Happy Hour with John Gaskins

Should we sound the "Upset Alert" sirens for South Dakota State at Northern Iowa on Saturday?
 
After all — stop us if you've heard this — the Panthers are 4-0 in the UNI-Dome with a couple of (at the time) Top 10 teams exiting Cedar Falls with tails between their legs.
 
Trap game? Letdown game? Maybe. Maybe not...
 
Every Friday, the Happy Hour host and Sioux Falls Live sportswriter Trent Singer get together at the Orion Pub in downtown Sioux Falls to unfurl all the storylines, stats, and matchups of a game like this and predict what might happen.
 
The Jackrabbits are 14.5-point favorites. Will they cover? Will they even win? 

Tune in to find out. Then, make fun of these clowns if (or when) they end up being way off!
 
Show motto: Don't take us to the bank!
 
Also on the docket:
 
* No. 21 Augustana at No. 3 Minnesota State
 
* USF at Wayne State
 
* 11AAA State Semifinals! Both games will be televised live on KSFL-TV (Ch. 36 / Midco Ch. 616) and the Midwest Sports Plus app! To get the app, go here!
 
No. 4 Harrisburg at No. 1 Jefferson, 5 p.m. 
 
No. 3 Brandon Valley at No. 2 Lincoln, 7:30 p.m.

The Sioux Falls Live high school football guys preview Harrisburg-Jefferson and Brandon Valley-Lincoln for the rights to go to next week's state championship

We interrupt our endless chatter about a compelling college football season in South Dakota to bring you some captivating basketball conversations on Happy Hour.
 
Well, that is, after the host offers 11 minutes of Jacks and Yotes football in the form of a new segment called "Lost and Found," which takes a closer look at players and aspects of both squads that have become either a strength or a sticking point.
 
Brad Newitt on Jacks hoops season openers
How do you immediately extinguish the pain of a program's first losing season in 16 years?
 
South Dakota State's men opened the season with their first win over a major conference team in five years by upsetting Kansas State on the road Tuesday night.
 
What did the Jackrabbits immediately show that could convince observers this will be an improved operation from last year's 14-18 squad, which tended to run into offensive walls, especially late in games?
 
Plus, let's be real. KSU had a brand new coach and brand new roster, a crew picked to finish 15th out of 16 teams in the Big 12.
 
So, what does this win mean for SDSU?
 
Brad Newitt was in Bramlage Coliseum as the Jackrabbit radio analyst and breaks down the win. He was also on the call for the SDSU women's season-opening home loss to Creighton at the buzzer.
 
What were Newitt's takeaways from that performance against a team picked to finish third in the Big East? What kinds of challenges do the Jacks face with the return of center Brooklyn Meyer, who joined the team only a week ago or so? 
 
Also, what are Newitt's thoughts on the revamped men's and women's rosters at USD?

 
Dawn Plitzuweit
The coach who took USD women's hoops to its first and only Sweet 16 delivered the first Sweet 16 appearance at Minnesota in 20 years last March.
 
That was her third season with the Gophers, who just opened this season with a home win over Harvard and will be in Sioux Falls to face Kansas State at the Pentagon on Saturday, Nov. 14.
 
It will be the first time a Plitzuweit-led team has played in South Dakota since the Coyotes won their third consecutive Summit League Tournament title in the Denny Sanford Premier Center, which led to that Sweet 16 run — which fell just shy of an Elite Eight appearance — in 2022. That notched USD's fourth consecutive trip to "The Big Dance."
 
The Wisconsin native was more than willing to regale her fondest memories of how she built the mini-dynasty that ended South Dakota State's decade-long reign atop the Summit. Also, her not-so-fond memories, like a game-changing injury to top scorer Caitlin Duffy in the 2019 Summit championship game and the Covid outbreak canceling her 30-2 squad's chance to make noise in the NCAA Tournament.
 
Plitzuweit also shared how she took a floundering Minnesota program back into March Madness for the first time in eight years. What were the similarities and differences in both how she built both powerhouses?

The host takes a closer look at players and aspects at both SDSU and USD that have become either a strength or a sticking point.