Latest / The Lunch Rush with Trent Condon / Audi Crooks in the transfer portal, Tommy Birch Joins on the news, Bill Bender on the Cody Campbell vs. Brett Yourmark & the Chicken Coop Contest

Transcript

Audi Crooks in the transfer portal, Tommy Birch Joins on the news, Bill Bender on the Cody Campbell vs. Brett Yourmark & the Chicken Coop Contest · The Lunch Rush with Trent Condon

0:05
Hi, good afternoon. Welcome, Miller and Condon on a
0:08
rainy, miserable Thursday here in the capital city of Iowa.
0:11
We welcome you to the next couple of hours of sports
0:15
conversation. Trent Condon and myself, Ken
0:17
Miller, talking sports with you until 2:00.
0:19
Wherever you're joining us on the Iowa Sports Radio Network or
0:22
however, we are grateful that you are here.
0:25
Tommy Birch coming up here in a few minutes.
0:27
Tommy Birch covers Iowa State for the Des Moines Register.
0:30
Obviously more news from Iowa State, in particular the women's
0:34
basketball program as the shoe was dropped so everyone was
0:38
waiting for. Audie Crooks has officially
0:40
entered the transfer portal. She is leaving Iowa State,
0:43
leaving the roster. I think it's down to three as
0:46
the gal from Denmark, Freya Jensen I want to say is her name
0:50
who had originally said she is leaving.
0:53
Apparently she's had second thoughts and will stay.
0:56
So down to three on the roster. Tommy Birch in 5 minutes, then
1:00
Bill Bender on college sports topics, including one that's
1:04
starting to sound a familiar kind of tone when it comes to a
1:09
school in the state of Texas. This time it's in Lubbock.
1:12
And Texas Tech is not too pleased with the commissioner
1:16
and is. I don't want to say they're
1:18
beating the war drums just yet, but they're starting to make
1:21
their feelings very clear that they're better than everybody
1:23
else. And we don't play football on
1:25
Friday nights. And how dare Brett, your Mark,
1:27
try to keep this conference front and center in the public
1:31
eye by staging a game on Friday night.
1:33
That's not how we do things, and we're not going to stand for it.
1:37
We'll see where that goes. Chicken coop, We're going to
1:40
give a number of you, 4 of you, an opportunity to win some grub
1:42
from the chicken coop coming up here at about 10 minutes or so
1:45
before 1:00. Carrie Miller on the final four
1:48
from Bleacher Report. And then we're going to start to
1:51
taking a look at the NFL draft, which is 3 weeks from tonight.
1:55
I think it's three weeks from tonight.
1:57
It is round #1 of the NFL draft, so we'll start taking a look at
2:02
that. Adi Crooks got to start there.
2:07
This was a not a shock by any means.
2:11
Jamie Pollard came out with, in my opinion, a tone deaf
2:14
response. What about ISM after?
2:16
What about ISM? Nobody cares what's going on at
2:19
Oklahoma State, Jamie. Nobody cares what's going on to
2:22
the east of us. I'm guessing Iowa.
2:24
It was Iowa. It was Iowa, Yeah, Didn't say
2:26
it, but certainly alluded to that.
2:29
Look in your own house. Look in your own house.
2:31
What's going? This isn't a transfer, a bunch
2:34
of bastre. This is a mutiny.
2:36
This is a mutiny when it comes to this roster.
2:39
I would love to know why. Well, we'll ask Tommy that if
2:42
he's heard any rumblings or not, but he said Bill Finley is going
2:45
to come back for his last year. We said it's late last week.
2:49
This is trending towards Steve Brohm's final year.
2:53
You know my feelings about Finley, I wanted to see him do
2:56
it his own way. But man, oh man, oh man.
2:59
Nobody saw to the extent of the mutiny that's taking place on
3:03
his watch. We heard the wheels were in
3:06
motion right at the end of the season and very quickly.
3:09
By the way, you're under the weather.
3:10
Yes, I can tell in your voice. Yes, absolutely I am.
3:13
I'm ill. I was spending a lot of time
3:16
kneeled over the toilet puking. Well, it's no wonder you were
3:19
sick. You had all that puke in you.
3:21
Exactly, had to get it out of me apparently.
3:23
Maybe I'll be feeling better. Got a little Pepto, but we're
3:25
we're off and running regardless.
3:27
Wanted to be here and certainly talk about this story.
3:29
I mean, it's a huge, huge story. It's one thing, though, in Addie
3:32
Bradley's. Right.
3:34
It's Audie Crooks is in today's environment, Iowa State women's
3:39
basketball. I'm guessing if you looked
3:41
around Hilton during a women's game, you would see more 55
3:45
jerseys than any other jersey, right?
3:47
By a by a significant margin. She's home grown, she's fun to
3:51
watch, she's got a great personality, she's in all the
3:54
television. Sells the program well,
3:55
represents the program. You're 100.
3:57
Percent right. And as this was continuing and
3:59
the numbers continued to grow, number of people in the portal
4:02
and the grand scheme of things that didn't matter until Audie
4:04
made her decision. This was the one that, for me,
4:08
tipped it over the edge. Now you bring back Audie Crooks,
4:11
a couple other players, and that's it.
4:12
And then you got to work the rest of the portal.
4:13
It was going to be difficult, no doubt, but.
4:15
The face year program would have been there for her final.
4:17
Year and that's the huge component.
4:19
You're still going to be able to sell tickets, people still want
4:21
to go watch her play and even if the product isn't quite as good,
4:24
you're still going to have that component.
4:26
Now, with Audie gone, I found it interesting that a player very
4:32
shortly afterwards said Oh no, actually, oh.
4:35
OK, I never thought about that. I wonder if, I mean, is there
4:38
something going on in the locker room?
4:40
That that is not a huge conclusion to jump to, right?
4:45
Certainly when you put those two things together that we just
4:47
mentioned, right after Audie says I'm leaving, well, you know
4:50
what? I'm going to stay.
4:51
Yeah, I'm afraid that's just in. Yes.
4:53
I'm I'm. They would have rather had
4:55
Audie. Absolutely, yes.
4:57
No knock on her, but we we definitely know that.
5:01
I think that's fair. And I've told you I know some
5:05
people in women's basketball for a long time, and this is going
5:07
back years and years and years. And the the dimensions inside at
5:11
the collegiate level and the high collegiate level women's
5:14
basketball, it's different than a lot of sports in general.
5:18
And these are the kind of things that can happen very quickly.
5:22
This is something now that Bill Fenley has seen his roster turn
5:24
over in the course of a year quicker than anybody.
5:27
It's anticipated for what, the second time in four years now
5:30
that this has happened, but. This has even taken it to a
5:32
whole other level. Yeah, that it went from
5:34
concerning, but we've got some young talent to what it is today
5:38
where it's just rats in the ship.
5:42
It's devastating. And talking to people that love
5:45
women's basketball, love Iowa State women's basketball, just
5:49
basketball fans in the state, this is a huge, huge blow
5:53
because she was just different. Yeah.
5:55
And we had yet another face of women's college basketball in
5:58
our state. And now she's departing, right?
6:01
It's a huge, huge blow. And.
6:03
And to you to I'll use the term you.
6:04
Just said home grown, home grown.
6:06
She's an island. Yep.
6:07
Algona, yeah. Yeah, she's an Iowan and she's
6:10
just burst on the scene and we and nobody knew what to expect
6:13
went back in her freshman year. All right, Bertie coming up here
6:16
momentarily, we'll get to Tommy. You appreciate him giving us a
6:19
few minutes here today. Obviously a lot to get to with
6:23
Tommy. We'll we'll do that momentarily.
6:25
Bill Bender coming up again. I don't like the tone that I'm
6:28
hearing from Cody Campbell, who is like, he's a billionaire,
6:31
I'll get it. He's he thinks that he can call
6:35
the shots and his his opinion means more than the
6:39
commissioners opinion. Brett, your mark is in charge of
6:42
the Big 12 in charge of the Big 12 and trying to elevate this
6:45
program or, or this conference and, or certainly keep it on par
6:49
with the others. And you have to play on a Friday
6:51
night. Hell, if you have to play
6:53
Tuesday in the afternoon to get that TV money, that's what you
6:56
have to do to keep up. That's just that the the cards
7:00
that you're being dealt to the Big 12 into the ACC and to the,
7:03
I guess newly formed PAC 12, if they ever get on the same
7:07
footing as the two conferences I just mentioned.
7:09
But my God, I hate to go back. Was it 15?
7:13
No more than that, 1617 years, whatever it was, till we started
7:17
to see Texas. They were better than everybody
7:20
else and they needed to drag somebody along with them.
7:23
So they drug Oklahoma along with them and we thought the
7:25
conference was going to implode. It just kind of brings back bad
7:29
memories. Absolutely.
7:30
It really does. Yeah, you cannot allow this, and
7:33
I was happy that your mark clapped back.
7:35
At it? Hell yeah.
7:36
You have to do that. You cannot allow this to happen
7:39
regardless how much money and unfortunately political
7:41
influence and somebody has because they have money and he
7:43
does and he is going to change college sports and maybe not for
7:47
the better because of that political influence play on
7:50
Friday night. Guess what?
7:52
Most everybody has to do that right and.
7:54
They just high school football's played.
7:56
Everywhere, Cody. And What do you think of high
7:58
school football? Absolutely.
7:59
Texas is. Huge.
8:00
What's the show That was from Friday Night Lights based in
8:03
Texas? You've seen some of the stadiums
8:05
that are built, yes, for their palaces.
8:08
I get it. But it means just as much here
8:10
to Iowans playing football and Pennsylvania kids and Florida
8:14
kids, get a hold of yourself. My good God, bad luck really is.
8:18
Let's get Tommy Birch in here. He's been busy.
8:21
We appreciate him giving us a few minutes.
8:23
Tommy, thanks for coming on. Trenton.
8:24
Can't appreciate it. This was the one that we were
8:27
all waiting for it. It seems to me that Jamie
8:30
Pollards a little video that was put out today was kind of
8:35
probably already in the can with all the enhancements that were
8:38
made to it. I'm not sure when it was
8:40
recorded, but they seemingly were waiting for Audie to make
8:43
her decision. This will blow, Tommy.
8:44
I call this a mutiny When it when you take that look at that
8:49
roster, this was the big one, Tommy, this is the one.
8:53
Yeah, I mean, this is this the master boss for.
8:56
I was seeing so many ways where, you know, obviously we can talk
9:00
about the production that Audie Crick had, you know, was the,
9:03
you know, one of the best scorers in the entire nation, a
9:06
strong rebounder at times. And then the other part of it,
9:10
too, where she's one of the biggest faces when it comes to
9:13
women's basketball, you know, college basketball.
9:15
And she is certainly one of the biggest faces when it comes to
9:19
this program and to this university.
9:23
And one of the biggest reasons why even during Iowa State
9:28
struggles over this past year, people were still tuning in.
9:32
People were still watching. People were still coming to
9:34
games. And a big reason why people
9:37
still had faith that, you know, eventually Iowa State was going
9:41
to turn things around and get things going.
9:42
And just a big reason why there was so much hope for this
9:46
program over the last three years.
9:47
I mean, look at what I would say did during her freshman year
9:52
where they went to the Big 12 title game, came with that game
9:55
of reaching the Sweet 16. You know, the idea was it's
9:59
going to be a team that competes for championships and goes a
10:02
long ways. And then C AA tournament, Nadi
10:05
Corrects, was definitely a big reason why there was so much of
10:08
that hope. We know Tommy, injuries
10:12
obviously played a big part in the downturn this season, but
10:15
they came in with huge expectations.
10:18
Some people thought this was going to be Ben Bill Finley's
10:20
best team and certainly fell short of that.
10:23
Outside of the injuries. They came back, they got healthy
10:26
and they get beat by TCU and they get beat by Oklahoma State
10:29
and they lose in the first round to Arizona State and they get
10:31
pummeled by Syracuse in the first round of the NCAA
10:34
Tournament. What went wrong?
10:36
Outside of the injuries and maybe upsetting things a little
10:38
bit, is it fair to say maybe something internally it was also
10:42
happening to do her in this whole thing?
10:44
Sure. And I will say when the idea
10:47
that I was they kept fully healthy, you know, yeah, they
10:49
they ended up getting Addie Brown back.
10:51
But I think if you would have watched those last few games
10:54
with Addie Brown back, like it was obvious she was 100% she she
10:58
wasn't even close to the player that she was before that injury.
11:02
And that's that's a massive blow.
11:03
I know I just spent all that time talking about Audie Brooks
11:06
and how important she was, but realistically everything kind of
11:10
ran through Addie Brown and just what she could do in terms of
11:14
being versatile. You know, playing basically the
11:17
one through the five, she could choose.
11:19
She can rebound, she can pass, she can defend, she can do
11:22
everything I've I've said. And I don't think many people
11:25
would argue that she's probably one of the most versatile
11:28
players in the entire country. So I think that was a big reason
11:33
why. And I think, look, some of the
11:35
people I've talked to within the program, it's it's been
11:38
abundantly known that some people were probably going to
11:43
jump ship at the end of the season.
11:44
I think, you know, that probably provided a really tough
11:49
distraction for Iowa State moving forward, knowing that
11:52
like, OK, you know, the roster wasn't going to look the the
11:57
same as it was at one point, you know, once this season ends.
12:01
So, you know, that's that's just the reality too, of having to
12:05
coach in college athletics now is dealing with them trying to
12:09
trying to get your team to come together and focus because
12:11
everybody is going to have a wandering eye to some extent.
12:16
And, you know, the, the fact that there are distractions
12:19
everywhere and access to everybody through all kinds of
12:22
different means is, is just another Ave. that you you've got
12:27
to find a way to coach through. And, you know, I think it showed
12:30
at the end of the season that, you know, this was, this was
12:33
probably not a united front towards the end of the year.
12:36
Wow, do you know what Fennelly's buyout was in his contract?
12:40
I know it's up after after next year.
12:42
Did he have a huge buyout if he were to be fired without 'cause
12:48
after the season that just ended?
12:50
Tommy, do you know? Yeah, I actually pulled up his
12:53
contract a little bit ago and didn't look at the buyout
12:56
language, but you know, the, you know, he ended up getting a
12:59
lifetime contract, but that contract, there's still an
13:03
actual contract. Like you had said, it comes to
13:05
an end at the, I believe, June of 2027.
13:10
So, you know, obviously in Jamie Powers video today, there were
13:14
some heavy insinuations of, you know, the end coming, you know,
13:18
very quickly. You know, they'll suddenly even
13:20
said that, you know, it's actually he is on the back now
13:23
at the golf course and probably walking up to 1617 or 18, who
13:28
knows at this point. But you know, that's going to be
13:32
a mark that I think a lot of people have kind of wondering is
13:35
like, OK, do you want to come back after this season?
13:39
You know, the interesting thing is, you know, we've been down
13:42
this road to when it comes to friendly and you know, I've
13:45
heard a lot of different people say and I think, you know, Bill
13:48
has even said that, you know, he had told Bridget Carlson, I want
13:51
to see you through and follow her through that.
13:53
He said, I want to see Ashley Jones through and saw her
13:56
through. So you never know what's going
13:58
to come through the door that's going to inspire him or make him
14:02
want to keep coaching. But it is clear given everything
14:05
he's done, everything he's accomplished, and even during
14:08
these tough times, that Jamie Pollard standing by him and
14:11
giving him the the opportunity community to go out on his own
14:14
terms. The question is going to be when
14:17
Is it next year or is it a different time?
14:20
We just don't know at this point.
14:22
But we've always assumed that the end is definitely coming.
14:25
A. Lot of memories going back to
14:28
Doctor Tom Davis and instead of making the tough decision and
14:32
firing him, they gave him a lame duck year and it said Steve
14:35
Alford back. Does that not matter though in
14:37
today's environment with the transfer portal, the way that
14:39
you can do it? Is it just completely different
14:42
circumstances than going back, I guess 28 years ago?
14:46
Yeah, to a certain degree. I mean, I think the idea of
14:48
giving a coach of lame duck season and saying, hey, you're
14:51
out at the end of the season leaves you open for a lot of
14:56
criticism because as we saw with that Doctor Tom season, you
14:59
know, they end up making this magical run with everybody
15:03
rallying around him. And then the question comes to,
15:06
well, should you have let him go?
15:08
You know, my thought is if you're going to let go of a
15:10
coach, just let go of a coach. RIP the Band-Aid.
15:13
On Yeah and you know, I don't know what it's going to come to
15:18
for the Iowa State situation. I don't know if that's how
15:21
they're playing it out, but you know, what do you think they're
15:26
there is something to be said about, hey, you know, you also
15:29
want to try to find a way, I'm guessing if you're Iowa State's
15:33
perspective, to kind of honor Bill family and give him that
15:36
kind of, you know, farewell to her.
15:39
I don't know if Bill's going to want that too.
15:41
You know, and you know, the interesting thing too, when it
15:44
comes to family is like he is, he has been pretty violently
15:48
obvious in stating that, you know, how much he's enjoyed
15:50
coaching and how much fun he's had over the last couple years.
15:54
Now, granted, some of that fun and some of that excitement,
15:57
some of some of the era of the tires has probably been sunk
16:01
when when it comes to some of these departures.
16:04
But he he has basically said, you know how much he enjoys
16:09
doing this. And he said that in the in the
16:12
post game press conference after the Syracuse lost that, you
16:15
know, he gets to do this his way, gets to do it with a lot of
16:20
his family around. Obviously his son Billy is an
16:23
assistant coach. His, his daughter-in-law Lindsay
16:25
Meader's family is one of the best point guards.
16:28
And I would say history. And she's around, you know, in
16:31
the past. She doesn't do it now, but she
16:33
used to do some radio work. Jody Steyer, who's the associate
16:37
head coach, her daughter provides color commentary for
16:42
the the radio broadcast as well. So, you know, he's got a lot of
16:46
leeway and you don't have a lot of reasons to, to keep doing
16:49
this as well. Not to mention that he still
16:52
feels like he can he can win at a high level.
16:55
Tommy, this has always been a question that's lingered when
16:58
you when you have occasions kind of like this is to, you know,
17:01
you really want to get a look what's going on inside the
17:04
program. Yet everybody's kind of tight
17:06
lipped about it. I've often wondered, are
17:09
managers, student managers? Are they asked to sign an NDA?
17:13
Because it's, I don't think I've ever seen not just IA state
17:18
anywhere a student manager come out at the end of the year and,
17:21
and be that source, be that, well, here's I can tell you
17:24
what's going on or here's a couple of questions you need to
17:27
ask or a couple of people you need to talk to.
17:29
Are student managers and people close to the program like that?
17:32
Are they forced or asked? I guess forced to sign an NDA?
17:38
No idea if they are, but most of the student managers have some
17:42
high hopes of wanting to move up through the industry, whether
17:44
that's coaching, training, something like that.
17:47
Josh Carper, who's the member, you know, longest members of a
17:51
Bill family staff. I actually knew CARP when when
17:54
we were in college and he was a member of Greg McDermott staff.
17:58
He was a student manager. I remember like all my buddies
18:01
and I and A lot of CARP friends, you know, we'd be up late at
18:04
night partying as Pratt and he'd be at work, you know, doing
18:08
stuff for McDermott. We always kind of wondered like,
18:11
man, what are you doing? You're wasting your life.
18:13
Well, now you know, he, he's turned out pretty nice coaching
18:16
career and I'm the one writing about it.
18:18
So I would say from that aspect, if you want to move up in the
18:22
industry and you have goals of, you know, being in the industry,
18:27
you probably are pretty much. But I will say, you know, when
18:30
it comes to stuff like that and me and other reporters, we're
18:34
talking to everybody around the team and, you know, trying to
18:38
cultivate those sources and understand because in that, you
18:42
know, it's like we want to tell the story what's really going
18:45
on, what's really happening and and get a good understanding of
18:48
what's going on. Birchie, coming full circle back
18:51
to Audi, what do you anticipate? What kind of coach makes sense?
18:55
What kind of program? Obviously she's going to have
18:57
offers from most everybody, but you look at the certain way that
19:01
she plays and certainly the defensive questions that come up
19:04
with her. What kind of program makes the
19:06
most sense? Is it maybe a more players
19:08
friendly kind of environment? Does that make sense for her?
19:11
Or even more to the grindstone when you kind of look at her
19:13
future? Because I think us as Iowans, a
19:15
lot of people still going to be rooting for her.
19:18
Yeah, I mean, I think when it comes to Audie Crooks and Iowa
19:20
State, probably cash friendly. Yeah, player friendly as a as it
19:25
could come for her. You know, my my understanding is
19:28
the coaching example is more than adaptable when it came to,
19:33
you know, listening to Audie, giving her what do you want,
19:35
what she wants and, you know, making a place that she wants to
19:39
be because they knew she was a valuable asset.
19:42
They knew she was an important commodity on and off the court.
19:46
But you know, in the end, you know she is going to command a
19:50
high dollar amount when she hits the transfer portal.
19:53
And you know, my understanding is if she could have entered the
19:57
portal last year, you know, we're talking at least a half,
20:01
$1,000,000. And that's life changing money
20:03
for anybody. But certainly for, you know,
20:06
2122 year old from Algona, IA, who you know, her mom has a
20:11
phenomenal job of raising her basically being a single mom
20:14
because, you know, her dad ended up dying at a young age and.
20:19
You know, all that stuff. So, you know, and then there's
20:23
the element to like, we just don't know what's next for Adi
20:26
Crooks. Could she play in the WNBA?
20:29
Will she play in the WNBAI? Think kind of the thought too,
20:32
has always been like, OK, get paid now.
20:35
Go someplace where you can get paid and make your money now
20:38
because you don't know if you're going to be able to make that
20:41
money in a year or two. So, you know, I think and then
20:45
she's going to want to go to a place where she can end up
20:48
making some money and she can possibly make those, you know,
20:53
improvements. Obviously, defensively is one of
20:55
the biggest questions for her. I know I would say staff had
20:58
been trying to push that out of her and kind of develop that out
21:03
of her a little bit more because look, in the WNBA, they got
21:06
scoring. They got plenty of people that
21:08
can score. And you cannot be just a A1
21:11
trick pony. You can't just stand near the
21:14
hoop and score. You got a guard, you got to
21:16
defend and you got to find out the ways to score.
21:18
I've no doubt that she got to find other ways to score but the
21:21
defending purse, something that certainly has to get better for
21:25
her moving forward if she got play in the WNBA and if she's
21:28
got to stay in the WNBA and make some real money.
21:32
Last thing for you, do you know, did this decision, was it made
21:35
last night? Had it been made, you know, 48
21:38
hours ago or whenever? When do you think ultimately
21:41
Audie Crooks knew she was moving on?
21:44
Yeah, it's a good question. You know, I reached out to her
21:46
last week and I think it was Wednesday.
21:48
She had said she was still mulling it over.
21:51
So I don't know of an exact timeline.
21:54
Obviously, when it comes to those graphics, it takes a
21:57
little bit of time to develop. So it didn't come this morning,
22:01
I'll tell you that. But my impression is that it's
22:05
it's at least been known for the last 24 hours.
22:09
Tommy Birch, Des Moines Register Birchy, good stuff.
22:11
I know you'll have this covered soup to nuts at the
22:15
desmoinesregister.com, desmoinesregister.com.
22:18
And if there's anything else, so between now and the boys coming
22:21
on the afternoon, you're going to be on with them, I believe as
22:24
well. Birchy, thanks for doing this
22:25
for Trent and I appreciate it. We'll talk to you down the road.
22:28
Tommy. Thank you.
22:30
Anything for you guys. Keep up the great work.
22:32
Seriously, you guys kill it. We appreciate that, Tommy.
22:35
Thank you. Appreciate it.
22:36
Good stuff out of Tommy Birch. All right, well, take your time
22:38
out. I'll come back.
22:39
Bill Bender will join us. Number college sports topics
22:42
with Bill. I'm out of that.
22:44
I'm pondering something. From what we just heard.
22:46
A. A phrase that you used that I've
22:48
heard you used before. I've used it before, I'm sure.
22:50
Soup to nuts. What the hell does that mean?
22:52
Don't know. It's one of those let's yes,
22:54
like you say, right? What is right Soup?
22:59
To nuts. I, I think, I have no idea, but
23:01
I, I, I mean, you can't even imagine what it could, but you
23:03
heard it for the first time as a kid as I did.
23:05
Yes, absolutely. Right.
23:06
Yes. Got it covered.
23:08
Soup to nuts. Yeah.
23:09
What does that mean? I don't know, I think it fits.
23:13
Absolutely. Benter takes it's the Iowa
23:17
Sports Radio Network. I'm Hillary Condon.
23:22
Welcome back. Coming up on 12:30 on a
23:24
Thursday, the Iowa Sports Radio Network.
23:27
Trent Condon and Ken Miller. Let's get to our friend Bill
23:30
Bender covers college sports and other things for the Sporting
23:35
News sportingnews.com. Bill joins us.
23:37
Bill Trenton, Ken, I'm really looking forward to talking to
23:40
you about this topic that started to reverberate yesterday
23:44
just because of we've been there before as as people that you
23:48
know, live in a Big 12 market, do this for a living and cover a
23:51
Big 12 school. And we think back to 2010 when
23:54
seemingly Texas started to, they started before, but they made it
23:58
like got louder and louder that they're better than everybody
24:01
else in this conference. And I'm starting to get that
24:03
feel from Cody Campbell and Texas Tech, who apparently your
24:08
mark has the audacity to actually ask Texas Tech to play
24:11
a game on Friday night. You know, like everybody else in
24:14
the conference has to do. I didn't like the tone that I'm
24:18
hearing from Lubbock, Bill, just because we've been there with
24:20
this conference in the past when it comes to a school based in
24:23
Texas. I believe we've heard this tone
24:26
from Columbus and Ann Arbor in the Big 10 when they get a
24:29
Friday night game. And you know, where it's rooted
24:31
for me and I'll speak personally is like when you and I know you
24:36
guys are like this too, but when you grow up in Ohio, you're
24:38
like, man, high school football is Friday night.
24:41
I'm out of the I'm out of the high school football game most
24:43
Friday nights. So maybe that's part of it.
24:47
But again, throwing your weight around, it's one Big 12
24:50
championship. So and the way that this sport
24:53
is now is, I mean, let's be real, in November, for example,
24:58
you pretty much have a game on every night except like Monday
25:01
and Tuesday and sometimes you do have them on Tuesday.
25:04
So it's an every night sport any more than on TV.
25:08
And this is part of the world we live in.
25:10
I, you know, like the clap back from your mark and I think that
25:15
was important. It wasn't, well, you know, we
25:17
get involvement from all the institutions that, you know, it
25:21
wasn't the coach speak, if you will, the AD speak.
25:24
He said Cody Campbell doesn't run this conference.
25:26
And I think you need to have that strong figurehead because
25:30
a, we've seen it before. But secondarily, you need those
25:33
other conference schools to say, hey, we do have somebody that
25:36
has our back. I thought that was an incredibly
25:38
important part of this back and forth.
25:40
It's a real back and forth and and real shots being fired both
25:43
ways. Brett, Brett does a good job.
25:46
He's done a good job with, well, there's no question for a
25:49
conference that you just mentioned, Texas and Texas and
25:52
Oklahoma left, a lot of people wondered if this conference
25:55
would survive as a tower conference And, and it has.
25:58
And he's been proactive and he's been, I wouldn't say outspoken.
26:02
I just think he's done things a little bit differently than the
26:04
SEC and the Big 10 do. And you have to, I always use
26:08
the analogy they're kind of like alternative programming from the
26:12
networks anymore. That analogy probably doesn't
26:14
fit because we have 30 different streaming services, but you get
26:17
what I'm saying. So yeah, I like Brett, your
26:21
mark. I like that he takes a stand.
26:22
And you know, Friday Night Football is a good thing for any
26:25
conference. Yeah, look at and they're
26:27
getting paid and they have to take those television dollars
26:30
and television dictates they want you on a Friday night.
26:33
You just got to swallow hard and play on a Friday night.
26:36
I'm sorry, Cody Campbell. Anyways, let's let's move on
26:39
from football. TCU.
26:40
Good. Let's get the basketball bill.
26:42
I think we're in for a real treat this weekend.
26:44
I know that UConn in Illinois isn't getting the.
26:47
I don't know if respects the right word, but certainly it's
26:50
kind of feels like the, I don't want to call it like the warm up
26:54
act for what we're going to get later on with Arizona and
26:57
Michigan. I think UConn, Illinois has a
27:00
chance to be a phenomenal basketball game.
27:02
How about you? I do too, and you know, we could
27:05
talk about Arizona, Michigan here in a second, but UConn on
27:08
its own, I, I've made this, it's not a joke.
27:11
I literally watched the ending sequence of the Duke game maybe
27:14
100 times this week. Wild 4.
27:16
How did this happen? 1 and 2, you know, just to see
27:20
Dan Hurley's reaction and I think it's going under the radar
27:23
a little bit. He's going for three and four,
27:25
three titles in four years. That's incredible in the
27:27
basketball landscape. So, you know, you can have an
27:30
opinion on Danny, and everybody does, but I just see an
27:33
outstanding coach on the other side.
27:35
You guys know all about Illinois.
27:38
All really good defense in the tournament.
27:41
They've played outstanding defense.
27:43
I mean, Iowa only had I believe 72 point field goals against
27:47
them. So they making your life tough
27:49
inside the three-point line and I would look for that to happen
27:52
again. But Illinois absolutely can win
27:55
that game. Illinois is a team big, physical
27:58
and they're they're doing it in a different way, Bill.
28:02
Now it's a landscape completely different than your full time
28:04
beat with college football. But this basketball has Brad
28:07
Underwood unearthed something that other teams are going to
28:10
exploit. Not just going out and getting a
28:12
euro, but maybe going out and getting a group, getting a bunch
28:15
of guys together because it's different.
28:17
The finances are different with the NIL is structured as
28:21
Underwood maybe exploited A loophole if you will, in the way
28:24
that he's recruited this roster. A little bit, but I mean just
28:27
the international guys are good. I mean it's not like we don't
28:30
know that name. We watched him play for years.
28:35
It's you know, American bitch has been great.
28:36
Wadler's incredible freshman. So I think it's that
28:41
combination. They get Boswell out of the
28:44
portal and perhaps done a nice job, though.
28:46
They've had really good national championship quality and the one
28:50
that lost to the sister Jean Moyola team fix out to me.
28:54
So, you know, finally they breakthrough and they're very
28:57
capable of winning that game and breaking this.
29:00
I think I've spent more airtime in the past three weeks talking
29:03
about 26 years. Is that a national title that
29:06
I'm just about ready for the Big 10 to end this trout?
29:08
Yeah, they're as close as they've been.
29:11
Well, they've been a little closer.
29:12
We'll see coming Saturday night if they get the chance to take
29:16
that next step and to end that streak.
29:18
Well, let's talk about that game, Bill.
29:20
Michigan, obviously a Big 10 school, they're in the same boat
29:23
and have probably the best chance of ending it as anybody.
29:26
But on the other side of the floor, sharing the floor with
29:28
them is Arizona. These Wildcats are absolutely
29:31
for real. They've got size, they've got
29:33
great guard play. They are loaded as well.
29:37
What a heavyweight fight we're in store for.
29:41
So I've spent today looking up every final four semifinal
29:45
matchup between two number one seeds.
29:47
And here's my I'm going to tease it for you.
29:49
It's running tomorrow, but I'll give you this.
29:52
The best match up I can remember turned out to be the closest
29:55
match up that we've ever had. It was Kentucky and Michigan in
29:59
93. The Michigan had the Fab Five.
30:03
He had Mashburn. Mashburn found out overtime.
30:05
It was an incredible basketball game.
30:08
I think we're getting one of those on Saturday night.
30:10
I think we're getting one that we'll be talking about 30 years
30:13
later that man. Do you remember when Arizona had
30:16
five guys that could score 10 and and Michigan had Linda Board
30:20
and a day Amara and this ridiculous team under Dusky May.
30:24
I can't. I picked Michigan to win guys,
30:27
but how like either way, you're going to be right.
30:31
They're both amazing teams. I think it's going to be a great
30:34
game in the 80s. I haven't looked forward to a
30:36
semifinal quite like this one in a while.
30:38
No no question. You mentioned the fab five.
30:40
I just saw this note. Apparently the Fab 5 they're
30:43
back together on true TV. Weber, Rose Howard King and
30:46
Jackson are doing what do they call it the alt cast true TV.
30:51
So if you want to watch the fat or listen to the Fab 5 as they
30:54
watch the Michigan and Arizona game, that could be some for
30:57
some good TV. Anyway, sorry about that love.
30:59
The Fab Five. I think it's an incredible idea.
31:01
I probably won't watch it. Maybe curious dip in.
31:03
Yeah, we'll grab. Like the Manicast for a little
31:05
bit. Yeah, for like a 4 minute
31:07
stretch or something like that and I absolutely love that team.
31:10
But Michigan, when we talk about them, they had back-to-back
31:13
appearances in the national championship game, but of course
31:15
fell short. We haven't seen a national
31:16
champion since Michigan State over 25 years ago.
31:19
Now in the end, you got two teams here in the Final Four,
31:22
but it's still lingering, isn't it?
31:24
Bill? I'm sure you you hear it as
31:25
well. UC at Ohio State play for a
31:27
national championship. The Big 10 in basketball still
31:30
can't win the big one. How important is it for
31:32
regardless Illinois or Michigan to change that narrative?
31:35
I. Was told by some Co workers that
31:38
I was making excuses for the big 10 this week but so and here are
31:43
my excuses. Every one of those title game
31:45
matchups. It's not like I I want to.
31:48
I got to go back and look how many were they an underdog in?
31:51
Probably most of them. You know that Illinois team that
31:53
bumped into North Carolina, the Michigan team that bumped into
31:58
Villanova in 18. Michigan State played a North
32:02
Carolina team with Hansboro that wasn't going to lose, right?
32:05
So some of that factors in, but you do got to win one at some
32:09
point in time. I think the one that stands out
32:12
that the Big 10 probably should have won was the Trey Burke
32:16
Michigan team in 13. And you know, Louisville took
32:19
care of them after the block, whatever.
32:22
But yeah, it's hanging over the conference.
32:23
There's no doubt. And I I think rather it's
32:26
Michigan or Illinois if they could cut down the Nets to the
32:29
conference. Think about it.
32:30
Three straight in football, then you get a basketball 1.
32:33
And if we come back on with you guys next week, we'll be talking
32:36
about Big 10 dominance. That's a good point, no doubt.
32:39
Well, Bill Bender from The Sporting News.
32:41
Bill, you're picking Michigan to to cut down the Nets Monday.
32:46
Yeah, You know, I picked Michigan and UConn and then I
32:48
picked Michigan there probably, but it's not don't have a great
32:53
deal of confidence in it because I just know that Arizona is
32:56
really good. I know that Illinois is really
32:57
good. I believe last year I picked
33:00
Houston to win the title game and I still think they could
33:03
have. But you know, that's the best
33:07
part for me is that these, like the Elite Eight games, were easy
33:10
for me to pick. For the most part, these aren't
33:13
easy games to pick. And that tells me that we're
33:15
going to have a fantastic Easter weekend.
33:16
You and I are on the same page there, Bill Bender from the
33:19
Sporting News. Bill, thank you.
33:20
Appreciate it. We'll talk to you in the weeks
33:21
ahead. Thanks, Bill.
33:23
Hey anytime guys. Thanks for having me on.
33:24
Nice. To talk to you Bill Bender,
33:26
Sporting News. By the way, it's circus sports.
33:28
You can get Michigan over UConn plus 470.
33:32
That's the exact at that circus sports is offering up right now.
33:37
Shortest Price Michigan, Illinois plus 350.
33:40
And with your Illinois ticket, that's.
33:42
The way to do it that. Could be a yeah.
33:44
That's the way to do it, I think.
33:46
Yeah, I I pissed around last night.
33:50
I think the Yankees are legit. Oh, I hate to say it.
33:53
A weekend. A weekend, I've decided.
33:55
Oh, no, yeah. Oh no, The Yankees are
33:58
absolutely going to represent the American League.
34:01
And so I went to work that way. Getting to work, going back to
34:05
that 2000 national championship game, Michigan State was a four
34:09
point favorite against Florida and of course won the national
34:11
championship other years with Big 10 teams involved.
34:14
Michigan State shouldn't have been there, by the way, but
34:15
that's another story for another show.
34:17
Why's that? Yeah, Iowa State got screwed.
34:19
How'd they get screwed? The referees.
34:21
Oh, in the game. Gotcha.
34:23
Yes, they got a bad whistle. They did, no doubt.
34:26
I had an argument with some Cyclone fans after we talked
34:28
about this a week or two ago. No, we did.
34:30
Look, could you say she's running him out, you know?
34:33
No, that's fine. No it.
34:34
Was a hell of a game. It was their seed, Yeah.
34:36
And there. Are two seed right?
34:38
They were two seed and a lot of people believed the Big 12 was
34:41
down that year. Were they?
34:42
They were ranked the 5th. And Michigan State was the one,
34:44
obviously. Yes, yeah, They were ranked the
34:45
5th conference overall in conferences, though they won the
34:48
regular season in the Big 12. And I saw conflicting things.
34:51
I saw one thing where their RPI going into the tournament was 5.
34:55
All right. Yeah, then you got a bitch.
34:57
The other one, they were ten. Oh.
34:58
OK. Well, that's different.
34:59
Then you're concerned from should have even been a tool.
35:02
Yeah, especially with the Dow nature of the Big 12.
35:04
But that's side the numbers here.
35:07
Maryland, Indiana. Now you can't count that
35:10
Maryland national championship for the Big 10.
35:11
No, I think you can now put. That with it.
35:13
So it's been since 2002 we've been saying it wrong, but they
35:17
beat Indiana. They were was that 2002 was
35:19
2002. That was 20 years ago.
35:23
I thought it was like 5. Maryland, though, covered 7 1/2
35:27
against Indiana, the last time a Big 10 team has been favored in
35:30
a national championship game. Illinois was not against North
35:33
Carolina 21 years ago, that was certainly not the case.
35:36
Ohio State against that Florida team with Noah and company, That
35:39
was your number 2 of that Florida.
35:41
Team. What a team, my God.
35:42
Florida, of course, was a a big favorite in that one.
35:45
Michigan State when they played Carolina back in 2009, they were
35:47
a 7 1/2 point underdog. Was Sparty there?
35:50
There is a game though and I was shocked looking through these
35:53
point spreads. Louisville is favored over
35:54
Michigan when they played back in 13.
35:58
This is from Vegas insider. Wisconsin.
36:01
I know they beat #1 undefeated Kentucky the game before against
36:05
though a number one seed Duke. Duke was a one point underdog in
36:08
that game. I don't remember that at all.
36:10
I still thought Wisconsin was a dog in that game.
36:13
I could have swore that upset was incredible.
36:15
That championship game was a good one, too, but that was the
36:19
biggest surprise that I believe the only time during this run
36:22
that they've had a team that was favored by one point, favored in
36:25
the national championship. Have you got your match up?
36:28
Have you got your your exacta? No, Exacta, no, I don't think
36:32
I'm going to play around with that at all.
36:34
Biggest price is Yukon beating Arizona.
36:36
That's just under 12 to one. I'll probably, I got a ticket on
36:40
Michigan, just one that I bought this week since the Final Four
36:42
has been set. That's the one that I'm most
36:44
confident in, but not overly confident with any of that.
36:47
I like the under in the first half of the Illinois UConn game,
36:52
being there, big building. I know a lot of people are going
36:54
that direction too. I'm sure it's going to be a very
36:56
public side, but the way they team, just matching up, they see
37:00
each other earlier. So not a whole lot of newness
37:03
though Wagler playing is new for Illinois.
37:05
There's just, I like that angle more than anything, but we'll
37:09
start digging it a little bit deeper.
37:10
Player props and surprise, you haven't got involved in the Most
37:13
Outstanding Player market. Trent, I have no clue who's
37:16
going to win the the championship.
37:18
I truly don't. I saw yesterday Johnson from
37:21
Michigan at 33 to 1. Now that's something to get
37:24
your. Attention.
37:25
Well, Speaking of getting attention, I thought that would
37:27
get yours. That does.
37:28
I don't normally don't go to those.
37:30
I think 830, you're going to be digging back in.
37:32
All right. First four callers right now at
37:34
515-284-5966. If you would like to play for
37:38
the chicken coop giveaway, now is your chance to call in and
37:42
get in line. 1st 4 callers right now, 515-284-5966 Chicken coop
37:47
giveaway. Next, Miller and Condon on Des
37:49
Moines Sports Station one O 6.3 KXNO.
38:00
I'm Miller Condon. Welcome back our final segment
38:02
of the first hour of the program, Carrie Miller from
38:05
Bleacher Report. More on the final four with
38:08
Carrie coming up here to lead off the second hour.
38:10
About one O 5 for Carrie. And then Dalton Wasserman, NFL
38:15
analyst and formerly Pro Football Focus, one of the many
38:19
that lost their gig. Chris Collinsworth made on like
38:21
a bandit. See what he sold it for like
38:22
$100 million really. And the new owners probably came
38:26
in and fired everybody. Yeah, that's what usually
38:28
happens when you get these private equity firms that come
38:31
in. Yet there's a lot of people in
38:32
college athletics that want to Sprint over an act, get that
38:35
money. Unbelievable.
38:37
Too bad. I thought they did a great job
38:38
over there and obviously the ones that led the way will find
38:41
a way to stay in the business. Hopefully Dalton will be one of
38:44
them. I have confidence that he will.
38:46
All right, let's talk about the chicken coop before we give
38:49
Jeff, Jim, Tom and another Jim, Jim K and Jim F Jim K, you will
38:53
be of the two gyms. You will be I heard from.
38:56
First of all, the tiebreaker gentleman is going to be both of
39:00
the Saturday final. Four men's games, total score
39:04
combined. Both games total score combined.
39:07
So give that some thought. Chicken coop, 60th and Ashworth
39:11
in West Des Moines, 12725. Meredith in Urbandale and
39:15
they're in Ankeny on oral labor just southwest of the D Mac
39:19
campus. Chicken coop, three locations
39:21
for the best wings in central Iowa.
39:24
Jeff, you are up first. Jeff, how are you today?
39:28
I'm just fine, thanks. How are you?
39:29
I'm. OK, Illinois Yukon, I got three
39:32
pick EMS here. Let's start with this one.
39:34
Illinois, Yukon, pick em, who do you want?
39:37
Yukon. Michigan or Arizona?
39:42
Arizona. Women's Final Four, UCLA or
39:45
Texas. UCLA.
39:48
Yukon is a 6 1/2 point favorite over South Carolina.
39:53
UU, Conn. Tiebreaker total points in
39:58
Saturday's men's final four. All four teams closest without
40:01
going over. 267. Thank you, Jeff.
40:05
Enjoy the games. Appreciate it.
40:07
Thank you. Yep.
40:08
Jim K is up next. Hello, Jim, How are you?
40:12
Good. How's it going guys?
40:13
OK, OK. Illinois, UConn, pick em.
40:17
Illinois, Michigan, Arizona. Pick em.
40:23
I'll say Michigan. Women's Final Four, UCLA or
40:27
Texas, your choice. UCLA.
40:30
UConn a 6 1/2 point favorite over South Carolina.
40:36
UConn tiebreaker men's Final Four Saturday.
40:39
All four teams total points closest without going over.
40:44
Three O 5. Thanks Jim, enjoy the games.
40:48
Hey, thanks guys. Thank you.
40:50
Tom is up next. Hello Tom, How are you?
40:53
And there goes Tom. Why is it blue?
40:57
Have you ever seen this before? I have not you've seen.
40:59
That you've seen this call screen a lot.
41:02
More Now he's back. Now he's back.
41:03
Tom. Let me try this again.
41:05
Tom, how are you? Oh.
41:07
There it is. Hey guys, how are you?
41:09
Well, OK, Tom, I thought, how did you?
41:11
Turn it blue, Ken. I don't know what I did you.
41:13
You got a magic touch over there.
41:15
I thought we lost you, Tom, but glad we're glad you're here.
41:18
So let's get this. Let's make this a winning
41:22
endeavour here. Illinois or UConn We're.
41:25
Going to go UConn. Michigan or Arizona?
41:29
Arizona. Women's UCLA, Texas.
41:32
UCLA. UConn gives 6 1/2 to South
41:35
Carolina. I'll take UConn.
41:38
Total points is the tiebreaker. Both games Saturday night
41:41
combined closest without going over 281.
41:45
I'm sorry, 2 or 381, 280-1281. Thank you, Tom.
41:50
Appreciate it. Thanks.
41:52
And Jim F is our final contestant.
41:55
Hello, Jim. Illinois, Yukon, Illinois.
42:00
Michigan, Arizona. Michigan Women's UCLA Texas UCLA
42:08
Yukon 6 1/2 to South Carolina. Aye, you cut out there one more
42:16
time, Jim. Yukon.
42:18
Yukon tiebreaker. Total points both games Saturday
42:20
closest without going over 274. I think you said 274.
42:26
You cut out again 274. We're giving you 274.
42:32
Thank you, Jim. If that's not what you want,
42:33
call back. Appreciate it.
42:35
I appreciate the chicken coop. What?
42:37
Has always happened, right? I have no idea.
42:39
Yeah. Any consensus?
42:42
Is Yukon going down in flames? We have two, We have two
42:46
consensus, 2 consensus. All right, who gets beat then?
42:49
Well, we have UCLA. They're they're, they're
42:52
everybody took UCLA. Everybody took the Bruins, I
42:55
love Texas, and everyone took the Yukon women.
42:59
Oh. Boy.
43:01
South Carolina live dog. Is a live dog absolutely.
43:05
This isn't just I mean this is a trend.
43:07
It ABS. This is a trend for.
43:10
Years. 2015. Yes, years it's been this way.
43:17
And it is like 70 something percent.
43:19
I looked it was yeah, like 72% at one point.
43:23
I have noticed recently it hasn't been quite as tried or
43:25
true. Maybe our listeners are getting
43:27
smarter. Well, and what we're talking
43:29
about is when we have this these contest, whether it be klaxons
43:32
back in the day or the chicken coop now, when our four
43:35
contestants come on and they all make the same pick, 70 something
43:40
percent of the time, they don't win.
43:43
And now we've got 2 consensus picks.
43:46
We shall see how they do. Our number 2.
43:50
We're going to start with Carrie Miller.
43:52
Look forward to catching up with Carrie Miller from the Bleacher
43:54
Report. More on the final four and then
43:57
we will hear from Dalton Wasserman as we start to dip our
44:00
toe into the draft. Mark real quick, Mark, we're
44:02
going to to run out of our what's on your mind, Mark?
44:06
Hey, I tuned in. I just heard you guys saying
44:09
something about Iowa State fans complaining about the ref and I
44:13
was just wondering which of the last 500 games were you talking
44:16
about? They have a reputation.
44:20
Thank you, Mark. Appreciate the call.
44:21
And not just from the team on the east side of the state.
44:24
No, it's down to Kansas City. Yeah, that's funny.
44:28
The Jayhawk fans like to call them the Boo birds.
44:31
There's It's a reputation that goes along with.
44:33
Yeah, it's a that's that's really good.
44:35
That's really good. Which of the 500 games?
44:38
It makes the environment, though, it's unbelievable.
44:40
It's incredible. Yes, it is.
44:42
Yes. That's a part of it, too.
44:43
They're a passionate group and thank God for them because they
44:46
move our needle like, well, like Hawkeye fans.
44:48
Quite frankly, nothing has helped our careers more than
44:52
Iowa and Iowa State. And we are grateful, grateful to
44:57
you, and we hope you come back. For now, we're #2 we'll talk
44:59
more. Final four, Carrie Miller from
45:00
the Bleacher Report, Dalton Wasserman, NFL analysts will
45:04
join us. We look forward to catching up
45:05
with him. Trent Scott, some plays of the
45:07
day. They're sponsored by Circuit
45:08
Sports. We will come back with our
45:10
second hour of our program right here on the Iowa Sports Radio
45:14
Network.