Iowa

The non-sports reason comedian Nate Bargatze picked BYU to win over Iowa State

Published

2 months ago

October 26, 2025

The non-sports reason comedian Nate Bargatze picked BYU to win over Iowa State

Despite their perfect record and No. 11 ranking, the BYU Cougars were the underdogs heading into Saturday’s game against the Iowa State Cyclones.

But that had no bearing on the predictions from ESPN’s College GameDay crew.

Citing a consistently impressive showing from true freshman quarterback Bear Bachmeier, among other strengths, Desmond Howard, Nick Saban, Pat McAfee and Kirk Herbstreit all picked BYU to win over Iowa State.

Special Collector’s Issue: “1984: The Year BYU was Second to None”

Get an inclusive look inside BYU Football’s 1984 National Championship season.

And so did celebrity guest picker Nate Bargatze — but for an entirely different, non-sports related reason.

Nate Bargatze picked BYU to win over Iowa State

When it came time for Bargatze to weigh in with his prediction for the BYU versus Iowa State game, the comedian didn’t even hesitate.

“This is a business decision right here,” he said with a smile. “I’ve got four shows in Salt Lake City. BYU, baby!”

Bargatze chose wisely. After a rough start, the Cougars went on to pull off another win on the road, defeating the Cyclones 41-27 and remaining undefeated at 8-0.

When does Nate Bargatze come to Salt Lake City?

Bargatze’s “Big Dumb Eyes” world tour comes to Salt Lake City in December.

The comedian will perform four shows at the Delta Center Dec. 4-6.

He previously did four shows at the Eccles Theater in 2022 and three shows at the Delta Center in 2023. Bargatze spoke to the Deseret News at that time about the popularity of clean comedy in Utah.

“You always heard (Jim) Gaffigan and (Brian) Regan could go there,” he said in 2023. “You heard, ‘If you’re clean, you do really great in Salt Lake City.’ … I actually now have a lot of close friends that live in Salt Lake City. And I actually end up there a lot.”

During one of his 2023 Salt Lake shows, Bargatze called Utah the “clean comedian’s Hollywood,” per Deseret News. That show overlapped with the 193rd Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and the comedian thanked the crowd for sharing the weekend with him, as the Deseret News reported at the time.

Nate Bargatze hosts the 77th Emmy Awards on Sunday, Sept. 14, 2025, at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles. | Danny Moloshok, Invision via the Associated Press

“The crowds were so good,” he later said of the Salt Lake City shows, per Deseret News. “You have dreams of it happening like this, but every single time it’s overwhelming.”

Bargatze’s upcoming shows at the Delta Center come just a few months after he hosted the Emmys for the first time — a major moment in his career that he put his own stamp on with a $100,000 plan to keep acceptance speeches short.

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Iowa

Pat McAfee praises Audi Crooks, plays hype song for Iowa State star

Published

4 hours ago

January 6, 2026

Press Room

Pat McAfee praises Audi Crooks, plays hype song for Iowa State star

Audi Crooks and Iowa State women’s basketball are officially sweeping the nation.

On Tuesday’s edition of “The Pat McAfee Show” on ESPN, the Cyclones’ star and NCAA women’s basketball scoring leader garnered significant praise from the former-NFL-punter-turned-media-personality.

“I’m a huge fan of the way she operates. Huge fan,” McAfee said. “She just gets buckets. That’s literally all she does.

“Did I know anything about Iowa State’s women’s basketball team ever? Nope. But Audi Crooks highlights pop up on my (algorithm), and I say, ‘Boys, immediately, I’m making a song, we’re making a highlight,’ because people are trying to take shots at Audi right now.”

The song and video McAfee referenced was posted on his social media and played on his show before his monologue about Crooks. It features a stylish edit of Crooks points accompanied by what appears to be an AI-generated song with the chorus of, “You’re about to get cooked, by Audi Crooks.”

The “shots” at Crooks that McAfee mentioned refer to a TikTok posted by ESPN with the caption, “Baylor exposed Audi Crooks on defense,” which came in ISU’s first loss of the season on Jan. 4.

Audi Crooks stats

2025-26 season (14 games): 29.1 points (NCAA leader), 6.7 rebounds, 71% shooting
2024-25 season: 23.4 points, 7.5 rebounds, 60.5% shooting
2023-24 season: 19.2 points, 7.8 rebounds, 57.7% shooting

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Iowa

Iowa women’s basketball, Chit-Chat Wright sick, Kylie Feuerbach update

Published

16 hours ago

January 6, 2026

Press Room

Iowa women’s basketball, Chit-Chat Wright sick, Kylie Feuerbach update

Hawk Central report
| Des Moines Register

Iowa women’s basketball was lacking some of its vocal leadership on Monday at Northwestern.

Part of that was the fact that Hawkeyes senior Kylie Feuerbach is still sidelined with an ankle injury. Another part was the fact that Chit-Chat Wright was not feeling great.

“No excuse, but Chat’s really sick,” Iowa coach Jan Jensen said after the Hawkeyes’ 67-58 victory. “She didn’t have the flu game like (Michael) Jordan. But she’s really sick, like fever. And I think that just threw her. She was really not vocal tonight. So we were kinda searching, because Chat had been coming (as a leader).”

Wright fought through it and played 34 minutes, scoring 12 points and dishing out seven assists.

Jensen confirmed that Feuerbach remains day-to-day. She hasn’t played since getting hurt Dec. 20 vs. UConn.

“I think (our leadership tonight) was by committee,” Jensen said. “It just wasn’t the same person every time. … It’ll be nice to get Kylie back in that lineup.”

Feuerbach, the team’s best perimeter defender, has missed Iowa’s last three games. Jensen said she is pleased overall with how her team has played defensively in Feuerbach’s absence.

“(Against Northwestern) it was more an ‘us’ problem offensively,” Jensen said. “Our defense held. … We turned the ball over 20 times.”

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Iowa

Two killed in Dubuque after bar fight escalates into police shooting

Published

1 day ago

January 5, 2026

Press Room

Two killed in Dubuque after bar fight escalates into police shooting

Two people are dead after a Dubuque bar fight escalated, with one man shooting another and then being killed by police.

An officer with the Dubuque Police Department was outside the Odd Fellows bar just before 1 a.m. Sunday, Jan. 4, when he witnessed a physical altercation, according to a news release from the Dubuque Police Department.

As the officer exited the patrol vehicle, an adult man allegedly used a handgun to shoot one of the people involved in the fight. The officer fired at the offender, who then ran into the bar.

The victim who was shot first was provided medical treatment by officers at the scene and then transported to MercyOne Hospital in Dubuque.

The offender was treated by police officers inside the bar and then transported to UnityPoint Finley Hospital.

Both were later pronounced dead.

The names of those involved are not being released at this time pending notification of family members.

The incident is being investigated by the Dubuque Police Department and the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation. The officer involved was not injured and has been placed on critical incident leave in accordance with the department’s policies.

Nick El Hajj is a reporter at the Register. He can be reached at nelhajj@gannett.com. Follow him on X at @nick_el_hajj.

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