Hawkeye Report Podcast

It's a post season podcast coming your way in this episode of the podcast. First, we are joined by Tanner Lafever, who takes us around the world of Iowa men's and women's wrestling, who had two very different results in their post season events.  We open with a look at the Iowa men's wrestling team and their performance at the Big Ten championships. It was a third place performance for Iowa and zero individual titles once again this year for the Hawkeyes. What happened in their three title matches, including two top seeds that lost? Which Iowa wrestlers had stronger than expected performances? Which wrestlers are we concerned about heading into the NCAA championships.  Meanwhile the Iowa women's wrestling team won their second straight national title over the weekend in Coralville. Iowa won the team title and crowned three individual champions. While Iowa didn't have as many titles it was still an impressive performance. We discuss the Hawkeyes struggled on Saturday in the semifinals, but came back strong in

It's a massive wrestling weekend for the Iowa Hawkeyes men's and women's squads and we have your full preview of the action coming up on the mat. But, before we start talking about wrestling, we have some Hawkeye football news.  We have a new Iowa football commit to discuss. As we started to record, Iowa picked up a 2026 wide receiver commitment. We discussed the new addition. Then we talk about an interesting offensive analyst hire for Iowa and what that could mean for the offense. Plus, we give you a name to watch for the Iowa running back coach.  Then we dive into Iowa women's wrestling. They are competing for their second straight title this weekend in Coralville and Tanner Lafever has your full and complete preview of what to expect. Will the Hawkeyes roll to a second straight title? Which weight classes will be the most interesting to watch?  Lastly, we turn our attention to the Iowa men's wrestling team and their battle to win the Big Ten title this weekend in Evanston. What do we expect to see from th

Welcome to March and that can mean only one thing, conference tournament season for the Big Ten. We open the month with the Big Ten Women's Basketball Tournament coming up this week in Indianapolis.  Kyle Huesmann and Tom Kakert open the podcast looking back at the Iowa women pulling away in the second half for a comfortable win over Wisconsin. By the way, they will play the Badgers in their first game in Indy and we discuss that angle of the game. But, we breakdown what we learned from Sunday's regular season final game at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. What have we seen in the last month plus in terms of growth from this Iowa team? What were our takeaways from the victory on Sunday? We look at the Big Ten Tournament bracket and Iowa's path to a potential fourth straight title. We discuss not only Wisconsin, but what happened in the Hawkeyes only meeting this year with Michigan State, who they could potentially face on Wednesday. Which team is the favorite to win the crown this year? What about Iowa's seed in the NCA

Back by popular demand, Matt Randazzo returns to the podcast. Tom Kakert and Randazzo open the pod talking about the topic that Iowa fans are itching to hear their thoughts on and that's Iowa basketball and Brock Harding.  We look back at the loss at Illinois and also Harding's tweet from over the weekend calling out the social media comments that have been made towards the Iowa point guard. We assess his sophomore season so far and what's gone well and where he has struggled this season.  Also, we assess the overall season and the fact that Beth Goetz went to Champaign with the Iowa men's basketball team. Does that mean anything about the future? What could the next few weeks look like for the Iowa basketball team and what are their chances to even make the Big Ten Tournament at this point? What has to happen for them to make it to any post season play?  Then we discuss the surprising news from earlier this week that Ladell Betts has left the program to become the running backs coach for the New York Giants.

A very special edition of the Hawkeye Report Podcast. We are joined by our great friend Scott Dochterman from The Athletic to discuss a wide variety of topics dealing with Iowa athletics and the future of college sports.  We open the pod with a brief discussion of the Iowa women's basketball team dropping a game to UCLA on Sunday and how impressed we have been with their play in the last month.  Then we move to Iowa men's basketball and the Fran McCaffery era. Scott and Tom Kakert have covered the entire McCaffery era in Iowa City and discuss the state of the program and the complicated history of Hawkeye men's basketball overall dating back to the days of Dr. Tom Davis. It's a lot to unpack as we look at what might be next for the Iowa basketball program and why it needs to be stronger in the coming years.  From there we move on to the state of college athletics and the House Settlement that is expected to be officially coming in a few months. Scott was in New Orleans last week for Big Ten and SEC meetings a

It's another jam packed edition of the Hawkeye Report Podcast this week. We open previewing the Hawkeye women's basketball team and Kyle Huesmann guiding us through that discussion. This weekend, Iowa hosts UCLA. Can Iowa pull off another upset against a national ranked team from Southern California? After that we discuss some Iowa baseball and preview their series starting Friday down at Stetson, which includes a contest against Notre Dame. What needs to go well for Iowa to emerge with at least a 2-1 record this weekend? Then we move on to Iowa men's basketball coming off a hard fought loss to Oregon on Wednesday night. Tom Kakert gives his thoughts on the loss and the missed opportunity. More importantly moving forward it looks like the Hawkeye path to even make it to Indianapolis for the Big Ten Tournament is becoming even more complicated. We dive into that discussion and explain why it's challenging.  Finally we wrap up on the wrestling mat with Tanner Lafever discussing a huge weekend for the Iowa men a

It's a Monday podcast that's jam packed with Iowa Hawkeye news and commentary. Tom Kakert and Kyle Huesmann open the podcast dicussing the overtime loss by the Iowa women's hoops team on the road at Ohio State.  We look back at the game and how Iowa fought back late to tie the game and send it into extra time before the Buckeyes pull away for the victory. What did we see from the Hawkeyes as they saw their winning streak come to an end? How did they battle back after being down by double figures in the first half and again at times in the second half? How have we seen Lucy Olsen really grow in the player many expected her to be this year? How important were Syd Affolter and Kylie Feuerbach in today's game and how well have they been playing in the last few weeks? We also dive into where Iowa might be seeded in the NCAA and Big Ten Tournament and what their path might look like.  Then we move over the Iowa men's basketball team and their loss to Maryland on Sunday afternoon. Why was that game a tale of two hal

A huge road win for the Iowa men's basketball team means it's time to fire up the podcast machine and get things rolling. Tom Kakert, Matt Randazzo and Kyle Huesmann break down the huge win over Rutgers and how the Hawkeyes were able to go on the road and beat the Scarlet Knights.  We discuss the great performance by Josh Dix, who led the way. We talk about the huge shot down the stretch by Payton Sandfort and the strong play from Brock Harding and Pryce Sandfort, plus a huge contribution from Ladji Dembele.  After that we dive into the world of Iowa women's basketball. The Hawkeyes have gone from losing five straight to winning five in a row heading into their game against Rutgers. What has changed with the Iowa women's team? How much of an impact has the lineup change had on this recent success? What about the really strong play from Lucy Olsen and Syd Affolter in the last two weeks? Iowa is now in the NCAA Tournament, but could they rise to as high as a six seed? Finally we have our mega baseball preview.

It's another jam packed edition of the Hawkeye Report Podcast. This week Tom Kakert, Kyle Huesmann, and Tanner Lafever break down what turned out to be a very busy and exciting weekend in Iowa athletics.  We open the show discussing the news of the day, which is the season ending injury to starting center Owen Freeman. What does it mean for the Iowa basketball team and the rest of the season? Who will have to step up for the Hawkeyes moving forward at the center position and what might they do with the lineup? What about the rumors that Freeman could enter the transfer portal?  Then we move on to a lengthy conversation about the Iowa women's hoops team and their upset win on Sunday afternoon over USC. We look back at the hot start from the Hawkeyes, the strong finish from Lucy Olsen and Addie O'Grady. We also talk about the way Iowa was able to figure out the pressure from the Trojans on defense. Then we talk about the highly ranked recruits that were at Carver-Hawkeye Arena on Sunday and if the Hawkeyes impr

It's a busy weekend coming up for Iowa athletics on a couple of fronts and the most famous women's basketball player in the world will be back in Iowa City. Tom Kakert, Kyle Huesmann, and Tanner LaFever hop on the podcast to discuss the return of Caitlin Clark, Iowa women's hoops playing USC on a huge recruiting weekend and we preview the Iowa wrestlers traveling to Penn State.  Yeah, it's a busy weekend. We open the podcast discussing Clark and her return for her number being retired from Iowa women's basketball. We look back at her amazing career at Iowa and reflect back on when things all changed on their road to the Final Four in her junior year and where it went from there.  Then we discuss one of the biggest recruiting weekends in women's basketball history with several top ten players in the Class of 2026 being on campus for the game against USC. Who are the visitors and what are the Hawkeyes chances with them? We also preview the Hawkeyes and the Trojans on Sunday and if Iowa can pull the massive upse

Following another road loss by double digits, it was time to fire up the podcast machine. Tom Kakert and Matt Randazzo are back and discussing the Hawkeyes 82-65 loss to Ohio State on Monday night.  It was different than the previous two losses that saw the Hawkeyes fall behind by huge margins in the first half, but the result was close to the previous three road games. We look at the woes for the Iowa offense, which struggled to score the basketball consistently for most of the game. We examine the fact that for most of the game Iowa had only four players score a point and that didn't include Brock Harding and Josh Dix, who really struggled on Monday night in Columbus.  We look at the road ahead, which continues in about eight days when Iowa hosts Purdue and then they host Wisconsin. Those two games become must win in a lot of ways as the Hawkeyes hope to not be left out of the Big Ten Tournament, which only invites 15 of 18 schools this year.  We then wrap up the quick podcast with a look at very good footb

The struggle is real for the Iowa men's and women's basketball teams, particularly on the road. Both teams are on losing streaks with one team not able to get any stops and the other struggling to score points.  Tom Kakert and Kyle Huesmann open the podcast talking about the Iowa women's basketball team that has dropped five in a row in conference play. The latest loss was at Oregon in a game where Iowa built a double digit lead in the first half before dropping the game.  What has gone wrong with the Iowa women's team in recent weeks? Is it worth noting that they could have potentially won three of those games? What has gone wrong with the Hawkeyes lack of offense and in particular the struggle from the field by Lucy Olsen shooting the basketball? Are they officially in danger of missing the NCAA Tournament this year? What could their lineup look like next year? Then we move over to the Iowa men's basketball team who continues to struggle stopping opposing teams when they are on the road. Iowa is giving up 9

A lot of ground to cover on a Sunday night Hawkeye Report Podcast. Iowa athletics was busy and so were Tom Kakert, Kyle Huesmann, and Tanner Lafever covering their beats in Iowa City at Carver-Hawkeye Arena and on the wrestling mat in Cedar Falls and Madison. We open the podcast with Tanner talking about his busy weekend and we start with what happened on Sunday in Madison as Iowa men's wrestling dominated Wisconsin on the mat. What were his thoughts on the lineup that Tom Brands put on the mat and could there be some key pieces returning soon? What's the state of the team right now heading into the heart of Big Ten season? After that we move on to Iowa women's wrestling. Last year the Hawkeyes barely won the national dual in their first time at the event. This year they dominated the event, winning it with relative ease on Friday and Saturday. What did Tanner think of the Iowa women's team and their performance and just how dominant were their hammers at the upper weights? Then we move on to a struggling Iow

(Note: This podcast was recorded a few hours before the Mark Gronowski surgery news was released) Another edition of the Hawkeye Report Podcast with a portal flavor to it. We are joined by the CEO of the Iowa Swarm, Brad Heinrichs to discuss a pretty successful transfer portal period for the Iowa Hawkeyes and the role that the Iowa Swarm played in it. We go over Iowa landing quarterback Mark Gronowski in the portal and what he will bring to the table for the Hawkeyes. How big of a role did Tim Lester play in his recruitment? Is there a current college quarterback that he compares to?  We go over the other signees, including Hank Brown at quarterback, Jonah Pace, who might be the starter at defensive tackle, the addition of the wide receiver Sam Phillips, and fellow defensive end Bryce Hawthore. We go over the impact each player will have on the program.  Then we talk about the portal process and the frustrations for coaches and collective leader when it comes to tampering in college football around the portal

It was a busy day for news on the Iowa football and basketball front. We open the podcast with Tom Kakert and Matt Randazzo discussing the huge win by the Iowa men's basketball team. After falling behind by 15 points in the scond half, the Hawkeyes rallied for a for an overtime win over the Cornhuskers.  We dive into the massive performance by both Josh Dix, who scored 31 points, and Payton Sandfort, who scored 30 points after halftime. We look at both of their performances in this game and key plays that were involved in Iowa's rally. Then we discuss the big news on the football side of the equation and that is the signing of Mark Gronowski from South Dakota State. What's the impact of his decision on the quarterback room this year and how will Gronowski fit into the Hawkeye offense. How big of impact can a quarterback have on the Iowa offense? Should we be concerned that Brendan Sullivan might leave? What will the initial depth chart look like at quarterback this spring? Finally, we talk about the Iowa Swar

With the Music City Bowl in the books it was time to visit with the great Chuck Long about the result of the game and the future of the quarterbacks at the University of Iowa.  We open talking about the loss to Missouri and what happened with the Hawkeyes offense in the first half vs. the second half. Why did Brendan Sullivan play so well in the first half and why did he struggle in the second half?  What did he think of the stuggles in the second half why has Iowa had issues with giving up double digit leads this year. Iowa lost this game giving up a score right after going up 24-14 and the defense allowed a touchdown.  Then we dive into the quarterback room. How would he manage the room this spring in terms of reps? Is Sullivan the starter? Should the reps be divided up? We also discuss the process of developing quarterbacks and how to do that from a coaching perspective.  Long also give us his analysis of Hank Brown, who is from Chuck's hometown of Wheaton. What did he thinks of his throws at Auburn and hi

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! It's a marathon podcast to wrap up the year of Iowa athletics. Tom Kakert, Matt Randazzo, Kyle Huesmann, and Tanner Lafever come together to talk all things Hawkeyes for one of the longest pods that we have done.  First, we open talking transfer portal and the latest news regarding Iowa football. They picked up a defensive lineman commit and we discuss that news and how he fits into the roster. We also talk about the Hawkeyes missing on a quarterback in the portal and look at what could potentially be next at the position. Plus we discuss other prospects that Iowa is after in the portal.  Second, we disucss the Hawkeye basketball team coming from behind and winning on a neutral site over Utah. What were our thoughts on the victory and how Payton Sandfort, Josh Dix, and Brock Harding were key down the stretch of the game. Why was this win so important to the post season hopes of the Hawkeyes as they get ready to head back into conference play to start the new year? Then we g

Football transfer portal season continues to heat up in Iowa City. Just when you thought that the Hawkeyes might be done in the portal at the quarterback position they get involved with Penn State signal caller Beau Pribula, who entered the portal and will not play in the Nittany Lions College Football Playoff game this weekend.  We dive into which schools are after Pribula in the portal and his speed dating visit schedule that included trips to Missouri and Iowa and will wrap up with trips to UCF and Indiana before he ends up making a decision. What are Iowa's chances of landing him?  After that we look at other potential targets in the transfer portal for the Hawkeyes. Are there some names at wide receiver and defensive tackle to watch? We run all them down along with a few other names that they are still involved with as he head towards the holiday dead period beginning after this weekend.  Finally we wrap up discussing the Iowa men's and women's basketball teams and where things stand with the vast majori

It's a special Saturday morning recording of the podcast after the news that Iowa landed a quarterback in the transfer portal. That's right, Iowa landed Auburn transfer Hank Brown in the portal. What does that mean for the Hawkeye quarterback position moving forward? Is Iowa done in the portal at that position? Maybe?  Who are the other portal targets for the Hawkeyes that remain out there? Who is visiting this weekend? Is one of them a highly sought offensive lineman?  What about the eventually House payments to players? Will the Iowa football team end up with in terms of percentage of those payments? What could that means for walk-on players? Then we look back at the Iowa loss to Iowa State in men's hoops. What were the keys to the loss from the Hawkeye perspective? What did we think of the change in the Hawkeye starting lineup? Was factor was fatigue for the Hawkeyes in the final six minutes of the game and did it impact the outcome? 

It's a very busy week for the Hawkeyes and we have you covered on the Hawkeye Report Podcast. Tom Kakert and Kyle Huesmann team up on the pod to preview the Iowa vs. Iowa State men's and women's basketball games.  But, before we get to that, it's college football portal season and there is plenty of news. Iowa might have found their portal quarterback in Hank Brown, who is visiting this week. We have plenty of news on that front and also two other visitors heading to Iowa City this week at a position of need. We also disucss the return of Logan Jones and what that means for the Iowa football team next year.  Then we break down the Hawkeyes and the Cyclones in women's hoops. Really interesting game between two nationally ranked teams. We look at the key match-ups in the game and if Iowa State can live up to their preseason billing and can the Hawkeyes bounce back after their first loss of the season that included 30 turnovers.  Finally we break down the Iowa vs. Iowa State men's game, which has been filled wit