The Cyclones look to have lost a lot more firepower than the Hawkeyes. Hunter Dekkers, Jirehl Brock, Isaiah Lee, Deshawn Hanika, Jake Remsburg are either gone for good or will miss games. That's a tough pill to swallow for Cyclone fans before the season even starts.

John Sears has more on the disappointing saga that won't end.

Leading the way is Michigan transfer QB Cade McNamara and former Wolverine TE Erick All. The duo helped Michigan beat Iowa in the B1G championship in 2021, now they want to lead the Hawkeyes to a title.

Mark Freund reports.

The Hawks should be much improved on offense with the addition of Cade McNamara at QB, plus other transfers from the portal.

John Sears and Mark Freund have it covered

“I know if anyone can do it, Hawkeye fans can and will,” coach Lisa Bluder said.

The state of Iowa has a long history of supporting girls and women's basketball. The Hawkeyes were second nationally in attendance last season with an average of 11,143 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

The women's basketball attendance record of 29,619 was set in the 2002 national title game between Connecticut and Oklahoma in San Antonio’s Alamodome.

Proceeds from ticket sales will go to the University of Iowa Stead Family Children’s Hospital. A portion of the tickets will be sold for $20 and honored if the game is moved indoors because of inclement weather. Tickets sold for $10 are non-refundable.

The Hawkeyes were 31-7 and national runners-up to LSU last season, and they return Collegiate Women's Athlete of the Year Caitlin Clark. DePaul was 16-17.

“So much for closed-door scrimmages," DePaul coach Doug Bruno said. “We are thrilled to be able to play Iowa, the reigning national runner-ups in a game for charity inside Kinnick Stadium. The opportunity to compete against Caitlin Clark, one of the best players in the country, will be a great test for our team.”

Southeast Polk has won back-to-back titles, but a three-peat will be a tall order for the Rams.

Mark Freund has more on SEP, and the quarterback hoping to lead them back to the top.

Three University of Iowa football players, a University of Iowa graduate assistant, and four Iowa State University football players have been charged with tampering with records in the case.

According to a criminal complaint Arland Bruce IV, who was a football player for UI for the 2021-2022 and 2022-2023 seasons, engaged in a scheme with a man named Vincent Bruce to disguise Arland's identity to allow him to place sports wagers. The complaint also accuses Arland of allowing then fellow teammate, Harry Reginald Bracy II (also known as Reggie), to also use the sports wagering account to place bets.

Arland allegedly placed 132 online sports wagers that totaled over $4,342, eleven of which were for Iowa football events during the 2021-2022 season while he was a player, court documents state. He also placed eight wagers on Iowa football events during the 2022-2023 season, according to court documents.

Bracy is accused of placing 66 online sports wagers that totaled over $715 while underage, a criminal complaint states. Eight of those wagers were on Iowa football events that included games he participated in as a player, the complaint states.

A third Iowa football player, Jack Johnson, allegedly used his mother's identity to disguise his identity to place sports wagers, according to court documents. Johnson is accused of placing over 480 sports wagers that totaled over $2,500, with over 380 of those wagers being placed while he was underage, a criminal complaint states. At least four wagers were placed on Iowa football events while he was a member of the team and he allegedly placed 11 wagers on Iowa basketball events, the complaint states.

Owen O'Brien, a graduate assistant for the Iowa football program since Dec. 2022, used his mother's identity to disguise his identity in order to place sports wagers, according to court documents.

O'Brien placed over 350 sports wagers while he was underage that totaled over $3,047, court documents state. Eleven wagers were placed on Iowa sporting events, three of which on football events during the 2022 season while he was a staff member for the program, according to court documents.

Iowa State University football player, DeShawn Hanika, is also accused of using his mother's identity in order to place wagers on Iowa State basketball events, a criminal complaint states. Hanika allegedly placed 288 online wagers that totaled over $1,262 with 70 of those wagers being placed on basketball games while he was a football player, the complaint states.

Isaiah Lee allegedly used his fiancé's personal information to disguise his identity to place sports wagers on Iowa State football events, according to court documents. Lee is accused of placing 115 wagers totaling over $855 and 21 of those wagers involved football events that Lee participated in, court documents state.

Jirehl L Brock is accused of using a woman's identity to place sports wagers on Iowa State basketball and football events, a criminal complaint states. Brock placed 1,327 wagers that totaled over $12,050, the complaint states. Of those wagers, 13 were on Iowa State basketball events and four were on football events, two of which were on games he participated in, the complaint states.

Jacob Remsburg, who was a football player during the 2019-2020, 2020-2021, 2021-2022, and 2022-2023 seasons, also used his mother's identity to place sports wagers online, a criminal complaint states. Remsburg placed 273 online sports wagers that totaled over $1,108, six of those wagers were on NCAA sanctioned basketball and football events while he was still on the team, the complaint states.

According to court records, Hanika, Lee, and Brock are all ordered to appear at an initial court appearance on Aug. 23.

A few hours after it was announced that four more Iowa State Univeristy football players are being charged in the gambling investigation Matt Shoultz, assistant athletics director/communications, released the following statement to WHO 13:

Since becoming aware of potential NCAA eligibility issues related to sports wagering by several of our student-athletes back in May, Iowa State University has been actively working to address these issues with the involved student-athletes, and that process remains ongoing. We will continue to support our student-athletes as our compliance staff works with the NCAA to sort out questions surrounding their future eligibility for athletics competition.

Matt Shoultz, Iowa State University assistant athletics director/communications

As a result, Dowling won't sneak up on anybody.

John Sears has more on the Maroon Machine's quest to return to the top.

Ferentz doesn't have the answer to the problem -- but he did share some personal thoughts on the nature of the regulations themselves. Or rather, a story of Ferentz watching ESPN on his couch and being exposed to the projection of betting elements on the broadcast.

"They're talking about spreads and all that. We got a really fancy TV system now -- we got YouTube TV," Ferentz said. So I got ESPNews -- Mary's opened the budget up a little bit.

"So I got ESPNews on and they got lines on the opening day of college football games on the left. So to think that kids aren't going to be attracted that -- and I understand they give you the 'bet with us and we'll give you a 300 free dollars or you can lose 300 of our dollars' and then lose the rest of your money.

"It's just like... let's acknowledge that and let's deal with it in a common sense way."

But he's hoping hard work and a change in culture can help East rebound from last year's 1-win season.

Mark Freund has the story.

The Johnston Dragons are coming off their best season in school history when it comes to how far they made it in the playoffs. Johnston made the final 4 for the first time ever, losing to eventual state champ SE Polk in the semifinals.

The Dragons won't be sneaking up on anyone like last year, and will likely start the season ranked in the top 10.

John Sears has more on the team trying to build on a breakthrough season.

As it turns out, Scott's statement instead ended up reflecting what rival conferences and commissioners did.

Scott didn't have a chance to negotiate a second Pac-12 media deal. He stepped down as commissioner in 2021 and his successor, George Kliavkoff, didn't land the deal the conference needed.

Last week’s Pac-12 collapse, which saw five of the remaining nine members announce they were leaving the “Conference of Champions” for either the Big Ten or the Big 12, drove home in a dramatic way two points: football drives college athletics and there are limits to what the media market will pay for content.

“I think this was a factor of timing and potential media partners not being willing to provide the right fees that the conference and the institutions wanted,” said Tag Garson, senior vice president of properties for Wasserman, a media company that represents broadcasters, coaches and executives and also consults with teams and leagues. "It’s also about the changing landscape of intercollegiate athletics, and making sure that schools are set up for the most success possible in the long term."

Media rights have far surpassed ticket sales and donor contributions as the main revenue driver for athletic programs.

According to a database run by the Knight Commission and Syracuse University, 19% of the Pac-12’s revenue in 2012 — the year after Utah and Colorado joined the conference — came from media rights, NCAA conference distributions and bowl games ($123.08 million). Donor contributions led the way (26%, or $168.55 million) followed by ticket sales (20%, $134.63 million).

In 2022, that figure jumped to $399.89 million, or 35%, which was more than ticket sales and donor contributions combined (32% or $370.90 million).

Many speculated a new Pac-12 rights deal would be done by this year's basketball tournament, but when that didn't happen, concerns about the conference's future began to ramp up.

During football media day on July 21, Kliavkoff said "all was well” in media rights negotiations.

“We’re not announcing a deal on purpose today because I want the focus to be on football,” Kliavkoff said.

When asked less than five minutes later if a deal had been reached, he said “I think you’re reading too much into that.”

The league did eventually come to a proposed deal with Apple. While most of the key details of that proposal remain secret, the framework was similar to Apple's deal with Major League Soccer in that it was mainly based on subscribers and revenue. It was also likely the conference would have had to pick up almost all the production costs, which would decrease revenues.

Washington President Ana Mari Cauce also noted during a conference call last weekend that the deal had an out clause after two years.

“When you have a deal that people are saying that one of the best aspects are that you can get out of it in two years, that tells you a lot,” Cauce said. “This was about national visibility for our players. Being on linear TV so they can be seen and have national exposure."

Kliavkoff inherited an ultimately untenable situation from Scott, including a television network that consists of seven channels and that couldn't get a distribution deal with DirecTV. According to Sports Business Journal, ESPN offered a lifeline in 2019 to partner with the conference on the network along with extending the rights, only to be rebuffed by Scott.

The Pac-12's struggles to move forward after Southern California and UCLA announced they were leaving for the Big Ten made things worse.

At that point, the best the Pac-12 could hope for was getting a deal that would have resulted in the same payouts as its current one, which would have left league schools lagging in revenue behind other Power Five programs.

“When you see a conference like the Pac-12 eroding, it makes it harder to decide that’s where I want to put my money,” Garson said. “It’s certainly not to the same level that I have before. It becomes a massive challenge."

While Kilavkoff was trying to deal with the problems, Big 12 Commissioner Brett Yormak was aggressive. Yormak, who came in last August, reached an extension with ESPN and Fox with two years left on his conference's deal.

The league's performance on the biggest stages has also been a hindrance. "The Conference of Champions” has long been far from that in football and men’s basketball, the two sports that bring in the most revenue.

Only two teams have qualified for the College Football Playoff, with Washington being the most recent in 2016. Since the CFP started in 2014, the conference is 4-9 in New Year's Six games. Over the past two seasons, it was 3-11 in bowl games.

The title drought in men’s basketball dates back to 1997, when Arizona won it all. UCLA was the last league team to play in a final in 2006.

And though the late Saturday night window for football remains an intriguing spot for networks, ESPN and Fox weren't willing to pay what the Pac-12 was seeking.

“College conferences should not be looking at the networks, whether that be linear or digital as the underwriters, bank, whatever word you want to use,” Garson said. "There’s only a finite amount of money that can go around to all the properties that all the networks are looking to.

“There's this expectation that the networks will continue to provide enough money to solve all the problems of intercollegiate athletics. It’s just not going to happen today.”

The Sun Devils, 29-11 all-time against the Cyclones, are set to join the Big 12 Conference for the 2024-25 season, solidifying the wrestling rivalry as a marquee matchup moving forward.

"It's been difficult finding people outside the PAC-12 who want to wrestle us," ASU head wrestling coach Zeke Jones said during a media call Monday morning.

During their most recent dual at Ames on Jan. 8, Jones remarked how important it was for his team to experience the atmosphere inside Hilton Coliseum.

"We've got kids who want to be the best in the world so for them to see this atmosphere, it's part of their growth and development on their path to become NCAA champs, Olympic champions, so you get a crowd of ten-thousand, who doesn't love to do that?" Jones said.

Iowa State won the dual 19-15.

As the conference expands, so will the travel budgets for schools once divisions are set geographically within the Big12 as well as overall impact to student athletes, Jones said.

"Will it effect the bank accounts and kids' sleep? Absolutely," Jones said.

Schools located in the western region of the country face a three hour difference on top of travel time to compete at schools on the eastern time zone. "We leave at 8:00 a.m. from Phoenix and get to J.F.K (New York) at 4:30 p.m. with time to workout and go to bed," Jones said.

Jones also acknowledge the financial incentives and stability that come with leaving the PAC-12 for the Big 12.

"The best programs in the country have to raise a half-million to a million dollars a year on top of what they're already doing. It's getting very expensive to compete at this level and I am concerned about the small-budgeted schools being able to compete because (the gap) definitely got separated further away," Jones said. "But I feel confident based on the history and traditions of the programs in the Big 12."

Jones will have to wait to see how the financial breakdown joining the Big 12 impacts the wrestling program at ASU compared to current allocation as a member of the PAC-12.

"If you look at our offensive line, we weren't where we needed to be," Ferentz said of last season's unit. "The facts are when you can't do things up front, it cascades the entire offense."

Ferentz's solution was being proactive in the transfer portal, acquiring Rusty Feth and Daijon Parker, who both have years of experience at non-elite powers. Now, with another year of experience under the line's belt, things look much different.

Parker was attracted to Iowa in part because of a friendship with former Hawkeyes safety Kaevon Merriweather. Feth played for offensive line coach George Barnett at Miami of Ohio, and had a desire to play for him again.

Sophomore offensive lineman Gennings Dunker won the Solon hay bale toss, and certainly deserves recognition as a potential difference-maker after appearing in 10 games as a freshman.

However, center Logan Jones was a hot topic at Big Ten Football Media Days. Jones converted from defensive line last March, and started every game at center as a sophomore.

"Logan should probably get a medal for the way he played last year," Ferentz said.

Jones says the biggest key to a jump this season is going to be simply understanding his job.

"I'm understanding the offense a little more," Jones said. "Last year was about going with the flow and learning as I went. This year I'm learning the concepts of everything."

The Hawkeyes finished at the bottom of the Power 5 in nearly every offensive category. But if the key to fixing the offense starts in the trenches, it sounds like things are trending in the right direction according to Kirk Ferentz.

"We need a good month, but I think we have a chance to play at a level where it meets the standard we're looking for."

34 other athletes are being investigated in to sports gambling and could be charged as well. NCAA punishments also loom for all.

John Sears can't believe all these athletes would risk so much for so little gain when all of them knew they were breaking the rules.