Aaron

Total failure to perform. I'm not sure if IU got fat and happy at number one, but that was the worst performance I have seen from the Hoosiers in a VERY long time. IU scored first against the run of play, but were dominated for 90 minutes from start to finish in a way that should NEVER happen to this program. Very lucky Wolverines didn't end up running away with this, and it's a minor miracle Indiana had a chance at the end. IU's missed PK at the end to tie was total sweet justice from the soccer gods, as they had no business taking anything but a terrible loss. The team went from looking like the best in the country to one that doesn't even deserve to be ranked. Hope the Hoosiers enjoyed being number one because they won't be there anymore if they play like that again this season. This team, which I thought had regained the 2017 and 2018 form, can't be said to be that again in 2025. Those teams' off nights turned into ties or a loss to the very top of the country, which Michigan is not close to. IU can still have a relatively special fall if they make sure this is a one-off, but the best Hoosier soccer teams don't give efforts like that and get dominated on their home field. Now I am not sure if this is a top-five squad or another borderline-seeded team, as they have been since COVID. We will find out quickly after some soul searching from Yeagley and players if this is one of the special Indiana teams or another pretty good one. I really thought we were headed towards special, but after tonight, that is very much in the air. One note that shows metrics can be questionable: IU is somehow still number one in RPI, and Michigan vaulted to six. Guess the computers like the Hoosiers so much that they only reward the squads that beat them and don't penalize them for the loss. Lucky, the computers essentially gave them a mulligan, but won't again, as everyone else in the league outside Maryland and now Michigan has horrific metrics. This is a quad one loss, but everyone else in the league outside of Maryland is a quad three, so I would recommend taking care of business if you want a high NCAA seed. The committee showed two years ago that when the league was terrible, they would penalize accordingly, giving Hoosiers who were Big Ten Champs no seed and not inviting a single other squad from the conference.

Welcome back to 2017/2018 IU Soccer as a legit national contender as one of the top 5 squads in the country. It's been too long. This Notre Dame game is a bellwether for how serious the Hoosiers are about getting back to the College Cup and maybe winning a title without divine intervention like in 2022. Test past! Getting back to Cary, N.C., for another College Cup will very likely be attempted the easy way, with at least two home games, if not three, and likely only one heavyweight battle coming in the Elite Eight. Doesn't mean you get that far, as happened in 2019. However, they will almost certainly get two home games in the Round of 32 and the Sweet 16, where they are the clear favorites. Similar to 2017, where 2016 saw longtime veterans gone, and the season was basically a birthday present waiting to be unwrapped. 2025, after 2024, is similar, with the talent of new players coming in vs. ones departed taking the squad to a whole new level from solid to elite. In 2017, it was Trey Muse, Mason Toye, Griffin Dorsey, and Justin Rennicks replacing Colin Webb, Grant Lillard, Richard Ballard, and Tanner Thompson, to go with veterans coming into their own in Andrew Gutman and Francesco Moore, among others. It's not that the losses are not big. It's just the replacements are even better and move the team to a whole new tier. Similarly, now in 2025, you lost JT Harms, Tommy Mihalic, Samuel Sarver, and Patrick McDonald. However, the veterans are coming into their own in Collins Oduro, Josh Maher, and Alex Barger, with newcomers in Palmer Ault, Jacopo Fedrizzi, and Colton Swan being even better than their predecessors, unlocking a whole new level not seen in several seasons.

Looked like a serious championship contender for the first time tonight, which was good to see. Hopefully, it continues, and the team can play well all year in what is shaping up to be an extremely weak Big Ten.

Like I said, this hire makes sense if IU has no interest in being competitive in women's soccer, and the program is solely there to comply with Title IX so we can compete for national titles on the men's side. I have always thought that is the case, but the actions last year to let the last coach leave to be an assistant elsewhere, and this new hire only reinforce that. I can't blame the athletic department, given all the money they have thrown at the other sports to improve. As fans, we just need to adjust the expectations for this program accordingly. If the men's team were not elite, soccer would be the first sport to be cut in the new era of college sports. However, with the men's success, Indiana has determined the best path forward is to let the women's side limp along with very little support, and I can't say I blame them. When you look at it through this lens logically, this hire and the lack of success is very sensible for better or worse.

These are the wins you need if you want to win between 8 and 12 games in conference and make the NCAA Tournament. IU has had this win amount in conference, but still has not made the postseason recently due to an awful non-conference season with no signature wins. You got the hardest pre-Big Ten games out of the way and now need to run the table before league play. This is how they last made the NCAA Tourney 15 years ago, and can expect a similar resume if they are 10-0 heading into the gauntlet that is the conference, where 2-3 signature victories at Wilkinson Hall and 10ish Big Ten wins overall should do the trick. Volleyball is the only sport without a postseason tourney in the conference and an auto bid, so a good at-large resume is a must for the 15-year NCAA drought to end. This weekend was definitely a start towards that.

You hire a coach from a lower level with minimal success, and you get these results. IU has made it very clear that the women's soccer program is in existence only for Title IX purposes, so they can continue to be in compliance and have their elite men's program. When your last coach leaves a Power Five head coach job here at Indiana to be an assistant elsewhere, you know this women's program is not getting support to ever succeed. I have no issue with Indiana handling this way, but as fans, we need to understand this and evaluate results accordingly. The other women's programs have taken massive steps forward at IU, and those can expect to win at a relatively high level accordingly. Meanwhile, women's soccer is clearly around, so we can have a top men's program in this sport and nothing more. Every action by the program and athletic department in the last few years has only reinforced this.

Not worried about the injuries/cramps. Yeagley indicated afterward in his postgame presser that everyone should be fine going forward.

First massive transfer portal get for offseason adding Aiden Stewart from Delaware who will play in Cerny's place and fill in seemlessly. While it was at a mid-major level on a decent team (Delaware), I would be shocked if most of his .326 average and 9 home runs don't translate to Big Ten. This is a case of a player who outplayed his lower school and rightly wanted to move up a level and IU pounced. Assuming the four elite freshman come back, the offense should hum again, and it will be about the pitching as usual which will make or break team and this Mercer era at this point as he has clearly hitched his wagon to Glant and will sink or swim with him (which is a huge risk). So far, a couple portal guys here with not great numbers but really hard to know how that translates. IU has had anywhere from guys with great numbers previously struggling here (Seebold is an example of this), to a guy with not great numbers at last stop thriving (Giley is example of this). While offensive numbers are easy to read and will almost always translate between every NCAA team good or bad (and in Stewart's case very good), transfer pitchers are really hard to predict regardless of their stats.

Exactly on all of that. PG and Bird were like a married couple who were both at fault for acting like morons and refused to listen to each other and consider each other's views (ironically my parents got divorced for exactly this reason and are much better for it).

The rest of Hali's career starting in 2026-207 (along with Tatum) will be just fine. Since he is young and relies on shooting and passing and not burst or athleticism, the effect on his game as a star and team leaders should be minimal if noticed at all upon return (especially after 16 months off which Carlisle confirmed will be case on Indy radio today and Turner is still likely to return per him). Also, unlike Paul George (who came back just fine as a player despite acting like a jerk), Hali will be walking on to a championship contending roster intact and not have to be overburdened like George was with a bad roster. As long as Hali doesn't develop George's attitude which sounds unlikely based on his upbringing and personality, expect 5-10 more years of stardom with Pacers.

Pacers announce injury and surgery tonight for Hali. It should be noted the quicker you do it the better for recovery and the guy mentioned who is doing it is gold standard when it comes to Achilles surgery: https://www.nba.com/pacers/news/indiana-pacers-medical-update-tyrese-haliburton-250623 Still would not expect him to play next year, but given his game type and age would expect him to be back healthy for 2026-2027 with contending roster intact as well as his Achilles. Still sucks to have to close the championship window (although quite possibly a playoff team still) for a year in 2025-2026 with solid core intact. Unfortunately, this is what it took for best shot at championship this year Pacers ever had and closest they have ever come and most fun season in franchise history.

One suggestion I have that could help some with these high level of Achilles tears is to have a mandatory rest period for any diagnosed calf injuries similar to a concussion. Just as a concussion protocol is in place for player safety, you could have 'calf injury protocol' with mandatory rest period to protect the future of these athletes in similar fashion. While this would be far from a magic bullet, and some Achilles tears have no calf issues beforehand, trying to play through calf problems clearly has a very high risk of leading to career altering Achilles injuries, similar to playing with a concussion effecting career and life hence the protocol.

Best Pacers season ever with such an unfortunate ending, similar to a great fantasy novel with a 'tragic' final chapter. Pacers have some fascinating decisions now. Do you bring Turner back and pay luxury tax next season to win 45 games and lose in first round knowing you are a likely contender in 26-27 (I fully expect Haliburton to be healthy for 2026-27 given his age and the strengths of his game being shooting and passing and not athleticism)? Pritchard is shrewd at making trades so do you move Mathurin now or at trade deadline knowing he will be out of your price range if you sign Turner (can't go into second apron anymore for long and that goes for ALL teams which signing Mathurin would do)? Without Hali, expect Mathurin to have huge season in contract year, but how worth it is he to be sixth seed knowing he won't be back after it? Kevin Pritchard is a shrewd trader and elite GM and has most fascinating offseason ever, knowing current roster will be only decent in 25-26 and then a reopen championship window in 2026-2027 with rest of core signed long term on team friendly deals (and unlike NFL, NBA has fully guaranteed contracts, so tradeoff is you cannot ask for more money as a player when overachieving. What you sign for is what you make until deal runs out with no changes or exceptions allowed).

On that list, only Brenczewski, and maybe Swanson were likely to every contribute here. Others are the typical transfers that were either injured or near bottom of roster who enter portal at every other program. Cerny is interesting since I assumed he would be drafted and not spend anymore time in college, so was already mentally not factoring him into future. It's the four elite freshman on offense that will tell us a lot and who you hope to keep. As we know, offense is likely to always be elite and question will be if they can find enough good starting pitchers and bullpen guys with defined roles. If Glant is still here and the same issues happen in 2026 which causes team to miss postseason again, then the entire staff needs to be fired. I have defended Mercer and think he gets to much flack. However, if Mercer holds on to a guy in Glant who clearly is not doing his job well similar to Tom Allen and Darren Hiller, and it fails, then everyone needs to be gone regardless. Staff loyalty is a factor and Teri Moren did what was best for the program getting rid of her recruiting coach recently who was not getting job done for someone who likely can. If Mercer is blindly loyal to failing staff as Allen was, unfortunately I can say he is not cut out for the job no matter how well he recruits and develops players.

What is fascinating is by reappointing Buckner, Braun broke the law within the very same bill that gave him the power to make these appointments. The same bill limited trustees to three terms and Braun just appointed Buckner for a fourth. Will be fascinating how this plays out given he pick and chose what parts of the bill to follow by re-appointing Buckner which is really not how it is supposed to work. Will make the case against him in court with the changes in general (lawsuit is already pending) even more interesting since a court is now likely to scrutinize him and the state on why they are free to follow parts of the bill and not others. This is the part I am curious to follow. The rest is expected given the politics of the state.