Hawkeye Report Podcast

We are basketball heavy this week on the Hawkeye Report Podcast. Following the Iowa women's team winning their road contest at Purdue on Thursday night, we are joined by Kyle Huesmann to break it all down.

Iowa played without Hannah Stuelke in the win due to an upper body injury. We discuss what the injury might be and how players like Journey Houston stepped up in her absence. We also discuss the terrific game from Ava Heiden against Purdue and the hot shooting from Taylor Stremlow in the first half of the game.

Then we discuss how the Hawkeyes are sitting when it comes to the Big Ten Tournament. Are they in good shape to be a top four seed and earn that extra bye for the event in Indianapolis. We also look at where they sit when it comes to the upcoming NCAA Tournament. Is Iowa still in good shape to be a top four seed in a regional and host their first two games of the tournament?

After that we move over to men's hoops and take a look back at the first big win over a ranked opponent with the Tuesday victory over #9 Nebraska. What went into that win and why was the defense the key. We also spend a few minutes of the Fred Hoiberg vs. Iowa fan post game incident.

Then we look at Iowa basketball and their path into the Big Ten Tournament. What do they need to do to make sure they get a top eight seed in Chicago? Can two wins get there there? After that we explore the Hawkeyes potential path is in the NCAA Tournament. Are they now trending towards a seven seed in the Big Dance?

Finally, we talk Iowa baseball for a few minutes with their big series coming up down at Florida Atlantic.

It's a bit of a therapy session for Iowa Basketball fans on the podcast. We are joined by Tom Kakert and Matt Randazzo to look back at what was a bumpy week for the Hawkeyes on the court with a pair or tough losses.

We look back at the losses to Maryland and then the 21 point loss at the hands of Purdue. After a six game win streak, the Hawkeyes are struggling. What has gone wrong in the last two games? Is it a struggle from the Iowa offense or defense? Which one needs to be fixed first? Are Hawkeye players deferring too much to Bennett Stritz and have they lost confidence in their shot?

We look ahead to the game on Tuesday against Nebraska and the return of Pryce Sandfort to Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Then we also look ahead to the remaining schedule and discuss what Iowa might end up with record wise in the final six games.

Finally we talk about the Hawkeyes NCAA Tournament resume so far. What stands out as good and what is going to be a discussion point from the committee? What seed to we think the Hawkeyes will end up with in the NCAA Tournament?

It was a busy Wednesday night for Iowa basketball as both the men's and women's teams were in action. Unfortunately for the Hawkeyes it was not a clean sweep for the two squads. We open the podcast talking about the Iowa men's basketball team suffering what is certainly their worst loss of the season, a 77-70 defeat at Maryland.

It was a strange box score from the game where Bennett Stirtz was terrific, scoring 32 points, dishing out 6 assists, and having zero turnovers. But, the second half shooting from the outside was part of the story on how the Hawkeyes lost this game, going just 3-16 from three in the second half. We discuss that and how the Iowa team needs more consistent second and third options on offense if they are going to defeat teams heading into March.

Then we move over to the women's side of the equation where the Hawkeyes ended a three game skid with a win over Washington in Iowa City. We visit with Kyle Huesmann from Carver-Hawkeye Arena to get his thoughts on the victory. We also discuss the Iowa defense really stepping up, Hanah Stuelke dominating the class, and Chit Chat Wright playing a terrific game, particularly shooting the ball from three point range.

Finally we wrap up the podcast talking Iowa men's and women's wrestling with Tanner Lafever. We look back at the men's team and their performace last weekend at Ohio State and the lack of offense from the Hawkeyes on the mat becoming a growing problem. Then we look ahead to this coming weekend. It's senior night on Friday against Michigan. Can Iowa win that meet? How close will it be?

After that we discuss a huge winning weekend for the Iowa women's wrestling team last weekend in Coralville. Tanner was on site for it and runs down the high level drama that took place. Coming up shortly will be the NCAA Regionals for women's wrestling and he looks at the potential lineup for the Hawkeyes and where they have some tough decisions to make.

It's another busy week on the Hawkeye Report Podcast. This week we open with some Iowa men's basketball talk. We look back at the Hawkeyes win over Northwestern on Sunday and what we learned from the team in that victory. Iowa has now won six straight in conference play, how has Bennett Stirtz led the way and which other players are standing out?

We look at where Iowa stands in the NCAA NET and what stands out as good in their resume at this point and where can they improve it as we head to the middle of February. Then we take a look at Stirtz and the season that he is putting together and how it compares to other great Iowa basketball point guards in school history.

Then we move over to Iowa women's hoops as the on the other end of the equation with three straight losses. We discuss the huge upcoming game against Washington on Wednesday evening and if Jan Jensen might be considering a lineup change for this game and what it might be. We talk about how critical this stretch will be in terms of the Hawkeyes hoping to stay in line to be a host for the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament.

Then we dive into the start of the Iowa baseball season. Kyle Huesmann gives us a great breakdown of the upcoming season for Rick Heller and the Hawkeyes. We breakdown each position group heading into the season and also take a look at the early season schedule for the Hawkeyes.

The Big Ten Conference has officially released the football schedule for the 2026 season and the Iowa Hawkeyes now know who their opponents will be each week in the final nine weeks of the season.

Tom Kakert and Kyle Huesmann hop on the podcast to discuss the very latest on this news. Iowa opens their Big Ten schedule with what most would consider to be their three toughest games of the season, including road games at Michigan and Washington and in the middle is a visit from Ohio State.

We talk about the entire schedule for the Hawkeyes and how it is laid out this year. Which games are the most challenging beyond the first three games? How do we see the season playing out for Iowa at first look?

Then we move on to women's basketball. The unfortunate season ending injury to Taylor McCabe is now offical. We get Jan Jensen's reaction to the news and that Addie Deal will be moving into the starting lineup. Plus we preview the next two games for the Hawkeyes, at USC and UCLA.

After that we move over to men's hoops. Wednesday evening the Hawkeyes will be playing USC in Iowa City. We take a look at that contest and the upcoming road trip to the west coast. Plus we look at how the analytics sites are viewing the Hawkeyes next ten games, which is pretty favorable.

Finally we talk about the news that the Iowa women's soccer coach is leaving for Michigan. What's the impact and why is Beth Goetz the perfect AD to hire a replacement given her soccer background.

It's a special Sunday evening edition of the Hawkeye Report Podcast. Tom Kakert and Kyle Huesmann are on for just over thirty minutes talking exclusively about Iowa women's basketball following the Hawkeyes convincing 91-70 victory over nationally ranked Ohio State at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

We discuss the hot start for the Hawkeyes, clicking right out of the gate from the floor and continued to play solid basketball, particularly when it comes to scores in the paint from Hannah Stuelke and Ava Heiden.

There was also a downside to the game for Iowa and that was one the headlines. That was the possible significant injury to Taylor McCabe, who left the game just 23 seconds into the contest. What did Jan Jensen say after the game about her status?

One player who really stepped up in that opportunity was Addie Deal. The freshman scored a career high 20 points in the contest and filled that void. Will she get the opportunity to move into the starting lineup if McCabe is out longer term? How does that impact Iowa's rotation moving forward?

We also discuss the strong play of Chit Chat Wright, who has been an outstanding point guard and also shooting very well from beyond the arch.

Then we wrap up looking ahead to next week as the Hawkeyes head to the west coast for a pair of very tough games. The first face USC, who has been up and down, and a week from Sunday they face the #1 team in the conference in UCLA.

Back to back days of shows for the Hawkeye Report Podcast. This one was not an emergency podcast, but it might as well be one as the Iowa women's basketball team held on for an overtime win at Maryland.

What made it more dramatic than it needed to be was the Hawkeyes blowing a 17 point lead with 3:15 left in the fourth quarter before outscoring the Terps in overtime, 12-5 on their way to a seven point victory.

Tom Kakert and Kyle Huesmann headed to the podcast shortly after the game and broke it down from all the angles. We open looking at the end where Iowa somehow got off the deck after blowing that 17 point advantage and held it together in overtime to get the win.

We discuss that while the blow lead might get a lot of attention from fans coming out of this game, the bottom line is Iowa won on the roat at a Top 25 team and that will matter when we get to March.

We also dive into the big plays from this game. That includes Journey Houston coming up huge early in the fourth quarter to help Iowa build a lead. Also some huge free throws in overtime from Chit-Chat Wright and a massive game on the glass from Hannah Stuelke as well. Plus Taylor McCabe finding her three point shooting stoke and how important that will be moving forward.

We also look ahead to Sunday's game against Ohio State and where Iowa might sit from an NCAA Tournament seed perspective heading into that game.

Finally, Iowa has officially landed their Aussie punter and we discuss that latest roster move for the Hawkeye Football program.

It's another busy edition of the Hawkeye Report Podcast with Tom Kakert and Tanner LaFever covering a lot of ground on all the winter sports.

We open the podcast actually going back to a fall sport, football. The Hawkeyes may have wrapped up thier portal work on Wednesday when they landed Ohio State defensive back transfer Cody Haddad. We talk about how he might fit into the Iowa secondary and the impressive haul and re-working of the safety position this off-season.

Then we moved to Iowa men's basketball with a discussion of the Hawkeyes win on Tuesday evening over Rutgers. We also look back a bit at the win over Indiana on Saturday. Our main focus was on the win over the Scarlet Knights and how Tate Sage and Isaia Howard really stepped forward to save the day for the Hawkeyes. Plus we look ahead to the off weekend and why this break comes at a really good time for the Hawkeyes before they get back to action next Wednesday.

After that we take a brief look at the Hawkeye women's hoops team and their big game on Thursday evening against Maryland. We look at how Iowa has a tough stretch against ranked opponents that started this past weekend against Michigan State.

Then we move on to the final portion of the podcast and talk Iowa men's and women's wrestling. We open with the men's squad and the continued drama off the mat and how Tom Brands responded to it on Tuesday of this week. We look back at the one-sided loss to Penn State and preview Iowa traveling to Nebraska this Friday. We also updated a busy weekend last weekend for the Iowa women's wrestlers and how they are racing towards the nationals portion of the schedule.

It's another very busy addition of the Hawkeye Report Podcast. This time it's Tom Kakert and Tanner Lafever talking Iowa athletics on the podcast. We open the show discussing Iowa hiring a new special teams coordinator. It's a name that you probably heard here on the pod when Levar Woods departure was announced, Chris Polizzi.

We look at his background discuss why this is a good hire. Plus we mention that Iowa appears to be closing in on a punter who is from the land down under and has the same trainer as Tory Taylor.

Then we discuss some potential late additions to Iowa's portal class that are on campus this week. What impact could they have and who are new targets at positions of need.

After that we look back at Wednesday nights game at Purdue. How did Iowa play in that game and what led to the game being very tight from start to finish. Which Iowa players stood out in the game? What was the factor in the second half that led Purdue to hold on for the victory.

Finally we do a complete and total breakdown of the upcoming Penn State at Iowa wrestling meet that takes place at Carver-Hawkeye Arena on Friday evening. We take a look at each match-up at every weight class and if Iowa is favored against Penn State in any of them. Also, we take a look back at the national duals last weekend for the Iowa women's wrestling team and the surprising loss in the semifinals by the Hawkeyes.

It's another busy week of Iowa Hawkeye athletics for us to review and preview on the podcast. We are joined by Tom Kakert and Kyle Huesmann to break it all down this week.

This week we start with Iowa women's hoops. Huesmann was in Evanston and Bloomington this week to cover the Hawkeyes two road victories. Neither were pretty, but they were victories and he talks about how they got there in those games and the way they rallied on Sunday in the victory over Indiana. Plus we look ahead to this coming week that begins a very challenging stretch of basketball for Jan Jensen's squad, including home games against Oregon and Michigan State.

After that we slide over to men's basketball where Iowa has dropped two straight, one on the road at Minnesota and on Sunday a home defeat at the hands of Illinois. Why slow starts have become a real problem for the Hawkeyes and they couldn't quite dig out the hole, particularly against the Illini. Is Ben McCollum going to have to work the refs more aggressively in conference play? How big is this week with road games upcoming against Purdue and Indiana? When was the last time that a Ben McCollum team lost three in a row? Hint it's been longer than a decade.

Finally we transport ourselves into the transfer portal, where it was a busy couple of days for the Hawkeyes. More importantly it was positive and productive one. We look back at Iowa landing a pair of players on Friday afternoon. Both were their top targets with interest in the portal, including a wide receiver and a safety. Then on Sunday Iowa lands a safety, running back, and another wide receiver. Are they done?