Latest / The Lunch Rush with Trent Condon / Cyclone talk with Travis Hines, Hawkeyes with Tom Kakert & Trent's Plays of the Day presented by Circa Sports

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Cyclone talk with Travis Hines, Hawkeyes with Tom Kakert & Trent's Plays of the Day presented by Circa Sports · The Lunch Rush with Trent Condon

0:05
All right, hour number two, welcome back, Miller and Condon.
0:07
Iowa Sports Radio Network. Trent Condon and Ken Miller with
0:12
you until the top of the hour of the drive.
0:13
Coming up at that time, 2 until 5, overtime, Iowa, 5 to 6.
0:18
Travis Hines covers Iowa State. He's a columnist for the Des
0:21
Moines Register and he joins us to talk a little Big 12, little
0:25
college football, basketball, etcetera.
0:27
Travis Trenton, Ken, thanks for coming on.
0:29
How's your summer going? It's going well.
0:33
How about you guys the same same could speed up a little bit,
0:36
but. No, no, knock it off I.
0:38
Don't speak for the majority of the people that.
0:40
Hasn't even started. How's your summer going?
0:42
It's 64° outside. I know it's about the 80s.
0:46
Anyways, I guess we should start with the with all the news that
0:50
the SEC and Greg Sankier are have made this week, I do find
0:53
it somewhat interesting that Tony Petiti had the same
0:56
conversations, what, a week or two weeks ago and nary a word
1:00
was said publicly. It's all on the SEC to come out
1:04
as the bad guy. Where's this headed?
1:06
Travis 511? Obviously the playoff discussion
1:09
is is front and center, what it's going to look like when it
1:13
expands. Ultimately, how will this do you
1:17
think, shake out? Will your mark and the ACC and
1:20
get their wishes along with some of the SEC coaches that it is a
1:24
511 format instead of the guarantees.
1:29
You know, I think the Sir, my answer to that question depends
1:33
on what timeline we're talking about, because I think the
1:37
backlash of the last week to the Big 10 and the SEC both getting
1:42
4 automatic qualifiers while the ACC and Big 12 gets 2 backlash
1:47
has been so significant. Turner.
1:50
Of college football. And I think first and foremost
1:53
among them, fans that I think at this point, it seems unlikely
1:56
that they're going to get that done in this round of
1:58
negotiations. But I think what you see a lot
2:01
of times for this is that first go round isn't when something
2:05
gets done like will there, if the SEC comes back in a year or
2:10
two years and we're in a relatively similar situation
2:13
where the SEC in Big 10 continue to outpace the rest of the
2:16
country, is there going to be this kind of opposition and
2:20
outrage mountain? I think a lot of times why these
2:23
unpopular things eventually happen is that you get outrage
2:27
fatigue and eventually, like people have fought the fought
2:29
once already, can they fight it again?
2:31
I think that's the concern here, you know, along the hallway is
2:34
that if you put up a fight, maybe you're postponing it.
2:36
But I think the worst option is not putting up a fight now.
2:39
And I think you're probably accelerating the SEC in Big 10,
2:44
you know, really putting college football and college sports in a
2:46
stranglehold that they completely control.
2:48
So I do, I do feel better frankly, right now that that is
2:53
going to at least be forestalled.
2:55
But I don't know if we're looking at any kind of different
2:58
future 5 or 10 years down the line, which is where I think
3:01
things, especially when you look, I think it's 2030 or 2031
3:06
for the next round of TV contracts.
3:08
But that's probably where I would bet we get the seismic
3:11
change that I think a lot of people are fearing and some
3:14
people are welcoming. Speaking of unpopular things,
3:17
the NCAA basketball is talking about expanding 7276 teams.
3:22
Charlie Baker's been in front. I'm talking about that as yours
3:25
at Big 12 Media Days. That's where the conversation
3:28
started as both those guys were meeting together.
3:31
Why the push? I've thought now this is one
3:33
article from Front Office Sports.
3:35
I don't know the validity, but they said there's not a whole
3:37
lot of money there to be had with these extra games that are
3:40
going to be throwing in there. Is it the NCAA maybe not
3:42
understanding that part? Why the push for more expansion
3:45
in basketball? It's a great question because it
3:50
says that there is not an appetite from the television
3:53
partners to really pay more for what are, you know, depending on
3:56
what format looks like probably pretty uninteresting games.
3:59
Like obviously if you slap March Madness branding on a game, it's
4:03
going to get interest. But I, I don't know, I frankly
4:06
cannot tell you a great reason why they're doing this, which
4:08
seems like a pretty good reason not to do it.
4:10
I mean, obviously coaches are going to be for it because it's
4:13
going to help save jobs. But eventually, like, we're
4:15
going to shift the goal posts when you get to 74, 76, if we
4:19
get to what it's 96 or 98 that they were proposing a couple
4:22
years ago. Making the NCAA tournament's not
4:24
going to save a coach's job, especially when we look now at
4:27
the way that rosters are rebuilt so quickly in the NIL era, which
4:31
may be changes going forward, but who knows.
4:33
But I I just I don't know that there is an appetite anywhere
4:36
for this that exists outside of coaches trying to, you know, get
4:40
their contracts renewed or apparently the NCAA, because if
4:44
there's no money, additional money, it's not, you know, it's
4:48
not making a lot any more teams in the NCAA tournament.
4:51
I would prefer to go back to 64 or at least make the, you know,
4:56
the at largest populate the first four.
4:59
I think it is an abomination that we're sending the 16 seeds
5:03
to Dayton. And I say that if somebody was
5:05
been to Dayton. So I hope I hope it doesn't
5:08
pass. But man, like this is a the same
5:10
kind of thing. I was talking about her talking
5:12
about it and talking about it and talking about it for so long
5:15
and have been rebuffed everything.
5:18
Now we got to this point where, you know, Baker sounded less
5:21
yesterday like this is going to happen.
5:22
And I don't. I think I hear grumbling, but I
5:24
don't hear any outright mutiny about the NCAA tournament
5:28
expanding, which again, is too bad.
5:30
But I think people have fought this fight long enough and I
5:33
don't know that the NCAA is going to turn away from it at
5:35
this point. Speaking of expanding the men's
5:38
college basketball schedules, expanding, albeit exhibition
5:42
games, which have to take the place of those top secret
5:45
scrimmages. I, I like the idea, Travis.
5:47
I do a you're going to get to put people in Hilton, in this
5:51
case, to watch Northwestern. Likewise next next year when
5:55
Creighton comes to town. I like this idea.
5:58
Was this all about generating additional revenues do you
6:01
think? I think that's a bit of an item.
6:06
College sports are realizing that putting so much stuff
6:09
behind closed doors is probably not the way to go.
6:12
I mean, the secret scrimmages, I guess serve their purpose.
6:14
They are allowed to to figure things out in private.
6:17
And but like, ultimately, I think everybody like we know
6:20
we've all watched preseason NFL games, right?
6:22
Like people are not going to get all bent out of shape about
6:25
October preseason basketball, college basketball games.
6:29
Like we're going to be in the heart of college football at
6:30
that point, people are hardly going to be paying attention.
6:32
So I do think it makes its funnest.
6:35
I think it's good to have an ongoing conversation.
6:39
I mean, I talked about this last year when the opening night of
6:41
the college basketball season was, I believe the night before
6:45
the president, there was a Monday football game going on
6:48
like college football or excuse me, college basketball has just
6:51
botched its opening energy. So think this at least makes
6:56
sense when you can get some power for Power 5 matchups that
7:00
are interesting, while again, they won't matter and we're
7:03
probably going to see 20 plus minutes of guys that we won't
7:06
see a month later in real games. But I do think it's at least
7:10
something throwing a bone to fans.
7:12
And yes, like they probably had to make these Power five games
7:16
because I can't imagine, you know, in this day and age where
7:18
if you bring an NAIA team in there, like your season ticket
7:21
holders are not going to be thrilled with that extra bill.
7:23
So I think if you're going to do exhibition games, I think in
7:28
like, let's give everybody a pat on the back here and a round of
7:31
applause. I think they're doing it right,
7:33
right off the bat, which is a rarity, I think anywhere and
7:36
certainly in college sports. But this seems, you know, we'll
7:38
see what actually happens in October, but this seems like a
7:41
win for everybody involved. Well, not a win for the fans as
7:45
the conference slate is moving down in college hoops in the Big
7:48
12 from 20 down to 18. Gives more flexibility, as we're
7:51
seeing with that home and home with Purdue that they're going
7:53
to have coming up for the Cyclone.
7:55
The move down to 18 is the thought process.
7:57
Just the grind coupled with the travel now in the new Big 12,
8:01
cutting two games off the schedule just made a whole lot
8:03
more sense. Yeah, the grind, the Travis
8:08
think, the recognition that having a buy we'll say week, but
8:12
it like one game in a week instead of 2 is a huge necessity
8:17
at this point. Like when that went away, when
8:19
they added even this is going out when they started playing
8:21
the SEC Big 10 or excuse me, Big 12 challenge the last week in
8:25
January to leave the, the winter buy away from all these
8:29
programs. And you could tell at that time,
8:31
like the grind got way, way tougher when you just don't even
8:35
have those couple days through deep breaths and like these
8:38
seasons get really long for these players.
8:40
I always say, like if I'm getting tired and worn out by
8:43
February, I can only imagine what these guys are doing or how
8:47
they're feeling after. Like the mental and physical
8:50
whole season can take on people. So I I get that, But I also, I
8:54
mean, this is a different subject.
8:57
The fact that you go from 18 or you go down from 20 to 18,
9:00
you're going to have less home and homes.
9:02
I think they might only have one or two and have to go back and
9:04
remember. But like we don't really have
9:06
conferences anymore. These are scheduling alliances.
9:09
It's not a conference if you're only if you're not even playing
9:12
some of the teams in your conference just sounds like it's
9:14
going to happen elsewhere. So overall, I hate that it's
9:17
happening, but for different reasons.
9:19
I think they definitely the structural problem here is that
9:25
are too big, they're too far. And at this point, I didn't care
9:29
about a conference championship. You know, number one, you're not
9:32
playing every team home and home.
9:33
And if you're not even playing some teams, like, why even have
9:36
these conferences? They're scheduling alliances.
9:38
And that's, you know, me rapidly approaching middle age and
9:41
complaining about everything. But like, that's just you're
9:44
losing. You've already talked so much
9:46
about how college basketball is a four, and I don't know, I
9:51
think the way things are going right now, you're only
9:53
exacerbating that issue. Can T JS team be as good as last
9:58
year's team? A great question.
10:02
What at what point in the year can they be as good as they were
10:04
in March? Or can they be as good?
10:05
As Fairpoint because it was two different.
10:07
Teams, that's a fairpoint different question.
10:10
At at at any point, go ahead. Yeah, Well, I mean, I think
10:14
like, let me rewind that a little bit.
10:16
If you could they be as good as the team Iowa State was before
10:20
Milan Munchilovich's injury, I'd have a hard time saying yes,
10:22
because I do think that was one of the 2345 best teams in the
10:27
country. That's a pretty high bar that
10:30
this team can be really, really good.
10:32
And can they avoid, you know, the the funkiness that really
10:36
infected the Iowa State season last year between the injuries
10:40
and everything else on down the line at the end of the year that
10:43
just made them a different team? I think that's what is difficult
10:48
and what also meant that you can have a great team, but if you
10:51
get one or two things that go against you, how do you rally
10:54
around that? And obviously, it didn't go well
10:56
for Iowa State last year. But when you have a core of the
10:59
three guys that Iowa State does in Litzy Munchilovich and
11:03
Jefferson. And I think, you know, Nate
11:05
Heisey probably doesn't get brought into this conversation
11:07
as much as he probably should. As a returner.
11:09
You can be really good. That can be one of the been in
11:12
the Big 12. Now the question is like, I
11:14
think we know who Tamen Lipsy is.
11:16
Like he's a fully formed basketball player right now.
11:18
I don't think we can say that about Milan Manchilovich or
11:21
Joshua Jefferson. I think both of those guys have
11:25
levels to go in their game that we have not seen yet.
11:29
And frankly, I was a little disappointed in Milan.
11:31
I'm Chilovich at times last year that we didn't see a bigger jump
11:34
from his freshman to a sophomore year.
11:36
If you can see something like that from either or both of
11:39
those guys, a real significant jump where they've honed their
11:43
craft, where they've added to their game, where they've gone
11:45
from very good to excellent in some areas.
11:48
OK, Now we're really talking because I think both of those
11:50
guys at their absolute best, our potential first team, all Big 12
11:55
players, which puts you in all American conversation and it
11:58
happens that that's a different kind of Iowa basketball team.
12:01
If we see incremental growth from those two guys and the
12:04
transfers hit and everything kind of goes well, I probably
12:07
looking at an upper third Big 10, Big 12 team, upper quarter
12:12
Big 12 team. And you know, from there, you
12:14
know, probably depends on you know how which way the places go
12:16
for you. But I do think with the core
12:18
that they have, the ceiling is going to be, excuse me, the
12:21
floor is going to be very high. I'm curious to get a better idea
12:27
of what that feeling is going to be.
12:29
So we're coming up to camp season, official visit season.
12:33
I'm always intrigued by your job as a columnist.
12:35
It's just such a different type of job than just being a
12:38
strictly a beat reporter. Do you get anything at all?
12:41
Do do your listeners get involved with what you do and
12:44
the recruiting side of things, specifically on on the football
12:47
side of things? Yeah, But I will say I have been
12:52
doing this columnist thing for less than a year.
12:54
And I the way I've tried to approach it is that there are
12:57
core things and core topics for both skins and for things that
13:03
are in my wheelhouse to write about.
13:04
And I want to start there and expand out.
13:07
And I think, you know, just frankly speaking, recruiting is
13:11
probably on one of those outer circles that I'd like to add to
13:14
because I do think that recruiting is interesting.
13:18
And it does give you kind of, you know, looking through a
13:20
telescope about what's coming down the Pike, not only for a
13:23
program, but I do think the sport because a lot of changes
13:26
we see in college basketball and college football, you can kind
13:30
of feel them bubbling up on the recruiting trail because a lot
13:33
of the changes are reflective of what is happening there or vice
13:38
versa. So I do think that that is an
13:40
interesting area, but it's also, it can be very boring because
13:44
everybody says the same thing about everything and it is very
13:47
opaque at times. Looking to try to cover a little
13:51
bit better to give people a peek behind the curtain.
13:54
Yeah, love it. K State, Iowa State start the
13:58
season, as you know, over in Ireland.
14:00
This game, I mean, is it is it too over the top to game one
14:06
week 0 to overestimate maybe the importance of this football game
14:11
and the grand scheme of things? You know, kind of looking ahead
14:15
that the the parody of the Big 12 is going to be there.
14:18
And these are, and on paper, at least, two of the better teams
14:21
in the Big 12 are are. Can we overestimate how big this
14:25
game is as far as what the seas, how the season will wind up?
14:32
Not only can we, I am assured that we will because we it is so
14:37
easy in college football to get so wrapped up in the week to
14:41
week. Like ultimately this game is
14:43
being played on October 20 or excuse me, August 23rd.
14:45
Right? Like whoever loses, there's
14:47
plenty of chance to right that wrong as things go along.
14:50
But the reality, like the flip side of the coin is that you win
14:55
a regame, a conference game in Week 0 essentially on a neutral
15:00
field. Like you kind of got to feel
15:01
like you that's a 2 winner, right?
15:03
Like that, that that you're getting so far a lap ahead at
15:07
that point. And I think it'll be interesting
15:09
for whichever speaking that is like, how can you handle that
15:11
too going into an FCS game? And then for Iowa State into the
15:15
Psyhawk in Jonesboro, AR, it'll be very interesting to see which
15:20
either way that that goes. Because I think there is, if you
15:24
lose that game, are you feeling bad for yourself and you go
15:27
sleepwalks through the night? Just like if you win that game,
15:30
are you feeling too good about yourself and not preparing the
15:33
way you need to for the next two weeks?
15:35
But I can guarantee you, whichever side of that is for
15:38
Iowa State, we'll all go bonkers.
15:39
And it's it's the nature of the beast.
15:41
It's also why this is a multi billion dollar industry, because
15:44
people care about it so much and I talk about it so much.
15:47
I think it'll be very tempting and too tempting not to
15:50
overreact to whichever way that that game goes on a on August
15:53
23rd. But there's still going to be,
15:56
you know what, 11 more games in the regular season after that.
15:58
So probably best to try to keep it in perspective, even if it's
16:02
a failing effort. Yeah, it'd be tough to do on
16:04
sports talk radio, but you're 1000% right and there will be
16:07
overreaction, certainly from this chair, win or lose.
16:10
Good stuff, buddy. Appreciate it.
16:12
Travis Hines, I will catch up with you in a couple of weeks if
16:15
you're schedule allows and we'll read you as we always do with
16:18
the Des Moines Register, desmoinesregister.com.
16:20
Travis, thank you. Yeah, thanks.
16:24
Have a good weekend. You do the same, Travis Hines as
16:27
we check in on the columnist for the Register at Massive
16:31
Implications. I think it can't be overstated.
16:34
I agree and outside of last year Iowa State has been bad.
16:40
Early in the year. Early in the year, not just bad,
16:44
right For the standards that Campbell has built, that was
16:48
last year an outlier. Or did they figure it out?
16:51
Well, hopefully the latter, because here comes K state, AK
16:54
state. And a good FCS team in South
16:58
Dakota, not that they're going to beat Iowa State, this is not
17:00
the North Dakota State teams. But it's good.
17:02
And they can hang around and it could be a game into the
17:05
second-half. And then you got Iowa, and then
17:06
you got to make that stupid road trip to Jonesboro, AR.
17:11
That's got to, that's got to get amble under Campbell's skin,
17:13
doesn't it? That that trip the trip.
17:16
To Athens made sense. We know how the game played out.
17:18
Not that that makes sense. Campbell's home state, You
17:22
recruit a ton in Ohio. Those are things that make
17:24
sense. Do they have a kid from Arkansas
17:26
on the roster? Do they have a kid within 200
17:30
miles of Jonesboro, AR? How many did he play last year?
17:32
Did he say he played 100 and 105 or 100?
17:35
I mean, he played a ridiculously high number due to injuries.
17:39
What did he say? We took 118 to camp and we
17:42
played like 108. I think that was the quote,
17:44
something like that so. To just no, they probably
17:47
didn't. No, probably.
17:49
It's not a recruiting base. It's not a recruiting area.
17:51
It's not even going down and playing, you know, a small
17:53
Florida school where that's recruiting or a Texas school,
17:56
even though you already do that in the Big 12.
17:58
Jonesboro, AR. For home and home weird it it
18:03
absolutely was. Tom Caker next on Iowa, they'll
18:07
be here to play Bucknell. Now am I?
18:09
Am I totally nuts? Did you see a release yesterday
18:14
that Drake is going to play Illinois and you and I is going
18:18
to? It's not a release, it was a
18:19
fake Twitter. That's what it was you got
18:22
because I can't find it again. Yeah, it was, yes.
18:25
And I thought, what? Come on that.
18:27
This can't be right. Because right below the tweet,
18:29
the guy said this is a joke. This is not happening.
18:31
OK, good. Yeah, Illinois and Nebraska are
18:33
not going to. It was.
18:34
Nebraska, that was the other one, yeah, to.
18:36
Take on you and I and Drake, that is not happening.
18:38
Yeah, good. We'll talk about the Bucknell
18:42
game with Tom. We know that is happening
18:44
December 20th downtown Des Moines for that one.
18:49
We'll talk that football and others topics with Tom Caikert
18:52
right here on Miller and Condon. It's the Iowa Sports Radio
18:55
Network. I'm Millery Condon.
19:10
Welcome back, Iowa Sports Radio Network.
19:14
Learn something every day, Trent.
19:17
So we just went to break and and somebody called during a break.
19:20
Are you aware of the Cooper de Jean celebrity softball?
19:23
Yes. Why this this?
19:25
Weekend it is this weekend. I is this the first I've?
19:27
Heard. Oh really?
19:29
The target? The marketing didn't work for
19:31
you, huh? But I I heard the Home Run
19:34
Derby. He did, yeah.
19:35
Yep. So here's who's coming to this
19:37
event, Cooper de Jean. Yes, yes.
19:40
That's a good start. Riley Moss, Devante Smith, A.J.
19:44
Brown, Dallas Clark, Brandon Jones from the Broncos Will Lutz
19:50
from the Broncos Sam Ellinger, Darius Slay, Alex Singleton, J
19:55
Higgins, Jack Cornard, Reed Blankenship, CJ Beathard Amongst
20:00
the names at Principal Park. It's.
20:02
A pretty good list. It's a great.
20:03
List. Why are they keeping it a
20:05
secret? You going well?
20:06
No, but I think we should spread the word.
20:10
Well, Cooper, I mean, if he wants to be on the air, we
20:12
probably can find a spot for. Him.
20:13
I wish that we would have known this man.
20:16
Well, next year. So this is this is the first
20:19
year of this. Right, this is year 2 I believe
20:21
isn't really Yes God. Wait, I thought it touched.
20:24
See, I'm telling you, we're we're Dumber because we don't
20:26
get the newspaper in our front door.
20:28
I am. That's a part.
20:29
It is for sure. It is for sure.
20:31
I read the sports Section 1 register.com, that's it.
20:35
When the paper came to the front door, every section except the
20:37
comics and the TV thing. You miss those.
20:40
Oh God, I had no idea. If you got tickets to it, enjoy
20:45
it. Sounds like a hell of an event.
20:47
Yes, it really does. Tom, did you know about this Tom
20:49
Cakers? I did.
20:52
You live in the eastern part of the state and you knew.
20:55
All proceeds All proceeds will go to the the the Children's
20:59
Hospital too. Awesome children.
21:02
Keeps getting better. I shouldn't say all proceeds,
21:05
but the portion of the overall ticket sales is what the release
21:09
I've. Seen it now?
21:09
Yeah, by now. And support the University of
21:12
Iowa Steed Family Center. That's great.
21:14
Yeah, yeah. And if people are interested,
21:18
Zach Johnson will be having his golf thing up in Cedar Rapids.
21:24
I think it's June 30th, but I'm I'm not sure, but Coop's playing
21:28
in that. Is he, is that what Caitlin
21:30
played in last year or was that that was the that was?
21:34
Two years ago, that was the John Deere class.
21:36
Right, right, right, right. That was the John Deere Classic,
21:39
and they're going to have Riley Moss and TJ Hawkinson playing at
21:42
the John Deere Classic on when on the Wednesday of Pro Am Day
21:46
this year. Get the practice, Riley Moss.
21:49
You've got a hell of a defense you're going to be playing for
21:51
and we'll see where that goes. Anyways, thanks for coming on,
21:55
Tom. I appreciate it.
21:56
Didn't get to the your normal introduction hawkeyereport.com.
22:00
I wanted to do that for you. So the Bucknell game was
22:03
announced. Look, I, I get it it they're
22:05
going to play those type of non conference games.
22:08
It's right before Christmas, last one before Christmas.
22:11
Why not move it to the capital city, right?
22:13
Give the Hawkeye fans an opportunity that maybe it
22:17
doesn't work that you, you know, have to jump in the car and
22:20
drive what it would be on that night.
22:22
It's a couple hours to see the team play.
22:25
I think it's a great idea. The competition won't be there,
22:28
but it's an opportunity for, I think Drake fans may be
22:31
interested to see, you know, what their team looks like in
22:33
the black and gold this year. I think this is a win for a lot
22:36
of people. Tom, I like the idea.
22:39
Yeah, and there's a kid on the Bucknell team that but went to
22:43
Valley. And so that's part of this.
22:47
The Bucknell coach wanted to play a game in the state of
22:49
Iowa. So it kind of worked out.
22:51
So it was originally I think going to be the Saint Louis,
22:54
Iowa game. And I don't think Ben and the
22:59
Saint Louis coach, I think our friends and didn't want to
23:02
didn't want to play each other. So they pivoted to Bucknell.
23:07
So got that, got that game. So we'll I think they've got a
23:12
couple more games they need to to fill before they've got their
23:16
full non conference slate. So hopefully they don't end up
23:20
playing St. Amber's college or Saint Amber's
23:22
University. I guess now it is like like
23:24
Drake did last year. You're.
23:26
Starting to run out of some options now.
23:28
Maybe I'm reading too much into it, but Bucknell was like raked
23:32
in the two 20s. This is not the 300 plus.
23:36
Can our net rag teams that we saw in the past, do we read
23:39
anything into it that they're using one of these buy games and
23:42
not taking on one of the dregs here?
23:44
Or is it just one game and and let's not speculate until we see
23:47
the whole thing. Yeah.
23:49
I I think part of it, part of the challenge honestly, is that
23:54
a lot of the schedule stuff was, was left to them and that was
24:01
like not a top priority of coming, coming out of the gate.
24:04
They were trying to build a roster.
24:06
So now, now you're just trying to scramble to fill out your,
24:10
your games. But you know, it's got the
24:12
Xavier game. They've got the thing in Palm
24:14
Springs, they've got Iowa State, you know, you got eleven of
24:19
those non con games and and that it's what four of them and you
24:25
get the Bucknell game now. So it's there's limited
24:28
opportunities for it. But I I don't know that Ben's
24:31
going to come out of the gate trying to schedule a bunch of a
24:37
bunch of bears now. He's just going to, he's just
24:40
going to try and schedule some, some competent games and get
24:43
them to the, to the, the meat and potatoes of the Big 10
24:46
schedule. Can you fill us in what happened
24:49
with Ashton Williamson and his decision?
24:54
Was it a mutual parting of ways? Because we never saw anything
24:56
official? He announced on Instagram, you
24:58
guys, I know, and all the recruiting sites had stuff about
25:01
it. So kind of how did this all
25:03
shake out? And does it mean, as I heard you
25:05
interviewing Sash on your podcast earlier in the week,
25:09
that maybe they got somebody else in the cards?
25:12
Yeah, it it's seems like it was kind of like a mutual thing from
25:17
what I understand, but everybody's kind of being coy
25:19
about it when I bring it up. So it's just, it just seems like
25:23
it's mutual. But yeah, I talked to Josh Sash
25:25
and asked him if they were done and he said, well, one, maybe 2.
25:28
And I was like doing the math and I'm like 2 that that kind of
25:34
puts you in a different situation.
25:36
But, you know, the the big man markets kind of picked over.
25:40
And then of course, I immediately went to like, oh,
25:43
maybe they're going to get that kid from High Point.
25:45
And then like 30 minutes later, he commits to USC.
25:47
So so yeah, I think, you know, the interesting thing that he
25:53
said, they're the teams getting on campus.
25:57
You know, as we speak today, this weekend, all the players
26:01
are going to be gathering in Iowa City and then they're going
26:04
to start workouts on Monday. And he said, you know, we may
26:07
think we know what we need, but after we do workouts for a week,
26:11
we may realize we need something different.
26:13
So it's probably going to be something where they're going to
26:16
wait a week and then kind of reassess based on what they've
26:20
seen in practice as to as far as what they need.
26:23
Will the media have an opportunity to to to watch
26:27
practice or to certainly get some media veils as McCollum
26:30
tries to spread the word about his roster?
26:32
Might they be more willing, maybe this year, year #1 to, to,
26:36
to take, to allow House, to take a peek behind the curtain?
26:40
Yeah, I think that's going to happen.
26:42
But I think it might be a little bit before we I.
26:45
I don't think they want to send their Week 1.
26:47
Right, right. That makes.
26:48
Sense but I but I think maybe you know, we'll I know we're
26:52
getting a whole bunch of opportunities for the women's
26:54
team, which is awesome and hopefully we'll get a few for
26:58
the men's team. Can't hurt to sell a few tickets
27:02
getting to look at these at these teams and, you know, there
27:06
might be some things they do, you know, it would be
27:11
interesting. And I I think they're at least
27:14
kicking the tires on it is do one of those kind of exhibition
27:18
games that some places have done for for charity, you know, that
27:23
are open to the public. And I think that might help kind
27:27
of fill that void of, oh, we're not paying playing these
27:31
powerhouse conference powerhouse non con games.
27:35
But hey, what if we play an exhibition against, you know, I
27:40
don't know, Mizzou or somebody like that or, you know, just a
27:44
kind of a fun exhibition game against somebody.
27:48
That's, that's, that's pretty decent.
27:50
I that would be interesting to Iowa fans.
27:52
How about? Drake.
27:55
Yeah, that might be a little awkward, but how about, you
27:58
know, Texas Tech, Ian? You know, Ian played last year.
28:04
Yeah. Yeah, they played in the secret
28:06
scrimmage. They did.
28:06
And and Grant Mccaslin are really good friends.
28:09
And I know Texas Tech probably good again this.
28:12
Year will be yeah. And you know what?
28:14
Loads of money down there. They sure do.
28:16
I'm seemingly an endless supply. And that was the first inkling
28:20
that, you know what? Drake might have something here
28:22
because they played Texas Tech really tough, if memory serves.
28:25
I mean, I didn't see it obviously, but just the reports
28:28
that followed that this was a a nip and tuck affair.
28:33
So, I mean, I don't expect Mccollum's streak of winning his
28:37
conference year to continue this year, but you mean sounds like
28:42
he's a hell of a coach. I can't wait.
28:43
So what should expectations be, Tom, when it comes to his team
28:47
this year? Realistic.
28:48
And pull your board at hawkeyereport.com.
28:53
What is what is realistic expectations, I think, I think
28:57
the expectations of fans right now is that they'll be in the
28:59
NCAA tournament. Yeah, I think so too.
29:01
I really do. I think that's the and I think
29:04
that's a fairly reasonable expectation, But you know, they
29:11
made that jump from but it's only like one guy now it's
29:16
Sturtz who made that jump from D2 to to to D1 level and now to
29:23
the highest level. The rest of those guys only made
29:28
the one jump just to just to Drake.
29:30
So but they've got, you know, guys that I think are
29:34
intriguing. I'm I'm interested, but I will
29:38
say this. I, I think that the jump from
29:43
the valley to the big 10 is I think a little bit larger, maybe
29:47
then, then, then what you think. And it's going to be a challenge
29:52
for them. There's going to be an
29:53
adjustment because you know, Fran used to always say is 20
29:56
monsters and he's right. I mean, is it is 20 monsters.
29:59
And I, I don't know, the valley was all that great last year.
30:02
It was good, but it wasn't. That wasn't like a vintage
30:05
Valley year last year. Yeah, and outside of Bradley and
30:08
Drake, I think there was a pretty big gap when you get to
30:10
that next tier team. Definitely with you on that
30:13
part. Hey, Tom, all kickoff times are
30:15
out. We got a couple of, for many
30:17
fans, I think a disappointing 11 AM kickoff time. 1 Black Friday
30:20
against Nebraska, the other the Seihawk.
30:22
What's better though, 11 AM for the Seihawk game or for the
30:25
Black Friday Nebraska game? Which one do you like more at 11
30:28
AM? Well, I'd rather the Cyhawk game
30:32
be a little later. I don't mind the I don't mind
30:35
the the 11 AM for Nebraska just because and I'm completely
30:40
selfish on these things because I got to travel, you know, I got
30:43
to drive home after the game and it's a little bit easier and to
30:48
get home after an 11 AM game and get back back home.
30:52
So that's totally selfish for me.
30:55
I don't mind the 11:00 AM as much as some people do, and I
31:00
know people are already complaining.
31:01
Well, we'll probably get like early games for Oregon and Penn
31:05
State and we get 6:00 PM games for U Mass and Albany.
31:09
But although the Albany game, the weird 5:00 PM starts, can't
31:14
remember, we had one of those. But that's the world we live in,
31:17
isn't it? Yeah.
31:18
TV dictating everything. How many night games will there
31:21
be? Legitimate night games, Tom.
31:24
I think one of the the. One of the big tents.
31:27
Late one of the one of the Oregon or Penn State games going
31:31
to be a a night game I think. They're both marquee, obviously.
31:39
Who do you prefer, Trent? Who do you want to see at night?
31:41
Under the lights, maybe. Those hideous Oregon uniforms
31:44
coming in. I you know what?
31:47
Yeah. You know what, Trent?
31:48
I would rather see. I will play Oregon at 11:00 AM
31:51
because it's the. Not body clock.
31:54
Yeah, that's not a bad thought either.
31:56
And we maybe saw that against Washington last year.
31:58
They're just something about that Oregon game.
32:01
And maybe it's because on on the lockdown network we got a
32:03
loudmouth working fan that runs the Oregon side of things.
32:06
But I I think I was got something for him.
32:09
It's going to be cold. It's going to be a different
32:11
kind of environment. And if it is a night game, I
32:14
don't know, am I crazy here? Could can Iowa hang around
32:16
against Oregon or is that just different the pace that they
32:19
play at? I is is Dante more good?
32:23
We don't know. We think.
32:27
I don't know. That's the thing.
32:28
He threw a lot of interceptions that one year, you know, with a
32:31
pretty good coach. So I'm, well, I, I'm going to
32:37
withhold judgement on them until I see that Dante Moore is good.
32:40
I, I, you know, he might be good, but you know, Phil
32:45
Parker's, I hope you say this, there's a, there's a graveyard
32:49
of guys like Dante Moore that Phil Parker has, has, has
32:52
gotten. So we'll see.
32:54
We'll see what. Did What did his UCLA team do
32:57
that year that he was? Do you remember what was that
32:59
two years ago? Yeah, that was chips.
33:02
That was Chips last year there. Did they get to a bowl?
33:05
I don't think they. Did I don't think they got to a
33:08
bowl game. Yeah, I don't think they did
33:10
either. Well, we'll, we'll see.
33:13
Yeah, I kind of want to see Penn State on the line.
33:15
Well, we'll, we'll get what we get right and we'll be happy
33:18
with it. Tom Caker, what do you got
33:19
coming up this week at hawkeyereport.com?
33:23
You know, we've got a fixed thing up right now coming up
33:28
this this month is a bunch of official visits for football.
33:31
I mean, and they used to do just like the one big weekend at the
33:35
end of the month. Now these kids kind of dictate
33:38
when they're like, yeah, we're coming in this weekend.
33:41
They're not going to hang for your, your, your big party at
33:44
the end of the month. So got a whole preview of three
33:48
big weekends where they're going to have official visitors.
33:51
So it's going to be a huge months for football recruiting.
33:54
So we've got that previewed, you know, that'll start next
33:57
weekend. So it's a busy time coming up.
34:00
And hopefully that includes many opportunities to talk to
34:03
McCollum and and the squad as well here in the weeks ahead.
34:06
Good stuff, Tom Kicker. Thank you as always, buddy.
34:08
We'll talk to you next week. Thanks, Tom.
34:10
Thank you. Yep, I need to talk to you, Tom
34:12
Kicker, hawkeyereport.com UCLA did get to a bowl. 8 and 5/8.
34:17
And five Who'd they win? Who'd they beat in the bowl?
34:19
Boise. I don't remember the game.
34:21
The LA Bowl, December 16th. You weren't huddled around your
34:24
TV. It probably was, but really I
34:28
don't remember the game. Might have been some NFL
34:29
happening, yeah. Might have been, yeah.
34:32
It could have been good stuff that.
34:35
'D have been the third Saturday of the year, so potentially.
34:38
Yeah, there probably was an NFL game.
34:41
That's usually when they elbow their way into Saturdays, right?
34:45
They used to leave Army Navy alone.
34:47
Now I'm starting to wonder if they'll claim that real estate
34:49
at some point. They seemingly want everything.
34:51
Well, I mean, would that be a bad thing?
34:54
It would be now because we're going to have College Football
34:56
playoffs seemingly moving into that week.
34:59
And I'm OK with that. I love army name, you know I.
35:01
Do too. We everybody does.
35:02
But as long as you keep it a state alone, yes.
35:05
Yes, but we have other games but we don't.
35:07
Need the NFL that day? Make it to College Football
35:09
Playoff games. Of consequence, if we go that
35:12
direction, I'm fine with it. Army Navy still gets their slot.
35:16
Yeah, 2O clock, is that what you?
35:17
Normally start right 2O clock our time and maybe you slide it
35:19
back 1/2 hour so you have an 11 AM kick off central time, 2:30
35:22
for Army Navy and then a nightcap have a Friday night
35:25
game. Whatever it is, however you need
35:27
to put it together, I'm fine with that.
35:28
Ditto, but it went too long this past year.
35:33
It didn't work. We had Notre Dame, Ohio State in
35:36
the national championship and there was no buzz.
35:39
National. Obviously here we care.
35:41
We're a college market. But on the national scene, it
35:44
was about the NFL. They got lost.
35:46
They can't go that late. It doesn't work.
35:49
No, I'm, I'm in the minority. I know it.
35:51
I, I, I agree with you. Your points are every single one
35:53
of them is valid and there's data to back it up that the buzz
35:58
was not there. And and look at the look at the
36:02
brands that played for the championship, right?
36:04
Yeah, what if we get a Washington Clemson National
36:08
Championship? Game as long as Clemson wins
36:10
Trenton. 22 I'm just saying, without those blue bloods that
36:14
we had there. Yeah, there'll be.
36:16
It'll be further down. Yeah, it's horrible.
36:18
Well, take your time. I'll come back, finish up the
36:20
show. Trent's got some plays.
36:22
Circus sports sponsor those. Miller and Condon on the Iowa
36:25
Sports Radio Network. Hi, Miller and Condon, Welcome
36:29
back, Iowa Sports Radio Network. The drive coming up top of the
36:33
hour from 2:00 until 5. Overtime Iowa 5 until 6:00.
36:38
Well no NHL till Wednesday. NBA tomorrow.
36:42
So if you're looking for sports tonight I guess it would be MLB,
36:45
maybe some WNBA. Haven't checked the schedule.
36:49
NCAA baseball's world. Palestine needles never has.
36:54
Which is surprising to me. I don't know why it never had
36:57
'cause I don't know the players. I don't go out of my way to
37:00
watch a game, rather watch a Major League Baseball game, but
37:04
I I get it. Is it growing in popularity do.
37:07
You think, do you? Yeah, it's, it's improved huge,
37:12
huge, I think leaps and bounds. And and also where we are, we
37:17
only have one team in the state. Right.
37:19
Yeah, that, that's a good point. And you know, without this IHOP
37:22
component to it, without having that kind of local angle, I I
37:25
think that's a piece. But yeah, you see the growth of
37:27
this sport, you see the TV numbers, the softball numbers,
37:30
incredible every single year for the College World Series.
37:32
Great game last night, as did Oklahoma win, walk off 3 run,
37:36
home run. That's how they against that
37:38
Tennessee pitcher who is outstanding, that throws as hard
37:40
as anybody ever has. So there there's a lot of
37:43
intrigue that is out there. I'm sure I'll flip it on.
37:46
And they do kind of like, you know, the red zone type of
37:49
channel where they have bounce around, yeah, bounce around.
37:52
They have that and that's fun to flip on, you know, do.
37:54
You get involved wagering from a wagering perspective.
37:57
I took a couple of shots on both Nebraska and Creighton.
37:59
Just because they win it all. No, just to win the regional
38:02
this weekend. They're both on the road, but I
38:04
think the Huskers are almost 10 to 1.
38:06
Creighton was like 12 to one. You know, just coffee money
38:09
threw all that that on there and and see if we could come up with
38:12
a big one. But no, nothing substantial by
38:14
any means. Well, what are you betting on
38:15
this weekend? I will play the Pacers.
38:18
I'm almost positive tomorrow. I haven't locked it in.
38:21
Now I see the 3 1/2 that is out there.
38:22
What was it, 3 1/2? I think it's that's gone up
38:24
maybe. I got 2 plays for tonight, both
38:28
involving teams from Seattle. The Mariners lay the -135
38:32
against Zebie Matthews and the Minnesota Twins and the Seattle
38:37
Storm. They're laying through 4 1/2,
38:39
excuse me against Atlanta at home.
38:42
So 2 plays. Both happen to be from Seattle.
38:46
So the Atlanta team, obviously, they look pretty decent.
38:50
We'll see how that goes. Well, best of luck to you and
38:52
all your plays this weekend. What's the best series in
38:56
baseball other than Dodgers? Yankees.
38:59
It might be Seattle Twins. That's a good one, Yeah.
39:03
Cardinals, Rangers. That would be if I took away my
39:06
fandom, that'd be next on the list.
39:07
But yeah, I I plead to get a. Little deeper KC.
39:13
Doesn't do a whole lot for me. Division mates, they just see
39:16
each other so often. It just seems kind of like, Oh
39:18
yeah, we see that all the time, and we do.
39:20
All right, that will do it for us.
39:22
You can hear us again on Monday. That's when we're back.
39:26
The drive is coming up next. They'll take you until 5:00.
39:29
Not sure what Heather Scott planned, but stay tuned for
39:31
that. Miller and Condon talk sports
39:34
with you every Monday through Friday from noon until 2 here on
39:38
this Iowa Sports Radio network. Have a great weekend.