Locked On Hawkeyes - Daily Podcast On Iowa Hawkeyes Football & Basketball - ROADBLOCKS? Iowa Football’s GAUNTLET—Caitlin Clark Controversy & Bennett Stirtz’s NBA Move

Starting point is 00:00:00 The road to a big Iowa football season is anything but easy. The Hawkeyes face a schedule loaded with landmines. And today, we're ranking every game from toughest to easiest and identifying the matchups that will define this football season. 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, and this is the Lockdown Hawkeyes podcast, your daily Iowa Hawkeye podcast.

Starting point is 00:00:37 Glad to have me aboard with us here today. We got a lot to get into. We're going to talk a little bit about Caitlin Clark, bullied once again in her game on earlier Wednesday evening. And just a head-scratching referee call once again in this one for the former Iowa star. Bennett Sturts, another former Hawkeye star. He heard his name called in the NBA draft, how he fits. And what's going to happen in year number one in OKC for Bennett Sturts

Starting point is 00:01:01 becoming the third first rounder in the last five years for the Iowa. Iowa men's basketball program. The Iowa men's program is also scheduled another big non-conference game. This time, it's Virginia Tech once again in the state borders, though not in Carver Hawkeye Arena. We'll break that down. The Big Ten representatives have been named for Big Ten football meaty days coming up at the end of July. We'll tell you about the three Hawkeyes that are going to be making their way to Chicago for that. But we begin today with a look at the football schedule. We've talked about this and the 12 games that comprise Iowa's football season a bunch this and just how difficult that it is.

Starting point is 00:01:37 Now, the non-conference is not daunting by any means, but what was laid out to them once again, as Iowa almost traditionally now opens up the season on the road with the road game to begin Big Ten play. I think it's something like 19 of 27 years. I'll have to look that number up exactly what it is, but just ridiculous. And yet another one this year as I was going to go to Michigan.

Starting point is 00:01:57 So what we're going to do today is we're going to rank all 12 games. We're going to go from number 12 to number one, the easiest to the toughest on the sketch. schedule this year. I will see if you react in the same way and jog our memories a little bit what this football schedule is going to look like. We kick things off at number 12 and it is the third opponent of the season. It's a match up against the northern Iowa Panthers. Now, you and I in the past is of course made things difficult for Iowa a couple of different times from David Johnson running up and down the field and doing basically whatever he wanted as Iowa escaped

Starting point is 00:02:29 against the Panthers and that one to the infamous game back in 2009 where Iowa held by a single point on back-to-back block field goals. The Panthers could have walked it off. Instead, Iowa comes up big two different times to block kicks. That was a 2009 Iowa team that, by the way, went on to win an orange pole. That shows you what the gap was then. The gap now is much different. This U&I program has fallen on hard times.

Starting point is 00:02:55 Mark Farley is no longer there. They've gone through a coaching change, and just the changing nature of the Missouri Valley Football Conference has left you and I in the dust. The Dakota schools have obviously not just North Dakota State and the national championships that they win, but South Dakota State has turned themselves into a power as a national championship to their credit for North Dakota and South Dakota. These are programs that spend, and you and I cannot spend at the same level, even at the FCS ranks in the Missouri Valley Football Conference. It is a completely different game for them. Now, there'll also be a couple of former Hawkeyes there, and I'm sure they'll be excited to go out there and go against their former team,

Starting point is 00:03:31 some guys that were walk-ons and were caught up in the roster crunch. should happen when they went to the 105 man roster limit a couple of years back. But that aside, this one, number 12 against you and I in week three. Number 11 on the list, it is the first game of the year against Northern Illinois. Another team that is changing. Northern Illinois is going to be playing football in the Mountain West. And think of, yes, those beautiful, beautiful mountains in DeKalb. Yes, they're going to be at the Mountain West Conference this year.

Starting point is 00:03:58 With all the changes and the Pac-12 reforming and everything that's happened out there, that has led to NIU. making their way westward. The Huskies have had good teams. Jordan Lynch gave Iowa fits in that matchup against Northern Illinois. We go way back to 1999 and he did LaVar Woods's return to get the victory against the Huskies. We've seen it. We've seen it in Chicago.

Starting point is 00:04:22 This one, though, shouldn't be that difficult for Iowa. Get the excitement plus a game number one, which makes it a little bit more fun, no doubt. Number 10 on the list, it's a home game against Purdue, the Boilermakers. Yes, or once again, going through. rebuild, though if we remember back to the legends and leaders divisions of the Big Ten that were formed, that was a protected rivalry game with Iowa and Purdue. Not a rivalry as we think about here. I was got enough rivals and we can make fun of the rivalry against Purdue. The Boilomakers, though, rebuilding and should not be that difficult at home at Kinnick Stadium. Number nine on the list.

Starting point is 00:04:59 Some people might cringe at this a little bit. I put the Iowa State Cyclones. Iowa State at number on this list, the fourth easiest game on the schedule for me this season. Yes, it's at Kinnock. Yes, a place that Iowa has not beat Iowa State in the last couple of meetings as the cyclones have come into Kinnock back to back times and pulled out victories against the Hawkeyes. But this is a program, not just going through a transition. This is an overhaul unlike anything we've seen in a really long time at the power conference level with Matt Campbell leaving for Penn State, taking all those players with them, over 50 guys that had departed the program, what 80 new faces, I believe it is, something like that on the Iowa State football roster.

Starting point is 00:05:40 They'll have some guys, they'll be okay, but this is definitely, should be a winnable one. And if the opportunity arises, Kirk, can you rub it in just a little bit? That'd be fun to see. Let's go up to number eight on the list here in terms of difficulty on the Iowa football schedule at number eight, the Northwestern Wildcats. Now, this is a road game, and this game will be played in the new stadium for the Wildcats. that they've been working on now the last couple of seasons. They played in the temporary stadium there, right on campus, right on the water. That definitely was fun to see.

Starting point is 00:06:14 Definitely felt high schoolish, but let's be honest, Ryan Field back the day, had the same kind of field to it. The new stadium is going to be different. No small, just 35,000 people are going to be there. They will not open up their season, Northwestern. In fact, in the new stadium, still going to take a little bit of while in most of September to polish up some of the loose ends there. but they will be playing by this point that we get into November, Iowa Northwestern on the road.

Starting point is 00:06:39 Number eight on the list. Number seven, it is another home game, this one against the Wisconsin Badgers. Now, if you saw Wisconsin a year ago, I'm sure you all did. I'm watching that game against the Hawkeyes. Look, Wisconsin stunk. That was a bad football team that night in Madison when Iowa did whatever they wanted. Just an absolutely dominating performance by the Hawkeyes there. Luke Vickle has gone out and he has done work in the portal.

Starting point is 00:07:03 He has been augmented by Wisconsin, opening up the checkbook and giving an opportunity to go into the portal and do some good things. But still, I think Wisconsin's got a long ways to go, even as their schedule lightens up this year, halfway through the list, we got the Wisconsin Badgers at number seven. So halfway through, we got six more to go. How difficult is this Iowa football schedule? We continue to rank it six through one coming up. What's the most difficult game on the schedule? A lot of road trips coming up. We'll talk about it as we continue.

Starting point is 00:07:33 and some Iowa football. Stay right there. This is Locked on Hawkeyes. Running a business shouldn't feel like you're trying to connect a bunch of systems that were never designed to work together. One app for accounting, another for inventory, another for sales, and somehow none of them talk to each other. That's where Odu comes in. Odo is an all-in-one business management software that brings every part of your business together in one powerful platform. From sales and accounting to inventory and marketing. Everything works in one place, helping your team move faster, stay organized, and focus on growing the business instead of managing software. The best organizations know that success isn't just about talent. It's about having everyone work toward the same goal. That's true in

Starting point is 00:08:21 sports, just like it is in business. Making a big move, going out there recruiting. We've seen it happen. What I was been doing recently here in football. And you look at what they've done recently grabbing a couple of prospects, those under the radar guys. And Kirk Farrants, year after year, has been so good at that. The last two commitments had a combined one power conference offer. But with Kirk Farrants and the Iowa football program, you can tell that they have a plan. This move wasn't reactionary. The organization had a vision, stuck to it, and now you're seeing the results,

Starting point is 00:08:52 because everyone was working from the same playbook of what they were working to do in recruiting. Great organizations win because operations matter, and that's why you should get Odu. Try for free at Odu.com slash lockdown. That's OD-O-O-O-O-com slash lockdown. O-D-O-D-com slash locked-on. Trent, I'm back with you once again as we're talking Iowa football here in the beginning of the program. We got some hoops still coming your way. Thanks for being with us and making Lockdown Hawkeyes, your first listen every day,

Starting point is 00:09:29 your daily Iowa Hawkeye podcast. Let's wrap things up the back half of the schedule in terms of difficulty. We're up to number six on the list. And for me, it's a matchup against Nebraska, excuse me. Wisconsin was number seven. Number six is the matchup with the Huskers. Wisconsin, Nebraska, two teams recently. Iowa's had success and even more success against the Huskers,

Starting point is 00:09:53 a game that I'm sure Nebraska is going to feel very confident. I think we all know the buildup. We all know the puffing out of the chest that you're going to hear from Nebraska fans. And what we've seen for the better part now of a decade is Iowa finds a way. finds a way to get the victory, winners of 10 of the last 11 in the series, and I think it's going to continue on again this season. Number six,

Starting point is 00:10:13 now we get to the final five. Five most difficult games on the Iowa football schedule. Number five for me, it's a matchup on the road up at TCF Bank against the gophers. Now, PJ Fleck has had trouble, and he has had trouble against Iowa. And outside of an invalid fair catch from Cooper to Jean, he has not beaten the Hawkeyes.

Starting point is 00:10:33 He's never done it in his home stadium. You know he wants it. Maybe he wants it too much. But Iowa bullied them a year ago. They're going to be all right. It's going to be a solid Minnesota team and kind of what Phil Fleck is built up there. They're good. They're solid.

Starting point is 00:10:47 Haven't been elite. One year that they might have been elite, of course, Iowa got him in Kinnick Stadium. Number five on the list of the matchup against the gophers. Number four, here's a rivalry renewed. It's a road trip to Champaign to take on the Illini. Bert Bilemma has done a nice job with this program. I got them operating at a consistent level. we have not seen for a very long time.

Starting point is 00:11:08 Yes, Ron Zuck took them to a sugar bowl. Yes, we've seen them make runs before, but usually right after that, they've fallen apart. Consistency. The last couple of years, Illinois has elevated themselves and be able to maintain at a higher level than what we've seen previous. It's going to be a tough matchup over there against the Aligni.

Starting point is 00:11:27 And just the way the schedule breaks to towards the end of the season, the good news is year after year Iowa football seems like they're peaking at that end of the season And with the game on November 21st, the second to last game of the season, definitely feel good about that one. But going to be a tough one. And that thing has 1713, 15, 14, something like that written all over it. Number three on the list. I know what you're thinking.

Starting point is 00:11:51 Well, we got three games left. It's the first three big 10 games of the year. And everybody's thinking, I know how this is going to be. You're wrong. Number three is Michigan. Yes, it's a road trip against the Wolverines. But I believe getting Michigan early. Kyle Whittingham coming in trying to right the ship and all the ails that hit that program last year with

Starting point is 00:12:10 Sharon Moore and the difficulty that they went through a season ago and then his ultimate firing that happened after that Michigan I think it's better to play them early than late this season still going to be a tough game incredibly difficult I got Michigan at number three number two is the matchup on the road in Seattle against the Washington Huskies Washington comes in and most people's fringe of the top 25 you'll see them in that 20 to 25 range. A few people just outside the top 25. They got to figure out DeMond Williams, their quarterback after he wanted to end of the portal. Washington said, whoa, pump the brakes there, buddy boy. We actually have a contract with you. That's not going to happen. Now he's got to come back and talk to his teammates and get them back on the same page. We'll see how that goes. But

Starting point is 00:12:56 it's not just a good team that you're going on the road. It's also a road trip out west. We know Iowa's difficulties on the West Coast. And a year ago, having USC dominated in the first half, let them get back into it. Opportunities. Caden Weegean, if his shoe size was a half shoe, a half shoe size different, we'd be having a different conversation about his catch down that left sideline. But alas, that one was just out of bounds. You have that component, the West Coast travel, and the quick turnaround on top of it.

Starting point is 00:13:27 You come on the heels of playing Ohio State six days later, you got to take on a good Washington team. You have to do it on the road and you have to do it in a place that you have struggled on the West Coast. It's all the schedule, everything that plays into it. That's why I believe the Washington game is going to be more difficult than the Michigan game. And finally, number one on the list, this one is no surprise. It is the matchup against the Ohio State Buckeyes. Here comes Julian San and Jeremiah Smith and that high powered offense of the Buckeyes year after year after year have all the pieces you're looking for. Now, I'm not a big fan. of coach third base of Ryan Day overall.

Starting point is 00:14:05 But this program, it is turnkey operation, doing a great job of what they bring in at the wide receiver position year after year. We know they're going to be high powered. We know they're going to be good. And oh, by the way, it's their first trip to Kinnick Stadium since the 55-24 woodshedding game back in 2017. So you have that component too.

Starting point is 00:14:25 And though most of the guys on this roster were in middle school or maybe even elementary school when that game happened, that will still be circled. Kinnick Stadium, where dreams go to die. We'll see if the Hawkeyes are ready for that one. Ohio State number one on the list. We got more for you here, locked on Hawkeyes on your daily Iowa Hawkeye podcast.

Starting point is 00:14:45 We're going to wrap up with some basketball talk. Iowa has scheduled another major non-conference game this time in the state of Iowa, but not in Iowa City. How frustrating is it? How frustrating should that be? We'll talk about that as we continue here, Locked on Hawkeyes.

Starting point is 00:15:00 If you are a daily listener of the. program or you watch us on YouTube each and every day. You can get your daily Locked on Hawkeyes fix completely ad-free by joining the Everydayer Club. Start your seven-day free trial right now and get closer to the Hawkeyes without the interruptions. Click on the link in the show notes or go to Lockdownhawkeyes.com to claim your free trial. That's Lockdownhawkeyes.com for your ad-free experience and joining our Everydayer Club. Talk in Iowa hoops when we come back, stay right there. Trent, kind of back with you one final time here on the Lockdown Hawkeyes podcast. Thanks for being with us and making Lockdown Hawkeyes your first listen every day.

Starting point is 00:15:50 As we get into a little hoops here, start with the scheduling that Ben McCollum has put together in this non-conference slate. Before we have told you about Iowa was looking at trying to get into the Players Era tournament back in November of last season. They were told no by the players era. They're looking for programs with the name, with the cash A. Iowa didn't have it at that point in time. Ben McCollum obviously changed that in this Iowa basketball team with the run a year ago to the elite aid. The win against Florida, the win against Nebraska. Just everything that went along with it definitely changed the nature and the perception of this Iowa basketball program.

Starting point is 00:16:27 But when the schedule was being made and the teams were being invited to that event where NIL money is paid in different tiers, depending on how many games that you win in that bracket. and now it is a real bracket unlike it was a year ago. They were told no. Had an opportunity to also go out and play an exempt tournament and said no. Again, the cost to go along with it. So it is another non-conference game that's going to be played on a neutral floor. We already have the two games that were scheduled.

Starting point is 00:16:55 And we've talked about before with Alabama and Creighton. Both those games are going to be in Des Moines. We got the matchup against Xavier. We saw them come to town back last season to, Carver Hawkeye Arena. Now Iowa travels out to Xavier to Cincinnati to face off against them in a traditional home-in-home. Iowa State that game will also be played in Iowa City. Looking forward to that should be a great environment in Iowa City. We hope for definitely in that matchup. But now this one in Sioux City against Virginia Tech, a Virginia Tech team that is on the fringes of maybe being a tournament

Starting point is 00:17:30 team with the tournament expansion. We'll see about that. But you kind of look at the reasoning behind it. First, the ability to help your basketball program financially. And the financial aspect is an important one. Being able to pay players, keep your budget intact, all the different things that go along with it. And with these one-off games like this, there is a check that comes along with it that is paid to the athletic department. You don't have to return the game,

Starting point is 00:17:55 though I was returning the game against Alabama down in Birmingham coming up the following season after this upcoming one. That will be happening, but that's also a component. And a part of this, a lot of the programs take a look at when they're putting this together. So I think this is incredibly smart scheduling. And as I've told you and you heard when Ben McCollum has joined us in the past, if you're an everydayer here, you definitely know that Ben McCollum,

Starting point is 00:18:18 the way that he treats non-conference scheduling, there is a method to the madness. And there is reasoning behind anything. And you look at a team like Creighton, might be a tournament team, probably a bubble-type team. Same thing with Virginia Tech, both of these programs. And if both of these games were in Carver Hawkeye Arena, well, the potential of this being a quad one win is much lower than it is when you play on a neutral floor. Even a neutral floor in Des Moines, a neutral floor in Sioux City. Those things, though they're going to be a decided advantage for Iowa,

Starting point is 00:18:51 it's still going to help out metrically with the way this goes. I get it for the season ticket holders. I completely understand your frustration as you have these great games and you don't get to see them with your season ticket package. I get it. I don't like it either, but it is the new reality of college sports and specifically college basketball. There's a reason that Duke is playing three games in their non-conference schedule and doing it at neutral floors. There's also a reason that the Duke Michigan game had to be moved down to Miami and they couldn't play it in New York City.

Starting point is 00:19:22 That's about television contracts and a different story for a different day. This is where we are in college basketball scheduling, and it's great to see a coach. and Ben McCullum that gets it, that understands it, and then is going out and doing it. And that's what he did with this non-conference schedule. Still some buy games out there that need to be figured out. We mentioned a few of those in the past that are already on the books overall, but that is now finishing up the schedule. But I think the big boys, if you will, the major conference teams, they are set.

Starting point is 00:19:53 Creighton and Des Moines, Alabama and Des Moines, now Virginia Tech in Sioux City, Iowa State and Iowa City and the Xavier matchup on the road in Cincinnati. Those are the major conference matchups there. One final thought, as we've talked about back when the game against Vanderbilt on the women's side was announced in Sioux City. I do nothing about Sioux City until some 18 years ago when my wife and I started dating and she's from Sioux City. So I got to see Sioux City and remember traveling there the first time and you hear all these stories. you hear about, all right, Sioux City. I love Sioux City.

Starting point is 00:20:30 I absolutely do. And getting to know people there, getting to know her friends and family and everything else, I'm so excited for them. I went to the matchup against Colorado up in Sioux Falls, and we stopped off and I dropped off the wife and kids in Sioux City on my way up. There are two Sioux Falls to watch that matchup. But the Sioux City people, to get this opportunity,

Starting point is 00:20:49 I mean, just think of that drive. And I know we have lots of viewers and listeners over there on the western part of the state, and specifically in Sioux City. And the amount of people that hop in the car and take that long trek all the way across the state to get to Iowa City to support the Hawkeyes like they do. Hawkeye fans, you're in the majority. Yes, I know you got a lot of those weird cornhuskers, and I get it.

Starting point is 00:21:11 And the people over in South Sioux and even the ones that aren't over there that are Husker fans, it's fun to put them in their place. But the Hawkeye fans to see them get something like this, where I'm sure a lot of people thought this was never going to happen. You were never going to see the Hawkeyes. in Sioux City. And after those games started to be played at the Pentagon up in Sioux Falls and the Sanford money that was coming in to help those games become possible, he thought it would. And here it is, and you get two of them, both the men and the women and good matchups on top of it. It's going to be

Starting point is 00:21:39 fun. Tickets, by the way, go on sale on Friday for the Virginia Tech Iowa matchup in Sioux City. Bennett starts, here's his name. Calder then is promptly traded in the NBA draft as well we know happens a ton throughout the course of that one. So he will be with Oklahoma City after he was drafted by the Memphis Grizzlies. He gets traded to OKC. You know, and initially I was like, ah, it kind of stinks for him. That's a team that is ready made. What a championship a year ago this past season, Western Conference Finals before they got whambeed in the Western Conference Finals with the 3-2 lead in that series. And you wonder about minutes and the structure and the way things are going to go. But going to a winning organization, going to an organization that's smart

Starting point is 00:22:24 compared to some of the dumpster fires that are out there in the NBA. Maybe it's not as bad as I initially thought because it was just selfishly, want to see him play a ton. I want to see him get a roll, get the ball in his hands, play off the ball, do all those different things. He also do wonder with SGA, ball dominant guys out there, if that is the right fit also for Bennett Sturtson and his ability to not have to have the ball in his hands all the time. We'll see what kind of role it is, but OKC, one of the smartest organizations, not just in the NBA, but in all of sports. And when that trade happened, I know a lot of NBA heads said, of course, of course, that's where Bennett Sturtz is going to go because that organization knows what they're going to do. One final thought on basketball.

Starting point is 00:23:09 And on Wednesday evening, I flip on the highlights of the fever game and watching Caitlin Clark. We've talked about Caitlin and year number three. now in the league. It's been odd. And at times seeing what a joyful player that she was at the University of Iowa and even my days calling her games at Dowling Catholic and that joy is just not there at the same level. And then you see her manhandled and bullied and pushed. And it feels like that's just by the players, but by the officials at time.

Starting point is 00:23:44 And you're just, you're left scratch your head. And Stephanie White, the head coach of the fever, came to her defense as she should. That's an easy one. That's a lamp. You definitely make that one. When you see a player getting need and pushed and pulled, and then with an arm across her throat, and there's nothing there, leaves the game with a back injury.

Starting point is 00:24:05 It's just the joy. And what this league had and an opportunity that they had with a once-in-a-lifetime type of player, the hype, the build-up, the skill to go along with it, and Caitlin Clark, and your product, because of your refereeing, because of the style of play that is allowed in that league, you're missing.

Starting point is 00:24:26 You're missing this opportunity. And the salaries are rising in this, and you have all this momentum, the actual product on the floor, it's not good. A couple years ago in the NBA, we saw them adjust on the fly. And it was becoming almost too easy on the three-pointers. And so they adjusted and they changed,

Starting point is 00:24:44 and they allowed more physicality to happen. We also saw it go to the other director. when the game became too physical and they did away with hand checking and keeping your hands off and he can have an arm bar and got to take that away. You can do different things. The parent, the NBA has done it

Starting point is 00:25:00 and done it multiple times where they have changed the way the game is called. Same thing needs to happen in the WMBA where they are going to miss on a big, big opportunity. Thanks for being with us here on the Lockdown podcast network and your daily Iowa

Starting point is 00:25:15 Hawkeye podcast. We are locked on Hawkeyes. Again, you can join us with our Everydayer Club, an opportunity for you to get Lockdown Hawkeyes every day. Add free with the Everydayer Club. Go to Lockdownhawkeyes. Dot supercast.com to join today. That's Lockdownhawkeyes.

Starting point is 00:25:32 Dot supercast.com. Thanks for being with us. We'll talk to you again tomorrow. Until then, go Hawks.

Locked On Hawkeyes - Daily Podcast On Iowa Hawkeyes Football & Basketball - ROADBLOCKS? Iowa Football’s GAUNTLET—Caitlin Clark Controversy & Bennett Stirtz’s NBA Move

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