Latest / The Lunch Rush with Trent Condon / Kansas wins on Big Monday again, Super Bowl longshots, The Voice of the Cyclones John Walters & Adam Emmenecker talks MVC Hoops

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Kansas wins on Big Monday again, Super Bowl longshots, The Voice of the Cyclones John Walters & Adam Emmenecker talks MVC Hoops · The Lunch Rush with Trent Condon

• 0:18
  All right, good afternoon. Welcome Miller and Condon on a
• 0:21
  Tuesday. The Iowa Sports Radio Network,
• 0:24
  Trent Condon, Ken Miller, flagship Des Moines sports
• 0:26
  station one O 6.3 KX&O talking sports with you over the next
• 0:31
  couple of hours. Thanks for starting your
• 0:32
  afternoon here with us. Here's our busy show.
• 0:35
  The lineup for the next couple of hours We'll start.
• 0:38
  We'll head to Utah. First and foremost to all 25
• 0:42
  John Walters, the voice of Iowa State.
• 0:44
  They've got a date against Utah tonight.
• 0:46
  We'll pick John's brain on the on that game with the Big 12
• 0:49
  overall. Look forward to doing it.
• 0:51
  That boy, that was a fun game last night.
• 0:53
  Kansas extends the streak Monday night Big Monday to 41 in a row.
• 0:57
  Just amazing, amazing streak. So we'll talk to John Welch is
• 1:01
  about Big 12 stuff coming up here 1225.
• 1:03
  Then Adam Eminecker in his regular spot, boy, it goes
• 1:07
  quick. Only you got a couple of those
• 1:08
  left as they will head down to Saint Louis in what 3 weeks, 2
• 1:13
  weeks for the start of the Valley Tournament.
• 1:15
  So Emma Necker on Drake and on Northern Iowa in the Valley
• 1:19
  overall coming up here at 12:45. Then our bracket guy,
• 1:23
  Bracketville, bracket Bracketville, Dave Omen will
• 1:29
  join us. He's very good.
• 1:31
  We'll pick his brain on what he saw over the weekend, what might
• 1:34
  happen here in the days ahead with the one seeds, etcetera and
• 1:39
  final four in first four out. Those type of things with Dave
• 1:41
  Ullman. Look forward to that
• 1:43
  conversation as we do every single week.
• 1:45
  He'll join us to kick off the second hour of the show and then
• 1:49
  we're going to catch up with a buddy, Jeff Hughes, The Bear's
• 1:51
  blog. What's going on with the with
• 1:54
  the stadium issue? Is Arlington Heights back in
• 1:57
  play? Is this just a political move?
• 1:59
  Is this a leverage move? So we'll pick Jeff Hughes brain
• 2:02
  on that. It's pretty much pretty tuned in
• 2:05
  to that topic. We'll do that coming up here at
• 2:07
  120 five, 130th or so. Trent will make some picks Circa
• 2:12
  sports sponsor. Those will pass things over and
• 2:14
  off the bench with Lucas and Sean coming up here at 2:00.
• 2:18
  How are you? Doing all right?
• 2:20
  How about yourself? I enjoyed last night watching a
• 2:22
  couple of really good basketball games and ACC tilt and then a
• 2:26
  Big 12 tilt and you're on the right side.
• 2:28
  I I thought you made a mistake yesterday taking Kansas despite
• 2:31
  the 40 and O just I mean, how do you lose to?
• 2:33
  Since I took Houston. Oh, I thought you took.
• 2:35
  Kansas. And I'm a building building
• 2:38
  believer. I believe in buildings and I say
• 2:40
  it all the time. And here's the one time that I
• 2:41
  don't believe in the building. I misheard you.
• 2:44
  I thought you took Kansas. On the Cougs.
• 2:47
  Well, a full March for your honesty there.
• 2:50
  I was going to put one in the win column for you, but this is
• 2:53
  unbelievable. It is. 41 in a row on big,
• 2:56
  there's been some good teams, so it's not like you're getting the
• 2:59
  bottom feed, bottom feeders of the Big 12 to show up on Monday
• 3:01
  night. Is that here comes Colorado?
• 3:03
  Right. Yeah, it's that happening.
• 3:05
  It is the best of the best. Before the season begins, this
• 3:08
  is who we anticipate. It's going to be the best teams.
• 3:10
  We're going to put them in these and he.
• 3:11
  Usually works out that. Way how many times have we seen
• 3:14
  something like that too or Kansas just doesn't look good?
• 3:17
  We've seen it a couple times already this year, right?
• 3:19
  And they are just a completely different team.
• 3:22
  I flip it on, get the kids to bed.
• 3:24
  It is 2720. Houston.
• 3:26
  Here we go. Yeah, and that was about the
• 3:29
  turning. Point that was it was 11 nothing
• 3:31
  to run to end the half they'd go on it and just.
• 3:33
  And they extended it. So you know that I am a have
• 3:37
  been a big believer in Houston. Yeah, me too.
• 3:40
  Three-game losing streak Have struggled offensively.
• 3:44
  Is Kingston Fleming's doing too much or trying to do too much?
• 3:47
  Maybe he's got a lot in his place, especially when Sharp's
• 3:50
  not scoring and he wasn't scoring last time and they held
• 3:53
  him to five points. He was one of 10 and I think
• 3:56
  he's average is what, 16, something like that in the
• 3:59
  regular season. Where's Tugler?
• 4:01
  Where's Tugler? Absolutely.
• 4:05
  He scored four points. Use that, they got dudes.
• 4:08
  Yes, they do. They're they should be better
• 4:10
  than what they showed last night, without a doubt.
• 4:12
  To kind of localize it there feels like there's times like we
• 4:15
  see with Iowa and Bennett Sturtz, well, flying, this will
• 4:17
  just bail us out. And kind of the same things
• 4:19
  happening with Houston that we see with Iowa is they're relying
• 4:22
  on him too much. And that was not the case
• 4:24
  earlier this year. I saw him and it was all part of
• 4:27
  the offense. It was all I love to about this
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  Kingston Fleming's kid, you want to go to Houston because he want
• 4:33
  to be coached hard and he is. And yeah.
• 4:37
  Samson, he lit him up. He absolutely.
• 4:39
  And that's not the first time. So it happened over the weekend
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  against Arizona, the exact same thing where he was letting him
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  have it during a pretty big portion of that game.
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  That's what you're going to get out.
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  I love that about him, yes, and it's going to be great for him.
• 4:50
  I think he's going to be a stud at the next level.
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  I absolutely do. When you take a look at the
• 4:54
  young, the freshmen that are going to a one and done or this
• 4:58
  class, this draft, and I'm not into the NBA draft, right, but
• 5:01
  this. Year I am too, yes, because
• 5:04
  there's a lot of guys that I am absolutely so intrigued by what
• 5:08
  they can be high level, the Darren Peterson.
• 5:10
  I mean, it's the extra layers I think that make that intriguing.
• 5:14
  The bonds that we talked about a ton yesterday.
• 5:16
  Boozer, I don't know if he's ever going to be a star, but
• 5:19
  he's going to be really good. I don't know, you know, he's
• 5:22
  just because of his size. You think?
• 5:23
  Yeah, he's going to be good. He's going to be, you know,
• 5:27
  maybe fringe, All Star, you know, kind of at his peak level,
• 5:29
  written that range. I don't see super stardom out of
• 5:32
  him. Caleb Wilson, and we're not
• 5:35
  seeing him right now. How about learning something
• 5:37
  about Carolina Wilson's coming? Back Trent.
• 5:40
  That was a hell of a game. Louisville.
• 5:41
  Louisville was taking it to him early in the game.
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  And Trimble, outstanding. Yeah, this in the grand scheme
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  of things, this could be 1 where we see North Carolina, it's like
• 5:48
  a five seed. Yeah.
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  And they're playing in the Elite 8 like how they get here.
• 5:52
  This stretch, playing without Caleb Wilson very well could.
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  But they got Besser back, not the the game before over the
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  weekend, right? And he's he's a was big dude.
• 6:00
  He's 7 foot. Where's he from?
• 6:02
  Is he German or a stone somewhere in there?
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  I saw it last night. I didn't stick with me
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  regardless. Yeah, he's a difference maker on
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  that team. Trimble, what did he, 30/30/20?
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  There was a 30. He got to 30.
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  Did he get to 30? Unbelievable game on him.
• 6:15
  Look, Louisville, good team. Yes.
• 6:17
  Louisville is a good team. North Carolina, they opened my
• 6:20
  eyes last night, no doubt about it.
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  And well, let's talk about Kansas, 'cause we talked about
• 6:24
  the other three that played and Kansas comes out on top of that
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  game. It was it was Trey White, his
• 6:29
  best game, best game by far since he's getting his mail in
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  Lawrence. He was unbelievable.
• 6:35
  Peterson was good, not great last night.
• 6:37
  Counsel I thought was really good.
• 6:38
  He always is. Trent always is, you know, and
• 6:41
  Bodinga, who had been really good, maybe didn't have one of
• 6:44
  his better games last night. And they still be the Houston
• 6:47
  team that I just, I couldn't, I couldn't fathom this team losing
• 6:53
  3 straight games the way they were playing, the way they
• 6:55
  looked in January into the first part of this month.
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  This team is not losing 3 games at any point in Big 12 play.
• 7:01
  While we saw it with their own two eyes.
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  And this is, I mean, a three-game losing streak
• 7:05
  something what they have 4 losses all time in the Big 12.
• 7:08
  Yeah. And now here we are with this
• 7:10
  squad. Good point.
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  I'm not completely out on them. And this is probably the bottom
• 7:13
  of the market that you want to buy in.
• 7:15
  If you do, now's the time to buy.
• 7:16
  I agree. Colorado this weekend at home.
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  They're home for Baylor and they go to Oklahoma State at the.
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  End well, yeah. That's so this is the.
• 7:23
  Time soft finish. If you want to get involved with
• 7:26
  the Cougars. Do it before the weekend.
• 7:27
  Yes, and maybe just watch the first, I don't know, 12 minutes
• 7:30
  of the game or so, and then don't watch the rest.
• 7:31
  Yeah, if you don't watch, do it best because it was good early
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  on, but not lately as they have lost three consecutive 4 losses
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  in the Big 12 after last year they went 19 and one and then
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  year number one of the Big 12, they went 15 and 3 so.
• 7:45
  Speaking of odds, I, I, Trent and I do a a media com show on
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  Wednesday. I'm starting to work on the
• 7:51
  script today and I want because I wanted to do the Big 10 and
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  the Big 12 conference odds. Why aren't the Big 10 and Big 12
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  listed? Because they're over.
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  Are they Arizona home free? Feels that way.
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  OK, well, Michigan, I can understand the Big 10.
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  Yes, the the big 10 certainly is over, but yeah, with Arizona now
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  a 2 game lead over everybody. Oh, it's.
• 8:12
  Two OK. They're 12 and 2.
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  Houston has four losses, Kansas has four losses.
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  There's only. Four games left at most.
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  And four left for Arizona, including they go to Baylor
• 8:22
  tonight. OK, Feel pretty good there.
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  Yep, they are home for Kansas home Friday.
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  That's Saturday, yes. And then big Monday against Iowa
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  State before they finish up on the road at Colorado.
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  But yeah, maybe just got it a wrong time too.
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  Maybe they just hadn't updated them when you're peaking at it
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  because, well, I'll see if I can find it.
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  Here wasn't there about 20 minutes ago.
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  OK, So it so it's not like one of those things where is when
• 8:45
  you're getting up and get your coffee.
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  No, you don't look at anything like that a little bit later in
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  the day. Yeah, that would be a little bit
• 8:51
  surprising at the very least. Team Futures, Conference winner.
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  Yeah, not listed on DraftKings. That is a surprise.
• 8:59
  All right, good stuff, Utah. You're going to have to help me
• 9:01
  out. I was racking my brain last
• 9:03
  night knowing that we'd have John on and obviously what we're
• 9:06
  going to watch tonight at 8:00. I don't think I've seen Utah
• 9:08
  play. I don't think I've seen him
• 9:10
  play. I saw them earlier this year.
• 9:12
  They played Grand Canyon, the Grand Canyon team that I won.
• 9:15
  Did you? Was there a reason you tuned
• 9:17
  into that? Yeah, because Iowa got the
• 9:18
  winner of that game. It was the tournament with old
• 9:21
  Mix. I gotcha, yes.
• 9:23
  So that's why I got my eyes on the news since then.
• 9:27
  Not really, not very much. And it's you're number one for
• 9:30
  Alex Jensen, former player for them.
• 9:32
  He comes in from the NBA. He's got that background just
• 9:34
  like BYU did with Kevin Young, kind of try to maybe go the same
• 9:38
  route and hopefully that they can get a guy.
• 9:40
  Seem to be working with with young yes So what kind of years
• 9:43
  Trey or he having. He shoots a lot.
• 9:47
  Not very efficient. Remember him a year ago?
• 9:50
  I do, yeah. Now even more of a green light
• 9:52
  this season. That's what you get with, say,
• 9:54
  du Treori. He's going to Chuck, not going
• 9:56
  to make many, but he's going to be chucking it up there and he's
• 9:59
  going to get his every single time.
• 10:01
  He is certainly not one of their better, more efficient players
• 10:04
  overall. This is not a very big team
• 10:06
  either. They're pretty small.
• 10:08
  There's nothing that you point to and say, you know what
• 10:11
  they're they're not bad here. It's kind of.
• 10:13
  Ugly. And what did you say the point
• 10:15
  spur was going to be? Like 12-13, something like that.
• 10:17
  What did it come out? I didn't look this morning.
• 10:18
  So 12 was the number. That is Ken Palm.
• 10:21
  Look ahead. Or the Ken Palm?
• 10:23
  Yeah. The projected 1.
• 10:24
  So today like at DraftKings Open.
• 10:27
  So let's open up that 13 1/2. 13 1/2.
• 10:29
  So a little extra steam on Iowa State and I can buy it.
• 10:33
  Yeah, I can't too. I mean, Iowa State, particularly
• 10:37
  after they got beat the way they did on on Saturday.
• 10:40
  I guess Monchilovich probably going to go off tonight we would
• 10:42
  assume. So we'll see if that happens.
• 10:46
  I believe it will car a couple of NFL notes.
• 10:48
  It's just crazy, right? They they give you a couple of
• 10:50
  weeks just to not to forget about it.
• 10:51
  But we're not going to hog the spotlight.
• 10:53
  But they're starting as we creep up on the on the league year.
• 10:58
  The Falcons are going to cut Kurt Cousins.
• 11:01
  Yeah, they made that official in the first day of the new league,
• 11:03
  which I want to say. So go ahead and say it, Kenneth
• 11:06
  is March the 11th. You would know better than I.
• 11:08
  Think it's March the 11th that that it hits the fan as far as
• 11:13
  NFL. Does he go back to Minnesota?
• 11:16
  Is that the most likely landing spot for Kurt Cousins?
• 11:19
  He loved it there. Yes, absolutely.
• 11:21
  I mean, you watched that documentary, right?
• 11:24
  With him in it, the quarterback one.
• 11:25
  Yes, I did. Yes.
• 11:27
  And how devastated, yes, he was when he was coming, he was
• 11:31
  heartbroken. I think they were happy raising
• 11:33
  their family there. You know, everything that you'd
• 11:35
  anticipate, now it's gone. We had that secret room.
• 11:38
  Do you remember the trophy room today?
• 11:40
  He helped, absolutely. Yeah.
• 11:42
  I think that's the one that certainly makes the most sense.
• 11:45
  We saw a guy at the end of the year playing decent football.
• 11:47
  He was. I agree with.
• 11:48
  You now they won the last what, five games, Four games, whatever
• 11:51
  it was that because game log wise you could go through.
• 11:55
  They're not a bunch of elite performance.
• 11:57
  You know, he wasn't completing 8% of his passes for 330 yards a
• 12:00
  game, but he was solid with his Vikings roster.
• 12:03
  If you can get protection up front.
• 12:06
  A big caveat, everybody wants to go get offensive lineman.
• 12:09
  Easier said than done. Well.
• 12:10
  They thought they did last year. It didn't work out.
• 12:12
  And Ryan Kelly had concussion after concussion after having
• 12:14
  concussion after concussion earlier in his career and it
• 12:17
  continued and he he was non playable.
• 12:18
  And for his safety, we hope that that's certainly, I mean, that's
• 12:22
  what you have to do. That is the caveat you have to
• 12:25
  put in there. But I like it.
• 12:27
  He is competent, he is fine with everything else that they have.
• 12:30
  And he's worked with O'Connell. I think it'd be so the the other
• 12:33
  rumor out there. And by the way, you can get the
• 12:35
  Vikings at 60 to 1 to win the Super Bowl if you're so
• 12:38
  inclined. The Minnesota Vikings.
• 12:39
  As I was last night. How many puffs did you have?
• 12:42
  Well, I said, you know what? I just was killing time, right?
• 12:45
  It's just killing time. Is there an extra something in
• 12:49
  there you find something out of state you liked?
• 12:51
  Well, they're. Hannibal MO's moved up on my
• 12:53
  list. I'm just going to play.
• 12:54
  Yeah, I don't have the distinct rain for Hannibal, MO that I
• 12:58
  once had. That is the big.
• 13:00
  Take away coming in from your trip.
• 13:02
  So I was, I was shopping for long shots last night.
• 13:05
  I settled on these three. Well, you know, I already bet
• 13:07
  Atlanta. Yes, same.
• 13:09
  I went for the commanders. OK, bounce back here, right?
• 13:12
  Yep, Yep. Not.
• 13:13
  Crazy. No.
• 13:14
  Absolutely 60 to one. Kind of like the price.
• 13:17
  And the Vikings won. They won nine games last year.
• 13:19
  In a down frustrating. Terrible game in a terrible
• 13:23
  year. They were nine and eight.
• 13:25
  I get the division, Green Bay's Green Bay, they're there every
• 13:27
  year, seemingly. The Bears are the Bears.
• 13:30
  The Bears are a whisker away from taking another step.
• 13:34
  The Lions had a injury play season.
• 13:37
  They get a fourth place schedule.
• 13:39
  Their schedule is so advantageous, but if you upgrade
• 13:43
  the quarterback, and I believe they will from JJ McCarthy and I
• 13:47
  was dead wrong about him, I thought he was going to be
• 13:48
  better than average. He's not.
• 13:52
  The other quarterback that's being rumoured there is Kyler
• 13:54
  Murray. There's a lot of buzz around
• 13:57
  Kyler Murray to Minnesota. Who would you rather have,
• 14:01
  Cousins or Murray? I would like to see Kyler Murray
• 14:06
  with an adult. I would like the answer I get.
• 14:08
  A lot. I'd like to see Kyler Murray
• 14:11
  with the right tutelage and not playing on his Xbox and actually
• 14:14
  dedicated to football. Are he going?
• 14:16
  To be his last chance, if he wants to play football, he's got
• 14:20
  to realize that that the mean look, it's it's not for long.
• 14:25
  The Cardinals are reportedly moving on.
• 14:26
  Yes, they are. They're moving on.
• 14:28
  That's why they benched him at the end of the year last year,
• 14:30
  because they didn't want to get him injured and have to pay that
• 14:33
  injury. So they're going to go with the
• 14:35
  set for set next year and maybe draft somebody, a developmental
• 14:39
  guy maybe that's the direction that kind of they're looking.
• 14:41
  At This is not a great free agency.
• 14:42
  No, not at. All in a lot of positions.
• 14:44
  So. Salary Kurt Cousins to the
• 14:48
  Vikings. For 2026.
• 14:50
  For 26. Then it I'm intrigued by Murray.
• 14:55
  I still AM. And I know there's a lot of
• 14:57
  baggage and I know there's a lot of ugliness and a lot of
• 15:00
  frustrating. I just would love to see.
• 15:02
  And with KOC, we've seen the Josh Dobbs of the world.
• 15:06
  The guys that have come in at a minimum looked OK.
• 15:08
  The only one that has it is the well he was rookie Brosberg.
• 15:11
  Right. Yeah.
• 15:11
  And there were even a couple of glimpses out of him for an
• 15:14
  undrafted free agent as a rookie.
• 15:15
  You look good in pre season, yeah.
• 15:17
  I, I, I guess I lean Murray just by a whisker.
• 15:22
  I mean, this is this is at the wire between the two just
• 15:26
  because the upside is there because Cousins, like, if it
• 15:29
  gets to a divisional round game and you need a big play, are you
• 15:33
  confident that Kirk Cousins is going to deliver?
• 15:35
  I wouldn't be, you know, you're going to be solid, you're going
• 15:37
  to be fine. But getting over that hump and
• 15:40
  maybe there's just that little extra with Kyler Murray, I'd go
• 15:42
  that direction. How many teams as you, as you
• 15:45
  look at this, I know that we're into the NFLI get it.
• 15:49
  Miami needs a quarterback, The Jets need a quarterback.
• 15:53
  Do the Steelers? I don't know.
• 15:56
  Because of the higher, Do you think that Roger stays?
• 16:02
  Let's take the Steelers out of the equation.
• 16:03
  They're fine. The Browns need a quarterback.
• 16:06
  No, they got a pro all a pro bowler.
• 16:08
  Guy who's he is a Pro Bowler. Look at his numbers, retired to
• 16:11
  Folsom Field. That's right, it doesn't happen
• 16:14
  for everybody. This guy could play.
• 16:18
  I know. Who?
• 16:18
  He's growing? Yeah.
• 16:21
  Cleveland. What?
• 16:22
  Maybe Watson? Who knows?
• 16:24
  Colts need a quarterback. Daniel Jones.
• 16:27
  He. No, he's good.
• 16:30
  OK. Stay healthy.
• 16:31
  Remember how good he. Was so I agree.
• 16:33
  So they got we got 2 right. Tennessee's go OK in the AFC
• 16:38
  West. Raiders, they're going to draft
• 16:41
  their quarterback. Mendoza, they're fine.
• 16:44
  So they're fine. So there's two free agency in
• 16:47
  the AFC. We think.
• 16:48
  Eagles good. Cowboys, good.
• 16:50
  Washington good. Giants good.
• 16:52
  Bears, good. Packers good.
• 16:54
  Vikings need one Lion, that's three.
• 16:56
  Lions good. By the way, Goff is on the books
• 16:59
  for $70 million this year. 70 Goff.
• 17:05
  That's the salary hit in Detroit.
• 17:07
  Carolina's good. Tampa's good.
• 17:10
  Atlanta, they're cutting Cousins.
• 17:13
  Yes. They've still got panics.
• 17:15
  I think that's the direction they're going, right?
• 17:19
  New Orleans, they I believe in Shuck.
• 17:24
  They saw something from Shuck. He's the guy.
• 17:26
  Them with you? Seahawks, no.
• 17:28
  Rams, no. Niners, no.
• 17:29
  Cardinals, yes. So four teams 2 is going to land
• 17:32
  somewhere. Cousin's going to land
• 17:34
  somewhere. Murray's going to land
• 17:35
  somewhere. Who do the Vikings get?
• 17:37
  Are we going to get Damos Zatani this week?
• 17:39
  We are. Good.
• 17:40
  Justin Fields. Oh God, they'll get a job
• 17:44
  somewhere as a backup. Probably probably so, but now's
• 17:48
  the time to buy these I think the time to get these futures,
• 17:51
  especially the big, big prices. What were the Patriots this time
• 17:54
  last year? Do you have any idea I.
• 17:55
  Think they're 60 to 1. Were they 60 to 1?
• 17:58
  And the Seahawks at one point were 75 to one.
• 18:00
  That's. Amazing, right?
• 18:01
  Yeah, Just unbelievable. Out of the big shops in Circa
• 18:03
  sports, that's where you could get the Seahawks at 75 to.
• 18:06
  One that's crazy. Just crazy.
• 18:08
  All right, we'll take the time out.
• 18:09
  We'll come back. John Walters will join us.
• 18:11
  We'll talk Big 12 hoops with John with the preview.
• 18:13
  Iowa State versus Utah. Tonight's an 8:00 tip FS1 for
• 18:18
  that one. We're down the hall here. 100.3
• 18:20
  the bus. So one final thing that stuck in
• 18:24
  my craw, and it's dumb because it's the AP.
• 18:28
  Poll for yesterday. But on the women's side, OK,
• 18:32
  there was a voter that had Michigan 4th, and if you want to
• 18:36
  put Michigan forth, I have no problem with that.
• 18:38
  After they got beat this weekend.
• 18:40
  After they got beat by Iowa still 4th and had the Iowa
• 18:42
  Hawkeyes at 18. If you want to make the argument
• 18:46
  resume wise that Michigan is better and I think the biggest
• 18:49
  ammunition that they have is the close losses to UCLA and UConn.
• 18:53
  2 teams at Iowa got blown out by one game does not define your
• 18:56
  resume right. Both teams though are 22 and 5.
• 19:00
  Both teams have the same record in the Big 10.
• 19:02
  Both teams in terms of Quad 1 victories.
• 19:04
  Iowa actually has one more straight to schedule.
• 19:06
  Iowa is better. There's a lot of things.
• 19:08
  It's close, but if you have Michigan to touch, higher but
• 19:11
  4th and 18th. Yeah, that's that's a little,
• 19:13
  that's that's a bad. Luck.
• 19:15
  That's a really bad luck. And there's there was a lot of
• 19:18
  it. I saw plenty of it yesterday.
• 19:20
  I saw, you know, 8th and 13th Michigan, 8th Iowa.
• 19:23
  I really don't have a problem with that at all.
• 19:25
  But if it is that close and the couple people that did have a
• 19:27
  close, shouldn't the deciding factor be residents are close
• 19:31
  head to head? Should that matter?
• 19:33
  But but the fourth verse, Tricky head to head, she keeps getting
• 19:36
  in the way. Oh boy, we had that conversation
• 19:38
  during college football season a lot, didn't we?
• 19:40
  We did, thank God I love it. Moves the needle Yukon far and
• 19:43
  away #1. Yeah, they have all the 1st
• 19:46
  place votes. UCLA 2.
• 19:49
  So what would the point, let's let's say that is the
• 19:52
  championship game, Yes, 'cause I've like, like you, we both got
• 19:56
  free square, at least we believe it's a free square Yukon and
• 19:58
  have had for months on futures tickets just to enhance them a
• 20:02
  little bit. What would the point spread be
• 20:03
  between those two? Yukon be favoured by how many is
• 20:06
  it that big of a number? 5 1/2 maybe?
• 20:09
  OK, that's not that bad. That's not that big.
• 20:12
  Probably in that. Range so used to Would you fall
• 20:15
  off to your chair if the Bruins win?
• 20:16
  If it would not cut down the Nets?
• 20:17
  I would. You would.
• 20:19
  So it's still UConn. It's still UConn, all right.
• 20:21
  It would be a huge surprise. We'll take a time out.
• 20:24
  We'll be joined by John Walters, Iowa State, Utah.
• 20:27
  Tonight, we'll talk about that pick his brain on the Big 12
• 20:30
  overall is the conference over. DraftKings thinks it is Miller
• 20:33
  and Condon on the Iowa Sports Radio Network.
• 20:48
  Right, Miller Cotton, welcome back, 12:25 Tuesday.
• 20:52
  Still to come this hour, Adam Emmenecker on the Missouri
• 20:55
  Valley Conference. Let's head to Utah, shall we?
• 20:57
  Salt Lake City, UT hosting Iowa State.
• 21:01
  It's an 8 O clock tip. FS1 has the TV, but if you're
• 21:04
  listening to the radio and we certainly hope that you are
• 21:07
  100.3, the bus has the call. Eric Heft, John Walters, they'll
• 21:11
  take to the airwaves. I want to say 7 John.
• 21:13
  And did I get that right? 7:00 central time yes, don't
• 21:18
  mess me up because I'm on a different time so.
• 21:19
  Yeah, Mountain time zone for you.
• 21:21
  So I spent a couple of days in Utah after the game on Saturday
• 21:26
  night. What did you do in Utah, John,
• 21:28
  to kick the past the time? I'm guessing you found ATV set
• 21:32
  last night for Houston and Kansas, But other than that,
• 21:34
  what what's what's Utah like? Yeah, nothing crazy.
• 21:38
  No hiking or you know, skiing or anything like that.
• 21:41
  Just practice. Been going to practice a lot
• 21:44
  more than I usually do, which has been fun and no just hanging
• 21:49
  around with the guys. It's been a good trip.
• 21:52
  You know, the obviously the BYU game notwithstanding, but the
• 21:55
  weather out here is nice and it's been pretty easy travel.
• 21:59
  And so hopefully I was taking get their split tonight and get
• 22:02
  back home and and have a big game against Texas Tech on
• 22:05
  Saturday. Before we look at the game
• 22:06
  tonight against Utah, let's go back to Saturday night late
• 22:09
  start time for that one. Debonstow was an absolute stud
• 22:13
  in the game. But tell us a little bit about
• 22:15
  the environment. A huge building.
• 22:17
  I know when it was built it was like 22,000 and they've
• 22:19
  renovated and it's still 18,000. What's that environment like
• 22:23
  when they they go out to BYU? Oh, it's one of the toughest
• 22:27
  places to play without. It is loud in there.
• 22:29
  Yeah, it's, it's 18,000 and that's it's 18,000.
• 22:33
  I mean, there's not an FTC and they're they're into it.
• 22:36
  They are into it from the opening tip all the way through.
• 22:39
  You know, at one point they TJ called a timeout, try to calm
• 22:44
  his team down and and they put up on the video board.
• 22:47
  TJ Oskelberger just called a timeout to try to calm the crowd
• 22:50
  down. Are we going to allow that to
• 22:51
  happen? The place went absolutely nuts.
• 22:55
  I mean, it was just so loud. That was probably the loudest it
• 22:58
  was the whole night. So, you know, they do a great
• 23:02
  job putting on a game and and you know, they're they're
• 23:05
  they're a tough place to play. That's one of the toughest
• 23:07
  places in the Big 12 to go win. They're good team.
• 23:10
  I mean, obviously Saunders is out, but sponsors as good as any
• 23:13
  college player I've seen in quite some time.
• 23:15
  He is just incredible and he was really, really good that night.
• 23:19
  And you know, not only offensively, but to shut down
• 23:22
  Milan mom Chilovich, hold him to just one field goal of the game,
• 23:26
  You know, he really showed his winning spirit on both ends of
• 23:29
  the floor, played the full 40 minutes.
• 23:31
  So he was electric. And yeah, that was that was one
• 23:35
  that a lot of teams were probably going to lose that
• 23:37
  night going into that building that that was a game where BYU
• 23:41
  was looking to hang their hat on something as a a great win over
• 23:44
  a top five team. And it really cement their case
• 23:48
  for where they want to be, which is about a 5 or 6 seed in the
• 23:51
  NCAA tournament. And I think they're they're
• 23:53
  looking pretty good in that regard.
• 23:55
  I think other than Pete, you've seen all of the good freshman,
• 23:58
  the outstanding freshman in the league.
• 23:59
  Correct me if I'm wrong, Debansa, You just, you know,
• 24:02
  told us how good he is and we saw it on Saturday night.
• 24:05
  Would you say to Bansa right now is the leader in the clubhouse
• 24:08
  for freshman of the year in the conference?
• 24:10
  Is he the best You've seen John in a in a conference that's got
• 24:13
  a whole bunch of good freshmen. I think he has to be front
• 24:17
  runner for freshman of the year and player of the year in the
• 24:22
  Big 12. I mean, the guy is leading the
• 24:24
  nation in scoring. He does everything well.
• 24:27
  He almost had a triple double the other night.
• 24:29
  His defense was outstanding. He plays a lot of minutes.
• 24:33
  He's just, I mean, he's so complete compared.
• 24:36
  I mean, Peterson's a more pure shooter.
• 24:39
  And I don't know that Peterson's game is as complete as far as
• 24:44
  setting up his teammates, making the making the smart play all
• 24:47
  the time, taking good shots and rhythm.
• 24:50
  Defense is just he's so talented.
• 24:52
  I mean, it's just crazy. And yeah, they're both great.
• 24:57
  You know, they're both great. Kingston Fleming's I thought was
• 24:59
  tremendous. I think he's going to be a top
• 25:01
  five, top ten pick in the NBA draft.
• 25:04
  There's so many of my looks at the mock draft recently that had
• 25:07
  nine Big 12 players in the first round and you know, most of them
• 25:11
  are freshmen and it's just a league full of great players.
• 25:15
  Question for you on Manchila Beach back-to-back games, the
• 25:18
  single digits and we've grown accustomed him shooting the ball
• 25:20
  so well. Last four games though, 35% from
• 25:24
  3. The splits between home and road
• 25:27
  kind of significant at this point.
• 25:29
  Any concerns at all, maybe some of those old, old habits and or
• 25:32
  is it just the way that teams are defending them at this
• 25:35
  point? What have you seen lately out of
• 25:36
  Manchilovich? Well, I would I'd say the first
• 25:40
  thing that jumps out at me is like devances defense was just
• 25:44
  something that he's probably not going to see again.
• 25:46
  You know, I mean, per guy with that length at six foot, 8:00,
• 25:48
  to be able to stay with him, challenge every shot that he
• 25:52
  took, I think he was one of five from the floor.
• 25:56
  It was just, you know, the guy was on him and he was he was
• 25:59
  great defensively. I think it's important tonight
• 26:02
  for Milan to get some good clean looks and for his teammates to
• 26:06
  set him up to get those clean looks.
• 26:07
  I think that'll be a priority for Iowa State.
• 26:10
  He's had I think maybe four games this season in single
• 26:14
  digits, including the last two. But he's still Iowa State's
• 26:16
  leading scorer and, you know, they're dependent on him.
• 26:19
  But it's not something where he needs to force things.
• 26:23
  But he does need to be assertive.
• 26:25
  He needs to be a guy that is hunting his shot.
• 26:28
  And you're right, at times last year, he would kind of defer
• 26:31
  when Curtis Jones was on one of those heaters and just maybe
• 26:34
  somebody else, Keyshawn Gilbert was going nuts or something.
• 26:36
  And he just kind of get in background and he needs to be
• 26:39
  more in the forefront this year. So I think that's really
• 26:41
  important for him tonight to get some clean looks and knock him
• 26:44
  down. What have you seen?
• 26:46
  What's the difference, I guess in Jamarian Bateman from where
• 26:49
  he was? Is it nothing?
• 26:51
  Is it purely experienced? Is it confidence?
• 26:54
  Because they've got something here in in Bateman, I believe.
• 26:57
  And we're starting to see more and more of a what's the
• 26:59
  difference, John, if you as you watch him?
• 27:02
  I think it's just his work ethic, you know, I mean, he just
• 27:04
  keeps grinding. He never gets his head down.
• 27:07
  He just keeps working every single day.
• 27:09
  And I thought at the beginning of the season, the first five or
• 27:11
  six games, he kind of looked like a lost puppy dog out there.
• 27:14
  You know, I mean, he was not aggressive at all.
• 27:16
  And, you know, he was playing, but he wasn't really getting a
• 27:20
  lot accomplished. And now you can just see the
• 27:23
  confidence rising in that kid. It's because he's earned it.
• 27:25
  He's done the work. And so he gets in more shots
• 27:29
  than anybody. And he he's just constantly in
• 27:31
  the gym and working. And he's an intelligent player
• 27:34
  and he's very well liked teammate because he worked so
• 27:38
  hard. He doesn't talk a lot, but he's
• 27:39
  just going to let us playing doing the talking.
• 27:41
  He's he's gotten a lot better on the defensive end too.
• 27:43
  I think he's really competes and works hard on the defensive end
• 27:47
  of the floor. And when he's doing those
• 27:48
  things, sometimes the offense comes in rhythm.
• 27:51
  But I think the biggest thing with him lately has just been
• 27:53
  the consistency. We saw him be really good one
• 27:56
  game and then not so good the next.
• 27:58
  And you know, the last three or four games he's been pretty
• 28:02
  steady and pretty consistent and really giving Iowa State that
• 28:05
  punch they need coming off the bench.
• 28:07
  So I love the direction he's heading and I think he's going
• 28:09
  to be a star in this league going forward.
• 28:11
  Outside of the team two years ago that lost to Illinois in the
• 28:14
  Sweet 16, we've seen every one of T JS teams kind of have a
• 28:18
  rough patch towards the end of the season.
• 28:20
  And a lot of times I think the factor is the way they play, the
• 28:23
  physicality that they play with and the guys are pretty banged
• 28:26
  up because he doesn't play a lot of guys.
• 28:27
  This year though, I think they're going to be set up for
• 28:30
  March because they play 3 guys off the bench and play them
• 28:32
  pretty significant minutes compared to what we've seen been
• 28:35
  in the past. Is there an opportunity here
• 28:37
  that we're going to see maybe a fresher team come March than we
• 28:40
  have in the past? I think so.
• 28:43
  I mean, you even look at the minutes that guys were playing
• 28:46
  on those teams in the past and a lot of it was out of necessity
• 28:49
  because as you mentioned, there were injuries, especially last
• 28:52
  year's team. I mean, last year's team at the
• 28:53
  end of the season was a shell of itself from the 15 and one start
• 28:58
  when they were completely healthy.
• 28:59
  And so this year, knock on wood, Iowa State has been able to stay
• 29:03
  relatively healthy. They've, you know, whoops, you
• 29:06
  missed a couple games, played a Mr. couple games, but for the
• 29:08
  most part, they've stayed pretty healthy all year and that's
• 29:12
  huge. You know, I, I, I agree with
• 29:14
  you. You not only do you have an 8
• 29:16
  man rotation with the potential to go 9 or 10 if you need to
• 29:19
  with Molder and and Kelderman or some others, but Dominic Nelson,
• 29:25
  but you also out of those eight that are playing right now,
• 29:28
  they're all contributing. I mean, we saw that game against
• 29:31
  Houston where every guy in that eight man rotation scored
• 29:34
  between 6:00 and 12:00 points. And when you're getting that
• 29:38
  kind of production from your bench, it's big.
• 29:41
  And now you look at the minutes for Lipsy and Jefferson, they're
• 29:44
  right around 3031 minutes a game where I think in past years they
• 29:48
  were probably up 333435 minutes a game.
• 29:50
  And so does that make a big difference?
• 29:53
  I think it does, especially over the course of a long year.
• 29:55
  And as hard as they practice, I wish people could see that part
• 29:58
  of it. That's the part, that's the part
• 30:01
  that you know, that makes that amazes me because the games are
• 30:05
  one thing, but if you went to a practice and saw these guys just
• 30:08
  beating the crap out of each other and how hard they work
• 30:11
  every single day, it's unbelievable.
• 30:14
  And so they they put in the work, no doubt.
• 30:18
  And when they're winning games and it looks that it's really
• 30:20
  clicking, it's because of what they've done on the practice
• 30:22
  for. I wish I could ask you a Utah
• 30:24
  question. I don't believe I've seen him
• 30:26
  play this year. So I want to broaden it out a
• 30:27
  little bit to the to the conference overall.
• 30:30
  John 41 and O on big Monday, fog Allen, I get the building
• 30:35
  special etcetera, but come on 41 and O that is a remarkable
• 30:39
  number. I know I was state's been in
• 30:42
  there on Monday Sunday nights and part of that 41 and O streak
• 30:45
  John that's remarkable that Kansas they look dead against
• 30:48
  Cincinnati on Saturday. They're kind of embarrassed by
• 30:51
  the Bearcats. Here comes a really good Houston
• 30:54
  team. I can't see this team losing 3
• 30:56
  straight and yet they did and the fashion that they did.
• 31:00
  What is it about fog? Allen on a Monday, John 41 and
• 31:03
  O. You must pay heed that that
• 31:07
  place is place is unbelievable. I mean, it's the loudest
• 31:10
  building in college basketball and it's every game They're like
• 31:14
  that. And, you know, no, Self is an
• 31:18
  incredible coach because he's able to get really talented
• 31:21
  players, but he's also able to coach him hard.
• 31:23
  And I thought at the end of that game last night, we finally saw,
• 31:27
  you know, Peterson taking shots within the flow.
• 31:30
  It wasn't forced. I mean, I thought earlier in the
• 31:33
  game he was forcing things and just trying to get his shots.
• 31:35
  And I thought towards the end of that game, he looked the best
• 31:39
  I've seen him look because he just was taking the stuff that
• 31:41
  was coming. And I think there's some big
• 31:44
  progress made on that front last night.
• 31:46
  But, you know, that's your point, Ken.
• 31:49
  They're not playing the Little Sisters, the poor on those big
• 31:52
  Monday games. I mean, they're not scheduling
• 31:54
  the bottom of the league to go into Lawrence on those Mondays.
• 31:57
  Those are the top teams in the league.
• 31:59
  So the 141 is unbelievable. You're right.
• 32:02
  And you know, I asked Eric yesterday who you like.
• 32:06
  Houston, Kansas, I got to go Kansas, you know, just because
• 32:10
  that place is a buzz saw and he's been around and he's seen
• 32:13
  it. And by oh, by the way, the loss
• 32:16
  for Kansas went when they got beat by Cincinnati and it was
• 32:20
  the biggest margin of loss for a KU team in Allen Fieldhouse
• 32:26
  since 1973. Well, a young guy named Eric in
• 32:31
  1973, I have a state team that won by 24 and he, he was a
• 32:36
  starter for the Cyclones. And, and yeah, he's always told
• 32:39
  me, yeah, I won 20 downfield. I was like 24.
• 32:42
  And they went on to the final four of the following year.
• 32:45
  So that was a pretty good win for the Cyclones back in the
• 32:48
  day. How many did have to have in
• 32:49
  that game? Did he?
• 32:49
  Does he remember? He said he didn't have a great
• 32:52
  game, but he said the team played right.
• 32:54
  He he would tell me if he had a great game and he didn't, he
• 32:58
  said. Final thing for me, Utah got to
• 33:03
  win against West Virginia a couple times out.
• 33:05
  Playing better here lately. You're number one of a coach.
• 33:08
  You feel normally guys aren't going to be quitting on a first
• 33:11
  year coach and Alex Jensen out there, they're playing better.
• 33:14
  Is there anything that you point to and say, oh, maybe this could
• 33:17
  be an issue tonight? Yeah.
• 33:19
  You know, I think at this time of year trend, different teams
• 33:22
  are playing for different reasons.
• 33:24
  They're motivated by different reasons.
• 33:25
  Some teams are trying to strengthen their case to get in
• 33:27
  the tournament. Some are trying to strengthen
• 33:29
  their case to improve their seed.
• 33:31
  Others are just trying to get their program started.
• 33:34
  I think back to when Matt Campbell started at Iowa State
• 33:36
  that first year, what a big deal it was when they beat Patrick
• 33:39
  Mahomes 66 to 10 at Jack Tri Stadium.
• 33:42
  How that kind of set the wheels in motion for Iowa State
• 33:45
  football to get on track. And I think that Coach Jensen is
• 33:48
  looking for that signature win to get his program on track.
• 33:51
  They have had some good wins, beating TCU, winning at West
• 33:54
  Virginia. They beat Ole Miss in the non
• 33:56
  conference, but they've also had some really head scratching
• 33:58
  losses too. But really good scoring guards
• 34:02
  and Terrence Brown, who averages over 20 a game, and Don McHenry.
• 34:05
  Those are those are Midwest guys, Minneapolis and Milwaukee,
• 34:08
  a Keanu Dawes, a very good rebounder.
• 34:11
  And then say du Treori, who we we all know right plated Iowa.
• 34:14
  He's he's they're starting small forward.
• 34:15
  So they have a decent starting 5.
• 34:18
  I, I do feel like Iowa State can come in and score the ball
• 34:21
  tonight and and have some success on the offensive end.
• 34:24
  But this is a team that got out to an 18 to 3 lead at West
• 34:28
  Virginia. Their first six shots.
• 34:29
  They're not bad offensively and so you don't want to let them
• 34:32
  get in a rhythm early in this game tonight.
• 34:34
  But if if I can base anything on what I've seen in practice over
• 34:37
  these last days since the BYU game, Iowa State will be very
• 34:41
  locked in defensively. Good stuff.
• 34:43
  Fly home after the game, John. That's correct.
• 34:46
  We'll get back in the middle of the night, but hopefully with
• 34:49
  AW. Good stuff, John.
• 34:50
  Thanks for giving us a few minutes.
• 34:51
  We always appreciate your time. John.
• 34:53
  Thank you very much. Anytime guys.
• 34:56
  Thank you. Yeah, good to talk to John
• 34:57
  Walters. John and Eric have the call
• 34:59
  tonight 7:00 on the Iowa State Radio Network flagship here on
• 35:04
  100.3. The bus Iowa State a 13 1/2
• 35:07
  point favorite according to practice.
• 35:09
  Boys are locked in. Yes, absolutely.
• 35:12
  Good to get boots on the ground out there.
• 35:14
  Absolutely. All right, Adam Emmenecker next
• 35:16
  on the Valley. We'll talk to him.
• 35:18
  Doco Pizza, 2 locations in central Iowa.
• 35:21
  They sponsor that. That's next.
• 35:22
  Miller and Condon, Iowa Sports Radio Network.
• 35:29
  Hi, Miller and Condon, welcome back.
• 35:30
  Iowa Sports Radio Network with you until 2:00.
• 35:33
  Doco Pizza, couple of locations, original location, 24th and
• 35:41
  University and that's in the Drake neighborhood.
• 35:42
  The newest location, Plaza Shops at Prairie Trails, phenomenal
• 35:47
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• 35:52
  conversation with our guy, Adam Emmenecker.
• 35:54
  Hello, Adam Emmenecker. Trenton Ken.
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  Hard to believe this is the final week of the regular season
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  in the Valley. I get that it ends, you know, a
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  week earlier than the others. You get the conference
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  tournament started. I love that fact but hard to
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  believe it's gone this fast. Isn't it?
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  I mean, I feel like as soon as we get into mid January into mid
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  February, the weeks just kind of stack on themselves.
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  Then gets a little bit warmer outside.
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  There's a different feel in the air.
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  But, you know, we're we're getting close to the NCAA
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  tournament, which is my favorite time of year.
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  Absolutely. So how does Drake pull
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  themselves out of this, what, now 7 game losing streak before
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  they head to Saint Louis? It seems like they're, you know,
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  they're locked into that Thursday game.
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  I I don't see any other way around, but but let's see if we
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  can get them these into Friday into Saturday.
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  How do they turn this around this late in the year, Adam?
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  You know what's interesting? So obviously you look at the
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  Valley standings and and it's pretty clear that Belmont at 15
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  and three, they're the one thing, right?
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  Everybody else when you go 2 through 8, they're separated by
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  at most two games. Basically 2 through 7 is up for
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  grabs and then three through 8 is up for grabs.
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  Could be any of those teams within, Drake falling right
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  outside and even Indiana State who's a few games behind them.
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  What's interesting about the league, not only is there the
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  mish bash in the middle, but both Drake and Indiana State, if
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  you look at Drake's 12 conference losses at least, I
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  think it's seven of those games. They had a lead in that game.
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  Seven of those losses, they had a lead with under 6 minutes to
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  go in the second-half. Indiana State is 3 and 15 in the
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  league. They were very, very similar.
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  So I think the recipe in the form formula is there.
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  What's it going to take in order to take home a crown in Arch
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  madness? Well, nobody's ever done it from
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  a Thursday game, So there's an uphill battle from that.
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  But I I do think the the the script is there for the potent
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  offense being a little bit more locked in on defense.
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  We'll we'll see how this group finishes the season and and what
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  the mindset is as they get to Saint Louis.
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  We know Belmont obviously is going to go in as the favorite.
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  Bradley starting to play much better basketball than we've
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  seen at different portions of the season.
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  In the gap, though, between the top of the league.
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  What you've seen out of Belmont, is it significant?
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  Would you call them a prohibitive favorite or just the
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  favorite? How would you kind of spot the
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  Bruins? Yeah, I, I think, I think
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  Belmont's in a tier of their own.
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  Aren't they a prohibitive favorite?
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  But, you know, it's hard to say. Even last year, you look at the
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  dominance that Drake had throughout the course of with
• 38:27
  Coach Ben McCollum throughout the course of the Valley season,
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  that was a dominant team. But they weren't necessarily a
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  prohibitive favorite because it is a pretty competitive
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  conference, right? And so I think let's use Drake
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  as an example, right? Two games against Belmont, the
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  the game at home, Drake was up 25 in the second-half before
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  losing to a Belmont offense that turned on in the second-half.
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  Does that mean that Belmont is guaranteed if they end up
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  playing Drake to be able to move on?
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  Well, that's that's still a tough game, right?
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  So I think Belmont is the favorite.
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  They're in a tear by themselves. And then it really comes down to
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  match ups as you think about style and who can impose their
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  will, etcetera. You have the Super physical
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  teams like the UI CS and the Valpo's that are going to get
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  after you on the defensive end and on the offense.
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  Glass, you have Northern Iowa that's going to play a pace
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  slower than everybody else. You have a team in Murray State
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  that's going to try to play faster than everybody else.
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  So it's really going to come down to matchups, but I think
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  it's going to be a fun tournament.
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  And then you got the Salukis. And if the tournament was played
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  in the state of Iowa, I'd like their chances as they come in
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  And, you know, take that, take one from Drake and then follow
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  that up with you and I when it comes to you and I, what are you
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  seeing out of the Panthers as they kind of they've treaded
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  water? They've had some good, some good
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  stretches and a couple of losses sprinkled in.
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  Didn't see the Southern Illinois loss coming, but there they are.
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  What do you see in this in this Panther group as we get set to
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  head to Saint Louis? Yeah, well, maybe one quick note
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  on SIUI Mean didn't see that coming partially because you
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  know, a few weeks ago SIU look like they were kind of left for
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  dead, but now have won four out of their last five and close
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  with Indiana State and at Evansville, two teams below them
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  in the standings. I wouldn't be surprised if SIU
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  ends up 1010 in the league. So.
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  Maybe just, you know, after being able to win potentially 6
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  out of seven to close, just a different mindset when you look
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  at that Saluki ball club. I think with you and I, you
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  know, we know the defense is going to be turned on playing
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  really well and limiting the other team away from their first
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  option, second option, etcetera. It just comes down to is the
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  team going to score enough? I think one of the things that
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  this offense has seemed to try to look for more transition
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  opportunities to potentially get open threes and attack the rim.
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  I think that's going to be huge for the Panthers in Saint Louis.
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  But remember the early exit from last year, maybe a little bit of
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  food poisoning. A couple of guys were sick, lost
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  to Valpo in the conference tournament.
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  Almost all of that team came back this year with their sights
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  set on having a better showing in Arch Madness.
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  So I think this team's going to be focused, locked in and ready.
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  It just kind of comes down to are they going to be the
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  aggressor getting to the rim and our shots going to fall?
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  Senior night coming up tomorrow night for Tray Campbell.
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  A local kid from Cedar Falls saw him play a bunch of the state
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  tournament with that program. He has been a really good player
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  in today's environment. Tray Campbell, absolutely there
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  would have been a spot for him somewhere he could have made
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  some good money. I anticipate somewhere out there
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  in the market says a lot for a local kid to stick around all
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  four years. 100% And you look at just the numbers over the course
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  of time for Trey Campbell, he has started 125 career games at
• 41:42
  you and I in four years not played, he's played 127.
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  He has been a starter since day one on campus and has just been
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  incredibly solid. Now, like, have you seen the
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  meteoric leap from Trey Campbell from year one to year 2 to year
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  three to year 4? No, but what he has done is he's
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  consistently gotten better and he is such not just steading
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  force for this team. You know, I look at him and it
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  depends. We're seeding shakes out.
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  I was going through my conference, all conference type
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  stuff. I have Trey Campbell as the
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  first team all league guy right now, especially if you and I is
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  able to avoid Thursday and play first as a top five seed on
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  Friday. And he might even be in the
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  defensive player of the year conversation.
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  Not as a guy that's going to wow you with his ability to make one
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  individual stop, but he's so solid.
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  He's in the right spots all the time, he actually lead the
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  league and defensive win shares. He is just a consummate winner
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  and it's been really fun to watch him for the last four.
• 42:39
  Years you know you you mentioned avoid Thursday and and it's kind
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  of what really but you're right and I think it has a lot to do
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  obviously the way the Salukis are playing and finishing their
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  year. You laid out what they've got
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  this weekend, both the Indiana State and Evansville below them
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  in the standings. There's AI mean northern
• 42:56
  Northern Iowa. If they want to avoid that,
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  they've essentially they better get a win this weekend or or you
• 43:01
  know, start tonight in the the weekend.
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  They better put one of these in the win column.
• 43:04
  Adam. 100% I mean, you look at, so you have Murray State at 12
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  and seven, only one game left. UIC is at 11 and 7, two games
• 43:12
  left. Then you have Illinois State,
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  Northern Iowa and Valpo all at 10:00 and 8:00.
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  And you have SIU at 8:00 and 10:00.
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  If you see SIU winning those two games, again, they're at 10 and
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  10, they're going to be tied with one of those teams above
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  them. But you see how quickly you and
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  I could be the three seed or they could be in the probably
• 43:32
  that. 7. Tied with somebody else, that's
• 43:35
  that's a pretty big difference. And it also, you know, matters
• 43:38
  for speeding, the potential to play over the course of the
• 43:42
  weekend, maybe your chances for the NCAA tournament.
• 43:44
  It factors into individual awards as well as well.
• 43:47
  Of the newbies, who's going to travel?
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  Belmont fans going to show up. We're not talking about huge
• 43:51
  schools. Murray State, who shows up out
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  of this new group and help fill up the building.
• 43:57
  Yeah, you know that that's a tough one and it's a great
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  question and I know that's getting thrown out around the
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  league. The most rabid fan base of the
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  newbies, Belmont, Murray State and UIC is Murray State.
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  Murray State is the one that draws the best.
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  They get 5 or 6000 in their arena for every single game.
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  That is the sleeping giant of Valley schools where that could
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  be just an absolute massive amount of people coming to Saint
• 44:23
  Louis. It's not that far away either.
• 44:25
  You know, the other team that we just have, we haven't seen a
• 44:27
  lot, we haven't seen their fans make an appearance just because
• 44:31
  of where they finished in the standings.
• 44:32
  Is SIURSIU fans Traditionally they have, they have encompassed
• 44:38
  St. Louis.
• 44:39
  If you think back to, you know, their days in the early 2000s,
• 44:42
  it was SIU, it was Creighton, it was Wichita State.
• 44:44
  Those were the three big fan bases.
• 44:47
  I think when you look around the league, you're hoping to be able
• 44:49
  to unlock Murray State and getting some of those fans.
• 44:52
  But I think SIU is a bit of a sleeping giant as well.
• 44:54
  Good stuff. Paducah, KY Drove Biden and
• 44:57
  drove by the campus last week. Good stuff Adam and Ecka.
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  Are you working the tournament next week, Adam?
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  Yes, Yep, I'll be there doing sideline stuff.
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  So I head down Wednesday, a bunch of team shoot arounds and
• 45:09
  then the action starts on Thursday.
• 45:10
  Good. We'll talk to you on Tuesday.
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  Appreciate you doing this, Adam. Thank you very much.
• 45:13
  Talk to you next week. Sounds good.
• 45:16
  Thanks guys. Good to talk to you Adam
• 45:17
  Amenecker, former player of the year in the Valley.
• 45:20
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  the metro, salads, wings and catering as well.
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  Doko Pizza. Check them out
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  onlinedokopizza.com. Our number 2 right ahead of us
• 45:33
  will get into the brackets with Dave Omen.
• 45:35
  Brackettville is his site and we'll talk to our buddy Jeff
• 45:40
  Hughes. The Bears really moving to
• 45:42
  Indiana will pick his brain on that.
• 45:44
  Miller and Condon, you're listening to the Iowa Sports
• 45:46
  Radio Network.