Locked On Hawkeyes - Daily Podcast On Iowa Hawkeyes Football & Basketball - Luka Garza tribute and why he is the undeniable Player of the Year plus Big Ten seeding discussions continue for the Iowa Hawkeyes

Episode Date: February 24, 2021

We drop a small Luka Garza tribute and break down why he should be the National Player of the Year and Big Ten Player of the Year over Ayo Dosunmo before diving into Big Ten Tournament seeding discussions. With Illinois falling to Michigan State last night, it opens up a plethora of options for the Iowa Hawkeyes.Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!Built BarBuilt Bar is a protein bar that tastes like a candy bar. Go to builtbar.com and use promo code “LOCKEDON,” and you’ll get 20% off your next order.BetOnline AGThere is only 1 place that has you covered and 1 place we trust. Betonline.ag! Sign up today for a free account at betonline.ag and use that promocode: LOCKEDON for your 50% welcome bonus.Rock AutoAmazing selection. Reliably low prices. All the parts your car will ever need. Visit RockAuto.com and tell them Locked On sent you. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

You are Locked On Hawkeyes, your daily podcast on the Iowa Hawkeyes. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Welcome back, Hawkeye Nation, to a Wednesday morning episode of the Locked On Hawkeyes Podcast, your daily podcast covering your Iowa Hawkeyes on the Locked On Sports Network. As always, I am your host, Andrew Wade, and I'm glad to be back. I apologize for missing yesterday. I got the second dose of the vaccine, and however you feel about that, I'm not saying you need to get it or don't need to get it or whatever, but I did get it.

I am a healthcare worker, and it knocked me out for about 36 hours, so I apologize for not getting an episode to you all yesterday. But I am back today, and we have a lot to cover. My plan for yesterday was to break down Luka Garza and his career and just give kind of a tribute to Luka Garza. Since that time, a lot of stuff has come out, not about Luka Garza, but in general with Iowa Hawkeye Athletics. We have the women's basketball team playing Maryland. They lost 111-93.

Tyler Cook signed a 10-day contract. Wrestling got some news. Some finalist awards for the Iowa basketball team. So, what that means is on today's show, we are going to be talking a little bit about all the odds and ends around Iowa Hawkeye athletic community. Then we're going to get into our Luka Garza tribute. And then we're going to be talking about the Big Ten Player of the Year Award and the National Player of the Year Award. Because Io DeSumo and Luka Garza are supposedly, according to some media, in lockstep in terms of who could win that award. And I think that is an atrocity.

If anyone watched Io DeSumo last night play Michigan State, that gives you all you need to know about why Luca Garza should be the national player of the year I would assume oh trying to pad his stats getting a steal with three minutes three seconds left when they're down 11 to get a layup to pad those stats again not exactly an ideal performance from IO not exactly a good look for him after going six of 18 17 points nine boards five assist and four turnovers he had a minus four in that loss to michigan state um again not not a good not a good loss for for the line that does actually impact the standings as well from a big 10 perspective the line line now have three conference, and that does matter because they have a pretty tough schedule coming up. And so, anyways, we're not going to talk too much about that, but I just wanted to at least bring it up.

I thought that was very important, and we are going to be talking about Luka versus Iowa here in a bit. Sorry, not 11, not 12-3, 12-4 conference records. So, Iowa potentially on the verge of getting a number two seed, depending on how this next week goes for all of these teams. We'll be talking about that as well. So that was a long-winded way of saying we have a lot of stuff to cover today. Let's get into the odds and ends though. Tyler Cook, first off, signs a 10-day contract with the Brooklyn Nets. He has been playing out of his mind for the Iowa Wolves this season in the G League bubble. Exciting stuff to be able to see him get another opportunity in the NBA. A guy who, when he's playing in the NBA, has to, and if you listen to the standpoint, again, I've been a big advocate for the standpoint. They do a fantastic

job of bringing on guests and giving that player point of view, but Tyler Cook knows that when he's in the NBA, he has to do things a little bit differently, and he has to do the little things, and hopefully he can get a chance to stay on with the Brooklyn. That's a good organization at this time. So fun stuff. Hopefully he can stay up. But 10-day contract, another opportunity again because of how well he's playing in the G League right now. Women's basketball lost to Maryland 111-93, which is quite an interesting game.

Maryland, a top 10 ranked team. They outscored Iowa 41 to 21 in the first quarter, but then Iowa outscored them by two points the rest of the way. So Iowa was close. I mean, that's really been the theme of a lot of these games. Iowa's been in it. They're so close. They're right there, but they just, they aren't able to, they aren't able to get it done, but that's going to come with time. That's going to come next year. This is not a team that was expected to be a Final Four contender this year. But what we've seen from this team is incredibly impressive.

Kaitlyn Clark had another phenomenal day, 34 points, dished out 7 assists and 3 rebounds. The women hit 56% of their shots on the field, 52% from 3. Unfortunately, Maryland shot even better, 61% from the field, 69% from three, hitting 15 of 22 threes. And Iowa turned the ball over six more times to Maryland and got out-rebounded 31-24, 11-7 offensively. That's never a good recipe for winning, especially when Maryland is also dominating from a shooting performance perspective.

Again, almost 70% from three is just absurd. So the women fall to Maryland, 111-93. Joe Wieskamp was named a finalist for the Jerry West Award, one of the top shooting guards in the nation. He is joined by Mako Teague, Joel Ayi from Gonzaga, Quentin Grimes from Houston, and Chris Duarte from Oregon. We're going to be breaking down that and what the chances are that Joe Wieskamp could win that. I think, and we talked about this a couple weeks ago when he was named a semi-finalist, I thought he

had an okay chance. I thought his stats kind of showed a few things, but what Joe Wieskamp has done the last two, three weeks has been phenomenal, and I think he's been playing like the top shooting guard in the nation the last couple weeks. So to me, the chances of him winning this award, I think, are much higher than I thought the chances of him even getting to the finalist round were initially. So we're going to be covering that probably on our Friday episode. Just honestly don't have enough time to cover on today's episode because I do want to devote some time to our new career leader in scoring, Luka Garza, on today's show. Speaking of Luka Garza, named Big Ten Player of the Week and Naismith Player of the Week

after another dominating performance. Obviously, earning that career scoring performance as well. So just phenomenal stuff all around. What we're seeing right now is greatness. We have a person in the women's basketball team, Kaitlyn Clark, who is going to win a National Player of the Year award at some point in her career. I think there's no doubt about it. Luka Garza will win the National Player of the Year award this year. We're going to be talking about that in a few minutes. And Spencer Lee, the pound-pound best wrestler in the nation right now.

How often can someone say that? They basically have three of the best players in the three main winter sports. That's pretty phenomenal stuff. That's pretty amazing. And I think what we're witnessing right now in Iowa is history being made. We have such amazing athletic programs. We should all be very proud of where we are. Even if there are some general disappointments,

I think we can all agree that it's pretty fun watching these people play their respective sports. Also, just a reminder that on tomorrow's episode of the Lockdown Hawkeyes podcast, we're going to be doing a crossover episode with Isaiah Hull of Lockdown Michigan. We're going to be breaking down the Iowa-Michigan game that's taking place tomorrow. A huge game for the Hawks. They absolutely need to get that W. They have a tough week this week, so getting a win over Michigan on the road would be huge

for them. So that's what we're going to be talking about on tomorrow's show. Before we get into segment number two, though, I got to tell you about Bilt Bar, the best tasting protein bar on the market today. Bilt Bar is the protein bar that tastes like a candy bar. It comes in 18 amazing flavors, and all these bars are covered in 100% chocolate, and they're soft and easy to chew. But the best part about these Built Bars is not just the taste, because I think the taste is amazing, but when you have something that's tasty, typically you don't expect it to be

as good for you, right? You just don't. It's just not something you naturally think is going to happen. However, these Built Bars are just as good for you as right? You just don't. It's just not something you naturally think is going to happen. However, these Bilt Bars are just as good for you as they are tasty as well. For example, my favorite flavor is cookies and cream. It comes in a 130-calorie bar, 17 grams of protein, 4 grams of sugar, and 4 grams of net carbs. If you go to BiltBar.com right now, you can use the promo code LOCKEDON and you'll get 20% off your next order. Use the promo code LOCKEDON for 20% off at BiltBar.com. We're covering everything you need to know about the team you're looking for. What about the rest of the sports? Now the Locked On Podcast Network has you covered there as well with Locked On Today.

It's hosted by the great Peter Bukowski, and it's all the sports news you need every morning in under 20 minutes. Subscribe to Locked On Today Podcast wherever you get your podcasts at. So if you don't get your fix talking about the Iowa Hawkeyes or if you remember the good old days where ESPN could break down every single sporting event in a matter of 20 minutes before they got into all the hoopla that is ESPN now, go to Locked On Today because they have all the same content that you used to love and enjoy about ESPN before they succumbed to the pressures of just needing to be very hyped up on social media.

So anyways, go to Locked On today. Awesome show. I absolutely love listening to it. Give you some of that information around the sporting world. But let's get into our conversation about Luka Garza. I wanted to give a tribute to him. And we're going to break this down a couple of ways. I'm going to do a quick recap of his recruitment development, go into the career

records, and then we're going to start talking about him being Big Ten Player of the Year and National Player of the Year. If we have time, we'll go into the Big Ten Tournament and that double buy. So Luka Garza, first and foremost, he came in here as the 118th ranked player in composite rating in 24-7 sports, a 10th ranked center. He had 20 offers before he joined Iowa, including Alabama, Notre Dame, Indiana, and Georgetown. Iowa, though, was his first high major team. And if you didn't know this, he did visit Iowa twice, May 16, 2016, and September 10, 2016. And he committed on September 10, which actually happens to be Frank's birthday.

And if you listen to our show with Frank Garza in the summer, you know just how close Frank and Luke are. That was a deliberate and intentional decision to commit on September 10. And it was a very emotional day for both of them. So amazing stuff all around. He came in, though, weighing 230 pounds at 6'11". So he's gained about 35 pounds since then coming in though uh he made an impact early in 2017 his freshman season he started 26 games played 21.7 minutes per game shot 56 percent from the field 35 percent from three average six and a

half rebounds per game one block per game and 12.1 points per game the next season we were expecting to see more but coming into that season his his sophomore year, he had a cyst, a nine-pound cyst removed before the season. He was just getting ready to play basketball. Personally, it sounds like to me his conditioning wasn't where he wanted it to be at, which makes sense. He just wasn't able to do it, and his numbers show. He started 30 of 32 gains, but played 23.7 minutes per game, shot 53% from the field, 29% from three, only averaged four and a half rebounds per game now granted Tyler Cook was down there as well getting some of those boards and had half a block per game the next year is when he started going off that's when he almost should have won the consensus national player of the year awards but in 2019 2020 he started all 31 games played 32 minutes per game, 54% shooting from the field, 36% from three, 9.8

rebounds per game, 1.8 blocks per game, and 23.9 points per game. Amazing stuff. But what's more impressive is that he's doing more this year and less time. He has 23 out of 23 games he started. He's playing a minute and a half less, 30.5 minutes per game. He's shooting 56% from the field, 44% from three. So raising that three point percentage, 8%. His rebounds per game have dropped 8.5 from the 9.8. His assist per game

though is 1.8 up a little bit and 1.6 blocks per game. And he's also averaging 24.7 points per game. So he's shooting more efficiently, getting more points. He's done a better job of dishing the ball out when people start collapsing on him, double teaming him and triple teaming him. I think that's one of the most impressive things that he's doing this despite being double and triple teamed almost every single night. He's also reduced his turnovers per game from 1.8 to 1.5 and his personal fouls from 2.5 to 2.2 so just amazing stuff all around then when you look at his career records what's on the horizon um he's already got the iowa's you know single or the iowa career scoring record which is amazing in terms of big 10 points if you think about the fact that let's say he has eight games and that's being very cautious right that's saying they have four games left in the

regular season they have two games left or they have two games in the Big Ten tournament saying they only go two games in. And let's say they only make it to the second round of the NCAA tournament. That would be eight games. If he averaged 25 points, that equals 200 points. That would bring him to 2,326 points. And that would bring him to fourth all-time in Big Ten. Now I expect Iowa to go further. And I expect Luka Garza to have some big games.

He is 300 points away from third with Glenn Rice. So basically, he either needs to score more points or have a few more games, and I think Luka Garza could finish third all-time in Big Ten scoring history, which would be just truly, truly amazing. If he does play those eight games and averages 25 points, he would get to sixth all time in Iowa single season point scoring record. He already holds the record for most field goals. He already holds the record for most 20 points games in a row. And he's actually pretty close to rebounds in a career record. Right now, if he has eight games and averages 10 rebounds a game,

that would put him at 80. If he does that, that would put him at 936 total, which would be roughly 54 behind Greg Brunner. So who has 990, if he may, if they make a run in the tournament or make a run in the big 10 tournament, that would be an opportunity to set that career rebounds record as well. So Luka Garza, just an amazing guy,

an amazing player, a guy that we should be so happy to see, you know, being at the top of this list and everything that came out after he, you know, set that career scoring record has just been truly amazing. The outpour of support for him and what kind of a person he is, not just a basketball player, but what kind of person he is, I think speaks volumes to what Luka Garza does. And his work ethic is just above and beyond anything we've ever seen. Tyler Cook even said it's the best work ethic he's ever seen from anyone in his life. And he's been playing in the NBA off and on with some really great players. So that just goes to speak volumes about Luka Garza. Now I want to turn my attention to the National Player of the Year

award because there's a lot of talk about Luka versus Io, and I don't think there should be. I think it's just national media blowing smoke up people's butt and trying to have something to talk about. But let's break down. We're going to break it down by stats, and then I'm going to give the qualitative stuff, not the quantitative stuff, but the qualitative view as well. But quantitatively, Luka Garza scored 24.7 points per game. We're going to start with Big Ten Player of the Year because I feel like it's the same thing. Big Ten or National Player of the Year comes down to basically Luka Garza

versus Io, in my opinion. I think you could also make a case for Drew Timmy as well. But we'll do it by just Big Ten. So these rankings are Big Ten rankings. Luka Garza is first in the Big Ten at points per game, 24.7 points. Io has 21.2. Now these stats are prior to the game versus Michigan State last night. Io is 21.2, which is a 3.5 point per game difference.

Luka Garza is 5th in rebounds per game at 8.5. Io is 17th at 6.2. Luka Garza is 4th in blocks per game. Io is 2nd in assists per game with 8.5. Iowa's 17th at 6.2. Luka Garza's fourth in blocks per game. Iowa's second in assists per game with 5.3. Luka's 45th with 1.8 in assists per game. Now again, that's where you see those differences in the position, which makes it sometimes difficult to compare statistics, but I think it's important nonetheless. Luka is seventh in field goal percentage at 56%. Iowa's 19th at 49%. Iowa's 18th in steals per game at 1.1. Luka's 85th at.43. Luka's 9th in three-point percentage at 44%.

Iowa's 12th at 42%. Luka is making 1.43 points per game. Iowa's making 1.3. So I know there's been, you know, when you talk about three-point percentage, it also comes down to how many shots you attempt, how many shots you make. And Luka's making just as many as Iowa in just as many attempts and doing it at a more efficient clip now when you look at Ken Palm Luka is first in Ken Palm with a score of 2.072 Io is third with 1.753 now when you look at game mbps so games where

Luka has been the best player on the floor he has 14 game MVPs. Io has 5. And we're going to get more into that here in a second. Now, looking at Ken Palm as well, from a conference ranking perspective, offensive rating, Luka is 13th with a 117 offensive rating. Io is 25th with 109.4. The assist rate, obviously, Io is going to be top 30 second with a 31.3 assist rate. Two-point percentage in Big Ten play, Luka's at 53%, 18th in the Big Ten. Iowa's at 49%. Three-point percentage, Luka's shooting 37% from three in Big Ten play, 21st.

Iowa's 43%. And then block percentage, Luka is 8th at 4.4. So it is important to look at the Big Ten, especially when you're looking at what the Big Ten player of the year were. Typically, that's going to the player who plays the best in the Big Ten, or it should be. But Luka, even there, is superb compared to Io. Now, what I thought the most interesting piece was is we talked about Luka struggling for a couple weeks. But even when he was struggling, he was still one of the best players in the nation. So I thought it would be really interesting to look at the worst games these two players have played.

And Io has undoubtedly the worst games out of the two. Five games this year, he's had an offensive rating under 100. Lucas only had two. So 12-15 against Minnesota. Io had 10 points, 7 boards, 5 assists, 4 turnovers. January 2nd versus Purdue. 87 offensive rating, 10 points, 7 boards, 5 assists, 4 turnovers. January 2nd versus Purdue. 87 offensive rating, 12 points, 5 boards, 3 assists, 2 turnovers. Early in January against Maryland, a 95 offensive rating.

He scored 23 points. Not an efficient 23, but 23 points. 8 boards, 2 assists, 3 turnovers. February 2nd against Indiana. 10 points, 6 boards, 2 assists, 2 turnovers. And on February 16th against a struggling Northwestern team, they had a 95 offensive rating, 13 points, 2 boards, 5 assists, 5 turnovers. And Luka's two games where he was under the 100 offensive rating mark

was February 13th against Michigan State. He had a 76 offensive rating, 8 points, 8 boards, 3 assists, 1 turnover, 2 blocks. And February 7th, Indiana, offensive rating of 92, 18 points, 2 rebounds, 2 turnovers, 1 block. The reason why that's important is I think for, again, the way the voters vote versus how I vote would be completely different. But I think it is important to note that Luka is beating Io in almost every major statistical category. Luka is beating Io in almost every major Big Ten statistical category. Position agnostic. And Luka has been undoubtedly the most consistent player of the two in these games.

And Luka is dealing with double and triple teams every single time. Io is not getting double and triple teamed. Luka is. Almost every single time down the court, he's getting double and triple teamed. So he's putting up these amazing statistics, these consistent statistics, and he's getting double and triple teamed every single time. Make a better case for Io being Big Ten or National Player of the Year, because right now, he's not. Now, if the Iowa Hawkeyes drop off the face of the earth and Luka Garza

goes 0-4 for the next eight games and Io has an unbelievable run here, here maybe but what i've seen is luca does everything the right way and still gets his he cares about the team he even said after winning or you know beating uh not beating after breaking the record for scoring he even said i cared more about winning and the win wouldn't know if we wouldn't have won this record wouldn't this record wouldn't have been as good to me, right? It would have been a sour taste in his mouth because he wanted to get that win. He cares more about his team and winning than the statistics. And Io is not that kind of guy. You can tell by multiple times where Illinois has kept him in the game despite blowouts to rack up points where Fran will

sit Luka down immediately. He cares more about the team and so does Luka. When Luka's struggling, you better believe he's out there pumped up when his team does something awesome. And I think you have to take in those qualitative things as well when you're looking at this from an award perspective. Luka Garza is the ultimate team player. He cares more about this team than he does any of his individual accolades. He didn't come back

for individual accolades. He came back to win a national title. And I know Io is an amazing player and I think he truly does want the team to win as well. But you can be selfish and care about the team. Whereas Luka to, is not selfish at all. He wants the team to win. That's the first and foremost goal in his mind. So to me, Luka Garza is, without a doubt, the National Player of the Year and the Big Ten Player of the Year. And anyone who says otherwise, I'd be very interested in talking to you about what they really think and why they think Iowa should be the Big Ten Player of the Year over Luka.

Coming up on segment number three, we're going to be breaking down the double bye talk. More information happened yesterday when Illinois lost to Michigan State. That was not in my rundown. So we'll be covering that as well. Again, apologize. I actually got 11 hours of sleep last night. I went to bed I think before that game even ended. I woke up and saw that.

So recording this this morning, that's why you're getting this late. But I finally feel halfway normal now. And I want to make sure I got a show out for you all. Before we get into that, though, I got to tell you about BetOnline.ag. BetOnline.ag is the fastest and easiest way to bet on all your sports action. Football might be over, but the NBA, college basketball, and the NHL are in full swing. BetOnline.ag even covers awards, TV shows, and reality television, real-time updated odds and props on almost anything you can imagine. BetOnline.ag has you covered for all the news, scores, and odds. It's the best way to place your bets and it's free to sign up today. Head to the website or use your mobile device to sign

up today and receive your 50% welcome bonus on your first deposit. That's right, when you go there, you not only get a free account, but you get a welcome bonus as well so you can increase your money that goes into your pocket after getting your wins. So go to betonline.ag. Use the promo code LOCKEDON. That's right. Promo code LOCKEDON to get a 50% welcome bonus today at betonline.ag with your first deposit. Betonline.ag, your online sportsbook experts.

February is Black History Month and Lockdown Podcast Network is honoring the challenges and success of black men and women in sports with a new series called Lockdown Presents More Than the Game. Right now, you can hear Candace Cooper of Lockdown Tar Heels and Erica Ayala of Lockdown Women's Basketball discuss the opportunities and challenges that come with being a black woman in sports. Subscribe to the Lockdown Presents podcast feed on the Radio.com app or wherever you get your podcasts at. Now, let's turn our attention back to the Iowa basketball team. Last night, an interesting game. Illinois loses to Michigan State. Now, it all comes down to a couple of things, basically. What is your conference record?

That is the biggest thing. What is your conference record? At that point, it comes down to what was your head-to-head? So, for example, if Illinois and Iowa have the same conference record at the end of the season, Illinois is going to get the seed over Iowa because they beat Iowa. That's one of the reasons why that game is so important. It's also one of the reasons why only playing one game against Illinois is ridiculous. But nevertheless, I digress. So when we look at this, Iowa still has a solid chance, if they take care of business,

to get a number two seed in the Big Ten tournament. The number one seed in the Big Ten tournament, I think, is all but a foregone conclusion. It is not going to happen. For that to happen, let me see what Michigan's got. Michigan would need to lose four of their next five. They would need to lose to

Iowa. They would need to lose to Michigan State once at least. Indiana and Illinois. And arguably, you'd probably want them to potentially beat Illinois depending on where the standings are so we're going to keep you all posted on what that looks like but Michigan would need to lose four of their next five including Iowa for Iowa to have a chance

at that number one seat in the Big Ten tournament play and Iowa needs to win out they want that number one seat however that is a bit tougher But what's not as tough is to potentially move into a two seed. Illinois currently sitting with a 12-4 conference record. They have four games left in the schedule. Nebraska, which will be a win. Wisconsin, Michigan, and Ohio State. That is a gauntlet. That is a tough round of games.

You would expect them to beat Nebraska. You should beat Wisconsin on the road. It'll be interesting to see what Illinois team we see there in the Michigan-Ohio State. So let's say Illinois goes 2-2. If Illinois goes 2-2, which is what Kempom predicts, they'll be 14-6 in the conference. If Iowa wins out, and six in the conference if Iowa wins out Iowa will have a record of 15 and five in the conference which means they will be above Illinois the other piece that's important with this though is where does Ohio State slot into all this Ohio State owns the tiebreaker over Iowa in a couple different ways and it gets even worse when we start looking at what Ohio State and Illinois might do to each other because Ohio State and Illinois play at the end of the season.

That could be a big game for Big Ten seeding implications because how the Big Ten seeding works, it goes by overall conference record, then it goes by tiebreaker, then it goes by your record against the top team in the conference. So if, and this is all in theory, let's say Iowa goes 4-0, okay? They would be at 15-5. That would actually be good because they would have beaten Ohio State. Ohio State would be 12, or sorry, they'd have six losses. So Iowa would be ahead of Ohio State in that case. But for some reason, if Ohio State and Iowa tie,

Iowa and Ohio State would have to look at that Michigan game. So if, and again, there's a lot of hypotheticals, but this is where it gets very interesting. So a lot of things can really happen here. But it really goes down to who has a better record against Michigan, who has the better record against Illinois, who has the better record against Illinois, who has the better record between each other. And so that's why this game tomorrow against Michigan is so huge

because they beat Ohio State. Iowa needs to beat Michigan. That gives them a tiebreaker over Ohio State if they were to tie. And again, they need to beat Ohio State as well. So if we want a chance to kind of move up, we need to go undefeated in my opinion. We need to beat Ohio State as well. So if we want a chance to kind of move up, we need to go undefeated in my opinion. We need to beat Michigan and Ohio State. And I think our following two games will be a little bit easier at that point.

We get Nebraska and Wisconsin. Those games should be winnable for Iowa. So I don't think 4-0 is completely out of the picture. You know, Kempom has them going 2-2. I think that's more of a possibility. I think if – I'll get to what happens if they go 2-2, but if they go 4-0, that means they beat Michigan. That means they beat Ohio State, and that would be huge. So if they go 4-0, what we need is Michigan to lose three of their other four games.

Iowa has a tiebreaker over Michigan. They win there. Illinois, they have four losses. If Iowa goes 4-0, you want Illinois to lose to Ohio State and to Michigan. Oh, that's tough to say, isn't it? Let me see. Where are the losses could we get for Illinois? We need them to get at least two losses if they hold the tiebreaker over Iowa. So we want them to lose against Wisconsin and Ohio State, and we want them to beat Michigan. That's actually what we want. We want them to lose to Wisconsin and Ohio State, and we want them to beat Michigan. That's actually what we want.

We want them to lose to Wisconsin and Ohio State and beat Michigan. And again, we want Michigan to lose 4-5, which hopefully would be Iowa, Indiana, Illinois, and 1-2 against Michigan State. And Ohio State, as long as Iowa beats them once and Iowa goes undefeated, they'll be fine. So that's the road to the number one seed. However, that is unlikely. It is a tough one. That requires a lot of random things happening,

which we've seen in the past that can happen. But I think it's more likely that Iowa goes 3-1 or 2-2 over this next slate of games. And it is important because they need to get a double bye. The two teams that are closing out on them is Wisconsin and Purdue. Basically, Purdue is kind of the main one here. Wisconsin is one and a half games back at this point, and they have a game against Iowa, but they also have a tough slate of games.

So, Illinois, Purdue, and Iowa are Wisconsin's matchups coming up. And why that is important is when you look at the schedule, basically it's Purdue. Purdue is the team that we've got to worry about. Kempom has Wisconsin going 0-3 in their next three games. At home versus Illinois, on the road versus Purdue, on the road versus Iowa. I expect the Iowa game to be a win as well. Iowa just matches up way better against Wisconsin than a lot of other teams. So Wisconsin to me is kind of out of the picture at this point.

Purdue, though, is an interesting team. If Purdue goes 3-0, that would be tough. That puts a lot of pressure on Iowa. They need to go 3-1. Basically, there needs to be a combination of three wins or three losses. Three wins by Iowa or three losses by Purdue or a combination of the two for Iowa to get that fourth seat, to secure that fourth seat. So if Iowa goes 2-2, you need Purdue to lose one game. If Iowa goes 1-3, you need Purdue to lose two games. If Iowa goes 0-4, you need Purdue to lose all three games and Wisconsin to lose a game as well. So that's kind of the scenarios there. I think at this point, you can comfortably say that we should get a double buy, but there's

a lot of stuff that goes into it. You can also say there's still a chance of getting a number one seed, but a lot of that goes down to how does Iowa play Michigan tomorrow. If Iowa loses to Michigan tomorrow, there is no chance for Iowa to get that first seed. It's just a big game. There's a lot of movement here. Iowa could be as low as the 60. They could be as high as the first seed in the Big Ten. And that's what you love about Big Ten basketball. But we're going to be keeping you posted on what those standings mean every single time there's a game, every single time there's something happening. We'll let you know what those standings look like right here on the Lockdown Hawkeyes podcast.

We went a little bit long today. Apologize. I thought I brought the energy. Again, I'm a little bit tired still. I don't have the aches. I don't have the fever anymore. So I'm feeling better. But I hope you brought the energy. Again, I'm a little bit tired still. I don't have the aches. I don't have the fever anymore. So I'm feeling better. But I hope you enjoyed the show.

I apologize for not dropping a show yesterday. And I hope you all enjoyed listening to today's episode. If you like the show, give us that five-star review and subscribe wherever you downloaded this podcast at. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. And again, just thank you. Thank you so much for listening. Thank you so much for tuning in each and every day.

I appreciate all of you so, so, so, so much. And I can't wait to hopefully meet some of you. Thank you so much for listening. Thank you so much for tuning in each and every day. I appreciate all of you so, so, so, so much. And I can't wait to hopefully meet some of you. That's a future Iowa Hawkeye tailgates next season. Thank you all for tuning in, though. Have a fantastic Wednesday and let's go Hawks.