upset win against Ben State. Very bad football team, let's be honest.

I laid the four and a half. It's up to eight and a half now, and if I had to bet it again, I'd still be comfortable laying the eight and a half with Sparty this week. Yeah, I wouldn't try to middle that if I were you. I'd be happy that you got that four and a half in your back pocket. and I've got the other half of that game last week on my card here. 21 and a half is a big number to bite off,

but Northwestern, I think, is in a real bad spot here. And this is going to tell us a lot about Penn State and whether or not they're able to flush what happened last week at UCLA and come back and lay a whipping on a pretty bad Northwestern team. If Penn State doesn't cover the 21 and a half this week, I think that's another good sign that James Franklin's headed for a mutual side. separation. The other one, I've got USC at two and a half. I'm trying to remember. I didn't write down who they were playing, but I know I had a reason for that. USC? Yeah. Michigan. Michigan.

There you go. A principal play, home team unranked, favored against a ranked team. Doesn't always work out, but I think the odds makers are trying to tell you something there. So I'll roll with USC at home and see if they can pull off the upset rankings wise. It's not an upset spread wise. My final one for you is one I'm putting in my back pocket. Oklahoma this week, there's a possibility Mateer is going to play, but then the news came out early in the week and it came from a national reporter. I'm not buying it. I don't think he plays. Regardless, the toss-up game against Texas. Oklahoma still has an incredibly difficult schedule. I just don't think they're that great. And because of that, I'm playing them no to make the college football play. I think this is a 9-and-3 team.

I don't think that's good enough for them to get in. How about minus 105? I'm going to put that one in my back pocket until we get to December. Oklahoma, no. That'll be my best bet of the week. Oklahoma, no, to make the college football play out. I might have to follow you on that one. Like the logic, huh?

Yeah, I do. Look, they're not in the Big 12 anymore. And I agree with you. Their schedule is pretty tough from here on out. A couple of tough road games. And, of course, at the end, it's going to be tough, no doubt. So there is my favorite bet of the week. Todd, good to hang out with you again, and you're ready for basketball season. I'm ready for basketball season. We'll talk to again next week. That's Todd Bromelcamp. I'm Trent Conn. Thanks for being with us on Lockdown, Hawkeyes, your daily Iowa Hawkeye podcast. I'll be back with you with more as we count down to kickoff with Iowa, Wisconsin. Until then, go Hawks.