Locked On Hawkeyes - Daily Podcast On Iowa Hawkeyes Football & Basketball - The Search for an OC continues for Iowa Football, Fran passes Dr. Tom in Iowa wins, Ben Kueter debuts

Episode Date: January 16, 2024

The search for a new Iowa football offensive coordinator continues and Trent Condon is here to talk more about that. Along with the timeline from Kirk Ferentz, Trent talks about why the defense struggled and how getting this hire right will only help the defense.Then an instant reaction to the Hawkeye men's basketball teams win over Minnesota as the Hawkeyes get their first true road victory of the season.Finally some thoughts on Iowa wrestling as the grapplers get another win against the Gophers. Ben Kueter makes his debut for the Hawkeyes on the mat.Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!LinkedInThese days every new potential hire can feel like a high stakes wager for your small business. That’s why LinkedIn Jobs helps find the right people for your team, faster and for free. Post your job for free at LinkedIn.com/lockedoncollege. Terms and conditions apply.Jase MedicalEmpower yourself when you purchase a Jase Case, providing you with a personal supply of 5 antibiotics that treat 50+ infections. Get yours today at jasemedical.com and use code LOCKEDON to get $20 off your order.GametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDON for $20 off your first purchase.FanDuelRight now, NEW customers get ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY in BONUS BETS – GUARANTEED when you place a FIVE DOLLAR BET. Visit FanDuel.com/LOCKEDON to get started.eBay MotorsWith all the parts you need at the prices you want, it’s easy to turn your car into the MVP and bring home that win. Keep your ride-or-die alive at EbayMotors.com. Eligible items only. Exclusions apply. eBay Guaranteed Fit only available to US customers.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

The search for a new Iowa offensive coordinator continues. We break it down today. Locked on Hawkeyes, plus an instant reaction as Freya McCaffrey passes Dr. Tom Davis in career wins. And the Hawkeyes get a win on the mat as Ben Cater makes his debut all today. Locked on Hawkeyes. You are locked on Hawkeyes. Your daily podcast on the Iowa Hawkeyes. Part of the Lockdown Podcast Network.

Your team every day. Hey, welcome in. I'm Trent Condon and this is the Lockdown Hawkeyes podcast. Thanks for making Lockdown Hawkeyes your first listen every single day. We're available wherever you find podcasts. You can also find us on YouTube. Hit that subscribe button while you're here. Make sure to help us out and make us get in front of more Hawkeye fans. Today's episode is brought to you by FanDuel Sportsbook.

Make every moment more. Right now, new customers get 150 in bonus bets guaranteed when you place a $5 bet. Visit fanduel.com slash locked on to get started. A busy show today. We got football talk. The offensive coordinator search continues. We had a little excitement yesterday. We were talking about the go-go offense and brendan marion maybe some cold water on that one the continued conversation about what kirk

ferentz is going to do we'll break it down an insta reaction after iowa gets their first true road victory of the season in men's hoops as they go on the road and beat the gophers in the barn always good and for the first time since the 1950s i was won three consecutive up in williams arena and on the wrestling mat another victory as i will continue as their undefeated run they moved to 7-0 on the season ben keeter makes his debut along with kale peterson on the mat for the hawkeyes at carver hawkeye arena we'll talk a little bit about that and going forward with this wrestling team but let's open things up in the continued conversation about what Kirk Ferentz is going to do with the offensive coordinator position. We've talked about all the candidates. We've thrown out crazy names.

We've thrown out wild ideas. We've passed along any little nugget of information. One thing we do all have to realize, though, is this is going at Kirk Ferentz's pace and nothing that has changed nothing that has evolved nothing that is different today than it was when Kirk began as a head coach at Iowa 25 years ago one thing we know is he's going to do things his way and love him or hate him that's the way that it's going to be done look I think we would all love to have this over we would love to just know who it's going to be. And then we can either be ticked off about it or be excited about it. Whatever side of the equation you're going to fall on.

And obviously the name that is announced is going to be a big part of that. And I think where a lot of people go in the direction that they go with whatever it is. But we'd all like to know. Here's the thing, though. It was maybe a little bit of a concern if this would have been happening a year ago. Look, if Brian would have done probably the right thing and walked out the door, if he would have been pushed by Gary Barta out the door, we know Kirk Ferens was not going to fire his son.

We know that wasn't going to happen. But if that would have happened, because of what Iowa was going through a year ago, out in the transfer portal, getting a new quarterback, and they bring in Cade McNamara. You have that component to it. Looking for wide receivers in the portal. Looking for offensive linemen. Remember, they brought in two offensive linemen a year ago. They bring in two wide receivers a year ago.

A new quarterback came in. Eric Aul came in. You know, if all that was happening and they were also searching for an offensive coordinator, yeah, the timeline, I think, would be a whole lot different than what we're dealing with right now. Iowa's not in that spot right now. Not only is Iowa over the scholarship limit by five or six scholarships, they're just not really shopping in the portal. You know, we talked a week ago, a week and a half ago now, about Ty Thompson and the potential of him taking a visit.

Looked like one was set up. He eventually ends up at Tulane. Got his bag. Got probably with it a, not a guarantee for a starting position, but a likelihood that he was going to be the starter with the green wave. So we have all that happening and that kind of leads to where we are today. It's not something that has to happen. Hell, if they wanted, if Kirk wants to play it this way, he can drag this thing out until spring

practice begins now you would like to have a little bit more understanding of the playbook and what you're going to do and skill wise and developmentally what you're trying to work to do you know if you need to work with your receivers doing some different things developmentally same thing with your offensive line your quarterback whatever it may be yes you want to have it in place but it is not the same than it was just a season ago as it pertains to getting this thing right and having the timing going that way. Yes, it would be great. It would absolutely because the back and forth makes your head spin sometimes. It really does. And from Paul Crist, is he, isn't he? Was the money there?

Wasn't it there? Has he turned down the job or is he still waiting? We really don't know. Another thing, Kirk Ferentz has kept this incredibly close to his vest. Most things that we've heard and people in the know that would know these types of things, contacts, information, contacts in the football offices, in the football program, there's not a whole lot out there. I think it shows you Kirk Ferentz is definitely doing his due diligence and is continuing to look for different things. So Brandon Marion, it was a shot in the dark, right?

And we got excited about it. Is it going to happen? Brad Heinrich, the leader of the Swarm Collective, on a message board over at HawkeyeReport.com, kind of shot this one down. We got excited for a while right but that's all it was the likelihood that it's going to happen still seems incredibly incredibly low i have a theory some of you guys and ladies out there like my theories other ones

you roll your eyes but strap yourself in we got a theory here and my theory goes like this and obviously the importance of this job it it can't be overstated. I was had a historically great defense now for a number of years. I mean, what they're stacking together year after year, what Phil Parker is doing time in and time out. It's incredible. It really is what he's continued to do and continue to put out there. It's amazing. However, we saw this season one stat really take a major step back from what they have

been the last couple of years. It's something that Iowa has thrived upon. And there were some people out there that thought there was luck involved. It was turnover luck. Iowa forcing a lot of turnovers. And you just, you can't sustain the level that Iowa had for a decade plus of forced turnovers. And they just kept doing it year after year. That was not the case this year. Here's a number for you. Iowa this past season finished 111th in the country in turnovers forced. That's astonishing. This is what they were the three previous years. A year ago, 2022, 12th

what they were the three previous years a year ago 2022 12th in turnovers force 2021 fourth in the country 2020 seventh in the country you go back before that they're always up there towards the top of the list year after year in turnovers force and it didn't happen this year and the reason for it is because iowa had cratered to such a level offensively that teams didn't have to do anything, that they did not really have to scheme up and try to come up with big plays to take chances against the Iowa defense. Because you take a chance against the Iowa defense, more times than not, they're going to pick the ball off. They're going to be running the other way. That was not the case this year.

It's not because the Iowa defense wasn't good. We saw again, number one in the country in yards per play against. This defense was great once again this season. So it wasn't that they weren't good. It was other teams didn't have to take any chances. And because of that, go back and watch the Penn State game if you can. That was a boring game script out of the Dintney Lions. Dink and dunk and dink and dunk and don't take any shots,

God forbid, because something bad might happen. Same thing with Michigan. You go back and watch that Michigan game in the Big Ten championship game. Michigan didn't have to do anything. And we talked about and we credited the Iowa defense and how well they played. It wasn't that they weren't trying. That's not what I'm saying at all, because that would be asinine. Everybody's trying to turn. You're always trying. You're trying to move the football, but you're going kind of vanilla. Even Tennessee in the bowl game, before they ran away, you saw Tennessee on some fourth down situations where they rarely would punt the football. That's not what they do, but they did in that football game. And a huge reason for it is just how piss poor the Iowa

offense was. They weren't concerned that I was going to come back. You pin them deep, you punt the ball back, you play field position and Iowa, because their offense is so dang bad, they're not going to beat us. That's what these teams, even above average teams were able to say. And it was true. We know the numbers against good teams this year, it wasn't pretty. And when your offense is this bad, that's what it's going to do. And it took another area that Iowa's, one of their biggest strengths is those takeaways, and it took it away from them. That is frustrating, and that led to what we saw this season.

We'll see how much autonomy is the new offensive coordinator going to have. We'll talk about that. And of course, we got you covered whenever the new OC is announced. We'll be here for you as we're with you every single day. Your team every day on the Lockdown Hawkeyes podcast. We continue and we get into a little basketball. Iowa

goes on the road and gets their first true road win of the year. And suddenly that resume getting a little bit better. We'll talk about that as we continue. A little hoops talk here, plus some wrestling. This is the Locked On Hawkeyes podcast. Today's episode of Locked On Hawkeyes is brought to you by Jace Medical.

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Once again, that's JaceMedical.com, J-A-S-E Medical.com, and use offer code LOCKDOWN for $20 off your order. Trent Conner back with you again on the Lockdown Hawkeyes podcast. Thanks for making Lockdown Hawkeyes your first listen every day. Time to talk some hoops as Iowa goes on the road and gets the win against the Gophers. Always feels good. If you've been listening for a while every day, as you know, this is my favorite rivalry game. Doesn't matter the sport, right?

Doesn't matter what it is. It's me. For me, it's the Gophers. Grew up in North Iowa. A lot of family in Minneapolis. Had cousins that went to the U. So this is the one that always I have circled and have been up to the barn. It's a great old building.

You know, hearing old timers talk about what the field house was like back in the day, going back and before Carver Hawkeye Arena was built and all the conversations that are there. Just something good about going out there and getting that victory. Eighty six. Seventy seven. Now, Iowa starts off slow. In fact, I got to the game about a minute late. It's two to one.

As soon as I flip over, there's eight straight then after that from the Gophers. They jump out to a ten one lead. Roll your eyes out. Here we go. I was watching the NFL playoff game that was happening in the afternoon because of the weather in Buffalo. So flip over there and get there a bit late. And all of a sudden, oh, man, maybe I'm the bad guy here.

But they able to play their way out of it. And the inside play, once again, Ben Kricke was outstanding. You know, he's so good with the footwork. And he has been, I think, even more than we anticipated this year. He's just so crafty around the hoop, understands angles incredibly well. He's so good. He's not a great athlete. He's not a guy that's going to wow you and jump out of the gym. He knows how to play the game, and he's incredibly smart on the offensive end of the floor. He goes 11-17 from the floor, makes all three of his free throws. That's something also

that has gone well this season, something talked about with Kricke coming into the season as he's continuing to knock them down at a really high rate again this season. Something that he's done really throughout the course of his career. 73% this year, but that's actually down from him. Valpo, last couple of years, in fact, during his career, he was as a freshman, 79%. 79% in his second year on campus. 84% his third year. Fourth year, he shot 80% from the free throw line. 73.3% right now as a grad senior with the Hawkeyes, but still get to the free throw line, knock it down really good.

This one will be remembered, though, at least for me, with Josh Dix and what he was able to do. Every single time in that stretch during the second half, it looked like Minnesota was putting together a little bit of a comeback. Josh Dix had an answer. He was coming up big, time in and time out for them, and not just knocking down shots,

which was a big part of it, but he was able to do it in a myriad of different ways. He helped out, really filled out the stat sheet, five assists in the game, four rebounds, makes all his free throws, couple of big threes, but not just making shots. He was hunting shots a little bit. And we've talked about that in the past for every day. As you know about this, I want to see Josh Dix aggressive. If you're going to play, you got to be out there because the skill is there. Offensively, this is a guy that can

really go out there and help you so many different ways. You need him to be aggressive. And in a night where most of the guys were not hitting shots from the outside, it wasn't going down for Peyton Sanford, really struggled 1-6 overall in the game, and 0-4 in the second half from downtown. Tony Perkins, 0-2 on threes. He was able to get to the rim a couple of times. Some great cuts in the game, too.

And it's a thing of beauty watching this Iowa offense. 23 assists in the game. Now, it was not the 30 that they had Friday night against Nebraska, but still, that many assists on 35 made field goals. I mean, 23 of 35, that is just good fundamental basketball. That is making the extra pass. And then when you get the shot, at times we saw earlier this season, this Iowa basketball team, guys were passing up shots, right?

There were those opportunities. There were the times out there where you saw them passing up. Not the case here. Great ball movement. Really efficient. I thought played one of their better games of the season overall. And really good to see as they put up a 1.17 points per possession in the game in the victory. Do it against a Minnesota team that they're not great.

Gophers are not going to be a tournament team. I know their record was 12-4 coming into this. They had three wins in the Big Ten. They beat Nebraska at home. They had beat Maryland, won at Michigan. But overall, this is not still, it's a rebuilding project, certainly for Ben Johnson. And it has gone a little bit slower in year number three,

I think, than the Gopher fans thought it was going to for one of their own in Johnson there. Garcia, he can be a load inside. You saw that at times. I thought Iowa did a good job. Freeman got a couple of ticky-tack fouls that went against him, but overall a really good game. Liked what we saw out of both the point guards off the bench. Both Brock Harding did some good things out there and DeSante Bowen. How about Lajie Dabali? He came in and really provided a spark. Had to play a little bit more because of the foul trouble for Owen Freeman. And though he didn't shoot it well, that miss is only shot out there. He was able to impact the game a couple of different ways,

rebounded and defended, I thought, at a pretty good level overall as Iowa gets the win and now runs their record. Getting us a little bit more excited about this Iowa team as they are now up on the year sitting at 11-6, 3-3 in the Big Ten. They did what they had to. We talked about this after the Wisconsin game. You had to go 3-0 to get us back into consideration, right? To have the chance that they were going to have some kind of run here and maybe become at minimum a bubble team. going to have some kind of run here and maybe become at minimum a bubble team. Now, Saturday against Purdue. It's at home. You start right there. You look at the Boilermakers this year. Well, we've already seen them. It didn't go very well. But on the road this year, hasn't been pretty. They lose to Northwestern, an okay Northwestern team at best. They lose to

Nebraska, an okay Northwestern team. Now, in lose to Nebraska, an okay Northwestern team. Now, in both of those games, both the teams shot incredibly well from the outside. 10 of 20 from three-point range for Northwestern in that victory over the Boilermakers. Backwell, I was watching that game in Indianapolis the night before the Big Ten Championship game. And 15, excuse me, 14 of 23 for Nebraska.

So I think the blueprint's very simple. You've got to shoot the ball incredibly well. Okay, goes without saying. You're going to be the team as talented as Purdue. You've got to shoot the ball well. And the way that Iowa's built, you're going to have to shoot the ball well. We'll talk more about this game going forward. The likelihood that Iowa pulls the upset, though, not very high.

In fact, Ken Pomeroy right now gives them a 28% chance of pulling the offset. Purdue favored by that one, in that one, by six points. But then after that, there's the opportunity again. Next week, they go to Maryland, get Maryland, excuse me, coming in to Carver-Hawkeye a week from Wednesday. Then it's Saturday. It's a road trip to Michigan, the 27th, before a Tuesday game

on the 30th against Indiana. On the road, both those games projected to be incredibly close games. After that, it's Ohio State. They're okay. Penn State, very winnable game. You get the Gophers coming in. Pile up some victories. There's a chance. And if Fran McCaffrey gets this team to the NCAA tournament, I don't. Got to get to the second weekend. That's, for so many people, that's all that matters. But the consistency. You're in and you're out what we're seeing out of this program.

If he does that, that would be six consecutive NCAA tournament teams. Six straight. He passes Dr. Tom Davis for the most wins in Iowa basketball history. It's amazing. And when Frank McCaffrey came in after the Todd Licklider era, and we know it was bad. Let me remind you how bad it was. Licklider in his three years. 13-19, 6-12 in the Big Ten. 15-19, 6-12 in the Big Ten. 15-17,

5-13 in the Big Ten at his final season. 10-22, 4-14 in the Big Ten. That's what Fran McCaffrey walked into. He's got this program back to what it was. A team that's going to make the tournament more times than not,

is going to give you an entertaining brand of basketball, is going to drive you nuts defensively at times, but is also going to do some things offensively that get you out of your seat and get you excited. They do it with good kids, guys that are easy to root for. It's crazy that a big portion of the fan base is so far out on fran it's like they don't have the memory of what it was like now i understand for younger people you

don't have that memory look if you're in college right now you don't even remember the todd lick letter era i mean how crazy is that shows you how old most of us are but you don't have memories of those and so all you've known is fran are. But you don't have memories of those. And so all you've known is Fran. And there are things individually during the course of the game that drive me crazy. It doesn't matter what basketball team you root for, though. I think that's going to be the case for anybody, any coach that you have. It doesn't matter if it was K back in the day or if it's Coach Cal in Kentucky or whatever it is. The fan base, after a while, there are little things that start to pile up.

We're lucky to have Fran McCaffrey. We're lucky to have him as our coach and what he's been able to accomplish and what he has done with this program. There is a lot to be said about being a consistent winner, and that's what he is, time in and time out. And not only has he done that, but he's done that with a whole bunch of tumult around him. From Patrick McCaffrey having cancer. From Patrick having to take a pause from the basketball team a year ago.

Connor, a lot of arrows slung at that young man throughout his career. And though his importance never showed up on the stat sheet, he was a guy that you wanted out there. He was a leader when he helped win a lot of basketball games for them. Obviously what happened with Jack this past summer. There's been a lot of tumult with the McCaffreys.

Your friend's been out there grinding. And to see the emotion that overcame him after the game got me too. I'm a friend guy. Again, are there things that bother me? Yeah, there are. As a coach, we're lucky to have him. Because as we saw, Dr. Tom's contract was not renewed. And it was not renewed for one reason. Next level.

That's what everybody was looking for. To get this program to the next level. To take that step up. To be more than what they were. And they went to the next level. It was the next level down under Steve Alford. And then it cratered under Todd Licklider. Brands built him back up.

We all want to see that deep run in the tournament. I get it. I want to see it as much as anybody. You've heard it before from me if you're an everydayer. I love Iowa basketball more than anything. It is my number one sporting love. It's what grabbed me. It's what made me a sport fan. And I would love to see nothing more and to see him get to that second weekend and win

a game in the round of 32 and then have the week buildup or the five-day buildup that it'd be leading into the round of the Sweet 16 round and having that opportunity. It would be great. It would be great for Fran and this program because we've waited a long time. Congratulations, Fran McCaffrey. You earned it. Great to see. All-time winner now. All-time leader in wins with Iowa.

There's another win against the Gophers also on Monday night. It was on the mat. We talk about the debut of Ben Keeter, the world champion on the junior level, on the mat, out there wrestling heavyweight. We'll talk about his debut, another win, and what still can come from this Iowa wrestling team. A little wrestling talk as we come back. Here this is, the Locked On Hawkeyes Podcast. Today's episode is brought to you by the FanDuel Sportsbook. The NFL regular season is wrapped up.

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Visit FanDuel.com slash LockedOn. Make your first bet an easy one. That is FanDuel.com slash LockedOn. FanDuel, official partner of the NFL. Trent Conant back with you one final time on the LockedOn Hawkeyes podcast. Thanks for making LockedOn Hawkeyes your first listen every day. We wrap up on the mat as Iowa gets the win against Minnesota. Always good.

You know, so many battles. I remember going up years ago up to the Target Center. They're trying to bang that thing out. Jay Robinson, of course, the coach. Brock Lesnar wrestling heavyweight for them. So many great battles. Minnesota eventually finally winning a national championship. Great teams. And the Minnesota program is not what it once was. Penn State's obviously emergence has something to do with that. But it's still a fun rivalry. It really is. And fun to go out there. So open it up

at 125. No chicanery here. Just open up the old school way. Drake Ayala got down early against McKee, came back, got the victory there. Good to see Drake Ayala, who runs his record now. I believe that was his seventh win of the season against a rank four. Pretty good numbers there for Drake Ayala, and I'm really excited about that young man, his future as he continues to build here on his second year out on the mat. 133. No Brody Teske out there. Instead, it was Cale Peterson.

In the pregame notes, pre-match notes, it was an or there. They went with the freshman Peterson. He falls to 29th ranked Tyler Wells, 6-4 there. Just something to keep an eye on at 133. Real Woods got the win over at number 19 vom bomb a five to two very workmanlike victory kind of like a friday night for woods as he continues his undefeated streak how about caleb ratchie going out there and getting the win that was great to see uh from him after his loss on friday night we talked a little bit about that

in the instant reaction on friday into saturday a little bit more about that. At 157, Jarek Fraddick took his first loss of the season as he fell to Iowa Nato. Michael Blackhouse up in Northeast Iowa, New Hampton guy, falls to him by a score of five before his first loss of the season. Caliendo came back and got the win 5-1 at 165. Kennedy with a nice win, a major decision at 174. Reagans went down. Glazier continued his undefeated run at 197. But the debut I think a lot of us were waiting for was Ben Keeter and getting to see Keeter out there at Carver-Hawkeye Arena is something that seemed like a foregone conclusion. We're going to see it eventually go back to him as he was running through the state tournament as a freshman. Like, all right, that guy's going to wear the black and gold.

He's an Iowa City kid. And there he was. One thing I think needs to be mentioned. Yes, there is a difference between football shape and wrestling shape. Lungs got him a little bit. He was sucking some wind there at the end. Really battled at the end. It was not an action-packed match.

You're not going to get a ton of those anyway at heavyweight. but not that Ben Keeter we're probably going to see going forward. And listening to him after the meet, you could tell he was a little bit disappointed. He wanted to put on more of a show. Not the case. Got the win, though, and gets the victory against a ranked foe to get his first win in a Hawkeye singlet. Great to see there. We'll see. You know, this is going to be kind of that science experiment. You got Ben Keeter, world national champion as a junior, the guy that has been as anticipated.

I know Spencer Lee was recent, and that was another guy with great accolades at the junior level. But this is a guy we've been waiting for for a long time. And what do you do here? You know, I've maintained, I don't know if linebacker for him might be the best position if he's tried to do both these things, right? I've said this going back to when he was still in high school, I think eventually he's going to end up with a hand on the ground and he's going to be a defensive end. That's maybe the best spot where there's not a whole lot. Technically you have to do a lot of work That's maybe the best spot where there's not a whole lot.

Technically, you have to do a lot of work. I get that. But the read and react kind of things as a linebacker, put your hand on the ground, work on a couple of moves. That's what you're going to do. Simplify things, but also give him the ability to continue to gain weight. And as he can continue to move up to 50, 260, 270 and build weight that way, that's also obviously going to help him on the wrestling mat.

Going to be interesting with Ference and Brands, what they come up with going forward here. First one of the year, though, for Keeter. And with the new rules, with redshirt rules, he can wrestle up to five times before burning your redshirt. We'll see going forward what Iowa does and what they have in that spot. But always fun to see a little wrestling and a big wrestling fan. Always enjoy it as we lead towards the NCAA tournament coming up here later this season. A lot of good beats coming up still. Still have that matchup against Penn State coming up here in about a month.

They got Oklahoma State late in the regular season. A.J. Ferrari was in attendance in street close up in the stands there. Classes, well, they start on Tuesday today as classes will start in Iowa City. We'll see about that one. All leading to Kansas City and the NCAA championships this year. The Big Tens also this year, by the way, if you missed it, will be in College Park at the University of Maryland. That's what comes up at the end of the season. Right around the corner, though, a couple of duels next week on Friday. Excuse me, later this week, it'll be Purdue making their way into Iowa City.

And then the following Friday, the 26th, they'll go over to Illinois, followed by a Sunday duel against Northwestern. That's around the corner. Iowa should pick up three victories there and beat 10-0 before things get a little more difficult after that into February. That'll do it for today. Thanks as always for making Lockdown Hawkeyes your first listen every day. Hit that subscribe button while you're here.

Also, make sure to check out our new 24-7 streaming channel on YouTube for Lockdown. It's called Lockdown Sports Today, and it's here for you 24-7, covering the top sports stories of the day with the local experts of Locked On, plus our national shows covering every league. Go to Locked On Sports Today on YouTube and subscribe to the first-ever National Sports 24-7 streaming channel. We will continue to keep an eye out and ear out what we can find out about that offensive coordinator job.

We'll get ready for the big one for the men's team as they get ready to face off against Purdue coming up on Saturday in Carver Hawkeye Arena. The Iowa women back on the hardwood also coming up tonight against Wisconsin. We got you covered on that front on your Wednesday feed. Your team every day. That's what we do here on the Lockdown Network. We'll talk to you again tomorrow. Go Hawks.