Locked On Hawkeyes - Daily Podcast On Iowa Hawkeyes Football & Basketball - Scott Dochterman from The Athletic joins to talk Iowa football

Episode Date: July 25, 2023

Trent Condon returns for the latest Locked On Hawkeyes Podcast as he is joined by Scott Dochterman.They get into the expectations for this year's Iowa football team and why they are warranted.Also a conversation on media and the role as an everyday beat writer at Iowa.Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!LinkedInLinkedIn Jobs helps you find the qualified candidates you want to talk to, faster. Post your job for free at LinkedIn.com/LOCKEDONCOLLEGE. Terms and conditions apply.eBay MotorsFor parts that fit, head to eBay Motors and look for the green check. Stay in the game with eBay Guaranteed Fit. eBay Motors dot com. Let’s ride. eBay Guaranteed Fit only available to US customers. Eligible items only. Exclusions apply.FanDuelMake Every Moment More. Don’t miss the chance to get your No Sweat First Bet up to TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS in Bonus Bets when you go FanDuel.com/LOCKEDON.FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Today, we got a big get Scott Dockerman, beat writer from The Athletic, joins us on the Locked On Hawkeyes podcast. We talk about the upcoming Iowa football season, a little Iowa basketball, and what's it like to be on the Hawkeyes beat. That's 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, joined today by Scott Dockerman of The Athletic, and this is the Locked On Hawkeyes podcast.

Thanks for making Locked On Hawkeyes your first listen every day. Doc, great to catch up with you. And we've done, what, probably 500 radio interviews over the last 20 years that I've been in the radio business. But I think this is the first time we've actually seen each other as we're talking to each other. How are you doing today, Doc? Man, Trent, I'm doing well. You know, we're in the middle of July, so I always kind of joke that once you get in the summer, the 4th of July, it's like you throw a

boomerang in the beginning of June, and then it comes back and smacks you in the face. It crosses through the 4th of July and hits you with Big Ten media days, and here we are. It doesn't even feel like summer really took place. It's just been kind of busy as heck for whatever reason, but I'm doing well, man. I can't complain. Well, thank you so much for your time and all the time that you've given me throughout the years and killing segments, certainly during the summertime, you know, football season, basketball season, that's the easy time. It's this off season that though it's busy and there's always things to do and things for you to write about. And for me to talk about still it's off season content content you have to rack your brain

and that's something that i love about the way that your brain works is you do that i mean you've had so many great pieces going back to you know the uh the one in alex karras a couple years ago and how that went down you come up with these big pieces seemingly every single summer something that really makes you think a story that we always talk about but don't don't know everything behind it do you have a notebook do you have a notes app that always talk about, but don't know everything behind it. Do you have a notebook? Do you have a notes app that you open up and look at every summer, what you're kind of chasing? How does that work for you in your mind and knowing that, hey,

we're looking for something this summertime, some kind of different kind of content? Yeah, I do have a notebook or, you know, even in my planner, I write down anytime I get a story idea, I write it down. And it could be about anything from a weekly story during football season. Okay. Oh, okay. There's a connection there between Iowa and Illinois, and maybe I'll write that down and who knows, maybe it'll happen. Maybe it won't to something big picture in the off season. I think that's really the best way to go about things

because, you know, there are times when you're just like, oh, I don't know what to write. But but when I have that list, then I could start working towards it. And that's one of the blessings. You know, I've done the newspaper gig for I did it for 20 plus years. And now I've been on online really for, you know, seven, five with the athletic and just back the other day was my fifth anniversary. And and we try to do things a little bit differently than we did in the newspaper realm. Newspaper, no offense, I have some great friends and certainly great memories in working in it, but it's a finite amount of time and space. And it's the difference between going on the radio trend and doing this. I mean, you can kind of go on, whether it's tangents, but in my case, in writing writing i can go on a topic that wouldn't have anywhere near the space in a daily or even a weekend newspaper so that's what makes

it fun and i just try to keep some ideas i try to write them down when i went to japan this spring i i came back with like 50 ideas because i was kind of bored on that 17 hour trip on the way back. So yeah, now I'm just kind of working through those. And plus we have this huge blitz going on right now on realignment. So there were a lot of stories on that part too. You had an opportunity to talk to the former Big Ten commissioner for a while in Jim Delaney. It got so much great information there. Looking back at those pieces and for people that haven't seen it at the Athletics, some of the things that kind of popped out to you as you had the conversation and diving deep into, well, everything in his three decades plus as the Big Ten Commissioner.

You know, he's probably, if you're looking at like a Mount Rushmore of college administrators that impact people in college athletics over a hundred years. He's probably the George Washington on that Mount Rushmore. He's just been that impactful. Worked with 71 presidents over 30 years at the Big Ten. It was just there for the whole thing. I mean, really, once he identified two main factors as to what triggered realignment. One was the Big East saying no to Penn State.

And two, the Supreme Court decision that opened up and kind of eliminated the NCAA cartel on television and allowed conferences and schools to negotiate individually on some of those fascinating contracts we've seen. And first it allowed the CFA, the College Football Association, to take over. Then you saw the SEC and Notre Dame break off. And so it was him going through that stage by stage, step by step. And then what happened with Penn State. And, you know, my colleague and I, Audrey Snyder, really went way deep on that one, probably the deepest of the bunch as to what happened there. And talking to him and talking to Stan Eikenberry, who's 88 years old, but was the president at Illinois who really drummed up support and had to fight for Penn State.

And then talking to the Indiana president, Thomas Ehrlich, who voted against Indiana. It was seven to three. I mean, that's and seven had to get in and they had to flip Northwestern at the very end just to make it seven because Northwestern was freaked out that it would get kicked out of the Big Ten. So they thought it was going to be a trade, Penn State for Northwestern. So they had to put in a, you know, they had to take a vote before that, that they would not change the Big Ten structure for three years. And then that way, Northwestern was preserved for at least three years. And that was the tenure remaining for the president. So it worked out well. But, you know, going through that- The president asked for a little more than three years, though. Yeah. Well, it also meant that they weren't going to expand, too.

Now, they could go back and flip it, but it really built in some security for Northwestern. And then the next year, they tried to get Notre Dame the first time. Didn't work out in 1991. And then they tried again in 99, way more publicly. Didn't work out. And again, Delaney was just really descriptive in some of those things. And even after 1999, the Notre Dame tried to discuss it with the Big Ten about getting in and, you know, getting the same deal the ACC gave them, you know, all those kinds of things.

And it just, you know, it's just this relationship that just never seemed to, you know, work together. But, you know, all these moves work in hand in hand so the acc saw penn state go into the big ten and decide we need to do something too to preserve ourselves and gets florida state the sec went after arkansas first then it was between florida state south carolina and um and miami and florida state famously backed off because of the competition level. And they figured they could. And it worked for them. I mean, no question that they won the ACC going away.

And it always seemed to end up in the playoff fight. But, you know, and then just working it from there, you know, the Nebraska angle. You know, that was fascinating to me, just how things worked out there to note or to Maryland and Rutgers and Rutgers will be one of our last stories in this series, Stuart Mandel and I work on it. It's pretty descriptive and some of the issues there. So, but yeah, it was great and I really enjoyed it. And I think this series has been good for everybody to kind of describe

what's been going on in realignment world since, you know, the last 30 years. Well, one that has been one that you've chased and we've talked about in the past on the radio show is the 1980s fight between the wrestling team and the football team. Some summer, you're going to get that thing to come together, right? Basketballs or as a basketball team against the wrestling team and some fight that spilled out into the ped mall someday, right doc? Yeah, that one's on the list actually but you know it's it's funny because uh that was one i think uh you know morehouse had

always claimed dibs on but i think now that he's uh you know a three-year moratorium since he's been out of the business i think i can probably slide over yeah i mean that there are there are a lot of stories like that that i think are worth looking at and in history you know alex karas was one that i really enjoyed it just happened to coincide with the uh you know racial bias situation at iowa and uh that one was awesome i really enjoyed going deep on that and i try to do that you know rock island independence last year and so there's there's all these great stories that we've forgotten about or we don't know about, and I try to do that. So the offseason to me, in some cases, is more interesting than in-season because in-season you're just kind of wedded to the day-to-day.

Now on your side of the fence, I totally get it. You can only talk about so many different things. When I had the old On Iowa podcast, we had to issue moratoriums until the horse latitudes. You know, like should I go play Iowa state or who's going to replace Kirk Ferentz. But you know, now's the time where I guess you can talk about that. Yeah.

We can definitely stretch it out a little bit more here in the summertime. Scott Dockerman hanging out with us here today on the lockdown Hawkeyes podcast. When we come back, want to talk about being on the Iowa beat some of the challenges being a beat writer for the university of Iowa. We're going to talk football and basketball also coming up here on the season. We'll do that as we continue. This is the Locked On Hawkeyes podcast. Today's podcast is brought to you by FanDuel. Take your first swing of betting MLB on FanDuel and get 10 times your first bet amount in bonus bets up to $200. That's right.

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Trent Conant back with you alongside Scott Dockerman today on the Lockdown Hawkeyes podcast. Thanks for making Lockdown Hawkeyes your first listen every day. Doc, it is something that I've never done. I've never been on a beat, but it's something that has always intrigued me, interests me. The day-to-day grind and being somebody like you that has to be in front of Kirk Ferentz, be in front of Fran McCaffrey. I don't, I'm just a loud mouth on the radio. And I've been to a few press conferences in the past and asked a few questions. The guy's been to media days and done the same, but it's different for you. You're there every day. You're there at every press

conference and knowing when you get critical, you're going to see that guy the next day or the next week, whatever it turns out to be. But what is that like being a beat writer and being somebody like you that is opinionated? You're not soft when you need to go hard after whatever team it is. You definitely do that. What's that like for you? Well, it's not comfortable. I would say Trent, you know, sometimes when you do have to ask the tough questions and I even have a tough questions folder. I should find it here. Oh yeah, here it is. Here it is, Trent. It's the tough questions. And I even have a tough questions folder. I should find it here. Oh yeah, here it is. Here it is, Trent. It's my tough questions folder. That's great.

Yeah, I dig it out from time to time. It's just a joke. But, you know, what's really interesting about it is, you know, I feel like I've got a pretty good pulse of this beat and I understand what people are talking about, what people want to know. There are times when things may be a little bit much that I'm not so into, you know, they're like jerseys and stuff like that. I don't get into that very much, but some other people do more power to them. I think you do more than I do. That's me. Yes. I'm the self-proclaimed uniform czar of the state of Iowa. Yeah, exactly. So it's like, what alternative jerseys are there? I don't know.

I don't care. But when, you know, things like last year with Iowa football, and it's really playing pretty poorly on offense, and you've got to find ways to get answers, and also kind of, and it's a really, you've got to really thread that needle because you've got to ask questions, but you've got to ask them in a respectful tone because, let's a really, you got to really thread that needle because you got to ask questions, but you got to ask them in a respectful tone because let's face it. I mean, we do face these guys every day and it's not an emotional period for us. I mean, people are emotional, especially

after games, but, but also during the week, you know, you're you know, you want to know the answers and well, that's not the way it goes. I mean, it's not you know, you're not Tom Cruise saying, you know, I want the truth. You know, you're just not going to get that kind of, you know, Spanish Inquisition here. But but I think what we've got to do is also convey that people are wanting answers to this and convey it in a way that it's not flippant, but it's direct. And you're trying to get answers and do it so you can kind of convey that the fan base feels a certain way. And some of that is very difficult. I mean, when you're trying to be narrow, objective, understand the situation because sometimes people get,

understand the situation because sometimes people get, they care about things more than you do, like victory versus how you look in getting victory. Those are two different things. I mean, some people, if Iowa wins 24 to 10, LeBron didn't hit 25 points, but if you win, you win. And so, you know, Kirk is all about just, hey, just win, baby. But that's the way it used to be.

Now it's how does the offense look. And, you know, but Kirk is a pro. He gets emotional at times up there, but he really kind of understands the situation. Fran is probably a little bit different, where he gets a little bit more emotional. He doesn't get challenged very often. He doesn't like it.

Not that Kirk does, but he just doesn't. Kirk understands it a little more more emotional. He doesn't get challenged very often. He doesn't like it. Not that Kirk does, but he just, it doesn't, Kirk understands it a little more, I think. And so you've got to go through that process. And Tom Brands is, challenging him is not going to work. So you've got to know the personalities. You've got to know what buttons to push. So there's, it's a lot of different things, Trent. I'm going on a long

winding road, but it's not easy, but you try to be fair and you're going to be criticized no matter what you do, no matter how hard you go, or if you're too soft, you ultimately know kind of what response you're going to get. It's still a working relationship. And so many people outside of the media don't understand that point. And I hear it it all the time i see it all the time on social media oh nobody in the media will ask the tough question they do they just don't ask it in the tone that you want to hear it in there you're not going to yell at kirk after the game why is your offense suck it's not how this works that's not what you do these are though they're not co-workers they're co-workers you're working with these people side by side day in and day out and it's just, I'm surprised how few people really understand

or how much negativity there's out there about how you have to do that. And you're certainly to be commended. And I think everybody on the beat. I mean, you guys do a good job understanding that, yes, there's not going to be those moments. They're not going to see Kirk fly off the handle. That's not going to happen. Was it Luke Meredith that got pulled to the side one time?

What was that? Probably 10 years ago now, something like that. It was a while back, but that's a rarity. We're talking about a guy that's been on the job for a quarter century, and those instances are very rare. What happened at Illinois last year to David when he asked the question, well, we won 10 games last year. Surprised he didn't know that, however it was.

It's few and far between that it happens, but it's a working relationship, and I think you guys all do a really good job. Well, let's move away from what you do on the day-to-day basis. And let's start to talk about next year and this football team coming up this year. Doc, I'm a Twins fan, as you see with my Twins hat. I'm a Bears fan, as you are.

I'm a Hawkeye fan. Those are the teams that matter the most. I've been beaten down throughout my life. 1991 was a long time ago. I was 11 when the Twins won a World Series. I have not seen much success since then with my squads. I am normally a very pessimistic fan. And though I try to separate the fan side of it

with what I do on the radio, certainly, and to a lesser extent here on the podcast, I'm as optimistic of a football team as I've been in a long time. I was not optimistic going into 2015. I was not optimistic going into 2002. I was in 2009, even with the tough schedule. But that aside, I love this team.

I love the makeup of the team. I love the way they plug the holes. I believe they are going to answer the bell and the schedule sets right there. And I don't think I'm alone. and the schedule sets right there. And I don't think I'm alone. Is this maybe the most anticipated Iowa football season since, what, 2016, coming off that 2015 year?

Well, every year it seems to go that way. So I would say two years ago in 21, after the 2020 season, I think there was a lot of anticipation too. But, you know, probably 16. I think you're right. But I think this was a lot of anticipation too, but you know, probably 16, I think you're right. But I think this is a different vibe. Every year has got its own kind of vibe to it. And I think this is different where this year I think people are optimistic. They're hopeful, but they're not like jumping it up and down. Yeah.

I go team. I think they understand that they should be better and they see the realistic reasons for the re for them to be better. But I don't think that they're like ready to go mortgage the house and go bet on this team winning the big 10 title either. And, and I think that this is probably the most realistic I've seen the Iowa fans, which is smart, you know, because a lot of years you just jump right in and you're head and shoulders in

love with the team. And then North Dakota state happens or, you know, games like that where you're just like, Oh God, where are we going? In this case, what I think everybody's seeing and they should is one of the best defenses, probably one of the two best defenses in the country last year, Iowa and Georgia and statistically right at near the top. And they had to play, they had to play two playoff teams. So they had to play a pretty strong schedule and they're still,

and they didn't have to play themselves. So their statistics are completely legit. The offense will be better. How much better? I don't know. I don't even want to go down that path because I don't know. I, but I will say it'll be better now with a better quarterback, more consistent, higher completion percentage, that's going to lead to more first downs, which leads to more trips down the field, which ultimately leads to more points.

I anticipate the offensive line being better. How much better? I'm not ready to say 2002 Iowa or 2016 or anything like that. But what I will say is there were sophomores last year, the key cogs, and they still had growing pains. And now, you know, they seem to be growing up and it, you know, it happens. I, the biggest turnaround I saw was from 07 to 08. And 017 was just, I think, 46 sacks allowed. And then by the end of the 2008 season, they were the best in the Big Ten. And receivers, you know, I think they'll be obviously better, but will they be good?

Will they be mediocre? Will they be just barely good enough to score some points once in a while? I don't know. We'll just see. You know, and so all those things have to come together. So I anticipate if you have a great defense, and I think the guts of a really good one is there, if you have an offense that can at least score points when the opportunity is there,

and an elite level special teams, that to me is a nine-win minimum for this team. Now, there are games that are 50-50. Going to Madison is going to be 50-50. You don't know what you're going to get. There's going to be another game where you're going, oh, boy, this could be a lot tougher than what we expected. Penn State, of course, will be, but will it be Minnesota, Illinois, Iowa State? You know, Purdue, nobody's talking about Purdue,

but maybe they're going to be good. I don't know. So I would say nine wins minimum, and then they're going to have their chance to do good. I don't know. So I would say nine wins minimum, and then they're going to have their chance to do something. Now it may come down to a turnover in Madison. That's something we can't predict here in the middle of July. So, but otherwise, but also for the most part, I like this team. I like their mentality. I think they've got the right attitude going forward. And I think they've got the right attitude going forward, and I think they've got pretty much the right personnel to be very, very competitive in the West. And if their offense gets it figured out,

if they can run the ball for 4.3 yards per carry and complete 60% of their passes, I give them a puncher's chance in Indianapolis. If they don't, well, you know, we've seen how that story works out once in a while. A little more on Iowa football and a little Iowa basketball to wrap things up as we're talking with Scott Dockerman today here. This is the Locked On Hawkeyes podcast.

Back with you one final time on the Locked On Hawkeyes podcast. As always, thanks for making Locked On Hawkeyes your first listen every day, your team every day. That's what we do here on the Locked On Network. All right, Doc, you're getting ready for media days. Starts in Indianapolis. We'll get to hear from Cooper DeGene, Noah Shannon over there. It'll be what media days are.

You've been doing this for a long time. But this Iowa football team, I always like to get a sense. And outside of the weirdo Penn State media guys that I've met throughout the years that are always complaining about the East, they finally got their wish. The divisions are going away. It is always fun though, to get the perspective of some of the other writers. Now it's different for you now today and over the last five years, certainly working with the athletic and you're talking to a lot of different college football people. What do you think is going to be the outside view when you guys get to Indianapolis

here in a couple of days, how everybody else is looking at this Hawkeye team? Is it going to be the same old tired tropes, terrible offensively last year, ha ha ha, or do you think there's going to be other people outside of the Iowa beat that believe like I think a lot of us do in this team? I think it'll probably be, you know, people who don't know much about Iowa will still pan it, still look at it as boring old Iowa, bad offense, good defense. They're going to be in an important game and I don't want to watch them play. That's kind of the, you know, I get that. But you know, it's just sometimes the vibe around Iowa, the narrative. I think most people are pushing Wisconsin. I expect Wisconsin to be the favorite in the West,

but I don't think Wisconsin is the favorite in the West. I think it's Iowa. And the reason is they were atrocious this spring. I mean, trying to move everything around. I mean, Tanner Mordecai is going from, you know, Tallahassee, Texas to Madison, Wisconsin, and doing things completely different. And they're going to try to go more wide and spread.

They still got a big physical running back, but I think in this business, just like anything, people want new and fun and different. And Iowa is the complete opposite of that. They're the same over and over and over again, and they still win. They don't win a lot, lot, but they win enough to where they're relevant, but I don't want to watch Iowa. So I think that people who know the sport, understand the sport, will look at Iowa and say, yeah, they're going to be a competitor,

but I don't think they're going to be good enough to beat somebody good in the East. So they're going to have that kind of view. I would expect that to continue until Iowa plays Penn State. That's going to be the coming out party. It could be that to continue until Iowa plays Penn State. That's going to be the coming out party. It could be a lot like 2009 when Iowa went there. Penn State was fifth in the country and Iowa went and knocked them out. Great game. I was there in the stands. I was not up the press box. I was very wet. It was a long day of tailgating that day, but it was a good one there. And that 110,000, they were awful quiet in the fourth quarter as Iowa picked up the win 21-10.

All right, Doc, I want to, before we let you go, talk a little bit about the basketball program and what has been such an odd offseason from Jack McCaffrey in the two months before we found out that he was charged in the accident. The story that came out from 24-7 saying that he wasn't going to be a Hawkeye, he was looking elsewhere. That was kind of odd just the way that that came out from 24 seven saying that he wasn't going to be a Hawkeye. He was looking elsewhere. That was kind of odd, just the way that it came out. And the continued speculation about the future of Fran, you know,

Fran McCaffrey has delivered what he was brought here to do. He's got them back to a consistent NCAA tournament team. They have one of the longest streaks in college basketball of NCAA tournaments. And they would have been a tournament team in 2020. If there was a tournament eight of the last 10 years, Dr. Tom never had a run of eight in 10 years of making the NCAA tournament. I know it's about March success, but he has brought this program back at least, at minimum, to respectability, and there are a lot of people that didn't believe that that was going to be the case. What's your read on Frey and the future of this program, not just in this

upcoming season where this roster leaves me incredibly nervous, but overall kind of the future path of Fran McCaffrey in Iowa. It's, it's really enigmatic right now. I mean, because it's something that, you know, of the major coaches at Iowa, there's a really good fit with three of them. And I think Fran McCaffrey has been a really good coach. He's done a lot of the things you mentioned. But, you know, as time goes on, you know, it's time to put the Licklider era in the jar and move it on. I mean, after about year three to four, it's like, OK, now it's your team, your program. You can do different things.

We've seen some teams really, you know, hit the skids and then come out and play well. Nobody's really talking about their former back coaches. But I think it's a consistent program. It's a winning program, but it's not an elite program. And when we go all the way back to the Dr. Tom days and when Dr. Tom got forced out, you know, and his contract was not renewed, it was to take the next step. Because four times in the 80s, they went to the Sweet 16. And then there was a 10-year gap. You know, Dr. Tom walked in with the greatest collection of athletes in Iowa basketball history. Then they went 10 years before they went back to the Sweet 16,

which just don't happen to coincide with his lame duck year. And then they haven't been back since. And I think what, you know, you just, you want that mountaintop. I think Iowa fans are reasonable enough to understand that you can't, you know, in football or basketball, you can't win the Big Ten every year. You can't go to the ultimate of the sport, the final four, you know, three out of four years or the Orange Bowl, Rose Bowl bowl playoff, whatever. But if you get there once in a while, make you feel like the buildup meets the expectations and then you, you see them, you know, like the women's basketball team did this year, then no problem. Then, then you have a letdown year, you struggle,

bad things happen, you know, interceptions at the wrong time, or, you know, missed free throws on the road, something like that. But Fran hasn't had that ending that makes everybody feel really, really good about it. And, you know, even last year, a year ago was about as close as it got winning the Big Ten tournament, but then turning around and losing in a 5-12 game, just kind of, you know, just drops it. And that's probably the hallmark of the program right now. And, you know, just drops it. And that's probably the hallmark of the program right now. And it, you know, since 2012, Iowa and Michigan state are the only two programs in the big 10 to have one, only one losing campaign and conference play. That's a big stat. That's really good in this

league, which is as tough as it gets, but you got to have March success because everybody else has had it. They haven't, I mean, you're, you're going to go on, you're 25 since you've been in the Sweet 16, and I think there's only like 12 Power 5 programs that have a streak that long, and Iowa has clearly got the best history out of that bunch, but sometimes you've just got to finish the gig, and it hasn't happened here. I remember the game well my freshman year sitting at one eight jakes with my fake id and watching hawkeyes yukon out in phoenix as my

buddies were down there for spring break and i didn't have money to go so i was stuck at one i jakes and watching pretty good game i would give him a run in that one but that was a long long time ago and need to get it back in the interim this year coming up which it continues to feel like very well could be Fran's last season, either looking for another job or just deciding to walk away at this point in his career and go in following Jack, maybe for his last year, doing something like that and off to wherever he ends up collegiately.

This roster, it's weird. They're bad defensively. Well, they're seemingly bad every year defensively. I don't know how this team rebounds, and I don't know how they defend. They're going to score because they always score. That's what Fran does. But this team defensively looks putrid. Yeah, honestly, I mean, they've struggled on the defensive end.

Other than one year when they had Utoff and Aaron White, it's been among the worst. Now, they've always led the Big Ten in scoring, which is kind of the inverse of the football team. But I think you look at this and you're like, okay, where are they? If you're not going to defend with real consistency and passion, the way that a Wisconsin does or some of the other teams, then you better score with regularity.

And I don't know that I have that. I don't know that they have that go-to guy. I mean, I like Peyton Sanford a lot. I think he's a really good player. Can he be a consistent shooter? That's really tough to say. I mean, Tony Perkins, you know, you don't have a Chris Murray on the floor. You don't have a Keegan Murray on the floor.

You don't have a Luka Garza on the floor or Joe Wieskamp. And so the players that normally have benefited from being the secondary option on a lot of trips up the floor are now going to have to be number one. And then the other team knows that well, and they're going to try to take those guys away. And so can they score enough to overcome it? You know, it's hard to say. I mean, you know, Ben Crickey, is he going to be, you know, is he going to play like he did at Valpo? If he does, he'll be a really good addition.

Maybe, you know, third team-Big Ten or something like that. Nevin Bronze, if you just go his inning, gives him good minutes, then you're looking for growth in a couple of areas. Can DeSante Bowen be the guy that everybody wanted him to be last year? What about – can Patrick McCaffrey be more consistent? Can Tony Perkins take his game from being one day he's awesome, the next day he's eh, so-so, to, hey, he's really good at every game? If that can happen, then this team could be on the bubble,

be its seventh, eighth, and the Big Ten. If not, this team could be on the NIT bubble. But it would be kind of an odd trend if they finally got in. If they got in, they're a 10 seed, and all of a sudden they win two games and go to the Sweet 16 with this type of roster, but that's just the way the ball bounces sometimes. Absolutely. That's the way the NCAA tournament is. Scott Dockerman from The Athletic joining us here. Doc, enjoy our conversations throughout the years, talking everything on the Iowa beat, and for people interested, people listening to the podcast here today, The Athletic, a subscription-based website website and not just Hawkeye content, content of seemingly

every team, every league out there, what people can do. They want to get signed up and great, get great sports writing that you do. And everybody does over at the athletic. What's the easiest place to go? Hey, just click on one of my tweets and then sign up. It's a $2 a month right now. And you got to build it to build up to the season for football for sure. And I'll be doing a little more basketball than normal. In the past, we've kind of done some changes. So you're going to see more Iowa coverage, but then you're also going to see big picture coverage.

I think college football especially. And hey, if you're like the Twins, like Trent, or you're like the Cubs, well, maybe not the Cubs. Maybe they're trade deadline Cubs or the bears, you know, whoever you like in the other sports, you can have it filtered down to you. So, and then also read national headlines every day with good take. So I think it's a, it's as big of a bargain as there is. And so just, you know, go to Scott Dockterman at Scott Dockterman on Twitter,

or go to theathletic.com, click on an Iowa story, subscribe from there. It's not very expensive, and you'll get all the coverage you need for the next year. Definitely worth it. Thank you for your time today, Doc. Thanks a lot, Trent. That's Scott Dockterman joining us from The Athletic.

Thanks for making Locked On Hawkeyes your first listen every day. We've got more content coming up later this week, you everydayers. We've got you covered from Big Ten Football Media Days. We'll talk to you again tomorrow. Go Hawks.