TheWatShot

One of our low-ranking staff members probably knows one of their low-ranking staff members from gradeschool or something. That's usually why these matchups happen.

Ahem...

If I remember right, we actually controlled the first 3 quarters of that game and then the predictable Tom Allen crash-out happened in the fourth.

Loyer and Smith coming back has been living rent-free in my head for awhile, but since the draft, I don't see Smith returning. The Pacers traded into the draft specifically to get him; they aren't going to let Purdue make him a better deal. Kaufmann-Renn is done. He had his 5 years. I know he didn't play the first one, but that wasn't because he was hurt, it was because Painter didn't play him.

I distinctly remember people complaining at halftime of the Kennesaw State game that 2024 was a one-year wonder.

Always love noticing little things when I go back and watch these. It was hilarious how the Penn State crowd cheered after seeing the first replay, trying to convince the officials it wasn't a catch.

Every year, they seem to have a buy-game in November that's unexpectedly close, and we find ourselves hoping that maybe they just aren't as good as the media wants us to think. Then, usually within a week or two, they're beating the brakes off a P-5 team and our fantasies of their demise get derailed once more. With 5 in 5 now officially a thing, it's been living rent-free in my head for awhile about how they could find a way to bring Loyer and/or Smith back next year. Loyer is more likely because I'm not sure he'll make an NBA roster, though I've read he's been performing well in summer league. Smith is probably going to make the Pacers' roster because they're suckers for local dudes and aren't going to cut a guy they traded into the draft to get. Some day, they'll suck and I won't forget to appreciate it. Some day...

So UNC, Butler and WKU are all exhibitions...why couldn't at least one of those have been a real game?

I dare Kenpom's non-con SOS metric to rank ours below 300, as it seems to nearly every year. No Chicago States, Western Illinoises or North Alabamas, please.

Results still matter. He wins a lot and some players are still drawn to that.

The idea that a school that just won a natty in football and is filling its stadium every game can't afford to fire its baseball coach with 2 years left is seriously crazy to me. I'd say it's far more likely they just don't care if baseball is any good or not.

I doubt Smith ever plays any meaningful minutes in the NBA. This just seems like some weird attempt by the Pacers to salvage not having a pick in the draft while placating to the Purdue subset of the fanbase.

This, along with the idea that Dusty feared for the safety of his relatives living in Bloomington among IU fans, was always pure copium. We'd better become elite in the next few years or Dusty is going to replace Brad Stevens as our white whale.

I'm willing to give them a pass on this one, since our last two coaches moved on to greener pastures. As opposed to basketball, where we now have an established history of overpaying coaches to protect them from their own failures. Regardless, it's disappointing to see how much we've regressed since 2023. I don't see Mercer fixing it.