SWARMCAST: Previewing Iowa Basketball's Matchup Against 8th-Seed Clemson, Thoughts On Iowa WBB Draw

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David I. Colt, Sean Buck, Elliott Club here for 24-7 Sports, Hawkeye and Sire.com,

previewing the NCAA tournament for both the men and the women. Let's just get right into it,

guys. Start at the top. Iowa is set to play Clemson in the opening ground. The winners

likely going to play Florida and we'll dive into the potential of that matchup as well.

Not not an ideal end of the season for the Iowa men, but I do like this matchup.

As far as tempo and everything else goes, Sean and Elliott aren't going to be down in Tampa.

I'm very jealous because it's going to be warm there and I'm already tired of this freaking snow.

Well, I'll let you guys kind of dive into your early thoughts about this matchup. It's one that

don't expect a lot of points to be scored and whoever values the basketball and most of the

possessions is going to win this one. Elliott, I'll start with you and then just go right into it,

Sean, after. Yeah, well, you know, I say this often on the radio is that I don't do a ton of

preview stuff that is all Sean. So I know very little about Clemson. I just know that it's slow

pace. They're a good basketball program, right? Like Brownal is a good coach. I mean, it's an

8-9-1, so obviously it's expected to be a close game. You know, my thing is if Iowa plays it

their best, they can compete and hang with anybody. I mean, like it's one thing that McCollum has

routinely set, right? It's like, okay, you're getting up for these big games, but you're not for

Penn State, Maryland, Minnesota, right? Like that has been a problem with this team and why they are

in a higher seed. So if they can play to that level and be competitive with Clemson, I mean, I

it's I wouldn't be surprised. I was asked about this again on the radio is that I wouldn't be

surprised if Bennett starts takes it to another level in the tournament because he gets a week off,

right? Like he's so used to playing 40 minutes a night two or three times a week and then he gets

a week off and of course they're going to practice and they're going to make sure that they get up

and down, but wouldn't surprise me if Bennett just kind of goes off in these first few games,

you know, depends on how that second game goes or, you know, obviously the first game too, but

he needs some help, man. He needs some help. I just put out that poll on Twitter about who does

I wouldn't need to step up. I put it on the board too is is is Alvaro going to step up because to

me, it's him, like he's the X factor for this team. He's aggressive. He's going to put in the ball

in the floor getting after the rim, defending pick and roll coverage as well, hitting three,

like he's he's going to be with determines the success of this team. I mean, we talk about weather

Dave. It's going to be 77 or something like that on Thursday or Friday. So get all this snow,

get super nice and then it's going to suck again by the time we get back. So, but it's going to be

sunny and 80 when we're in Tampa. Sean and I are going to be spending some time on the beach. That's

all I'm saying. I wish I wish I could give you the finger right now, Elliot, because I was

right now. What CBS going to do? I say, I say instead of just going on the beach, I mean,

it'll be during the end subway tournament games that were down there too. So we got to find like a

little if there's any like beach, if there's any like ocean side bars or something like that or

some some place to watch the games. But yeah, I mean, the this match up to, I mean, you look at it

and the first thing that sticks out is the styles. Like, both teams are playing at a slower

tempo. Both teams are playing at a slower rate. I think Clemson does a little bit more in terms

of like getting more looks early in the shot clock. Like, they'll run some different actions

that they'll try and you know, kind of speed things up a little bit with different zoom actions,

pistol actions and whatnot to kind of get the offense moving a little bit earlier. But

for the most part, I mean, defensively like, this is a game where it's going to be very

half-cord oriented for both teams. I mean, Clemson, they don't play a lot of possessions,

333rd and possessions. Defensively, they play, you know, slower, I would say. I think that

kind of speaks to their defense a little bit more. They have really good ball pressure at the

point of attack and do a really good job, but you know, kind of keeping teams out of the lane too,

I think, for, you know, for what they do. But yeah, I mean, and a really good defensive rebound

in team as well. That's one thing to note with this group. But for a personal standpoint, I mean,

we look at what happened in the Ohio State game and just kind of the difference that

Kristoff Tilly made in that game for the buck guys. And you know, now that Clemson's not going to

have Carter Welling, who's their second favorite player, or his second best player, second

leading scorer, and probably their most dynamic player, I would say, and you know, just important

on both sides of the floor, and especially as a rebounder and being able to draw files. That

really kind of opened things up, opens things up a little bit for Iowa in this game. I mean,

Clemson still has a number of pretty talented bigs. I mean, Nick Davidson is a pretty skilled

mobile big. Jake Wallins is going to need to do a little bit more offensively with, with, um,

Welling out, but RJ Gottfried is a tough match if I think too. I mean, I wouldn't say he's like

Nick Martin Elliott all, but they kind of have similar games except Godfrey's just a little more,

you know, it's a decent amount stronger. He's more of a post threat. Well, Martin Elliott's kind of

finesse guy, which kind of makes it a fascinating draw for either that's Cooper Koch or that's

Camp Man Yao. You know, it's going to be interesting to see how they go there, but then the guards too.

I mean, the Clemson guards are, you know, they're up and down. I think Dylan Hunter,

really good facilitator, Justin Porter, really good off the bounce. A guy that, you know, can kind

of fill it up from deep. Ace Buckner's got some quickness to him. Can you get to the basket?

Not an elite room printer. Sure, but he's pretty good. And then Budda Johnson, um, that's just,

that's an awesome name. Um, is like just such a smooth operator. Like no pun intended there, but

he is a pretty good score. Um, but not having Welling in there, that really makes things interesting

for this, for this Clemson team. And I think too with, you know, what they were able to take down

North Carolina without Welling, um, Nick Davidson at 17 points off the bench, RJ Gopry at 13 points.

If they can get some of that production off the bench and production from that five spot, especially

with Davidson with Welling going out, that is a really big plus for this team. Um, but yeah,

just from a matchup standpoint, I think this is one that, you know, works and I was favor a little

bit. I think, you know, when, when this Clemson team is playing as best defensively, that's kind of

been their, they're calling card and, you know, they can shoot decently well from the floor. I think

there are 117th and 3 point rate 169th and 3 point percentage. So they take a fair amount of

threes, but they also don't hit them up fair amount, but they're also kind of a streaky, a streaky

team. Um, but defensively, yeah, it's kind of the same, a lot of the same principles with these two

teams, you know, how they kind of play it. But one thing that, you know, I'm kind of watching with

this one too is just how Clemson's guards try to really frustrate Bennett's search because they're

not afraid to pick guys up whole court, you know, really kind of run, you know, kind of really try

and get Iowa late into, you know, late into their offensive possessions. And that's something that

was a little bit concerning for this Iowa team throughout the years, you know, when they can kind of

just walk it up, they're just a little more flow. But when they're getting to stuff late in the

shot clock, I think, you know, that's kind of when things, you know, really start to spot her. So

Clemson's going to really try and take Iowa out of its rhythm. And, you know, they're really

good isolation defenders as well. I think part of it too, I think part of it too is they, they

have, they have great depth. I mean, that's what stands out about Clemson. I mean, they have nine

players averaging over five points a game. They, they're not afraid to get buried in their bench.

They're not afraid to be extremely physical on defense. They average under 10 turnovers a game.

I know it's a slow pace. You have to keep that at front of mind as well. But they don't shoot

themselves in the foot a lot quite frankly. So I'll be very interested in seeing what Ben McCollum

and company kind of draw up for this. I also think it's interesting, though, too, where, you know,

Clemson's coach was asked about how much in you about Iowa. And he said quite a bit because he's

a big temp basketball junkie. So he's watched a lot of it. And it was interesting. Our colleague Isaac

Trotter responded to Chris Hassel's tweet when Hassel reported that, you know, Ben McCollum didn't

know a lot about Clemson. Char's immediate response guys was, trust me, he knows all about what

Clemson wants to do. He just didn't want to lead him on. And I kind of agree with that. You guys know

McCollum's a basketball junkie. He pays attention to what everything happens around the country. So

I'm not saying he has an in-depth scouting report made up. But there's no question that he knows a

lot about this team. And I do think from a matchup perspective, this does favor Iowa to some

extent. I do think Iowa's going to have an easier time game planning without welling in the lineup

because sometimes when a guy gets hurt and you only have a one day or one or two day scout,

you really can't adjust a game plan to playing without that person. Otherwise, it could cause

mass chaos. I mean, we saw it on the women's side of a Taylor McCabe, you know, went out against

Ohio State, then Addie Deal went out and dropped 20, but then Addie Deal struggled the next game

and the game after that. It's because they catered more of the defense toward her strengths

and not Taylor McCabe. So I do think that plays into Iowa's favor as well. But it's going to be

really interesting kind of watching the chess match because Bronnell's a really good coach. And I

do think there's a lot of respect from Ben McCollum about what Clemson's past month program is

currently at right now too. So Dave, you mentioned the nine deep is one of those welling,

so it becomes yeah, yes, yes, yeah, yeah. So that's that's one thing to Sean based on what you know,

you know, I would say the Alvaro thing basically no matter what they or who they play, right?

Yeah, that's just what my message has been all season that they need something more from him.

And you mentioned the guard play. So like is aside from Bennett and Alvaro is like Hail Combs,

your ex-factor for this game as the secondary ball handler? Like who are you looking at?

It's like, okay, this person has to have a good game in one respect or another for Iowa to win

and be Clemson in the first round. Yeah, I mean, being able to kind of take things off or

take guys off the bounce and be able to kind of, you know, get downhill and create a little bit more.

And you talk about kind of this this Clemson team too, you know, they have guys off the bench who,

you know, they kind of they purposely have a guy like Justin Porter coming off the bench because

Porter gives him a little more pop in terms of, you know, how guys that can create off the

dribble a little bit more and make the reason just do more off the bounce. But yeah, I mean,

for this, I like for this team for this game, you know, I mean, came in, yeah, he's kind of the

guy that I'm really targeting in this game because, you know, there's a chance that he could be

match up with RJ Gaffrey. There's a man's chance he could be match up with Nick Davidson.

There's just kind of different, you know, and you saw kind of the impact that he had

when he went out in that Ohio State game and, you know, I had a stat earlier this week too or

last week. I was like, I think opponents are shooting, you know, a much bigger difference

at the rim against Iowa and Mania was off the floor compared to when he's on the floor.

You know, in terms of Mania is just a much more impactful around, much more impactful around the

rim compared to Avaro at this point. But I know Avaro kind of gives you more of that offensive,

offensive upside. But from a, you know, ball screen coverage perspective and, you know,

just being able to be around the rim and, you know, kind of alter shots. Mania has done a much

better job at that as a play. But then again, you know, it's kind of an interesting dynamic with

this, with this Clemson team too is because they start three guards. So you're probably going to have

Tavion Banks more out there on the perimeter. I kind of, you know, containing one of those three

guards. You can even have Cooper Koch or RJ or came Mania on Godfrey. And then potentially put

Cooper or came on Jake Wall and I think you probably want Cooper out there. But Avaro could also be

a pretty good matchup for that. Because Wall is a pretty dynamic off the bounce too for his

size and is a pretty versatile forward. So I think Davidson's kind of more, you know, post-oriented.

So that's kind of where, you know, gets a little tough depending on what the matchups are and what

not. But yeah, I mean, I, I think it's camp. Like I think Mania is kind of the guy that needs to have

a, have a big game because they also do a lot of like kind of empty, empty side ball screen stuff. And,

you know, that's one area that Iowa really, really struggled against Ohio State. And, you know,

that's where they're going to really need, um, came out there because that's kind of where,

you know, he's pretty good. And he, at least offers Iowa the most in terms of that type of cover

to get those kind of looks. So I really think it's Mania in this game. And, you know, the ability to

also make plays on the offensive glass because Clemson's a really good defensive rebounded team. And

we've seen Cam make that, make that impact on the offensive boards. But, yeah, I mean, he's

definitely up there for me. And then, you know, honestly, just kind of the whole tournament. It's Avaro.

Like, this team is so much different when he is playing at a high level. And, you know, Ben said

that on, on Sunday, like, he's not afraid to say it. Like, we need a good Avaro. We need an engaged

Avaro. And with the type of bigs that Clemson has with their kind of mobility and versatility,

that's where they really need to use Avaro. And, you know, these types of, and these types of

settings, and you know, on both ends of the floor. I'm right there with you. I mean, the team's

just different with Avaro. I mean, Cam, and you all said the same thing. I think when you talk

about teams like at eight or nine seed, if you want to make a run in the NCAA tournament, it always

comes down to three things for me. Tough defense, an elite point guard that can take the game over,

an elite coaching. If Iowa's defense is engaged, I mean, Iowa does have a chance to actually do

something here. I also think we'll get into it in a few minutes here. That, that Florida matchup

is probably one of the worst matchups possible for Iowa, just from their elite size that they have,

and in shot making, and like, I love Alex Condon. I think he's one of the most underrated players in

America. I think he's unbelievable. But when it comes to Iowa and this matchup, like you said,

I think all Varo has to be the guy. Can't man, you know, I think you have to give him credit,

because I think he's actually developed a little bit more aggressiveness when it comes to scoring

the basketball here over the past couple of weeks. He's trusting his back to basket a little bit more.

I think he's really been tough on the glass. I know he only had one rebound in Iowa's last game,

but he's made a difference in, in a few of the games over the last couple of weeks.

Kale Combs, obviously, guy, another guy I'm going to mention here. I think Cooper Koch,

like if you can get all Varo going really hot and you get Cooper Koch making four to five three

pointers a game like he has over the past couple of weeks, you have a chance to take a lot of

pressure off Bennett's starts, because we know how much pressure there's going to be on Bennett's

starts in the opening game against Clemson, and if Iowa advances against Florida,

and I think Bennett's starts is also going to be on a mission in terms of just trying to

Iowa State prove himself, but go out with a bang. However long Iowa State is, right?

You look at his last couple of games. Went six to eleven against Ohio State. You know,

we probably could have been a little bit more aggressive down the stretch, but the way they are

pressuring Bennett, he really can't harp on him too much for that. Go back to the game before

that against Maryland. He was six of eighteen. He was four or ten against Nebraska with eleven points,

and then yeah, he scored 21 against Michigan, but he was seven of 23. Bennett starts his due for a game

where he goes like four or five from deep, shoots above 50 percent from the field, controls the offense,

but up to all Varo and it's up to guys around him to be able to step up to the plate,

so teams aren't double covering him. I think when you look at the Nebraska game, you look at

even the Michigan game to some degree, they were doubling him on those pick and rolls,

and doubling him the second he crossed half court, because they were daring guys like kill combs

to step up and make shots. They were daring, can't man you out to get in the paint or grab a

rebound. They were daring, you know, taking on banks. I'm not saying it's totally reliant on

Bennett starts to step up, but when the opportunities arise for Bennett, he has to take advantage of that.

He has to try a dribble drive a little bit more, and it's up to his teammates to be able to step

up and knock down those shots. And quite frankly, I was got to stop turning down good shots.

They'll turn down a good shot with 11 seconds in the shot clock, and then Sean, you put out

that stat I think a week or so ago about, they're like the 99th percentile in shooting the basketball

in four or non-der on the shot clock. A big problem is they've given up the ball and they've

given up two shot. Good looks. You know through the first 20 seconds of the possession, I love

Alvaro when he took that three pointer with 24 seconds left on the shot clock in that last game

against Ohio State. He took it with confidence and he frickin buried it. That's the Alvaro and that's

the Iowa that needs to show up against Clemson. Don't force the issue, but the guys stop turning down

looks especially when the guys that are shooting it are more than capable of delivering in that moment.

That has been something that has frustrated the hell out of me since the beginning of the season.

Unfortunately, I don't see it changing just because it has been going all season.

You know, you mentioned the 24 seconds launch it, and like with occasion, sure, just because that's

you know, as basketball. But the thing that drives me nuts the most, and I think

Clemson is honestly the biggest perpetrator of this supposed crime because the amount of open

shots he's had it like in the corner or at the elbow from three and he passes it up with, you know,

like a five or six seconds or even less than that on the clock drives me nuts. And you're not,

you're passing up a good shot for what's effectively a turnover because you're just launching

at the end of the shot clock or the other team is forcing a shot clock violation.

Drives me up the wall. It's the exact opposite of Fran McAfry, which in some cases can be a good

thing, especially with the roster as it's currently constructed. But man, that I agree with you,

wholeheartedly Dave, do I think it's going to change much? I don't. Bennett, you know, you mentioned

Bennett go into another level. I really do think his ability, his aggressiveness, the chances of him

having one of those four or five games from deep is much more likely because he's had some time

to just chill. And maybe Ben McCollum learned something out of this season of, you know, maybe

take the foot off the gas a little bit here and there. You know, I'm not saying that he doesn't

already know that, but there might be, there's differences, right? And he's learning those

from not only mid major to high major, but D2 to high major in a matter of two years. So that's

that's something of note. I took go back to the can man, he out thing, man, he played like his hair

was on fire against Michigan. And like, I think he's really gained a lot of confidence. I have a lot

more confidence in him going into the next season. You still need size. You hope Trevon Yerak takes

a step forward. You hope Cooper Koch takes a step forward. And honestly, I thought about Cooper

Koch being a factor for me where he's the biggest factor for me is rebounding because he'll play

a ton of minutes and finish the game with one rebound. And like you just can't do that if you're

six eight and one of the biggest guys on the team. And honestly, like the three point shooting is

awesome when when he's on, but it has an effective winning. I'm pretty sure the games that he's had

the best play as of late, probably this season they've lost because they lost to to who they lose,

they lost a Penn State when he when he scored 18. And I think they, when was the other game that he had

that was really good in the last year? Yeah, they beat, they be Maryland. Okay, sure. All right, so the one

game, yeah. Yeah. So, okay, one and one. So 50, 50, I guess. I want to see him be more active on the

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with starts the last couple of games too is one one step that I picked out from Clemson is there

just not very, you know, good in terms of earlier kind of kind of dicey in terms of, you know,

guarding guarding ball screens in terms of guarding guys like ball handlers coming off screens in

ACC play this year. They're allowing 40 or opponents are shooting 40.3% from three coming off ball

screens. So like, you know, guys trying to get downhill coming off ball screens. That is a big

strength for Bennett starts, but Bennett is 11. He's one of 12 in the last five games coming off

ball screen shooting threes. He's also five of 33 on pull up threes, which is like one of his kind

of big big in those last five games, which is one of his like kind of big trademarks,

you know, with his stop with how much he has to put them all in the floor and, you know, kind of

get into his shots and create his own shots. That kind of really speaks volumes to kind of the

strut. I mean, I know I always played, you know, some good cheese. That's good. That kind of me.

Sorry. I know I always played some, you know, I always played some good teams like close to the

wire. But if you think about, you know, kind of the three point shooting that they need to, you know,

that has improved as of late outside of Bennett starts, you know, those numbers from starts like

you're kind of like, man, if a couple more of those would have went down or, you know, a couple more

could those could have went in. Like you're talking about a few more wins. But with this Clemson team,

like they put so much, you know, emphasis on pressure and, you know, ball pressure and, you know,

their ball screen numbers, especially with containing guys coming off those ball screens are a little

dicey this year. You know, that's really an area where I think, you know, Iowa can really attack kind

of what they're different with their different screening angles and kind of the different ball screen

angles that they do and, you know, use. And that's one of the big things that Brad Brown now mentioned

earlier this week too, is that they just do a lot of really interesting things with their angles and

whatnot. So if you can get starts to knock those down effectively, you know, you put yourself in a

really good position because, you know, I kind of had a feeling that those numbers were like that,

you know, the last couple of games, but I mean, five of, five of 33 on pull up threes, like that is,

you know, that's not very good. Yeah, 15%, which I think kind of speaks volumes, which, you know,

like I said, Clemson, they've given up their fair share of threes coming off ball screens this year

or two with the type of guards that they have in the ACC. So yeah, that's, I mean, I think that's one trade where,

you know, they're going to try and really match up on with starts and, you know, kind of get him in these,

you know, different re-screen things and whatnot and try to get him, you know, on, on an island with

some of these switches and we'll see, but, you know, Clemson's got some pretty mobile bigs, but I think

they do kind of prefer to play in draft coverage depending on the matchup. I know they did some

harsh head and screen or harsh head and recovery stuff against, against UNC, but, you know,

I think they're really going to have to maybe switch, you know, it'll be interesting. Now, I'm fascinated

to see kind of how they, you know, game playing for starts. So, so to wrap up this part of it,

I want to go with our final prediction for this. I thought we'd look ahead to Florida, but I

decided let's just wait until the CFI will wins and then we can break down the matchup into the

podcast. So, Elliott, I'll start with you and Sean, just go right after and then we'll dive into

the women, women's side of it. Elliott, who do you have? First of all, Dave, don't you dare

disrespect Farley Dickinson. Don't you dare? Second. They got 30 wins on the season. They got 22

games straight. They're nice with that, dude. So, I've got Iowa. The welling, missing welling

is huge for me. And I'm continuing to beat the drum that Bennett's thirds is going to play well

rested. And, you know, he's done this thing where he's played so many minutes for the last couple

years. And I know it's something that a lot of folks have been hammering. I wasn't so much on it

just because I knew that Ben and Bennett were going to be, he was going to play 40 minutes,

no matter what, basically, unless he's hurt. Like, that's just what he was doing. But I do think

this week of rest will be beneficial for him. And again, missing welling is huge. That

rim protector. Camania can play like he has. I mean, I think they can win even if Alvaro

doesn't play, you know, to the best of his abilities. If Bennett has one of those games,

and if the role players play the way they need to, because, I mean, Bennett's that guy. Like,

I tweet Ben, Big Shot Bennett a lot. And I've done it a lot this season and for a reason. So,

I think they get this when Florida will be a different story. I will be taking my mic with me.

So, Sean and I can record while we're down there. And of course, Dave, if you want to hop on,

you can. But yeah, I've got the hawks. I'm going to say this quick too. And then I got a dip.

I think this is the first time in a long time we've done all three of us on the pod. These are moments

where I look back at last summer. And I'm just like, it's frickin' go. All of us on 24 seven.

Okay, I just had to say that. I'm getting out of here. I'll see you guys.

All right, my safe travels.

Yeah, I mean, in terms of my prediction, I'm picking Iowa by, I think, five points.

This is one where, you know, McCallum talks about, kind of, the death by a thousand paper cuts thing.

And this game, kind of, you know, really, like, kind of encapsulate.

Can't cast, I don't know how to say that word, but it kind of just sums up like that whole,

that whole narrative and kind of that whole thing because you have two teams who are going to

be playing at a slower tempo. You have two teams that, you know, are different from a personnel

standpoint, but also a little bit similar. Like, it's kind of just an interesting,

interesting, like, matchup. And I think this is one of those games, too, where both teams could

really hurt you in the same way. That's why I think, I think Iowa might have just like a little more

punch-off, offensively, especially having a guy like Bennett and, you know, having to contain

gophery in some of those guards, who, because I think the guards, you know, those Clemson guards

are a little bit more streaky, but some of those guys can really do something off the bounds.

Like, Porter's really good off the bounds. Buckner, we talked about them. I just think Iowa just

has a little bit more offensively that can put them over the top in this game that make me feel

safer about them winning. But then again, you know, defensively, that's where really the questions

lie. I mean, I put that sad out yesterday that Iowa's last seven losses. They've allowed 1.09

points per possession or, and they're three in ten this season when allowing, you know,

that many points per possession in a game. And I think offensively, Clemson does some things that,

you know, worries me a little bit, like, especially with kind of how they can get their guards going

early in the possession, getting them downhill, and, you know, kind of the mobile bigs that they have.

I mean, Nick Davidson's probably the one that provides a little more punch than,

than Walling, but Walling, you know, is a pretty skilled big, pretty versatile big.

And then you have God-free too, who I think we all, you know, kind of forget about,

because he's kind of in the middle of those guards and those bigs. And then obviously losing

Welling is a big, you know, negative for Clemson. But I just think offensively, Iowa has a little

bit more. But, you know, then again, like, this is going to come down to a defensive game. And

I think Iowa has, you know, kind of the pieces when they really want to defend, when they really

want to sit down and defend. It's just a matter of, you know, what kind of Clemson team shows up

offensively too? And what kind of team defensively shows up for Iowa? Because I think if Clemson's guards

are hitting shots, they're a much different, they're a much better team and, you know, much better team.

But, you know, is that going to be the case? Is Iowa really going to be able to sit down and defend?

Because, like I said, I think Clemson does do some things defensively that can frustrate Iowa,

kind of puts you, you know, they're really good defending isolations. But then again,

like some of those ball screens and if Bennett can get going and some of those ball screens and

those are really effective in terms of, you know, I know kind of those trigger words of those

hit words that they always use, get into the pocket and, you know, be able to kind of create those

advantages. That really puts Iowa in a good spot. But I just think this Iowa team has that

little extra punch offensively that's going to get him over the top and, you know, put them in a

really good place. But, you know, I could definitely see Clemson being able to clog Iowa up a little

bit. But then again, I think Iowa just has the better player on the floor and that's really going

to ultimately decide the game and it was going to be kind of a common theme throughout, you know,

the answer would turn if Iowa can make a run. Yeah, I'm with you. I mean, when all those fails,

you go with the best player on the floor. Bet serves as best player on the floor. I think also too,

like you talked about takeover guy, like Bennett starts is to take over guy. I think Clemson's

balance is a really big deal. But also, like, how many March moments are made from guys just

creating their own play and just essentially taking over making that one little extra kind of boost.

What's interesting to me, Sean, is when I asked Ben McCollum on Sunday about, you know, first

half the season we talked about who's going to be the second score, who's going to be the third

score to take pressure off Bennett. He flipped it back on. I mean, he said, I think it's our defense.

And he reinforced how important the defensive side of the ball is going to be in this NCAA tournament.

So I think he knows he knows what to expect out of the offense. I don't think he knows what to

expect out of the defense more than anything. And I think that's why he's getting seemed to kind of

hammer that point home. I have high Iowa by four. I just I don't see Ben McCollum losing this sort

of game. It's very not want to say similar to last year when he was on Drake, because Iowa is

favored by one and a half, which essentially is a pick-up, like a lot of these eight, nine games.

I think Alvaro shows up. He's got instantly turned into an experience. I think Ken Manial,

I think they start to piece it together. And then obviously we'll see what happens when

that they end up playing Florida. But I just think Iowa's the better team. I don't think they

have to adjust losing a key player like Clemson's going to have to be able to do. And I'm curious

who steps up alongside that search. Because again, I think that searches get be there. I think

Clemson's going to put a ton of pressure on that search, whether it be face guarding, whether

be double teaming him off pick and pops, pick and rolls. Now allowing him to get in some of those

ball screen situations, it'll be a lot of fun. You guys will be down there for our full coverage of

that flip over the women just really quick here for a couple minutes. Iowa did end up getting

the number two seed in the NCAA tournament. Oh, really quick. Actually, Sean, I was really upset

that Fran McCaffrey and Fran Hoiberger not round one. I wanted the Fran, which versus the

the Hoiberger 2.0. I think it would have sent everybody into a blue game. But I know how much

Illinois fans are excited about the fact that's Brad Underwood and Fran again to kind of reignite

that rivalry. By the way, TJ power 44 was ridiculous. It was not a Fran McCaffrey style game.

If you watched it, like the pace was a lot slower than I thought it was going to be. But,

you know, I think a lot of Iowa fans were happy for Fran. But anyway, flip back to the women.

Iowa's favor by 30 against Farley Dickinson. Farley Dickinson's 122 straight games. They

they play at a slower pace. They have a lot of guards that can create their own shot, but I also

think they force their own shots. If people watched Iowa's win against Rucker, Sean Ruckers might be

the worst, one of the worst big 10 teams I've seen since I started covering this beat. They lost

by 10 to Ruckers. They lost by 19 to Purdue. Every one of Farley Dickinson's wins comes from a quad

four. Like, Iowa was going to be favor by 30. I think they win by more than 30 just to sum it up

very quick. Ava Hain and Hannah Stolke are going to dominate. And it's also worth noting, Hannah

Stolke is in a much better place with her elbow. And that was a big deal because two weeks ago,

Jan just said, look, I think it's going to be significant. I don't think Hannah's 100% healthy,

but I do think that the one thing the women's game does right, Sean. And I'm curious what you're

taking with this. They allow the teams to rest for a week before they get to the NCAA tournament.

I mean, how many times have we talked about teams winged the big 10 and trying to go into March with

momentum. But then, you know, like Iowa, when they won in 22, right? Out in the first round,

upset Illinois, the year after, first round upset. Now a lot of people are picking Purdue to make

a deep run. And rightfully so, I thought they put together a great big 10 tournament. But is that

fatigue going to be a factor for Purdue? I think that remains they did get a two seed. So I think

that gives them a little bit more breathing room. But I'm curious what you're taking. Then I'll

get back to the women's breakdown a little bit. Do you think that the women should get a week off

before the NCAA tournament? Or do you think they need to ride that momentum?

No, because then I think with the women's, I mean, the reason why they, at least I think, like the

reason why, you know, they want to have the men's and women's kind of separate. Like, yeah, I think too,

like I get it from a, you know, and I mean, I don't really have my company in on it. I think it's

kind of just, you know, it is what it is. And, you know, the fact that you got to have them separate

from each other because I think to like, just there is like people want those eyeballs and people

want that attention. And I think to like, it's kind of like, yes, it's a little bit overwhelming.

I imagine for teams like just kind of having that quick turnaround and and whatnot. But yeah, I

mean, I don't think it's ever going to change. Like, you know, it is what it is. And that's kind of

why too. I mean, that whole narrative has been like that. The big 10 teams that have made the big

10, or it may have had the big 10 tournament. You know, it's trouble just because like they kind of,

I also think too, it has to do with how games are officiated and, you know, kind of the difference

between how games are officiated in the big 10, the answer will determine. I think that's a big,

a big reason for it too. But then again, like it kind of just helped with this, with this, uh,

with this Iowa team or with this woman's team for, you know, being able to have that big gap. But

do you, uh, what do you think about Iowa's draw? Like kind of how do you feel about I woman's

basketball's draw for the tournament? I think, I think Georgia is scary. I mean, remember back in

Iowa's first final four on Sean, I mean, Iowa got pushed to the brink by that Georgia team.

That was a very physical defensive team. There was almost some fights near the end of the game

because Caitlin took a couple of really hard fouls under the rim and she was down for a minute.

And there were some, you know, extra curricular activities there. Uh,

otherwise, so I think Iowa's fine. The thing that's interesting to me is, you know, talking at

Caitlin, talking a lot of the Iowa women's players that have made runs. They've repeatedly told me,

Sean, that gang out of the second rounds, the hardest round. It's harder than making a final four.

Because like I said, you can get those pesky seven seeds that, you know, like,

Georgia's a really good basketball team. They have four double digit scores. They have a take

over guard who averages over 18 a game. They put a ton of on ball pressure. They force teams to

turn them all over. They play at a fast pace. And Iowa's a team that has struggled with taking care

of the basketball at times this year. They struggle with that full court press. So I'm assuming

they play Georgia, because I think Georgia's the second best team by far and their bracket.

It will be interesting too, especially if Iowa does make a sweet 16, and I'll have an

archivalator predicting where I think Iowa ends up making. Spoiler, I do think they get to that

sweet 16. TCUs can be a really tough three-seed man. They have Olivia Miles, who's projected top

free pick in the WMBA draft. She was the, Hannah Habdago's number two at Notre Dame. For a long

time, she put triple doubles, she can take over. We know what Kylie Fearbox capable of defensively.

But TCU is a really scary three-seed in my opinion. But I do think the big thing is, look,

South Carolina is tremendous. We know Iowa got in that region. I do think it's a big plus that

Iowa avoided. Number one, they avoid UCLA. Number two, they avoid Yukon. And number three,

they avoid LSU. Because like LSUs, probably not as good as its past year's teams. They are still

really balanced, and they still have a really scary offense. And quite frankly, I'm tired of the LSU

Iowa games. I think a lot of people are kind of exhausted by that. I'm not surprised they put Iowa

South Carolina together because they see that as like a fan-based rivalry, the engagement tie.

I totally understand all of that. If, I mean, I think Iowa can make a run. I don't think they're

a final four caliber team. I think there's a very clear final four women's basketball that's here.

But the flip side of it too, Sean, is if you go back and you ask any Iowa women's fan,

if Iowa ends up getting a 2C in the big 10 tournament, it's a 2C in the NCAA tournament.

And makes the second weekend. Would you sign up for that given what you know about the team

before the season? Every single person saying yes. Iowa has nine of their 13 scholarship players

as freshmen. Taylor, they're missing Taylor McCabe, who's a big leader. Hannah Stalky's beat up

Ava Hienze Merch, Taylor Shremble's emerged. They're a really good basketball team. I don't think

they're great yet, but they don't need to be great. They can set themselves up for I think a

final four run here sometime over the next two years. Ging Bullich go, I think, is going to be a

very, very big deal as well. But I gotta be honest, Sean, I like Iowa's draw. I think they could,

I don't want to say easily making a lead-A, but my expectations are they at least make a second

weekend. I think they have to make a second weekend. I think it really puts them in a key cog,

as far as like name, brand recognition, potential blue blood stats, staying power among the

elites of women's basketball. They gotta make a second weekend. And personally, I think they can.

And they should. Yeah, I mean, I don't see why they, why they showed in. And you mentioned it too.

I mean, kind of those round of 32 games for the top two teams, the answer will be tournament for

the woman side. I mean, I think a lot of people kind of assume that, you know, the woman's,

you know, bracket is so, or the woman's field is so top-heavy and what not, but I mean,

yeah, there's been some teams where Iowa's had some scares throughout the years. I mean,

was West Virginia, were they in eight seed a couple years ago, or what, what was that seed?

They were, I think they were seven seed as well. Maybe they were 10, but they're,

their full court press really hurt Iowa in that game. And again, that's, by the way,

let's go back to Caitlyn's sophomore year, Sean. They lost in number 10. I think Creighton was a

10 seed that year. And they lost to Creighton in that second round. So I mean, they, it's,

it's a scary, scary round for a lot of these, a lot of these teams. And it's crazy too that you

think about Iowa's on their home court. But I think it's the pressure of having the expectation of,

hey, you need to make the second weekend, right? And Jan talks a lot about that too.

Yeah, yeah. And I think too kind of having that, yeah, having that kind of

mark on your back or, you know, mark, yeah, it's, it's just a tough, it's a tough spot to be in.

But then again, that's kind of where you need to be to, can, if you want to consistently be near

the top of, you know, the NCAA and kind of be one of those trademark programs, you've got to be

able to win these types of games. And you know, everyone's going to come run in for you. And yeah,

you brought up a good point to about, you know, Georgia's they, they'd like to really get out

and transition pretty good transition team. I think that's where most of their offensive,

like kind of style change. I think they're 20% of their possessions are in transition this season.

And, you know, they're also pretty good in the half court too. And, you know, have a couple of

girls, a woman who can kind of, you know, play in ball screens, they can play through the post as well.

You know, calm, just a tough, tough matchup for this Iowa team. And, you know, when you have got,

when you have four different scores, you know, who can kind of fill it up or, you know,

beat you on different nights, that also makes you a lot tougher to defend. And, you know,

a lot tougher to scheme for and game plan for. So, yeah, that's not a, that's not an easy,

easy matchup. And the SEC, too, I know the SEC is always a very, very good conference in

Woman's Basketball. So they're going to be battle tested. And, you know, it's a, I do think,

you know, sweet 16 only day. Like, I think that is definitely, but man, that sweet 16 matchup

potentially against TCU, that could be a lot of fun. It's scary to think about, you don't want

to get too far ahead of yourself, but like I said, oh, by the way, Georgia's coach is a

Cedar Rapids native. So she'll be returning back to, you know, she's got family in the area, too.

So that'll be a nice little, you know, secondary storyline. Again, assuming they end up advancing,

who knows, Arizona State can win, too, because remember Iowa isn't a first four. I believe,

so they're going to have that first four matchup there. And then Winterplace, Georgia, and that'll

be interesting to see. But again, we'll have full coverage of it at HawkeyeInsider.com. Sean and

Elliott are leaving. Are you guys, are you guys leaving Wednesday? Are you guys leaving on Thursday?

Yep. Tomorrow. I'm flying out at 6 a.m. tomorrow. So very nearly.

Okay. And then I think they're going to have availability on Thursday there, too. I'm not

sure if they've already sent out that schedule, but again, stay locked in HawkeyeInsider.com for

that. I'll be here. And I will see covering the women and we'll be all over everything. So again,

as always, stay locked in HawkeyeInsider.com. Appreciate it.

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