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Has nothing to do with eligibility (well, except these four-legged Hoosiers are eligible to be adopted), but according to a Bloomington animal shelter FB post, Daley stopped by yesterday to visit with some of the critters. Awwww .... (The eyes on that pooch in the final photo ... Wow)

The Cig weekly show with Fisch. Two primary takeaways for me: 1. Cig is in a grumpy-@$$ mood after a ‘no such thing as a moral victory’ game. 2. Player guest Tobi Osunsami is an A+++ young man. Already has his degree in data analytics, after football wants to be in farming with his mom, so smart and so likeable.

Aged like milk. Only took 1 day.

This is where Cig's practice philosophy starts to pay dividends.

I'd like to once again pin almost all the blame on the schools. - The NCAA is owned and governed by the schools. The schools created this inept organization. - The schools don't follow rules they agree to. They constantly do whatever they want. - The schools will spend money they don't have and run massive deficits. Ironically they'll then claim things are unsustainable. - The schools push for every last dollar. What media deal do they take? Top bid even if the time slots suck. - Speaking of every last dollar, if given the chance to switch to a geographically illogical conference for more money while destroying their old conference... schools don't even blink. - Don't like the messy NIL/rev share and portal? Well, that happened because the schools insisted they couldn't pay their labor that helped generate billions of dollars each year. They got sued and lost. The way universities behave is quite poor.

I'm gonna miss the 12 team. It is tough to make, and it creates great drama. 1) Right now we've got guys like Sark and Lane under huge pressure to make it with their $50M rosters. And they're in tricky spots. If this was a 24 teamer, it would instead be a question of if their 1st round game is at home or the road. Not so interesting. And it's not just them under pressure. Most teams are a loss away from being on the edge of missing the playoff. We are. Halfway through the season ~25 teams think they have a shot to make it -- that's pretty good. 2) Making the 12 team is a serious accomplishment to be proud of. Having that little CFP logo by your school is a big deal. IUFB making it in '24 was our biggest athletic dept accomplishment since the '02 Final. I'd put it ahead of B1G titles in MBB. If someone like UCLA or Iowa makes it this year it's a huge deal for them. That goes away with the 24 teamer -- too many teams get in for it to be special. As I always say, CFB will go on with the 24 teamer and probably be okay. I just find it less compelling.

3rd Takeaway: Tyrique Tucker has been nursing a injury this year and is starting to get healthy and turning it up. Glad to hear it!

*Dan Hurley staring wild-eyed daggers at you from Connecticut*

If we aren’t better than PurDon’t this year I just plain give up. Forget their guards…There is no way in holy hell that Daniel Jacobsen, Benter, and Pierce can deal with B1G front lines.

Saw him on X. Once a Hoosier Always a Hoosier. Kid worked his tail off. Not a season anyone will look fondly back upon but HOPEFULLY it’ll be the stepping stone of a successful DeVries Tenure.

If you're not in the B10 or SEC, you're not getting in with 2 losses this year unless that 2nd loss is in the conference championship and you were soundly in before (looking at a team like BYU). There is a roundabout chance Georgia is the only SEC team with 2 or fewer losses once the season is over. ZERO chance the committee only takes 1 SEC team.

Its weird watching the highlights from IU Michigan two years ago at Memorial Stadium and watching Rourke go deep to Sarratt for second TD in nearly an identical play to what happened with Marsh last weekend except it worked beautifully. Same endzone throwing from about same spot off back foot with pressure coming and Sarratt beats UM corner on double move. Throw is to same spot except Rourke places right in bread basket for easy TD instead of throwing it to far outside like Hoover. No one is saying Hoover is bad, but if team wants to be what it was last two years, these are the throws Rourke and Mendoza placed perfectly and are now in NFL as a result. A lot of what Hoover does is good, but this is type of ball placement that has to be cleaned up if using a pro style QB and can be difference between title contender and not making playoffs this fall. That's likely how you will have to get a TD or two Saturday to Marsh or Becker and placing ball correctly will be difference between winning and losing against top defenses in Ann Arbor and rest of year.

If and buts were candy and nuts. It didn't happen. We won every game. I will remember it for as long as my cognitive brain will allow me.

Was only a matter of time for this one. The staff offers ‘28 top 50 SF Cole Kelly. Attends Neuqua Valley HS in Naperville, Il and plays travel ball for Breakaway Basketball on the 3SSB circuit. Took an unofficial to Bloomington a couple of weeks ago. GetHoops Gear GetHoops Gear https://247sports.com/player/cole-kelly-46152948/ https://www.on3.com/rivals/cole-kelly-250761/ https://www.hudl.com/profile/24771218/Cole-Kelly

Not that this is an NBA draft board whatsoever, but I’ve looked at several of those too. Sherrill being projected to the NBA next season isn’t the certainty that some think. The draft will be loaded. He’ll have to jump a lot of players ahead of him. I think either way we win, but getting him back would be something special. Staff imo is clearly counting on him moving on. Just a little storyline I’ve got my eye on.

Purdue up 42-31 at the half against Ft Wayne in Fort Wayne. Purdue is up because their +4 on made 3’s, 2 of which were banked in. If I’m Painter I’m pretty concerned that my guards can’t keep guards of this caliber out of the lane. Fort Wayne is getting wherever they want.

I genuinely hope you are right and I promise to admit it if you are...but I was mostly reacting to the "SEC/B1G scheduling agreement" news that seems to indicate another step towards moving to some "elite" only 50-60 team club. In that scenario something like 40% of teams make the playoff -hence my snarky example. I absolutely do not have any confidence in the conferences/schools/TV executives to create anything beneficial for the fans or the sport. They are obsessed with some fever-dream vision that they are working towards that will destroy CFB, and likely all that remains of "college" athletics, IMO. We already have the NFL, we don't need another small exclusive league of paid football players.

No players on the injury list for week 8? That’s insane.

https://www.cbssports.com/college-basketball/news/tommy-lloyd-arizona-ncaa-fifth-year-eligibility-cases-theory/ Check this out and then feel free to pat yourselves on the back as here is Tommy Lloyd being what Gary Parrish considers thought provoking on the NCAA’s motivations for exacerbating this current mess when this lil ol’ fan site here landed on this months ago. Who knew what we’ve just assumed was obvious to everyone was in fact super insightful?

I think it was said before the season started last year that Conner is the type of player you want to have on your team, and you would hate him if he was on the other team. I love having that type of guy on our team any year.

Conner, Sam, and Lamar were the three best things about last season.

They didn't get everyone, Conner Enright was sitting in front of me and was not acknowledged at the game or in the video

Correct. And because it needs 2/3 of all D1 (which is 240 something schools) and only around 200 play the sport, they will need a lot of votes from mid majors from schools who don't even play men's soccer to overturn it. I am sure P5 coaches and conferences are keeping it quiet to try to ensure its not overturned by a ton of mid majors votes with no skin in game. This whole process is why NCAA politics and voting are so convoluted and why P5 wants to break away.

To each his own. For me, the last 4 games left ZERO DOUBT for all the naysayers, allowed IUFB to accomplish something no other school has since the late 1800's, and showed the country what Hoosier Nation is when coaches and the like talk about it. All of that doesn't happen if those 'dumb and superfluous chintzy 3 games' don't get played.

Not trying to argue, just for the sake of conversation... I don't disagree that greed is ruining college sports in a lot of ways and I don't trust the powerful TV partners to do things in the best interest of the game. The glory days of college sports are gone and not coming back though. I'm very nostalgic for the early 2000s, but even then the game had a lot of corruption going on with the shoe companies and schools / boosters etc. Now it's just above boards and that's supported IU's ability to compete to the fullest extent. Does anyone know Trent Sisley's major off the top of their head? The freshmen? I don't and am not especially interested. If they're wearing the same jerseys, with the same nicknames, mascots and logos, playing in the same stadiums, it's still a good excuse for families and alumni to go to the universities for game day / weekends. Universities are intertwined with the American development system for professional and Olympic sports. NIL / revenue share just lets them be appropriately compensated. It needs to be regulated in some form, and not at 22%. Olympic sports also need to be cared for. The talent level of truly amateur athletics would not draw a significant audience. College sports are popular because people want to watch the next NBA and NFL stars AND they want to see their universities represented. It's tribal and it's what makes college sports great. The talent and the community connection are needed for the "product" to be successful regardless of whether we call it the NCAA or something else. It's a deeply American "product" and a lot of people have formed habits (message board posting) and rituals (going to games frequently, spending money in other ways) around it. I don't think those will break based on whether or not the players go to class. The NCAA is ruining college sports with its incessant bullshite and therefore I look forward to seeing the day it goes whether it's replaced by the conferences banding together or some spun off professional entity with (possibly very lucrative) licensing / royalty agreements with the schools. Either way, the people posting on this board will probably still be watching.

I suppose Yaxel didn't watch much NBA outside of clips. Anyone could've told him this. https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/50245902/warriors-yaxel-lendeborg-lost-all-respect-luka-doncic "I guess this is what the NBA is like, man," Lendeborg said. "A lot of flopping, a lot of foul baiting, a lot of praying to the refs, man. Interesting first game for me."

https://www.facebook.com/share/v/19XzwQWdh2/ IU Basketball put a video of the players at the game on Sunday. Wat and Moye look pretty good.

Pretty good little discussion from the 68 guys. A lot of time spent, accurately, on the importance of Burton’s health. He absolutely looks like the 1 straight up irreplaceable piece for any period of time.

And Jets fans were trying to play the bust card on Cooper in preseason when he was, ya know, hurt.

Edge is 1 of the good guys.

with you on this Wayne

If we clean up a few things, this could be a blowout, but if we keep making the same simple mistakes, it will be a dog fight. Hoosiers - 24 Weasels - 13

My European colleagues that relocated here in the US compare college football to lower tier professional soccer leagues. For example EPL would be considered NFL. EFL Championship is CFP. EFL League One is FCS. So on and so forth. And all of them regardless of country pretty much say the same thing. They say the fanbase and tribalism you're talking about here is almost identical. I don't know if we'll see something like this in our lifetime but I won't be surprised if "college sports" turns into some sort of tier leagues system.

Auburn and Alabama proving themselves to be class organizations tonight. Low class coaches and programs. Unfortunate. This Season however will be one of the best ever. Stakes have never been higher and a lot of great teams and players to go around. Also of note, Virginia beat Villanova by 20.

The PAC-12 had a tv deal. So did the B1G East. How are they doing? ND, Miami, FSU, TT ($), etc would be joining one of the two main conferences in a super league scenario. 40 to 50ish teams for the 24 team playoff. If they move on those two conferences. They could just keep it the big 4 and lop off the bottom 60 D1 teams .

I think Gordon looks great still. He is overlooked a lot but has been in the league for quite some time now.

Seen several "experts" commenting on the expectation a number of '28s will re-classify to '27 and then this today from Finkelstein: 8 of the 13 five-star prospects in the class of 2028 are old enough to be one-and-done eligible in 2027.

They are dead on with CDD being in the league for a year and realizing what he was needing. He learned what it takes, and he will work towards getting the players he needs.

ESPN's Top 25 in the '29 class. 2029 Offers ESPN Top 25 @ 10.21.26 Draydne McDaniel 2 Mason Grivna 21 Juleeyan Williams 23 Micah Mohler Unranked Bob da Silva Unranked

Here’s everything DeVries said in his Wednesday media availability (per Inside the Hall): On the emphasis this season on offensive rebounding: “It was certainly something very intentional for us just from a roster construction standpoint. And then also a point of emphasis that we wanted to prioritize being an elite offensive rebounding team, elite defensive rebounding team. And it’s something that we just felt was really important. “We felt in watching last year and some of the previous years, I think even the NBA now, you’ve seen a change back to becoming more of a priority and just last year, not getting those second and third opportunities. It makes it really stressful for your offense on your first shot to be really efficient. But even the other night against North Carolina, we only shot 36 percent or so from the field, but still got 20 offensive rebounds. “So still able to score over a point per possession, where last year that just wouldn’t have been effective for us. So I like what the guys have done with it. I like how they’ve embraced it. “I think the coaching staff’s done a good job of getting guys to buy into it as well. And last year I think it was Michigan State was number one in the country in defensive rebounding, about 77 percent or so. I think we were at 76 against North Carolina. “And then I think Tennessee was number one last year around 48 percent, which is an incredible offensive rebound rate. We were right there at 44, I believe for the North Carolina game. So small sample size, but certainly going in the right direction for us.” On Jaden Mustaf’s defense: “Yeah, what I like about him is he just gives us some physicality. It gives us a little different dimension on both sides of the ball. I think offensively that straight line driver ability to get to the free throw line. We’d like to see his conversion rate go up a little bit. I think he’s still trying to find his spots a little bit, when to be aggressive, when to maybe get in the paint, which is doing your job and hey, they do a good job and they cut you off and you get the defense to collapse. Now let’s spray it out to some shooters. “So I think he gives us that element there. And then defensively, I just love his size and his ability not to get bumped off his spot as a defender. I think when you have him out there, we can prioritize his defense on the other team’s best offensive player.” On the AP poll and whether he pays attention to it: “Not at all. Not right now. I just think it’s like, what are they going off of? So many teams have new rosters, it’s just a guessing game. So there’s really no point in giving it any kind of credibility right now. So for us, it’s just about us. Like hey, we got a game in front of us and then we got to practice a week to see what we did well, see some of the things that we’re not doing well. That’s our main focus right now. Our turnovers right now, we’re turning the ball over too much. “So that’s something we have to get cleaned up for us to be better offensively because it’s hard to rebound off a turnover. So at least we got to get the shot up at the goal. And that’s something that I think our guys are understanding that we just got to do a better job of taking care of it.” On what they’ve accomplished from the first two exhibitions and what he’d like to see on Sunday: “We wanted to make sure that we keep talking about the rebounding. That had to be there. Like you can have some inefficient possessions and some things there that are just like, hey, we need some time and then that fixes it… more practice on those type of things. But the effort, the physicality, the rebounding, that kind of all tied together. “Even our discipline has to continue to improve, but we’re getting better there. If you’re gonna be an offensive rebounding team and a defensive rebounding team, it’s not just physicality. There has to be a discipline to it as well in terms of you have to go, as simple as that sounds. “So I think overall we get through this third one. It’s like, have we have we improved in the margins? The turnovers, the foul rates, the rebounding, those type of things. “So that’s ultimately what we want to get out of these three games, is get a good gauge as to where we’re at. Take each game. I feel like we’re getting better, certainly from before we played. “Now we get the Butler game, the North Carolina game, a week of practice in between. So awesome opportunity for us to take what we see on film against an opponent and be able to make those adjustments in practice.” On Prince-Alexander Moody: “Prince is doing fine. It’s a lot of it’s just as the physicality, the speed, the competition has increased and just going through normal freshman stuff of learning how some of those opportunities now at the rim aren’t there because now we have two 7-footers sitting back there in practice. And the practices, everything just gets cranked up a little bit higher as you get closer and closer to the season. “But he’s doing a good job. He’s continued to work. He’s continued to have a great attitude. We just have guys that right now are in front of him, but he’s certainly someone that I feel very confident he’s going to continue to get better and better. And I have the utmost confidence in the world to put him out there, too. So, he’s just got guys in front of him right now.” On playing Markus Burton and Bryce Lindsay together and their relationship on the floor: “That was what went behind the decision to bring Bryce off the bench, which is to get a little better rotation. From that standpoint, now it’s something like as the year goes on, if we feel like we want to start games out with Bryce, we can certainly do that. “But right now that’s ultimately why we wanted to bring Bryce off the bench. Just Markus, even a great example the other day, Marjus picked up two quick fouls. So now instead of having Bryce, who’s already been out there, we can bring him in and he’s not out there for that extended minutes right off the jump. “But those two together, they play really well together. They’re both different in what they do well to the offensive end, especially Markus is more of a downhill guy. Bryce kind of comes off and probes maybe a little bit more. For a lot of guys, maybe they’re not great at off the dribble threes or a little pitch backs, and he’s really good at those. “And then he surveys things really well, too. So I think he’s really underrated as a passer. I don’t think people talk about that enough when you watch him and how he can see the floor, too. “So they’re a great one-two punch whether they’re in together or just to be able to bring one in for the other one. So it’s a nice luxury to have.” On transition offense: “Yeah, that’s one of the areas that I don’t think we’ve been as good as I think we can be, is in our transition offense. I think we’ve rebounded at a high rate, but I don’t know that we put enough pressure on defenses yet in transition. So it’s certainly something we’ve continued to stress in getting kick-aheads and being able to put guys on their heels, attack the rim a little bit more, get some paint touches out of transition, which can lead to more of those kick-out threes once we get the defense collapsed. So we need to continue to get better at that. But yes, it should be a strength of ours as the season goes along.” On Sunday’s exhibition game in Evansville: “It’s just another opportunity, a neutral site game, get to be in state in Evansville. So I think that’s great just to have some more fans from that area, be able to come watch us play there. So it’s a fun game for us. “It’s another neutral site. We have several neutral site games throughout the season. So just going through that as well, I think is great. So I love the third game that the NCAA granted us to be able to play from an exhibition standpoint just to again, get multiple opportunities to see your team before you get ready for the regular season.” On the defense in the first two exhibitions: “Yeah, I’d still like to see our ball screen defense get a little better on the point of attack, getting our guards through the screen a little cleaner. But I feel like our communication has really improved their connectivity. I think they’re learning how to play off of one another again. “It just takes time a little bit. But some of our switching has really improved when to switch, when not to switch on some of that. Physicality being able to be aggressive and denying some things, but also not getting so extended. And it’s a fine balance there. “But overall, I think we’ve done a good job keeping the ball in front of us, making teams have to score over the top of us and then cleaning up the defensive glass to finish off possessions. On Trevor Manhertz: “Just for a freshman again, we just have a lot of trust that he’s earned throughout the summer and fall of just being able to play multiple positions, understanding what to do there. I love his length. It gives us some versatility defensively on the glass. “He’s just, for a guy his size, he plays more physical than maybe what he looks like just from his body type. But I think he’s got tremendous upside. I love the aggression he plays with. “And just again, I keep going back to just incredible feel for the game at both ends of the floor. So he understands what the game plan is, what the spacing is, and he’s still a freshman. He’s growing every day. But I like what he’s done so far.”

The Huggins news is very sad. Prompting people to share stories about him online, this gem was too good not to share: I knew the cardiologist that helped Huggie when he collapsed with his heart issue while coaching WVU. They realized it was just equipment failure and not a heart attack pretty quickly. They were working on fixing him up when one of his players came to check on him. I'm told Huggie looked him dead in the eye and said "your defense did this to me"

This game has me nervous. Hoover faced Hill's defense last year and the results were ugly.

Dammit I don't wanna root for the damn Chefs.

UM - Left IU - Right

Yes! Friends don’t let friends root for Purdue.

The Man has returned