Latest / The Lunch Rush with Trent Condon / Bracket talk with Dave Ommen, Bears Stadium with Jeff Hughes & Trent's Picks presented by Circa Sports

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Bracket talk with Dave Ommen, Bears Stadium with Jeff Hughes & Trent's Picks presented by Circa Sports · The Lunch Rush with Trent Condon

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All right, our number 2 Miller and Condon welcome back Iowa
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Sports Radio Network flagship is Des Moines sports station one O
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6.3 KXNO. We'll take you until just before
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the top of the hour. Still to come, Jeff Hughes, he
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covers the Bears, the Chicago Bears, the Bears blog.com, the
0:17
latest on the the locale as to where they'll put a shovel in
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the ground and begin to I guess the next home of Chicago Bears.
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Will it be in Illinois or Indiana?
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Jeff Hughes on that trends, plays of the day, circus sports
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sponsor those those coming up here at about 10 minutes or so
0:34
before 2:00. A lot of games tonight.
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Dave Oman is our bracket guy, bracketville.wordpress.com.
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Dave joins us. Dave Trenton.
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Ken, thank you as always for doing this.
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We appreciate this time of year and the fact that you're willing
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to give us time on a weekly basis.
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So I guess I'll start with going back to Saturday, Dave, watching
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Mission and Duke play that incredibly high level game of
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basketball. What did you learn watching that
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game that maybe you didn't know? Are these two teams dead even
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when you watch them go head to head?
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Did you identify maybe an edge that one team has over the
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other? What did you learn watching
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Michigan and Duke, Dave? Well, as you mentioned, it was a
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very high level basketball game. And I think if I would say what
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I learned is, you know, they're two teams that have not only a
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lot of talent, but a lot of balance and a lot of potential
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to have long runs in the upcoming NCAA tournament.
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So, you know, that day, Duke's defense got the better of
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Michigan. But you know what, if they
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played 10 times, each of them might win five of those games.
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So that's, you know, there it was a really good basketball
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game that could have gone either way.
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Credit the Blue Devils for winning that.
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And with the closing schedules of those teams, if potentially,
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you know, sets Duke up to still be now the number one overall
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seed when we get to Selection Sunday in three weeks or so.
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And that's, of course, assuming that, you know, Duke finishes
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strong and, you know, wins the ACC tournament.
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But they're in position now to be that number one overall seed.
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We also got the bracket reveal that came out on Saturday before
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everything got started and and with it, there was maybe some
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head scratching going on. Texas Tech was one of them.
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The JT top and injury had happened, but we also hadn't
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seen them on the floor. And I guess when it comes to
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injuries, I think a lot of us would go back to Kenny and
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Martin in that Conference USA, Cincinnati, the number one team
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in the country. He breaks his foot and they
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dropped to a number two seed injuries.
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Is it and do you have to see the way that these teams play in
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order to really evaluate them fully and say we do see a major
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entry in a conference tournament, how that's going to
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impact these teams come seeding time?
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Well, it's a difficult call because, you know, every
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situation is a little bit different.
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I mean, throughout the year teams will have a player or two
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missing from, you know, a game here, there, you know, twisted
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ankle or sickness or something else.
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So the committee takes results as what they are.
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Now that information can be discussed in the committee room
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as to well this player was missing or these two players
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were missing this game. It doesn't change the result.
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It doesn't give it to him a win or give a team a loss, but it
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can be part of an evaluation when it comes to succeeding.
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In particular, you know, in the case now of JT Topping, he's
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obviously going to be out for the year.
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And so in the Kenyon Martin case that happened in the conference
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tournament, the committee didn't have really any time to adjust.
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But he was such a dynamic player, the decision was
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basically made to drop them. They didn't feel they were the
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same to be a one seed, so they dropped them to A2.
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If I kind of get the gist. I think heading in Texas Tech
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probably would have been a three seed on Saturday's reveal.
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Instead they ended up at the top of the four line.
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I think from there now it's going to be fair to for the
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committee to pay close attention and see how does Texas Tech
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finish the season. I think we can all say they're
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not going to be the same team without a player of his caliber
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as they would be. But we also, and they don't want
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to just automatically tumble A-Team because they assume
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they're not going to be the same when they still have potentially
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5 more games to play or six depending on how the conference
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tournament goes. We saw a couple of teams last
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night, Kansas kind of an enigma, right?
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They lose the Cincinnati get blown out at home and here comes
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big Monday and now they're 41 and on big Monday beat a really
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good Houston team that earlier in the night we'd watched North
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Carolina playing without Caleb Williams.
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VSR was back on on the floor and he's a he's a obviously a big
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part of that team as well. But when you look at North
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Carolina and what they did beating Louisville and I know
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that they'll finish the regular season.
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I love the fact that you know that we get Duke in North
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Carolina on the final day of the regular season every single year
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on North Carolina and Kansas. When you look at those two teams
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in a vacuum, what do you see? Do you see a North Carolina team
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that you know, don't sleep on this team?
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Do you see a Kansas team is depending on what day you watch
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them, you think that they may be boys for run.
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What about Tar Heels and Jayhawks, Dave?
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Well, you know, it's a it's interesting because they both
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have their ups and downs. I mean, Kansas at their best,
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you know, I think is a team that can be an Elite eight team or
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even, you know, in the right draw get to a potentially a
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Final Four. And we saw that kind of, you
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know, performance last night. But they've also been
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inconsistent this year, and you're not sure what you're
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going to get in North Carolina. I think in their case, it's been
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a little bit the same. Now, obviously, even though the
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ACC is much improved this year over last year, it still is not
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as deep as the Big 10 or the Big 12.
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So, you know, for me, Kansas would still be a stronger pick
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to go further. But again, if Caleb Wilson comes
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back and is able to play, which it sounds like it's, there's a
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possibility he could do that. That could still become part of
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North Carolina's evaluation. Either way, I think Carolina's
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probably going to end up between, you know, A4 to a, you
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know, a six seat in there depending on how they finish.
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Kansas most likely on the high end now, I think, you know, they
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could still sneak to the back end of the two line and they
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could also end up was like a four seat or worst case scenario
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at the top of the five lines. So I think Kansas is probably
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more like a three to four upper end of a 2.
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Carolina's probably a four to five.
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I don't know that there's enough wins left for them to beat or to
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bypass some of the teams ahead of them to get to the three
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line, but we'll see how it plays out.
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So we go back to where we started the conversation,
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Michigan and Duke, that there were reports from a couple of
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different places that Michigan had said they want to go through
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Philadelphia the 1st 2 rounds and then Chicago if they are the
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number one overall seed. It is just the number one
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overall seed that gets that choice.
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And then Dusty May yesterday says wait, wait, wait.
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We haven't made that determination yet.
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So he's pushing back a little bit.
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Do you read anything at all into that though?
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Buffalo is closer to Ann Arbor then Philadelphia, obviously a
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lot easier to get to Philly coupled with a lot more alumni
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living there as opposed to it. What did you take away from the
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report? And then Michigan San or Dusty
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may say, not so fast. Yeah, I don't.
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You know, I guess my take away from afar would be you are
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correct, the number one overall seed would get their pick not
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only of region, but where they start out.
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Obviously, if Duke were the number one overall now, which we
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think they probably would be, they would choose Greenville and
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the East. So it wouldn't be a big scenario
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and Michigan would probably still end up in Buffalo.
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But if Michigan were to end back up at #1 overall, they would
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have the pick. Whether or not that statement
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came out of them wanting Philadelphia over Buffalo or
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Saint Louis is true. You know, I really can't speak
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to that. I don't know if there's
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obviously would be a reason that they would want to go to
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Philadelphia. My first thought they might
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prefer like, you know, Saint Louis, Chicago, out of the
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Midwest and then to Indy. But again, that's about all I
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can really say because I don't know what's going on.
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Him walking it back a little bit maybe just suggest that either
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something got leaked it wasn't supposed to, or maybe they
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really haven't made-up their mind yet.
8:49
I want to ask you about Cincinnati.
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I know you have them like 8 teams out there on the the first
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four out, then the next 4 out, and they're right at the bottom
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of that list. They got two really good wins,
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beating, yes, at home, but beating Iowa State when Iowa
9:03
State was ranked #2 in the country and then walking into to
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Lawrence this past weekend. There's seven and seven in
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conference play. They still got a couple of
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ranked teams ahead of them, BYU being one of them, Texas Tech,
9:14
the other Texas Tech injury BYU, that game is in Cincinnati.
9:18
Is Cincinnati a team that perhaps, depending on how
9:23
everything falls in front of them, don't eliminate the
9:26
Bearcats just yet because there is that opportunity for them to
9:30
work their way up? Yeah.
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I mean, when you go back and you look, you know, wins over Iowa
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State, as you mentioned in January and then that, you know,
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really huge win on the road to Kansas gives them a shot if they
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can finish strong to be in that conversation.
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This is where it's always the time to remind people though is
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is, you know, as fans, we all get enamored with what we've
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seen recently in particular, good or bad.
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Sometimes we either get really down on our team or we get
10:02
really up on our team. What Cincinnati has done
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recently is played much better in the past two to three weeks.
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Put themselves in a position now to potentially be back in that
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conversation on the at large board, but we also can't forget.
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That you know their non. Conference season, yeah, you
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know that they lost to Louisville, they lost to
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Georgia, they lost to Clemson, they lost to Xavier, they lost
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to Eastern Michigan, who has a quad for a loss at home.
10:31
So you know, they're they're really only non conference win
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of note was Dayton, who was a non contender.
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So they had two great wins and then they also have a win over
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UCF and Baylor. So those are all solid victory,
10:45
which is now put them in a position to be back into the
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discussion. But they're going to have to
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finish this off and potentially still get a little bit of help
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from, you know, some other people.
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But if, you know, if they go three and one down the stretch,
11:00
win a game in the Big 12 tournament, I think, you know,
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they're at least going to be what we would call on the at
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large board. And then we'll see if some of
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their metrics like the winds above bubble and the strength of
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record come down into a territory that would also match
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up with them potentially getting a pick.
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Talking with Dave Omen as we go inside the brackets.
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You can find him at Bracketville.
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Dave, want to go to the local front?
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Let's start with Iowa. Lost three out of four.
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People are freaking out and they're not even going to make
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the tournament. Still a long way there for them
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to fall. If they're going to fall out of
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the bracket. You currently have them as a
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seven seed, travel down to Oklahoma City, take on A&M in
11:38
the first round and then potentially Houston in the round
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of 32. When you look at the Hawkeye
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resume, had that ugly loss that is now a quad three loss against
11:46
Maryland. What do you see with the
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Hawkeyes? Well, they're a little bit on
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back kind of where they were maybe two or three weeks ago.
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They're sort of at a precipice point now, right where they can
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either kind of hold where they are and their resume matches up
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with their metrics, which is kind of where I have them right
12:06
now, right along that 7-8 line. Or do they take a little bit of
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a tumble and end up closer, you know, 910 or even get back into
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that, you know, lower end of the bracket?
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I mean, they get a home game with Ohio State this week and
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then a game at Penn State. Those should be two games that
12:27
they win. And then, you know, you close
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with home Michigan and at Nebraska.
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So that's why I say these next two are going to be really
12:36
important for Iowa because I don't think you want to be
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riding a three-game losing streak with another quad three
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loss going hosting Michigan and then going to Nebraska.
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That could potentially change their equation.
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Their metrics are very solid right now and holding.
12:51
So we're going to see how this week goes against Ohio State and
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Penn State. Then that will sort of hate help
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shape the direction as to whether they're sort of in that
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7-8 category or whether they're looking more maybe at A at a 910
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going into the final a couple of weeks.
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Iowa State, you have them as a 2.
13:09
Is there a chance that they can get back to 1?
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They've still got Saturday hosting Texas Tech, but Monday
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they go to Tucson to take on Arizona.
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Obviously a very tough hill to climb as the as the Cats are
13:21
really good. But if they can, if they can
13:25
pick off those two teams and get through the remaining of the
13:28
schedule 4 and O, is there that one line still in play?
13:33
Oh, absolutely. I mean, I think what we now is
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we have a race for that final number one seat.
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I mean, Connecticut's back in that spot today.
13:42
But you could still get a second Big 12 team like Iowa State
13:47
would be in position to potentially still get there.
13:51
I think there's still a chance you could have a second Big 10
13:54
team with either Purdue or Illinois.
13:58
If they were, you know, Illinois and Michigan play this weekend.
14:03
If they both finished strong and did some additional noise in
14:06
their tournament, you know, that's probably, you know, where
14:10
we are. Houston now is a little bit
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further behind, I would think, with their ability to make up
14:15
ground. I mean, their schedule is a
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little more favorable down the stretch, so they would still be
14:22
in a conversation with their metrics.
14:24
So UConn doesn't have it wrapped up, but they're probably the in
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the pole position right now if they take care of business the
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rest of the way. Dave, every single year we hear
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a lot of it's a soft bubble, the bubbles really not very good
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this year. Is that just what it is?
14:38
Every single year at this point, we're talking about really
14:40
flawed basketball teams getting into the bracket.
14:44
Yeah. I mean, I, you know, depending
14:45
on how you want to say it, I think we call it soft because
14:48
generally speaking, several of the teams down there, you look
14:52
and you go, well, we got to take two of them and so somebody's
14:56
going to get in. So to your point, yes, I mean,
14:59
if there is a reason that they're bubble teams, they all
15:02
have some degree of something on their resume that just isn't
15:06
complete. So it becomes, you know, the the
15:09
best of what you have left and the hard part right now is we
15:14
can have an idea of what that's going to look like in reality,
15:19
in a lot of years, we lose at loose at least two at large
15:22
spots during championship week. And so the bubble then contracts
15:29
and we end up losing a couple of spots.
15:32
You know, just if you if you project ahead, obviously, you
15:36
know, Saint Louis looks like a very strong candidate to get an
15:39
at large bid either way at this point.
15:41
So if VCU or somebody else were to win the A10 tournament, that
15:46
could take a spot. Utah State out of the Mountain
15:49
West seems in a very good position to to be an at large
15:53
team at this spot. So if San Diego State or New
15:56
Mexico or Nevada or somebody else comes up and wins that,
16:00
that could take a spot. And so those are some of the
16:03
variances. And if, you know, we expect the
16:06
West Coast to probably get, you know, two teams in.
16:09
But if either Saint Mary's or Santa Clara or somebody else
16:13
wins it, you know, then you definitely going to have another
16:15
couple spots. So those are just sort of things
16:18
to pay attention to as we head down the stretch.
16:22
Oh, great time of year. Dave Ohman, Brackenville is his
16:25
site brackenville.wordpress.com. Dave, thanks for doing this as
16:28
always. Appreciate it and we'll talk to
16:31
you next week. Thank you, Dave Ullman.
16:33
All right. Sounds good.
16:34
Thank you. Good to talk to you, Dave
16:36
Ullman, as we check in on the brackets.
16:38
Fascinating. So three of the ones are taken
16:40
fair, I think it is. Arizona would be I think the
16:45
iffiest one just because of the difficult nature of the Big 12
16:47
and what they still have in front of them.
16:49
Because when you look at the Wildcats, obviously great resume
16:52
right now Arizona say they lose 2.
16:57
They've got Kansas and Iowa State.
16:59
Who else do they have? Nobody else is probably going to
17:02
beat them at Baylor, at Colorado.
17:03
But say they lose both of those games, 4 losses before losses in
17:08
their last eight get knocked off even in the semifinals.
17:12
I don't think that's a lock. Probably they're going to get
17:16
there. And because both of those games,
17:17
you feel really good about that. But I would put them third in
17:21
the pecking order because Duke, who's pushing them no line at
17:24
the end of the regular season, No.
17:26
That'll be a good game. Virginia and the ACC tournament,
17:28
maybe? Where?
17:31
Where's the North Carolina game? That one Cameron indoor, right,
17:34
that is going to be yes, back in Cameron.
17:36
They also get Virginia, but that's at home coming up this
17:38
Saturday. You know, I love the who's
17:41
they're in good shape at Michigan.
17:44
They just look cut above everybody in the Big 10.
17:46
Pretty significant. In fact, a win against the
17:48
Gophers tonight they clinch at least a share of the regular
17:51
season title with three more games still to play left in the
17:54
regular season. Therefore, that's the reason why
17:56
DraftKings has not posted the odds on the conference Beat the
18:00
Gophers tonight. And how big of a favorite are
18:02
they to do that, do you know? 22O Jesus, you want to play the
18:07
Wolverines? You got to lay a price tonight
18:10
so if. Free bet $100 right now.
18:14
Who's going to? Who's going to cut down the
18:15
Nets? How many teams?
18:19
How many teams is it between in your mind?
18:22
6 or 7. But it for for the $100,
18:26
regardless of odds, you know, I want you to take a team because
18:29
they're six to one. OK, I.
18:30
Want you to cash your ticket? Just want to cash.
18:32
This is 2 cash I believe most in this is hard.
18:44
I think it's the two teams have played on Saturday.
18:46
Yeah, Michigan. It's Michigan.
18:49
And Duke, Michigan has gone through long stretches, though,
18:52
where they can't hit shots. But in the other game, they
18:55
they're just bludgeoning teams. They are.
18:58
They're also from the Big 10. I.
19:00
Get it? Things are going to be
19:01
officiated differently, you know, once they get to the
19:03
tournament, maybe that that great athleticism and size that
19:08
they have not quite there. Dukes loaded and they go 427
19:12
from three. How did they lose in the Elite
19:15
8? That's how.
19:17
So you're not so Michigan? You're not betting Michigan?
19:19
Nope. All right, it's probably Duke.
19:21
Probably Duke. It's probably they're loaded,
19:23
absolutely loaded. All right, you want to go see
19:25
that Ohio State game doctor Steven Fuller?
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19:43
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Two locations, SW 8th St. in Altoona and 29th St. in Des
19:57
Moines. Back to Talk Bears with Jeff
20:00
Hughes to bearsblog.com, Miller and Condon, Iowa Sports Radio
20:03
Network. I'm Hillary Condon, welcome back
20:08
Iowa Sports Radio Network, wherever you're listening in the
20:11
state of I we're so glad you are.
20:12
We'll take you up until oh, just before 2:00 Transplays of the
20:16
day still to come circus sports sponsor those.
20:19
We're going to talk some bears where they're moving, where
20:21
they're going to play their games, etcetera, etcetera with
20:23
our buddy Jeff used a bears blog.com.
20:26
But before we get into the bears with Jeff, I, I good to talk to
20:30
you. By the way, brother, it's been a
20:32
while. Follow you on Twitter and I saw
20:35
your ten favorite TV shows and I'm so glad one of them made the
20:38
list. I don't watch a lot of of of
20:40
shows, but man, I was a huge Fawlty Towers fan.
20:43
That show is so underrated, Basil, so underrated.
20:48
It's such a great show and I'm glad it made your list.
20:52
One of the things about British television and the advantage
20:55
they have over American sitcoms is that they only made twelve of
20:59
these episodes. Is that all it was?
21:01
It's two years, 6 episodes each. And if you think about the
21:05
American sitcom on on broadcast TV, they were forced to make 23
21:10
episodes a year. So Fawlty Towers had the
21:14
advantage of the best writers in England.
21:16
Of course, John Lee's an absolute legend, but there there
21:19
is not a down moment on that series.
21:22
And if your audience wants to dabble, there's an episode
21:25
called The Germans. And all of us Fawlty Towers fans
21:28
will tell you, don't mention the war.
21:31
I mentioned it once, but I think I got away with it is one of the
21:34
funniest lines ever delivered on television.
21:37
And every time I show Fawlty Towers to someone they it stays
21:41
with them for the rest of. Their life, it's brilliant.
21:43
What's the what was the Butler's name?
21:45
Miguel. Yes, that's it.
21:47
I couldn't think of it. Anyways, good stuff and sorry
21:50
for taking the audience down that road.
21:51
But it's such a good show. And I did not know that I
21:54
learned something from you, Jeff.
21:55
He was not like that. So let me continue down this
21:59
learning process, this segment where the Bears going to play.
22:02
What's going on here in your mind, Jeff?
22:05
So, so let me give you the quick back story here.
22:07
So the league has been very concerned and that's when I say
22:11
the league, I mean the 32 owners, there is no league.
22:14
There are 32 very wealthy groups that own these teams, and they
22:18
are very concerned about the sale prices of some of these
22:21
teams. They thought the Panthers went
22:23
for a light number. They thought the Commanders went
22:26
for almost a billion less than expected.
22:28
And one of the things they are concerned about is the idea of a
22:32
potential Mccaskey sale of the Chicago Bears.
22:35
While the Bears don't own a stadium, a stadium puts another
22:39
billion dollars on the deal. They want the Bears, if they're
22:43
sold, to sell for north of $9 billion.
22:47
So the Bears did their job and bought the property in Arlington
22:50
Heights. Ted Phillips was ready to walk
22:52
away. The deal was done.
22:54
The state had been worked out, and they brought Kevin Warren in
22:57
to just simply build the state. That's the thing he had done so
23:01
well in Minnesota. That's the thing they wanted him
23:03
to do here. And it's just been botched every
23:06
day since that decision was made.
23:09
The state is now battling over infrastructure upgrades that are
23:14
required in Arlington Heights. You got the governor of Illinois
23:18
who wants to be the president of the United States.
23:20
That plays a factor in they're dabbling with Indiana now.
23:23
Indiana, you know, close to to where they are now.
23:27
But that's going to come with a huge backlash from the fan base
23:30
if it happens. And there are people in Chicago
23:33
who still want them to stay in Chicago.
23:36
And listen, I think ultimately this deal is going to get done
23:39
in Arlington Heights and that will be the next home of the
23:42
Chicago Bears. But man, after the season, they
23:45
just had to be this incompetent on something that just, it's
23:49
just never this dramatic for any other organization.
23:53
These are just done deals. You find property, you build the
23:56
stadium, game over. But no, with this organization,
24:00
with this ownership, these kinds of things always are dramatic.
24:05
Absolutely. We had some grandstanding
24:06
happening in our state. That's.
24:08
Unbelievable that tried to get them to come.
24:09
That's not going to happen. The Hammond thing, people, I see
24:14
plenty of them struggling that the Chicago Bears aren't going
24:17
to play in Chicago and it's going to be in another state and
24:20
it happens across the league. This happens all over the place.
24:22
The distances that are out there with NFL stadiums, the actual
24:25
city where a majority of the population comes from, it's all
24:28
over the place. There is this Much Ado about
24:30
nothing, because it definitely feels that way to me, Jeff.
24:33
I, I, I don't think it's a big deal.
24:35
You know, if the Giants and Jets play in New Jersey and the
24:38
Commanders play in Maryland and it's, it's not that it's not
24:44
that big of a deal. The big deal for me, and I've
24:47
been dying on this vine now since all this stuff started.
24:51
I just am so bored of these suburban stadiums.
24:55
They all look alike. They all play alike on TV.
24:58
They all have retractable roofs. So we lose any chance of that
25:03
weather game in the post season and we had a couple of them this
25:06
year that were just brilliant and fun to watch.
25:09
We are going to the era now of the cookie cutter stadium where
25:13
people get real excited about the prospect of hosting a Final
25:16
Four and a big Jumbotron and don't mind that they're getting
25:19
moved further and further from the action by the owners.
25:22
I will tell any Bears fans watching, this stadium will not
25:26
be built for you. This stadium will not be built
25:29
to enhance your experience watching the Chicago Bears play.
25:33
It will be built for corporate sponsors.
25:35
It will be built for other events.
25:37
But it will never be built with the fan in mind.
25:40
And I will tell you, if you want a case study, go to MetLife in
25:44
the Swamp in New Jersey and see what they have done to that
25:48
building and how they have destroyed the fan experience.
25:52
These are never built for the fan.
25:55
They want the fans, but they want the fans money to build.
25:57
Yeah, no doubt about it. It clearly is built to swamp the
26:00
area around the stadium. It's unbelievable.
26:03
So the ship has sailed on Soldier Field remaining the home
26:06
with with renovations, right. That's that's out of the
26:09
equation. There's no way they will
26:10
continue in the future to play Soldier Field with ever changes,
26:14
whatever upgrades that that they want.
26:17
And is there is there any chance that gets agreed to or is that
26:20
gone? Listen, I'm holding out hope,
26:23
But my friend Rick Pearson, who's the chief political writer
26:25
of the Chicago Tribune, I asked him this three times a week.
26:28
And I say, is this a possibility?
26:31
And all Rick tells me is there's no money.
26:34
There's just no money. There's no money to do the kind
26:37
of work that they would want to do.
26:39
And also, there's no scenario where that building is going to
26:43
be handed over to the Bears. And one of the reasons is the
26:47
Bears are only about 1520% of the revenue generated by Soldier
26:51
Fields over the course of a year, right?
26:53
They're only there 8-9 times a year.
26:55
So that building is very valuable to the city of Chicago.
26:59
And if the Bears want to own their own place, it just seems
27:03
like they have to get out of the city proper.
27:05
And the league is going to lose something now as we go to a
27:09
league of 32 teams where there's really no city building.
27:12
And I, I don't, anybody who's been to Soldier Field, walking
27:16
with that crowd back into the city is just one of the great
27:19
experiences in sports, especially after a loss where
27:22
it's just gallows humor for 2 miles.
27:26
And I don't know, I mean, I, again, I think they're going to
27:30
end up in Arlington Heights. This is going to be another
27:32
suburban building. And if you think traffic is
27:35
going to get better, I just beg you to go to any other suburban
27:38
building where traffic just gets worse and worse and worse.
27:44
But it's where the league is headed.
27:45
The value of the franchise usurps all.
27:48
And that's where the Bears are now.
27:49
If it doesn't happen in Arlington Heights, make you
27:51
predict it will but say it doesn't for whatever reason,
27:55
what happens with that site, with the bears ownership that
27:57
own it? What do you do with that plot of
27:59
land? Because you're not going to get
28:01
the return on investment, I don't think, unless you have
28:03
somebody that can develop at an incredibly high rate.
28:06
I think they would just try to sell it and if they have to take
28:09
a loss on it, they would. I don't.
28:10
What I've been told is that that property is immensely valuable
28:14
to developers. They can put housing in there.
28:16
They can do a lot with that property.
28:18
But this is this is the the issue here.
28:21
They bought that property with one explicit purpose in mind.
28:25
They promised these dreams of an entertainment district, which
28:28
anybody who knows how that goes down with these suburban
28:30
stadiums, just empty buildings 350 days a year.
28:34
And I think they'd probably just have to sell property off.
28:38
But that's also a reason why the logic to me just plays out that
28:43
way. They bought this property.
28:46
They bought it with this intention.
28:48
I just feel like a deal gets done with the state of Illinois
28:51
and that's where they end up. Going knocked down what was a
28:53
palace of a racetrack in Arlington Park behind it was
28:56
beautiful, no doubt about it. All right away from the stadium.
28:59
What's the number one issue for the Chicago Bears this
29:02
offseason? I think the number one issue for
29:05
this team is how do you do to the defensive line this
29:08
offseason what you did to the offensive line last off season.
29:12
That's that's for me, the only spur that matters.
29:15
I think they're going to be a top five, top seven offense no
29:18
matter what's on the roster. I think that's how good the
29:21
coaches, that's how good the quarterback is and the
29:23
quarterback is only going to get better.
29:25
They've got to find a way to strengthen that D line both
29:29
against the run and explicitly against the path.
29:32
And I think that will be one of their singular for focuses here
29:35
this offseason. We're entering a very nice phase
29:37
of Chicago Bears football. The offseasons are just not
29:40
going to be as important. You have to coach the
29:42
quarterback, right? But this team has the singular
29:45
focus and the singular need. They know where they've got to
29:48
improve and it's along that defensive line.
29:51
On the other line, the offensive line saw polls earlier today,
29:55
Ryan pulls the GM mentioned that they believe Ozzy Tarpillo,
29:59
though not career ending injury, they anticipate he's going to be
30:02
out for, if not all the season, most of this season coming up.
30:06
Just absolutely devastating there.
30:08
They don't want too many to be left tackle, certainly not full
30:10
time, only maybe a guy that rotates over there in case of
30:14
injury. So what's the planet left
30:15
tackle? What do you do?
30:16
And when you're rebuilding this offensive line and you got the
30:19
right side with Wright and Jackson, see you feel good about
30:21
that. Is there a one year rental out
30:24
there? Is there something you can do in
30:25
the short term and the interim until your pillow comes back?
30:28
What do you do? I think you have to operate as
30:30
if you're never going to see your pillow at full strength
30:32
again and be pleasantly and be pleasantly surprised if two
30:35
years from now he's back. I think if you're looking at
30:40
this draft in those first couple of rounds, the only thing that
30:43
would detract them or, or, or or keep them from drafting A
30:47
defensive lineman would be if they identify an offensive
30:50
tackle who they think could be a starter right away.
30:53
And I, I will see how free agency shakes out.
30:55
But the one thing I would be I would be wary of left tackles
30:59
and right tackles. They get paid an awful lot of
31:02
money in free agency and you don't need to spend that kind of
31:06
money on a line with the other four guys are really good.
31:09
So, you know, maybe Braxton Jones comes back next year,
31:13
maybe Benedict comes back next year.
31:15
They can, you know, get those guys to improve.
31:18
We forget that Braxton Jones was a was a serviceable left tackle
31:22
in this league who never recovered from injuries last
31:25
year. So it'll be interesting to see
31:27
if they can just piece that position together.
31:29
But it's a pillow injury from everything I've been told is is
31:33
devastating. And I think they'll be very
31:36
surprised if he plays meaningful snaps at all next year.
31:39
Another note from the the combine and Ryan polls that the
31:42
Bears have continued to receive phone calls about Tyson Tyson
31:46
badge and after he kind of became a star, he's got the
31:49
background with his dad and the arm wrestling champion and all
31:51
that. I think that endeared him to a
31:53
lot of people out there. He's looked competent when he's
31:56
been there. But you got your quarterback.
31:58
You feel obviously that you have your franchise quarterback.
32:02
What? Kind of.
32:02
Doctor felt like they had their franchise quarterback, too.
32:06
What kind of return, though, is are you going to get for Beijing
32:10
a fifth round or something like that?
32:11
Better. Better than that.
32:12
I don't understand. For me in this modern league
32:16
with the concussion protocol and the way injuries happen, I don't
32:19
even understand why they're entertaining.
32:20
I agree. Unless someone comes to them and
32:23
says here's a first round pick, which is not going to happen.
32:26
They like Tyson Bates, they like him in the locker room.
32:29
They paid up the last offseason. If someone blows you away with a
32:32
package where you're like, well, we have to do this deal, then
32:35
you do it. But I, I mean, I keep saying
32:37
about the Broncos, where are the Broncos right now?
32:40
If they had a serviceable backup quarterback that they like, I
32:43
know they like Jared Stidham, but that was a horrific
32:45
performance and I keep going back to there's a thing that
32:51
fans do now where they just get hungry and excited about picks.
32:56
It's just flips of the coin. You've got a good quarterback
32:59
and a backup quarterback that you can trust.
33:02
I don't see any reason to break that room up unless you are
33:05
wowed by something in an offer. If it's if the Cardinals throw
33:09
some defensive lineman in that you want, OK, now you're
33:12
improving your team. But I'm just not trading Tyson
33:15
Bay, the guy you should be paying a little bit more
33:17
attention to. And I heard polls comments
33:19
today, they do seem open to moving DJ Moore.
33:23
And I think if they can move DJ Moore to a place to strengthen
33:27
that defensive line, that could be the kind of connection that
33:30
it's rare in the NFL to see player for player moves.
33:33
But I think DJ Moore is the kind of step in on any team and make
33:37
them better immediately. So it could happen with somebody
33:39
like DJ Moore. Is Comet on his way out, do you
33:41
think? I hope not, because Caleb
33:44
Williams seems to really trust him and I know that the Bears
33:47
love his versatility. And I'll add this, you might
33:50
have a hole at one of your tackles next year.
33:52
I'm not exactly giving up on a really good blocking tight end
33:56
right now. This offseason, I I think
33:58
they'll find a way to bring them back because so many times last
34:02
year when Caleb Williams needed a big throw or a big target, it
34:06
was Cole commit that he looks for.
34:08
So I I love the idea of a commit Loveland combo next year.
34:12
Loveland, of course, just took our breath away really this
34:14
season, yeah, I'm not breaking up this offense if I can help
34:19
it. That's this is the new Chicago
34:21
Bears. That offense is the strength,
34:23
use the draft, get better on defense.
34:26
But I'm not I'm not I'm not breaking up a group that just
34:29
electrifies the city for 18 weeks.
34:31
I'm. With you pageant you should not
34:32
even answer the phone and and commence the level player.
34:35
Good stuff Jeff Hughes, love talking to you.
34:37
Appreciate the contribution as always and well done on Fawlty
34:40
Towers. Thanks pal.
34:42
Talk to you later. Good to talk to you, Jeff
34:44
Hughes, the Bears blog.com. What about running back?
34:47
Free agent running back Where? Where are you with where they
34:50
got Swift and the the kid from Rutgers?
34:52
What's his name? Escapes me Menonga.
34:55
Menonga Yes. No running backs.
35:01
Breece Hall. You mean you got to pay a lot?
35:05
No thanks. Yeah.
35:06
Kenneth Walker, you. Got to pay a lot, no?
35:10
And the other one would be. That's a luxury item.
35:12
Yeah, you're fine back there. OK quarterback can run around,
35:16
make plays, got good receivers. Spend the money on a defensive
35:18
end that can get to the. Quarterback Trey Hendrickson.
35:21
Sure. A run stuffer that's fix the
35:24
defensive line, get better up front, figure out what you're
35:27
doing at left tackle. Those are way ahead of me.
35:29
Then I know running back splash, Yes.
35:32
Fantasy guy. Yeah, those kind of things are
35:34
fun. You went up front, you got a
35:37
franchise quarterback. Yeah.
35:38
You. Do you have a franchise
35:39
quarterback? For the first time in my 45
35:41
years on earth, I can say that the Bears have a franchise
35:45
quarterback. And the Bears are the defending
35:48
champions of the NFC North. That's pretty nice too.
35:50
Indeed, 11:00 and 6:00 this past year.
35:53
All right, Trent's going to make some plays when we come back.
35:55
Iowa State is a 13 1/2 point favorite over Utah.
35:58
Tonight. We had John Walters early in the
36:02
program. Boys are spitting nails ready to
36:05
go. By the sounds of things,
36:06
practice has not been a fun place to be since Saturday.
36:09
I'd love to watch him practice. And I'm surprised, and I'm kind
36:14
of not at the same time, that even this deep late into the
36:17
regular season, they're still practicing as hard as they are.
36:20
That's what they do, you know. But you made the point earlier,
36:24
they kind of, you know, petered down, petered out down the
36:26
stretch last couple of years. I think it's four out of the
36:29
five years under odds. You look at late season.
36:33
In fact, I was looking about that because I knew we were
36:34
going to have John on. I'm going to bring it up here
36:36
because I I think it is interesting and kind of
36:38
pertinent to the conversation. All right, you're number one.
36:42
They lose their final two games to the regular season.
36:46
They lose in the first round of the tournament.
36:47
Now they got to the Sweet 16 and the only path they could, they
36:51
played LSU, a slow down team, and Wisconsin, a slow down team.
36:54
That was the only way that team was getting there and they did
36:56
started to them, but it worked out incredibly well.
36:59
Even before that though, to begin February, they had a
37:01
four-game losing streak. They looked like a tired team at
37:04
the end of the season. I certainly.
37:05
What did they start out that year?
37:07
That year they began the year 12 and but not a whole lot of
37:12
quality wins in there. Beat Xavier, beat Memphis on
37:14
neutral floors and beat Iowa, but not an overly daunting
37:17
schedule. Early, not at the same time
37:19
coming off where they were with prom.
37:21
Yes, absolutely. Then you're #2.
37:24
Who, by the way, is pretty good on TV.
37:26
Not bad, not bad, not bad. Yeah.
37:28
They lose 4 out of five to end the regular season.
37:31
They lose 6 out of eight down the stretch, lose their second
37:37
game in the Big 12 tournament, get beat by Pitt 5941.
37:40
That was ugly. God that was a bad game.
37:42
The one year that they haven't was the year 2 years ago they
37:44
lost to Illinois in the Sweet 16.
37:46
They did lose their final regular season game, but won the
37:48
conference tournament and got to the Sweet 16, lost to Illinois.
37:52
That was the one year, as I said.
37:53
And then last year they look at the end of the season, they lose
37:56
3 out of five to end the regular season after a 4 game-winning
37:59
streak. They go down to the Big 12
38:01
tournament, lose to BYU again and another shootout as they had
38:04
towards the end of the regular season a year ago.
38:06
And then we know that old miss game.
38:09
I didn't think that that was going to happen at all.
38:11
You give up 91 to old miss that looked like a tired team, but
38:16
now you're not playing five guys.
38:19
Nope, you're playing eight guys. You're playing eight guys.
38:22
Yeah, and you're playing eight guys.
38:24
Significant minutes because of that.
38:27
I think they're just built differently.
38:29
Yeah, I'm with you. All right, It's 1:45.
38:32
We'll come back. Transplays of the Day, our next
38:33
circus sports sponsor. Those.
38:35
So what was your record yesterday?
38:36
2 and 3, Two and three. We'll see if we can get back on
38:39
the right side of things. Trent's plays of the day are
38:42
coming up next. Circus Sports downtown Las Vegas
38:46
or the app Circus Sports Iowa, Circus Sports Illinois or Circus
38:49
Sports Missouri, depending on where you are listening to us
38:52
here today, we're back with our final segment.
38:55
It's Miller and Condon and the Iowa sports regular.
38:58
Hi, Miller and Condon, Welcome back.
38:59
Iowa Sports Radio Network final segment, Circus Sports sponsors
39:04
Trent's plays of the day. There's a ton of basketball
39:07
tonight. Trent, what's the best game of
39:09
the night? I mean, there's a lot of good
39:11
teams playing, but they're not playing each other.
39:15
Best game of the night. I mean, there's something that's
39:17
probably going to go to double overtime.
39:18
It's going to wow us that we didn't see coming.
39:21
I got one for you. What is it?
39:23
It's going to be way off your radar, OK, but not that far off.
39:27
You're gonna have to go up into the six hundreds, though, to
39:29
find it. You're gonna have to go to 612
39:30
The. ACCC Network OK, Florida State,
39:33
Miami. No, I was going Virginia, NC
39:36
State, OK, an NC State team that has been terribly inconsistent
39:40
throughout the course of the year.
39:41
You know, I like Virginia a lot. And that's early, correct?
39:45
Yes, that's a 6:00 game on ACC Network, so maybe get a look.
39:49
NC State's going to be a tournament team.
39:50
You know, they might be an 89 seed, something like that, 710.
39:53
See, maybe you like them in the first round, you know, get a
39:56
glimpse of them. But see Virginia and you'll be
39:58
able to see Tony Bennett Court. As I was watching them Saturday,
40:02
they named the court after him. But here's the thing.
40:04
So they got like his signature, you know, on the floor.
40:08
Everyone though, inside of the penmanship that's on the floor
40:13
is every single player staff member.
40:16
Really. That has been balled while he
40:19
was there at Virginia basketball.
40:20
So yeah, you got tied drill. That's unique.
40:22
Yes, absolutely. But every name, every staffer,
40:25
every grad assistant, every kid that was taking water bottles to
40:29
the guys, every single person involved.
40:31
How cool is that? Tony Bennett?
40:33
He was. He was interviewed during their
40:34
game on Saturday. I love Tony Bennett.
40:36
He won me a big chunk of change too with that NCAA tournament
40:41
comeback after losing as a 16. That though, really cool idea I
40:45
thought from him. NC State was in the news
40:47
yesterday, but for football reasons, see Phillip Rivers.
40:49
Kids going there may not stretch, Yes.
40:51
Not at all. Not at.
40:52
All Gunnar Rivers All right, so I'll watch that. 1 NC State
40:57
Virginia ACC Network What are you playing tonight?
41:00
We got 9 plays. We're we're, we're going heavy.
41:04
All right. I've been pulling back.
41:06
Now we're going the other way. Let's be aggressive.
41:09
Yeah, other way is not working no.
41:11
Of course not. So we'll try it this way and
41:12
that won't work either. But we will try.
41:15
We have. Let's see how these 9 picks,
41:18
it's a good mix of both favorites and underdogs.
41:19
So not go one way or the other. We're going to kick things off
41:22
with George Washington. They're laying 6 1/2 against
41:24
LaSalle. Lionel Simmons ain't walking
41:26
through that door. LaSalle sucks.
41:28
We'll lay the 6 1/2 with GW. Saint Louis goes to Dayton.
41:32
Should be a good environment there.
41:33
In fact, you're looking for something.
41:34
That might be the game. That's on the ESPN Plus though.
41:37
I was hoping that was Acbs Sports Network game.
41:39
Fortunately that's not the case. Get a late with the Salookies
41:41
though. Good environment.
41:43
Fun one tonight in Dayton, TX. Tech no topic.
41:46
Everybody loves Cincinnati, not this guy.
41:48
Give me the Red Raiders. Christian Anderson, the
41:50
difference. We'll lay the five and a half.
41:52
The Dukies got a let down in them in Notre Dame.
41:56
Grab the 17 1/2 with the Irish tonight.
41:59
Big number in that one. Numbers play Old Dominion
42:02
Marshall, grab the 7 1/2. That's all it is.
42:04
Kentucky tonight goes to Carolina.
42:06
I'm going to lay the 6 1/2 with the Wildcats.
42:09
A South Carolina team. Boy, that program, you know,
42:12
they had what, a handful of good teams the last 30 years.
42:15
One of them, a two seed, got knocked off in the first round
42:18
by cop and state. That is a tough place to win
42:20
basketball. We'll lay it with Kentucky
42:22
tonight. Three more plays, Southern Miss
42:24
plus 9 1/2 USC late night tonight getting 7 1/2 across
42:29
town in Pauley. We'll grab the Trojans and the
42:32
points let down factor after that comeback win from the
42:35
Bruins. And finally, give me the clones
42:37
tonight -12 1/2. I got it last night.
42:40
There's now 1313. And a half everywhere now.
42:42
Yeah. So that best numbers gone.
42:44
John Walters Well, I already played it last night, but I felt
42:48
even better after our conversation with.
42:50
John, by the way, South Carolina, you know what stuck
42:52
with me for spending time down there?
42:53
There are more Dodge Chargers per capita.
42:57
What? What was the what was the name
42:59
of the show? The guy with the shorts, guy
43:02
with the no, the gal with the shorts and the two guys.
43:05
The Dukes of Hazard. Dukes of Hazard?
43:07
Oh absolutely. That wasn't an added Dodge
43:08
Charger. More Dodge Chargers passing me
43:11
one after another anyways. Love the Dukes of Hazard that
43:13
was my was still growing up, yes.
43:15
Good stuff. I brought it up.
43:17
That's going to do it for us, Miller and Con.
43:19
Make my top ten list. Faulty towers on mine.
43:22
It's the Iowa sports rated network.
43:24
Talk to you tomorrow.