Magnanimous

"Getting beat like that by Duke on national tv is going to hurt recruiting!" These local kids see the long term plan Archie has for the program, which means Archie's system is already resonating with the locals despite the early lumps.

The problem with how IU does things with easier admissions criteria is that while the education received remains solid, it's more difficult for a portion of the student body to either graduate on time or finish at all when compared to peer institutions. This hurts the school's ranking in three ways: admission standards, acceptance rate, and student who finish within four years. Both IU and Bloomington have been targeting out of state (largely east coast) pockets for 20 years, and just look at how it has paid off. Major campus facility upgrades and new pricier downtown apartments. Hopefully things will sooner rather than later reverse course and with newer facilities in place, the school can focus on improving its incoming student portfolio. Of course, we've all seen how successful athletic programs have bolstered applications, so just maybe winning the NCAAT and beating Michigan and OSU in football more than once every 30 years would help?

I think they redid the ranking methodology a few years ago that placed a greater focus on some different criteria, including stem funding, which is partly why IU added an engineering program and Purdue started to separate itself. The aggregate undergraduate ranking has been slipping the last decade, but our graduate school program rankings remain nationally competitive.

Who's we? I'm not comparing us to OSU and I saw this team for what is, an improved but flawed team that lost to Rutgers in the opening round of the BTT last year. I'm not expecting much out of Davis down low, Fitzner has his role as a perimeter player with some size, Morgan and Romeo are talented and reliable, PG play will be inconsistent especially to start the year, and our bench is rather young. Turnovers have been shaky on the road so far but we should settle into form as the season progresses.

Archie has some talent. We're still thin to nonexistent down low and we have unreliable point play due to our options being a freshman and Green. Our best shooters are freshmen and there are some injuries still. Anyone who expected a win last night is an idiot. Anyone calling for Archie's head is an even bigger clown. We weren't a good team by any measure last season other than where we finished in the conference standings due to a favorable schedule and weak Big Ten. We added some pieces to what was at best a mediocre lineup and they unraveled early in a hostile environment against one of the best teams in the country. It was a game few if any teams would have won this early in the season. Archie isn't just amassing talent, he's implementing a system. A system that by his own admission will take several years for a team to fully get the hang of. A November game at Duke with freshmen guards isn't the time to judge it.

We need the 2019 class to be a knockout one. We don't have a single returning player next year besides those from the 2018 class to build with. No strength, shooting, or court awareness. Does anyone expect Justin Smith or Green to take freshmen under their wing next year and show them how it's done? This is going to get worse before it gets better. Still have a pretty decent shot at the NCAAs this year but then Morgan and Romeo are gone. It's nice to have Romeo this year but it's more shine than substance regarding where this program is at right now. We need thick upperclassmen to push 5* freshmen around a la the way Adrien Payne did at MSU. Phinisee is who the next three years should be built around. Get him some shooters, slashers, and size, and then let him facilitate playing 28 mins a night. I don't question what Archie is trying to do. I just think that this is going to take a few years for him to really get a foundation set. Other than Morgan, Crean left him nothing to work with. This isn't going to be a Kentucky or Duke reload. It is a rebuild but if fans are patient enough we should get there, and it'll look more like Gonzaga with the occasional one-and-done type talent sprinkled in than a Duke or Kentucky, which is fine by me. That's how you have sustained success. Only Duke can really even play the freshmen-heavy card these days anyway. There just aren't enough kids like that to go around and they tend to cluster around one or two programs. The college basketball landscape is going to change dramatically over the next 5 or so years with K and Roy likely retiring and the end of one-and-done. If IU fans want long term sustained success we need to ride out these rough patches early on. Quality upperclassmen win big games. We have one.

I've been of the opinion that it will take at least five years for a coach to build any semblance of a foundation here. Allen inherited some talent, but Wilson really underwhelmed with his QB recruiting, which is the lifeblood of the modern game. Tommy Stevens was supposed to be our QB the last three years, not Lagow and Ramsey. Allen's first QB recruit is a talented kid from Florida who can both run and has a strong arm. Penix will be at least a three year starter here. Let's see how he comes back from his injury and handles being the face of the program before writing off the next decade of IU football.

There still is a limit on what IU can do right now given its brand name. It's just the way it is. Same reason why Penn State can't build a competitor in basketball even when they're successful immediately with a new hockey program and new wrestling coach. We have nothing to offer that nearly every other school doesn't already have. No accomplished coach would come here because there is no fan support or recruiting footprint, hence why we don't win. Fan support is sparse because we don't win and inturn can't upgrade our coaching staff. It begins with crafting an identity, but we need to crawl before we can walk. You can't become Ohio State without first becoming Iowa and then Wisconsin. You need support, then sustainability, then success.

The reason I remain (partially) optimistic on Allen is that if he finds a degree of success he will stay. This program needs someone a la Bill Snyder to stick around for a while to develop a foundation, and it is either going to be a "good enough" guy like Allen who will likely never be great but has the potential to turn us into a perennial 8 win team that occasionally wins 9-10 or we need to get a formally successful P5 coach whose time is up at the big boy level. Wash St. got it with Leach and Cincy did it with Tuberville. A young up and comer will leave here the first chance he gets. It goes back to that Moneyball quote about knowing your place. "If we try to be the Yankees in here we will lose to Yankees out there." Well if we try to build a program like Michigan or Penn State does, we will will lose to them. We don't need a gimmick per say, but we do need an idenity for how we do things given our resources. It's how the West Virginias and TCUs of the world can compete with the likes of Oklahoma and Ohio State. Debord is over the hill and we need a young mind who can be innovative in today's game to be running the offense. Allen is at least bringing southern speed to the defensive side of the ball, which is allowing us to overcome our size deficiency. I think the recruits we are bringing in are talented and need some time to develop before we wipe the slate clean again, but until IUFB decides what it wants it's brand of football to be we will never go above a marginal bowl team.

Timid big men aren't big men.

Smith is really struggling finishing around the rim.

He grabbed an Arkansas player's arm from underneath going for the ball on a rebound. A foul yes. A flagrant? Absolutely not. Someone who was bored in the offseason decided to change the rule.

Fantastic stop and now we get the ball to start the half. Need a nice drive running the ball, so start with a flea flicker haha.

These short kickoffs are the dumbest f'n special teams strategy I've ever seen. May as well just do onside kicks if you're letting them start that close.

I don't understand these intentionally short kickoffs. Michigan is starting at least at the 35 each time.

Glad to see Peyton is playing with an edge today. O-line holding its own so far.

This team is stupid and lazy. Zero accountability to step up and make a play when the game is on the line, and zero motivation to improve upon anything throughout the season. Statement applies to both the players and coaches.

Guess it doesn't matter at this point. Durkin just got canned.

Have to wonder what precautions, if any, the IUAD is going to take when Maryland comes to town next weekend now that Durkin is expected to be back. It'll be Maryland's first road game since the decision.

It'll never happen, especially now post-renovation, but I've been saying since my freshman year that they should get rid of the balconies and make the arena a steep bowl with the banners hanging over the short side (like as is now) with the other end being steep like Maryland's student section. Put the students there GA and the rest of the seats public.

OK......

This offense plays so much better when it goes off-script.

Why can't the team that beat Virginia both seasons show up every game?

The program is pulling in $50 million a year in tv revenue. Open the checkbook and get Charlie Strong.