KB0

I think a significant part of the problem is that the Crimson Guard is run by the marketing department. Students have little say in anything that happens for the in-game experience.

Behind the basket is assigned seating, I believe.

I'm interested to see who walks away with the starting QB job. If Pennix is the guy, then start him from day one and stick with him. If he's not let him redshirt and roll with either Ramsey or Tronti. Whichever way the coaching staff goes, they need to decide early and build the offense accordingly. The o-line absolutely has to play better and I think they will. It may not be the strength of the team, but it cannot be a major issue. Defensively, who is going to fill in for Covington, Scales, and Fant? It's extremely unlikely anyone will be able to replace the production of those three, but hopefully there isn't a signficant drop off. I have faith in Tom Allen's ability to coach up the D. Last but not least, Oakes is gone. He was a big time kicker last year. Can Campbell come in and fill that void? Looking at next years schedule here's how I would group the games: Good Chance to Win: at FIU, Ball State, at Rutgers Could win: Virginia, Iowa, at Minnesota, Maryland, Purdue Unlikely to Win: MSU, at OSU, at Michigan, PSU As always, going undefeated in non-conference play is essential. Do that and IU is halfway to bowl eligibility with 5 winnable conference games left. Would love to see the team knock off MSU or Michigan. MSU is at home, so maybe that's the one. Perhaps I'm a fool to talk myself into 6/7 wins, but that's what being a fan is all about.

It's been this way since the Vonleh season if we're being completely honest. Zeller's freshmen and sophomore years, it was always full. After that, not so much. It's frustrating, but this isn't a problem that is exclusive to IU. It's a problem across all sports and at most universities. Hopefully students start to show. Sustained success will help.

Nice to string two wins together with a good chance at a third on Sunday. The game last night wasn't always pretty, but few games from this team will be. Grinded out a victory with rebounding, defense, and free throws. Man, that was nice to see. Juwan is developing from a player who relies on second chance points to a legitimate post threat. Our guards and Hartman/Smith will need to continue to hit shots so teams won't be able to double him. Liked what I saw defensively. Love that Archie is not afraid to have his players double the post or when a player is on the corner/baseline. Force the offense to react and beat you. Don't spend the whole game reacting to the offense. Northwestern plays Minnesota tonight, so Indiana will have an extra day of rest. Sunday is a big time home game. Would push the team to 4-2 in the Big Ten with a 3 game win streak with a trip to Sparty.

Tonight is a big game against a quality opponent. Penn State is 12-5 and sitting at 41 in Kenpom, which is exactly 50 spots ahead of Indiana. PSU was a 1.5 point favorite when I checked yesterday. I honestly thought they would be a 5-6 point favorite even with the game at Assembly. I've learned not to argue with Vegas, though. If Indiana brings the effort they brought against Duke, Notre Dame, and Minnesota this game is winnable. If Indiana brings the same effort we all saw in the second half against Wisconsin, well... Win today would move the Hoosiers to 10-7 and 3-2 in the Big Ten. Would give the guys a little more confidence and a reason for the fans to stay interested. Tonight I hope to see a team who values the ball and plays defense as a unit.

Romeo loses a game and people are turning on him? I've been fortunate enough to see him play in person a few times. He's a great player. Probably should be closer to 10-15 in his class, yes, but a great player none the less. He's not a one and done. He's not going to carry (alone) a big time program his first year on campus. Which is completely fine. There are very few players each year who can do that. Romeo would start at nearly in college in the country on day one. He is coachable and gives effort. He's a good teammate. His commitment would certainly help on the court. It would help even more off the court.

I know this is supposed to be a thread about Tom Allen, but people keep saying that Lemonis was a bad hire and that is really confusing to me. The program is worse than it worse in Tracy Smith's final two years? Absolutely. Those were also the best two years in IU baseball history. Expecting there to be no drop off is unrealistic. Let's look at Tracy Smith's tenure vs. Lemonis. Smith: 2006 - 22-34 (11-21) - No tournament 2007 - 19-35 (8-23) - No tournament 2008 - 31-30 (15-17) - No tournament 2009 - 32-27 (16-7) - NCAA Regional 2010 - 28-27 (12-12) - No tournament 2011 - 30-25 (11-13) - No tournament 2012 - 23-28 (16-8) - No tournament 2013 - 49-16 (17-7) - College World Series 2014 - 42-13 (21-3) NCAA Regional 5 winning seasons. 4 winning seasons in the B1G. Made the post-season 3/9 years. Advanced out of the regionals one time. Lemonis: 2015 - 35-24 (12-10) - NCAA Regional 2016 - 32-24 (15-9) - No tournament 2017 - 34-24-2 (14-9-1) - NCAA Regional 3 winning seasons in the B1G and overall. Post-season 2/3 years. Has not advanced out of regionals. Yes, Lemonis inherited a better situation, but we're still talking about a B1G baseball team. Making it two the tournament in 2 of the first 3 seasons is impressive. The next few years will tell us a lot about the coach Lemonis will be. He is recruiting well and knows the Midwest. I like his chances.

Thought Archie came in with a great game plan last night. Double the post and try to force some outside shots. Duke isn't a great 3-point shooting team by any means this year. Happy to see a shorter rotation last night. Would prefer to see Smith over McSwain. I see people complaining about officiating, but I thought it was pretty even both ways. Duke's a really good team, but there's not a chance they go undefeated. Assembly was loud last night. One of the 10 loudest times I've been in there I think, but the crowd still didn't seem overly engaged if that makes sense. Encouraging signs from Indiana. Bring that effort every night and good things will happen.

IU - 27 PU -20

IU 31 Rutgers 21

No they didn't? How many Butler players from that team went on to play games in the NBA? Mack and Hayward. How many players from that Duke team went on to play in the NBA? Both Plumlees, Singler, Smith, Thomas, Kelly, Dawkins.

IU - 27 Illinois - 17

Extremely happy to see this game on the schedule again. I think playing in-state opponents is great for fans and players. Would love to replace some of our out of conference games for Ball State, IUPUI, etc.

You see this a lot across all sports. Smaller, underdog school comes out as hard as possible trying to prove a point and show they belong. Eventually the team with the better talent and depth pulls away. Getting worried about an exhibition game is....strange. Think MSU is worried after their mediocre display?

IPFW

Wiscy - 38 IU - 17

Season tickets went out about two weeks ago. So, season ticket holders have them in hand.

Current Record: 3-4 (0-4) Good chance at a win - Maryland, Illinois, Rutgers, Purdue Chance at a win - Wisconsin After a brutal start to the conference season, there is a winnable game on the table. Need to win 3 of the last 5 games to automatically qualify for a bowl game. A loss at Maryland means Indiana would need to sweep Illinois, Rutgers and Purdue or pull off a big upset against Wisconsin. Think it's important to not fall behind early in this game. Establish the run game with Morgan Ellison and let Ramsey throw the ball. Defense just needs to continue to play how they have been all season. Don't give up big plays and get some pressure on the QB. I'm optimistic about this week. A win would be huge heading into the Wisconsin game and would help keep fans interested for next week at Memorial.

IU - 24 Maryland - 20

They get new jerseys multiple times throughout the year already...

Kenpom says his pre-season rankings don't mean very much. Takes roughly 10 games to get an accurate representation of the current season.

MSU - 27 IU - 20

I think this case just proved the NCAA isn't in the business of academic fraud. As long as other students benefited as well, there's nothing they can do.

What a joke the NCAA is. Pay for a bumper sticker or make some phone calls and you're in deep sh*t. 18 years of academic fraud? No biggie.