incrediboy

My sentiments exactly. But I believe this IU team is coming together as a team. Perhaps Blackmon's "I'm getting mine" attitude turned out to be addition by subtraction, but the reason is less important than the results we're seeing.   I'm not confident, but...   IU 81, Iowa 75

Held Illannoyed to 19 points in the 2nd half.   When we have OG, Juwan and Yogi on the floor together, our defense is as good as any, and our offense doesn't seem to suffer either. I like that combination.   I said after Maui that I hoped we'd be one of those good teams that had a bad start and got it together late. That could be happening right now.

When did the rule that teams from the same conference cannot meet until the Elite 8 get changed? If it didn't, we can't play Purdue early on.   Noted we're #5 with both CBS and ESPN. SI has us as a 6 playing in the first round (are you ready?) #11 seed Wichita State.

Very interesting turnaround this year. Last year it was clear Painter outcoached Crean in both games. This year, Crean outcoached Painter. Hopefully it's a sign our guy is getting his act together.

Hopefully we won't have a letdown. Purdue lost at Illinois Assembly Hall. We can't afford to lose this one.   I say we won't:   IU 77 Ill and annoying 65

Anyone who knows (or even hears) anything about Johnson's injury and/or his return, please post it here for us all to see. Thanks!

This is really out there, but if we can take the title outright AND win the B1G Tournament, we would get at least a 2 seed in the Big Dance.

My guess is Hartman returns to the lineup, Troy takes the SG role. Real shame RoJo got hurt, definitely one of his best games and it's shown recently that his health had improved over early int he conference schedule.

if we can somehow avoid PU and Sparty, we'll have a shot 

If we win this game, it assures us of no worse than 12-6 in the B1G and it will be Purdue's sixth loss. Since we would hold the tie-breaker, it would assure we would finish ahead of PU in the B1G Tournament seeding. This could be the difference between a double bye and having to play 4 games to win the tournament.

If the good Troy wants a decent draft spot (or ANY draft spot...the way he's going who'd want him?), he'd better show up pretty regularly the rest of the way

Hoosiers 83 Spitballs 71 (or something that rhymes with Spitballs)

Hoosiers 86 Huskers 72

We got caught in a buzz saw...a team inspired that played like it.    However, if somehow we can win out, we still win the B1G regular season. And the only difference this game could have made was to win it outright without a tie.   We should be favored in every game except at Iowa. So it's not impossible.

When we hustle, we are a good team. Period, flat-out good.   And while they shredded our defense a few times for easy lay-ups, our halfcourt defense was pretty good considering the offensive clout we were facing.   Got down, got up again and put it away. This has to be a confidence builder, and we really needed one going into Spartytown. Chance to beat two really good teams in a four-day span.

Villanova ranked #1? What a joke.    Nova would struggle to finish in the top 5 of either the Big Ten or Big Twelve.

I expect both teams to play very well, and unfortunately...   Sparty 77 Spurty 73

Comeback Kids 86 Birdfaces 75

In case nobody noticed, Iowa has moved to the No. 1 overall ranking at kenpom.com today

We need to beat Iowa twice or Sparty. If we beat Sparty and run the table, IU and Iowa are both 16-2 with Maryland as the tie-breaker in our favor. Of course if we sweep Iowa, there's no question.

The schedule is very much in our favor if we can just take care of business. By that, I mean running the table at home and winning the road games we should win at Penn State and Illinois. By doing that, we clinch second place as we would hold tie-breakers over Maryland and Purdue even if we lose at Michigan State.   We would also hold a tie-breaker against Iowa if Maryland finishes third, since the record against the next-highest team is the tie-breaker...and Iowa lost at Maryland.   So...for us to win the B1G, we need to take care of business as listed above and either beat Sparty at East Lansing or have Iowa lose one more game other than to us.   Yeah, I know it's way too early to think like this, but looking at the schedule, a fan just can't help himself.

While we're shouting out frosh, Morgan's been pretty good too, as has that Bryant guy. Just hope we can hang on to all of them until they go pro, would really hate to see Morgan transfer to get more playing time, which could happen if Troy doesn't go pro. Frankly it's getting to the point I'd rather see OG or Morgan on the floor than Troy.

I have not seen a better defensive effort by an IU team since Knight's departure. I'm sure we've had a few games in that stretch where we played good defense, but the switching, helping and communication I saw against Michigan was truly exceptional. The result was that even though Zeisloft had a rough night we still blew out a good team on its home court. Remember (I know it's been posted elsewhere) that Maryland lost on this floor. We have so much athleticism on this team that when they really want to play defense, they're as good as anyone.   We have all the components of a contender for the B1G and even the NCAA...a point-guard leader who's perhaps the best in the game, a big man who can rebound and take it to the hoop, an experienced supporting cast including two grad-school seniors who have probably seen it all and role players like Hartman and RoJo. And it's hard not to love it when the inexperienced freshmen (OG and Morgan) enter the game. It's like we never take a step backward because of either of them, and both usually do something positive for the team.   At tipoff, I felt we could take Michigan to the wire, and if we hadn't played that stifling defense, it would have been a close battle all the way. As it was I'm sure Michigan is picking up its pieces and wondering what hit it.   This could be the step forward we've all wanted to see from this team. Or it could be that one great fluke game. We'll see Saturday night. Go Big Red!

Penn State always gives us fits. I'd be happy with and expect a final similar to:   IU 72 PS 69

I am not sure which team will win, but I am sure it will go at least one overtime, and probably two or three. The reason I say this is that it's the late Tuesday game and I have an appointment super early with my dentist on Wednesday morning. And it's really, really hard to sleep when some guy is messing with your teeth.   Since it's at least one OT, higher scores predicted. And if I'm gonna miss sleep, I want it to be for the right reason, ergo   IU 86 UM 85