Locked On Hawkeyes - Daily Podcast On Iowa Hawkeyes Football & Basketball - The Weekend of lows and highs in Hawkeye Sports

Episode Date: March 6, 2023

Trent Condon is back for the newest week of the Locked on Hawkeyes Podcast.It starts with the lows after Iowa spits the bit against Nebraska at home in men's hoops with a double bye and the #2 seed in the Big Ten Tournament on the line.A look at the Big Ten Tournament bracket and where Iowa fits and who Trent would rather see in the opener against either Wisconsin or Ohio State.Then a look at another triple double for Caitlin Clark and another Big Ten Tournament Championship for the women in basketball.Finally some thoughts on Iowa wrestling after Big Tens and a look forward to the NCAA Tournament after all 10 Hawkeye wrestlers qualify.Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!Built BarBuilt Bar is a protein bar that tastes like a candy bar. Go to builtbar.com and use promo code “LOCKEDON15,” and you’ll get 15% off your next order.FanDuelMake Every Moment More. Don’t miss the chance to get your No Sweat First Bet up to ONE THOUSAND 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

Well, as bad as it was for the Iowa men's basketball team, the women's team complete yet another tournament championship. They get it done as they run past the Buckeyes. We'll break things down on that front. Two Big Ten champions on the wrestlers. And yes, we got plenty more to say about this men's team. Can they turn it around? Double bye.

It will not be there for the Big Ten tournament. Don't worry, we got more arrows coming your way today on Locked on Hawkeyes. Our 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 Locked On Hawkeyes podcast. Thanks for making Locked On Hawkeyes your first listen every day. We're available wherever you get podcasts.

You can also find us on YouTube. While you're there, hit that subscribe button. Try to get that number up to 2,000 subscribers out there as we make the push towards March Madness. That is our goal. I'm just a little over a week away here as we will have the main bracket for the NCAA tournament when we talk next week.

Before that, plenty to get into here today. We'll continue to react to what we saw at Carver Hawkeye Arena. Just a deplorable effort from Iowa. Terrible down the stretch of the game. Couldn't get shots and couldn't make plays when they needed to as they lose to a pretty average Nebraska team. Swept by the Cornhuskers along with being swept by Wisconsin this year. One step forward, two steps back.

Iowa football, we will talk about that. Of course, Iowa women's basketball, just a monster performance once again out of Kaitlyn Clark another triple double for her her ninth of their career third this season and doing it in the Big Ten championship game that was a team that was absolutely locked in the mental toughness the fortuitous the opportunity also for them to potentially be a number one seed in the NCAA tournament. We'll break that down. And Iowa qualifies all 10 wrestlers for nationals, a huge, huge accomplishment there, giving them a chance maybe against Penn State. Finish in second place in the Big Tens, two champions with Spencer Lee and Real Woods. We'll talk about that a little bit. And as we get closer to NCAAs, we'll continue

to break things down. Thanks for joining us again here today. Thanks to all our new subscribers out there. Hey, and if you're on YouTube, you can see what has been called the ugliest Hawkeye hat they've ever seen. Yeah, I've had people tell that. I don't wear this one very often. In fact, this is the first time I ever brought it out.

It's got the plaid kind of look to it. I don't know, it's not my favorite, but we'll put it on. It's a Nike cap. I wear it when I'm on the boat, things like that. It's, well, tell me in the comments, just how bad is this Hawkeye hat? Is it the worst Hawkeye hat you've ever seen? It's not good. Well, that's what happens when you're doing this here early on a Monday as we kick things off. First, more reaction. If you missed it right after the game, I went live with an instant reaction podcast. Lots of thoughts on that one is Iowa falls to Nebraska, 81 77, you know, really more than anything. The ire about this one is,

is not the loss. Nebraska is okay. They played a lot better here over the last five, six weeks of the season. They're getting better Hoiberg in year number four. I mean, that those are the small steps that they have to take, but just the way that it happened, you know, we talked about leading up to the game. Wouldn't it just be like Iowa basketball and Iowa sports in general after what happened on the football field, going back to November, having a Big Ten West crown on the line, and they absolutely crapped the bed there against a bad Nebraska team. And the same thing happens here. I mean, there's no way that this team at home should be losing this game. The way that we've seen this team play at Carver all throughout the season. Again, it wasn't what they did offensively.

The offense was fine. Yeah, the last seven minutes of the game didn't hit a field goal. Okay. It went to the crapper down the stretch. But that was not the problem. It was the same old song and dance. And it was they couldn't get stops. And they couldn't do things defensively.

And you look at Nebraska. There are a couple instances where, first of all, they're doubling the post every single time. Every time it gets into Rabracha, double team comes, and they're making it difficult on Rabracha. And he wasn't good again in those circumstances. He has struggled mightily at times this year when those hard doubles are coming his way of identifying and getting the ball around. And then he had Connor trying to play in the post. And though he was racking up assists, there was times that the offense got really stagnant. And a day where you have a career high from Patrick McCaffrey

and he can't win it, and he still put 77 up on the board against this Nebraska team, it's defense. Again, it's the same old thing. It's the defense that can't get stops, and that's why it's difficult to see this team having an opportunity to make a run in the NCAA tournament, get to the second weekend. And yes, it's a record that we've been playing over and over and over again, because ultimately that's all what it's about. Hawkeye fans at this point, I get you.

You don't care about regular season wins. You don't care about what you did against Indiana and getting the season sweep against them and beating Illinois and beating Michigan and on and on and on. You don't care about that. All you care about is what happens in the NCAA tournament because, well, for a lot of you, I don't even ever seen it before. I was a freshman in college. I'm almost 43 years old now. It was a long, long time ago the last time we saw this team play in a Sweet 16. I know ultimately for a lot of you, that's all that matters.

It doesn't matter if you get in as the last team in. It doesn't matter if you get in as a five seed or a two seed. We've seen that here the last team in. It doesn't matter if you get in as a five seed or a two seed. We've seen that here the last two years. And what happens? You get beat early in the NCAA tournament. And that's what you want. And I completely understand that line of thinking. I can't talk you off that ledge. I can't sell you on it. I understand the sentiment that comes to you. And there's plenty of days that I'm the exact same way. I am just like you when it comes to you and there's plenty of days that I'm the exact same way I am just like you when it comes to that I want to celebrate the victories over the course of the year and the excitement and what this is and what this program is and what it's become but there's that one just and

it's not a huge thing right I mean we're not talking about making a final four win a national championship we're not asking for the world here We're just asking about getting to a Sweet 16, winning two games in the NCAA tournament. So you have the two seed on the line and you don't get it done. Needed a little bit of help tonight. Didn't get it. Rutgers, who is falling apart down the stretch and those two wins that Iowa has against them, that sweep not looking nearly as good as it did throughout the course of most of the season, really up until about the last three weeks after they had an injury to one of their starters, and they have not been the same team since then. So it hurts Iowa's resume.

Obviously, this loss is going to be a quad four loss. That's terrible, too. That's going to impact NCAA seeding. And Iowa, which looked like maybe they were even trending to be a sixth seed in the path to get to a sweet 16, looks so good as a number six seed. Well, that very well could be off the board, regardless of what happens in the Big Ten tournament. So Iowa will open things up. They'll get the winner of Ohio State and Wisconsin, either a chance to take two out of three against

the Buckeyes or to avenge those two losses that they have against the Badgers. Now, personally, I don't think I'm alone. I want to see Wisconsin. Yes, they beat us twice this year. I completely get it. They're not good. They're not. And the frustration that we saw a week and a half back, losing that game in Madison,

what happened the first game in Carver-Hawkeye, Iowa comes roaring back, play without Chris Murray, forces overtime, got a lead in overtime, got it up to a four-point lead in overtime, and couldn't hold on. I want to see that team again. I just, I don't, I can't envision Iowa losing to that team. That collection of stiffs for a third time. What'll happen? Probably lose for the third time, but regardless of what happens, they get Michigan state if they win that game. So they'll get the winner, Iowa will, 1.30 Central Time on Thursday. They'll take on the winner of the Buckeyes and the Badgers. Then with a win, you get Michigan State. Now, if you win that, you're playing with house money. You're into the weekend, more than likely you're in the top half of the bracket as the number five

seed. That's what the Hawkeyes are. You're more than likely going to be facing off against, you're going to be playing Michigan State. And then if you get a win there, you'll be playing Purdue likely in the semifinals. You get to that point, again, it's house money. You got two wins piled up. You're at 21 victories on the year. Feeling good. Good vibes are coming back once again, but do you envision it? After this performance, after what we saw against Northwestern, against Wisconsin just over a week ago, it's tough, but that's where we are.

Has there ever been a team? And this is, I mean, we have facts behind this. This is not just some mouthpiece like me just talking, right? This is real data that we have. Iowa can beat almost everybody in the country. I mean, the performances that they've had this season have shown that they can beat almost everybody in the country on any given night. They can also lose, and they have lost, to one of the worst teams in college basketball at Eastern Illinois. Yeah, Connor didn't play in

that game, and there was no Chris Murray out there, but that shows this team, the highs can be incredibly high, and the lows can be incredibly low. What's going to happen this week? I have no idea. Good luck trying to figure it out. Good luck trying to figure out this Iowa basketball team. We will try to do that in the coming days. We'll get ready for the matchups. We'll talk about where they are as updated brackets continue to be out there. There is plenty to get into with this Iowa basketball team and we'll do it here in the coming days. Coming up on the other side, we're talking more basketball. A championship once again for the Iowa women's team,

their second straight Big Ten title in the Big Ten tournament. What a performance out of this Hawkeye women team over the weekend. What they did, including the win today, just a dominating effort against Ohio State. We'll talk about that. And Big Ten Wrestling. Iowa with two champions there. But most importantly, all ten wrestlers qualify for NCAAs. That's all as we continue here on the Locked On Hawkeyes Podcast. Today's episode

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have brownie batter or churro there. And you can thank me later. Trent Cotter back with you wearing the ugliest hat today on the Locked On Hawkeyes podcast. Thanks for making Locked On Hawkeyes your first listen every day. As we roll through here, let's jump into the Iowa women. Big Ten champions once again in the Big Ten tournament. 105-72 against Ohio State. Ohio State yesterday had an incredible comeback to upend number one Indiana, the top seed, the regular season champion. Of course, we got to see that Hoosier team a couple of times here over the last

couple of weeks. Kaitlyn Clark hit the shot heard around college basketball as she hit the buzzer beater in the regular season finale to knock down the Hoosiers and he and them their first loss in a couple of months. Well, they took their second one to Ohio State up by 26, up by 20 at the half and the Ohio State Buckeyes came roaring back. Well, Iowa, after a hard earned victory against Maryland, just back and forth, nip tuck kind of game, Iowa was trying to keep them in arm's reach, and ultimately Iowa was making plays late in the game. They had a nice, nice victory that's going to be very good for their NCAA tournament resume against Maryland. Well, it comes out Buckeyes maybe thought they're going to have a comeback. It wasn't going to happen. Kaitlyn Clark and company were not going to allow that to happen.

Monica Zanano, she had just a great effort, and once again again what she's able to do her ability to get the defender on her hip the angles that she's able to play with caitlin clark with the assist about 17 and assists in the game for caitlin clark to go around along with 30 points and 10 rebounds now they're working hard to get her that triple double eight and you saw what was it was a war knock was it war dog mart, I can't remember. Getting dinner ready at that point in time as the blot was continuing, but they were making sure she got that 10th rebound

and got yet another triple-double for her. But this performance, but more than anything, take away from this weekend. I had family up there. I had buddies up there that were at the games all weekend long, all three games, and they talked about the environment. You could see it showing up in a big time way on the television. Hawkeye fans, you showed up in a big time way. What a cool, cool environment that was for this women's basketball

team to have home court advantage, not in her backyard, not in Carver, not even in Des Moines, but do it up in Minneapolis. What a great, great performance it was from the fan base, and yet another reason it's great to be a Hawkeye. So now the question becomes, what can this Iowa women's team, what's the chance of them getting a number one seed? So I saw on Sunday night, Charlie Krem, who does the NCAA bracketology for the women's side of things over at ESPN.com.

He did not raise Iowa to a 1C. And what's kind of holding them down more than anything, that loss in the non-conference to K-State came down to the wire. We saw Kaitlyn Clark, I believe that was a game that she got injured in, that had her turn her ankle late in that game, if memory serves. But that one, K-State's below average, and that one's really holding them down in comparison when you look at the other top-end teams. So Virginia Tech is his final number one seed. Iowa,

then the top number two seed. That means they're in the same bracket. Okay, so you're kind of playing that out. Virginia Tech, ACC is very good in women's basketball this year, not like the men's side. Pretty solid. They've won 11 straight, including the 11 games you look at it and the depth and breadth that they have of conference wins down the stretch. They were playing the who's who of the ACC and they answered the bell every single time, 11 consecutive victories to end the season for them. You know, in the grand scheme of things, it's not a huge difference between the one and the two. As long as you're not in South Carolina's bracket, the one and the two, and especially in this circumstance. If Iowa gets the one and Virginia Tech gets the two, not a huge difference, except for this one little nugget. UConn is the number

three seed in this bracket. That's where it gets a little bit more difficult. True seed line, should they be the number three seed, which would be the worst number three seed? I'm not ready to go there with UConn. Of course, we got to see that game earlier this season. UConn eventually won. Iowa played well, really long stretches of that game. This is not a UConn team that is at the high level.

No Paige Becker's out there. She has the injury this season, but in the Sweet 16, as the three seed, that's who Iowa would see in the Sweet 16. You want to see any other three seed than UConn certainly sitting there. They have the pedigree, and I think that just kind of sits there, but want to keep an eye on. We'll keep you updated on everything going on there, as obviously that is going to be a big, big conversation piece here over the next week plus. What is going to happen as it pertains to the NCAA

tournament. Does Iowa have enough ammunition? Have two wins against Maryland? Have the win against Indiana? Some other nice wins, of course, what they did against Michigan, the only loss to Illinois of kind of that next tier of Big Ten candidates there. The two wins against Ohio State, how is that going to match up? What are the thoughts on the Big Ten as a whole? That's all going to be part of the committee and the back and forth that is going to be out there. As we wrap things up, there is more from the weekend. Iowa baseball, another great weekend from the Hawkeye baseball team as they go down south and get three more victories, now nine and one on the season. And big 10 wrestling tournament is over Iowa with two champions they finish in second place behind Penn State but the biggest story there all 10 wrestlers

qualify for the NCAAs we'll do that as we continue here on Lockdown Hawkeyes back with you one final time on the Lockdown Hawkeyes podcast I'm Trent Condon as always thanks for making Lockdown Hawkeyes your first listen every single day. For your second listen, don't forget our brand new podcast. It is Locked On College Basketball with everything you need to know about college hoops all in one spot. You can hear from the big names, experts, insiders, coaches, players, all with Locked On College Basketball. Available on YouTube and wherever you get podcasts. Trent Cotten, back with you here,

putting a cap on things on the weekend that was men's basketball, disaster. Women's basketball, great. Wrestling, pretty good. Pretty good. Now, of course, it's Iowa wrestling, right? And for Iowa wrestling fans, you don't measure yourself in Big Ten titles.

You don't measure yourself in dual victories. You don't measure yourself there. Ultimately, what it comes down to is what you do in the NCAA tournament and winning national championships. Kale Sanderson and company at Penn State, they have changed the equation. The way that they have built their program,

bringing in these uber elite guys and the sheer volume that they've had throughout the years. It has changed the way that Iowa has had to build their roster. It's the way that Iowa's had to look at things and what they've been able to do with the scholarship limits, 9.9 scholarships overall, that can use for a 30-35 wrestler roster that they have. They have had to change it. They got Spencer Lee, but you're looking for more depth. They have another Big Ten champion this year in Real Woods

who comes in from Stanford, All-American there at Stanford, comes in for his final season. He wins a Big Ten championship in his first go-through, finishes up the season as an undefeated wrestler. Great chance he'll be the number one seed come NCAA. So you're feeling in good shape there. Look, both those guys, if I was going to run down Penn State, both those guys are going to have to win not just a national championship,

probably going to have to score some bonus points on the way. Patrick Kennedy, he falls in the finals here today, but some guys wrestling back either in seventh place matches or in the consolation semifinals saw some good things out of this group. I thought Nelson Brands had some really good things out of this group. I thought Nelson Brands had some really good moments over the weekend for what I was able to see from him. Overall, Cassiope kind of is what he is, right? Cassiope is going to be an All-American. He's going to be in the top three, four, five, right in that range. Maybe with the right bracket,

he can break through and get to the finals. That would be great to see. Kirk Leavitt of Penn State just has his number, and he's a wrestler that Cassiope struggles with. He's a really solid wrestler. You go through, the math's going to be there. We're going to break down that math and find out the path for Iowa to get it done, but a nice one for the Iowa wrestling team overall. Not great. Pretty good, though.

But the big thing, all 10 wrestlers have qualified for the NCAAs now you're going to need not just those top end guys to score you're going to need a lot and in order for the math to work and to chase down Penn State I mean you're probably going to have to have I would say nine guys on the podium nine All-Americans at minimum eight have to be up there in the top eight and get to the that level in order for Iowa to get it done. But you look overall and this squad, there's an opportunity there. Going to have to wrestle their best, probably going to have to have Penn State have a little rough stretch, have a couple of guys upset, maybe even early on for it to happen. But there's a real possibility there. And we wrap things up

with Iowa baseball. As the Iowa baseball team, they go down south, finish it up today against Pepperdine. They get three victories down there. I don't know in the grand scheme of things. It's still pretty early to be looking at RPI numbers and the like, seeing what RPI looks like for the team at this point, just because it's so early in the baseball season. So, in fact, I'm going to bring it up right now as we're talking here and see what the RPI is as we look at it live, right?

This is 2022. We don't want 2022. Come on. Help me out here a little bit, Warren Nolan. We're looking for this year, baseball, 2023. There we go. All right, so we're bringing it up here on the fly. RPI after today.

Elo, chess, no, we don't want that. Baseball, polls. Here we go. Team, Elo, Chess, no, we don't want that. Baseball, Poles, here we go. Team, Elo, Stannings, that's not what we're looking for. RPI 2023. All right, finally got it. Took a while, but here we are. So Iowa, going into the day today, they're number 23 in RPI in baseball.

Win against Pepperdine, that'll be another one. We know that LSU is going to be a great victory for them. Couple of quad one victories already this season. Indiana State's ranked in the top 100 right now. Of course, LSU is at number 10. K-State's also in the top 100. Pepperdine coming into the day, they were at number 14. So Iowa has put themselves in great shape. What they have coming up for them next weekend, it's a road trip, a three-game series down at Texas Tech. Texas Tech is ranked in the top 25, not RPI-wise, in real rankings. RPI is just a scheduled base component that unfortunately is still used by the NCAA baseball.

Their RPI numbers are not great. They're going to be in really good shape there. But another thing that Iowa can't afford is those midweek games. This year it's against Cope. They lost last year against a D3 school. I think that really hurt them come NCAA selection time. They take on St. Thomas in the middle

of March. That'll be a home game against them. Even their midweek games against Grandview and Illinois State and Bradley, Milwaukee, UIC. Ones like that. Those are ones that you have to just keep piling up victories there. I think they're going to be in great shape. Come the big tens. They look to be a team that has the depth that has the hitting. They have all the components here. I told you before the season,

I had people that follow a Iowa baseball a lot closer than I do that say that this team had a chance to be as good as any team that they've had since their NCAA tournament team back from five years ago. And it certainly looks like that is going to be the case. Great start for Iowa baseball. Another great win. Brody Brecht, he was great on the mound again today coming off his just ridiculous four-game suspension that he had to serve. But he was back out there, and Iowa gets the win against Pepperdine.

Another big victory against another quality opponent. And Iowa just keeps piling them up. Nine-and-one start to the season. Just the fifth time in program history that Iowa's got off to this good of a start. And let's get some warm weather that's going to come along with it. Iowa baseball is going to be fun. We got tournaments in front of us for wrestling, women's and men's basketball. A lot going on in the world of Hawkeyes.

Oh, also, how about the performance out of the Iowa football guys at the NFL Combine this week? We'll talk about that a little bit later on this week as well. A busy time. We got you covered each and every day. Your team every day. That's what we do here on the Lockdown Network. And thanks as always for making Lockdown Hawkeyes your first listen every single day. For your second listen, again, check out our brand-new podcast, Locked on College Basketball, with our experts, Isaac Shade and Andy Patton, bringing you everything you need to know on and off the floor. You can hear from the big-name experts, coaches, and players

throughout all the college basketball landscape. It's Locked on College Basketball, available on YouTube and wherever you get podcasts. Highs and lows of the weekend. We'll be back with you again tomorrow with a whole lot more on this. As always, thanks for making Lockdown Hawkeyes your first listen every day.

Tell me you hate the hat, you like it. Should we bring it back? Is it the ugliest hat you've ever seen? Hey, I might agree with that. I think my wife might agree with that one too. We will be back with you tomorrow. Until then, go Hawks.