Locked On Hawkeyes - Daily Podcast On Iowa Hawkeyes Football & Basketball - Was this the worst weekend in Iowa Hawkeye sports history?

Episode Date: March 21, 2022

It was a rough weekend for several Iowa Hawkeye teams who failed to live up to expectations. The men's Iowa basketball team fell in the round of 64 despite Final Four aspirations and a Big Ten Tournament title, the women's Iowa basketball team fell in the Round of 32 at home despite similar aspirations, and the men's wrestling program finished a distant third in the NCAA National Championships.We break down each of these sports, how we got here, as well as why this amount of disappointment should make us grateful for future successes. Or so we hope.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 “LOCKED15,” and you’ll get 15% off your next order.BetOnlineBetOnline.net has you covered this season with more props, odds and lines than ever before. BetOnline – Where The Game Starts!Rock AutoAmazing selection. Reliably low prices. All the parts your car will ever need. Visit RockAuto.com and tell them Locked On sent you.StatHeroStatHero is reshaping the way the way you play fantasy sports. Dozens of house based games to play daily. No sharks, no funky props, just your skill vs the lineups you choose. Sign-up today at StatHero.com/LockedOn Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

You are Locked On Hawkeyes, your daily podcast on the Iowa Hawkeyes. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Welcome back Hawkeye Nation to another episode of the Locked On Hawkeyes podcast, your daily podcast covering your Iowa Hawke episode of the Locked On Hawkeyes podcast, your daily podcast covering your Iowa Hawkeyes on the Locked On Podcast Network. As always, I am your host, Andrew Wade. I excited to be back for another episode. I wish it was under significantly better circumstances.

It was supposed to be one of the better weekends in Iowa sports history. It turned out to be one of the worst weekends in Iowa sports history. We're going to be talking about all that on today's show. What went wrong in that women's game? What happened at the NCAA wrestling national championships? And also talking a little bit more about men's basketball. Before we get to any of that, though, I want to thank you all for making the Lockdown Hawkeyes podcast your first listen every single day. You can find the Lockdown Hawkeyes podcast for free wherever you get podcasts at and also on YouTube by searching Lockdown Hawkeyes.

And today's episode of the Lockdown Hawkeyes podcast is brought to you by StatHero. StatHero is reshaping the way you play fantasy sports. Dozens of house-based games to play daily. No sharks, no funky props, just your skill versus the lineups you choose. Sign up today at StatHero.com slash locked on. So as I said, let's talk about one of the most disappointing weekends in Iowa sports history. And I wish I was overstating that, but I don't think I possibly can. Coming into this weekend, the men's basketball team was expected to possibly make a Sweet 16.

For the first time since the start of this century. It has been that long since Iowa has made a Sweet 16. I hadn't even turned double digits in age since the men's basketball team reached the Sweet 16. As a five seed with one of the easiest paths. According to Kempom, I thought this was the year, especially with Iowa basketball surging.

I thought this was the year on the flip side, the women's basketball team team seated. Second was almost assuredly going to make a sweet 16 for another year. We just assumed that was a, a by a foregone conclusion at this point and women's basketball, the disparity between a two seed and a 10 seed is significant, much more significant than in the men's tournament on the wrestling front. This was supposed to be the year with every single wrestler returning

that they were going to win back-to-back national titles. And as all of you know, none of that happened. Men's basketball loses their very first game to 12th seed Richmond, who then lost to Providence in a pretty poor fashion. The women's basketball team fell to Creighton in the round of 32. And finally, the men's wrestling team got third at Nationals. So let's talk about the women's basketball team. It was one of those games where you felt like Iowa was going to win at some point.

You just felt like Iowa was going to win at some point, right? You just felt like Iowa was going to pull it out. They struggled in the second quarter. That first quarter was a bit unique. Both teams just firing on all cylinders. I mean, it was one of the more impressive displays of offense I've seen in quite some time. Creighton came out firing. Iowa came out firing. They did a great job.

And the final score that first quarter was 23 to 17. But I really thought Iowa played pretty well in that first quarter, at least the first six, seven minutes. Iowa, a second quarter able to maintain, keep it that 15 to 15 slowing, definitely scored down though. That third quarter, Iowa picked it up a little bit. We saw Caitlin Clark get some through, saw some other folks hit some threes, and it felt like this is the time Iowa is turning the table now. They're turning a page. They are going to be able to figure this out now. Creighton had other ideas. Even within a couple, you know, even with a minute or two left,

Iowa had the lead. They were ready. They were able to win this game. In fact, they even got an opportunity at the very end, getting the ball to Monica Sinano, who has done a phenomenal job of converting shots around the basket. Arguably the best in the country at converting shots around the basket. And she misses a bunny.

Just misses it. In this game, Iowa shot 23% from three. They shot 36% from two from the field. The difference in this game was that Creighton absolutely annihilated Iowa on the glass 15 offensive rebounds for Creighton eight for Iowa, 37 defensive rebounds for Creighton, 8 for Iowa 37 defensive rebounds for Creighton, 29 for Iowa They out-rebounded Iowa by 15 in this game Creighton had significantly more turnovers, 14-6

Iowa had a better assist ratio or had more assists on their points I mean, just truly ridiculous iowa needed to do a better job in the glass i thought there was a couple interesting things about that i really felt like creighton was kind of cradling some of iowa's arms and they were going up but iowa could have done a better job in the glass that really was the difference in this game especially for creighton getting that w i thought officiating was truly atrocious I don't know how Kaitlyn Clark only shoots four free throws in that game but truly atrocious there is no such thing as freedom of movement in college basketball apparently

because they just blocked Kaitlyn at all times they did a good job they had a good game plan of throwing three girls at her rotating in and out but overall just really ridiculous uh officiating from the from the officials that were there um lisa bluder even said as much in her post-game press conference basically alluding to the fact that that was a game that had they had not had a game officiated like that the entire season and it sucks this was a team that had the talent to go to the final four in a year in women's basketball where there was not as big of a gap between the one seed and the two seed as they typically see or the two seed between the 10 seed this was a year where iowa

had a chance to make a very deep run if there was one team this weekend where I thought they will not let us down. As fans, to be fair, it was the Iowa women's basketball team. Unfortunately, they fell 64-62 to Creighton. Now on the flip side, this entire team returns for next year. Every single starter returns for next year. They bring in a top 25 recruiting class. It's a lot of talented players. They get a few folks back from injuries. There is an opportunity for Iowa to still make a run. The window has not been shut yet,

but it does suck to see them lose in that fashion. It's not something anyone wants to see. And that was really the icing on the cake for a pretty terrible weekend for Iowa sports. Coming up, we're going to talk a little bit really the icing on the cake for a pretty terrible weekend for Iowa sports coming up. We're going to talk a little bit about the wrestling team and give it, get on, get into some more projections for those lineups. We're losing a lot of guys, y'all.

It is going to be quite a different lineup. However, with how many injuries that Iowa has had this season, we've seen a lot of these guys wrestle already. They are possibly going to step in and take the place of these six-year guys, seventh-year guys who are leaving the program after a lot of time with the Brands brothers in Iowa. We'll talk about that all here in a few short moments. But first, March Madness, the first weekend is over, but we still have plenty of weekends left. And if you're like me, your bracket's already completely busted. It is just like clockwork. Every March, I do a bracket. I get excited.

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That's L-O-C-K-E-D one five, and you'll get 15% off your next order. Use that promo code locked 15 for 15% off at built.com. And again, thank you all for making the lockdown Hawkeyes podcast your first listen every single day. I appreciate you all tuning in. You can find us on YouTube and wherever you get podcasts at by searching locked on Hawkeyes. So let's get into it. The women's basketball team, obviously lost in the round of 32, the men's wrestling team. Although I warn anyone who listened to the show that we were not going to win a national title coming into this, it was still disappointing to see how bad it got, right? Just across the board, injuries really played this Iowa wrestling program throughout the season.

And we saw that in the wrestling tournament as well. Right? We saw Jaden Ironman, who was supposed to be one of the contenders for a national championship, have to bow out as a medical forfeit for the torn ACL. You hate to see that, right? For him as a wrestler, for how much work he has put into it, to see him bow, it just stunk. We did get one guy to the finals. That was Jacob Warner at 197. He ultimately fouled a Max Dean.

And I want to quickly go on a rant here. College wrestling is broken. How in the heck can you call that fun to watch? I understand what Penn State is doing is winning the matches, but it is so bad for the sport, and it needs to be fixed immediately. Max Dean did not do a single attack on Jacob Warner. Jacob Warner attacked him. Max Dean countered.

Game over. He just ran around the circle the whole time and wouldn't let Jacob Warner get to him the rest of the time, to a degree. I mean, obviously, like, he would let him to him the rest of the time to a degree. I mean, obviously like you would let him touch him, but that is not good for wrestling. Penn state. I hate in general, but I hate the wrestling style. It's not the way Kale Sanderson used to wrestle.

It's not the way a lot of teams wrestle. It's not fun for the sport and it's annoying to watch. I get it. It's smart wrestling for them. And clearly it helps because they've won. But it is terrible wrestling to watch. And officials need to do something about it. They need to be calling stalls more often against Penn State. In addition to that, Michael Kramer got third.

Alex Marinelli got fifth after an injury default. Austin DeSanto, despite a very tough, heartbreaking match against Roman Bravo Young, losing that, did battle back to get third. All-American status for those guys. But, you know, you expected Tony Cassiope to be in the championship match. I thought Drake Ayala had a chance of going far. Jaden Ironman prior to torn ACL, I thought he had a chance of going far. Alex and Michael, I thought they could go far. It just didn't happen.

Iowa finishes in third. And there's going to be a lot of changes to this lineup next year. At 125, we're probably going to see Drake Ayala redshirt with Spencer Lee coming back. I don't think Drake Ayala has the size to move up to 133. At 133, we have kind of an interesting situation. We have Colin Schriever, who was projected at 141, and also Jesse Ibarra who has

a five and five record this past year definitely in good hands there but haven't seen a lot of success out of that weight class outside of Austin DeSanto at 141 this is where it gets very very interesting who knows who's going to be at 141 after Jaydenden ireman we have jesse mendez who is the number four pound for pound recruit in the nation projected to be at 141 iowa is not traditionally a team that likes to wrestle true freshmen though they also have joel jessaroga who is number 23 wrestler at 145 right now we could see colin schriever move up to1. So there's a lot of options there, but 141 is definitely going to be one of the bigger question marks going into this off season.

At 149 with Caleb Young out, Brentley Reyna posted a six and two record this year, four times state champion out of Florida. We also have Kobe Seabrook who had a five and two record this year as well, a former state champion out of Iowa. At 157, not a lot of options here, but it looks like Joe Kelly is in line to take that spot. Currently put together a 4-6 record.

At 165, this is going to be a huge loss for Iowa. Alex Marinelli, gone. It looks like Sebastian Robles will probably be the guy to take over and a 12-4 record showed out pretty well this year. Two-time state champion at Arizonarizona or in arizona i should say at 174 um patrick kennedy is probably the guy here a highly touted recruit had a 14 and 3 record this year wrestling in place of michael kremmer another guy to watch out for is brendan swafford who is a three-time nai national champ has one i think he might actually spend two year

two-time nai national champ and has one year of eligibility left. I'm also being on the lookout for Gabe Arnold, the seven number 17 pound for pound wrestler in the country at one 70. We could see him here at one 74. We could see him bump up to one 84 as well, where they have just not had a lot of success is a beside going to get it done. I don't believe he's going to turn that corner yet. What about Nelson brands? Haven't seen him turn that corner yet at one 97 at the heavyweight 285 jacob and tony are back those are good opportunities for national champions so we have really especially gable stevenson out i will really has three spots in this lineup where they could easily compete for a national championship at the other spots big question mark here y'all a very very big question mark right here we don't know what to

expect there's gonna be a lot of change a lot of turnover in this Iowa lineup and thank you to all those amazing wrestlers right Austin DeSanto, Max, Caleb, Alex, Michael it has been so amazing watching them wrestle in the Iowa singlet it has been a lot of fun they brought a national championship back to Iowa, and I will forever be appreciative of that. But overall, this weekend, a relatively disappointing weekend from that kind of standpoint. That is the projected lineup.

Coming up, we're going to talk a little bit more about men's basketball. I know people are still just really bent out of shape over that, but I want to talk about that a bit more. Before we get to that, though, it is that time of the year. College basketball tournament season is upon us. We started you know we started last weekend it's still in full force today you see me i'm wearing a drake sweater right now if you're watching the youtube uh i am did go to undergrad at drake drake has a game today as well in the cbi um and you can bet on all those games at betonline.net from all the latest odds contests and player props betonline.net

is the number one source for all of your sports betting needs and info that online remains the best spot for all of your sports scores podcasts and news this season and it's not just basketball that online is your continued source for all of your sporting wagering information and needs including live betting and your favorite vegas casino games so head over to that website today or use your mobile device and learn more about the trends in action that's bet online.. That's where the game starts, y'all. All right, we talked about women's basketball. We talked about wrestling. Now it's time to get to another disappointment on the weekend.

It is men's basketball. We talked a little bit about this on Saturday's show. Iowa got so cold shooting, they fell to Richmond. Now I saw people just absolutely crapping on Richmond after they lost the Providence. Richmond is a quality basketball program. Now that does not mean that we shouldn't be disappointed, right? We expected this Iowa basketball team to go far. We expected this Iowa basketball team to at least get to the round of 32, but Richmond is not a bad program.

That was a team with several sixth year guys, That was a team with several sixth-year guys, some other talented players, and they were peaking at the right time. And they had a better game than Iowa. Now, nine times out of ten, Iowa's going to beat Richmond. Nine times out of ten. That's why you play the game, though. Richmond got it done.

This is not a choke job. These guys have shot well in big time situations before it just wasn't there now fran mccaffrey talked about the basketballs that can definitely be a huge factor and then we saw richmond go to providence and just get absolutely annihilated i think it's important to note playing four games in four days in the big 10 tournament turning around traveling to buffalo play a game just like richmond did the same thing they didn't have as far to travel but they had a a hefty schedule as well winning their conference tournament and then going and playing in the the ncaa tournament as well that is tough to do and you saw richmond kind of die at the end towards providence they didn't have any legs they have any gas left and

they couldn't shoot the ball. They were not one of the worst teams in the tournament this year. Richmond was a quality program. They deserved to be there. Iowa deserved to lose that game because they couldn't shoot the ball worth a crap. And that's all there is to it. But at the end of the day, really think about this. Deep down, when you looked at this team, they lost Luka Garza, Joe Weiskamp, CJ Frederick, and Jack Nunji. In October, did you think Iowa would have been a five seed?

Did you think Iowa would have had more wins this year than last year's team? Did you think Iowa was going to have a national player of the year candidate? Did you think Iowa was going to win the Big Ten tournament? If any of you said that, and you're not Hawkeye Elvis because he loves Iowa and he is a very positive person. I love Hawkeye Elvis. You'd probably be lying.

I didn't. I thought this was a bubble tournament team. I thought they could get to 20 wins. I thought Keegan Murray could be all Big Ten. I did not expect them to win a Big Ten tournament. I did not expect them to be a five seed. I did not expect to be talking about the opportunity to go to a Final Four. And especially at the end of January.

Did any of you think this? and especially at the end of January. Did any of you think this? We need to be thankful for the ride that we just went on. It was a lot of fun. It sucks the way it ended, and it's going to sting for years. This weekend is going to sting. This is the kind of weekend that in eight, nine, ten years, if Iowa does win a national championship, if they make a Final Four,

you rejoice on. You get very excited about it because you had to deal with a weekend like this. This is why you play the tournament, though. Why play the tournament if St. Peter's is never going to beat a Kentucky? Or you're never going to see a Florida Gulf Coast make a run? Or Loyola Chicago is not going to make a run? If it's all chalk, if it's all one, two, three, four seeds, then why play the tournament? This is why you play the tournament. Anything can happen in a one game situation. You play Richmond in a seven game series. I will wins that series four to one

at the worst four to two, but they didn't. They lost. So don't go crapping on the guys. Don't go crapping on this team. Fran McCaffrey is not a bad coach. They got cold at the worst time. Not much more I can say about that. It's weekends like this, though, that make you appreciate when something good happens.

Now it's tough because it has been a while since something really, truly good has happened in one of the four major sports in Iowa Hawkeye athletics. It has been a very long time. Sorry, I should take that back. It has been a long time since something good has happened in one of the three of the four major sports. Football, men's basketball, women's basketball, obviously wrestling. We had a national title last year and that is amazing. The expectations for men's wrestling is also higher than any other sport. We haven't won a new year's six bowl games in 2009.

We haven't been to a new year's six bowl game since 2015. We've made a sweet 16 since 1999. We made it to the Elite Eight for women's basketball and got smoked by Baylor. Haven't won a national championship there either. It's frustrating. It is so tough. This is why we're fans.

And it's going to make it so much better when Iowa does ultimately win something big. But it doesn't mean this team is a bunch of losers. It doesn't mean that there's a loser attitude of fans. It doesn't mean that Iowa sucks. This weekend sucked. It was terrible. I did not enjoy watching Iowa just get beat

and everything we thought they were going to do well in. But it happens. It's why you play the game. It's why you wrestle the match. It's why you play a tournament. And when something good happens, we'll be excited about it. That does do it for our show today. I appreciate you all making the Lockdown Hawkeyes podcast

your first listen every single day. Now it's time to make your second listen to lockdown NFL draft podcast hosted by Ryan Tracy and former NFL cornerback, Eric Crocker, bring the NFL draft to life every single day with insight and analysis on college football prospects and NFL front offices. It's free and available wherever you get your podcast at, and that will do it for our show today. Thank you all for tuning in. Have a fantastic Monday. All we will be back tomorrow.

I was pro day is today. So we'll try to get some information out of that and talk about that as well. Otherwise we're going to start talking about what does this men's basketball team look like next year? A lot of interesting decisions on the horizon. We'll be talking about all that on tomorrow's show again. Thank you all for tuning in. Have a fantastic Monday and let's go Hawks.