BottomLine

I'll be honest. I've flipflopped on this game over and over since Friday. Vegas has this game tp144 and Mich over IU by 4. That make the implied score 74-70 Michigan. This is despite the fact that IU is 6-1 and Mich is 4-4. Mich has defeated UNC Asheville, Youngstown State, Stanford and St Johns. Figure IU could beat all of those. They lost to Long Beach State, Memphis, Texas Tech and Oregon. Thing is I figure IU could be 2-2, 3-1 or even 4-0 against that bunch. So If IU would have a winning record against Michigan's schedule, aren't we a better team? That thought haunts me. Are people still looking at IUs early close wins against lower ranked teams? I think we are playing much better now. How much better? There I go trying to talk myself into picking the Hoosiers again but I'm not. A win certainly wouldn't surprise me but the head has to win out over the heart here. Figure we will have a lot of games like this this year, but home court in the Big10 counts here as the tiebreaker. Hoosiers 73 Vicious Furry Animals 76

Think he has been doing pretty well in other games for them. Looked like a deer in the headlights tonight. Sometimes happens. They come home with a chip on their shoulder and play the game of their life, or they let the nerves get to them. Looked like tonight the second was the case. Wish him well for the rest of his career but not against us.

Hang in there and maybe we can make this season both interesting and memorable.

@str8baller. Nice picks for this game. Hear footsteps? Don't look over your shoulder. I'm right there waiting.

Josh. Mouth doesn't count for squat - only picks count and we have a long way to go. Good luck.

If you want a pro coach I hear Lovey Smith may be available. He took a team to the Super Bowl. Ask Illinois how that worked out.

Realistic expectations for IU football? Look to Kentucky. Located in a small population basketball state without a rich football tradition. Forced to compete in the SEC against perennial football powers. Two conference championships in the history of the program. How well have they done? Over the last 10 years they are 71-54 but only 34-46 in the SEC. Most Indiana fans would probably be happy with that. Unless a miracle happens that would probably be our ceiling. At least the east and west divisions in the Big10 will be gone next year. Hard to recruit kids when you play Ohio State, Michigan and Penn State every year. Hey, kid! Come to IU to play football and get a sterling education. After losing to the "Big" three we only have to finish 6-3 in the other 9 games for a chance to play in the Toilet Bowl. Next year everything improves. We now get an opportunity to lock horns with USC, UCLA, Washington and Oregon. But we won't need to play all the Big 3 monsters every year. We get to mix in several of the Big 4 new monsters. Lucky us.

Indiana isn't a destination job. Where you going to find this "great" coach? How you going to keep him if he is successful? Indiana is going to either hire a coach on the way down, or a young coach that has yet to prove his ability in a power 5 conference. This isn't a new problem. IU has been trying to successfully turn things around for a hundred years. What make you thing we are going to get it right this time? I know that IU can win. Attended IU from 65 to 69 and made the trip to the Rose Bowl. Was it sustainable? No. And before you knew it John Pont was off to Northwestern and IU was back to being the worst brand in NCAA football.

It isn't about the coach guys. Hate to be a Debbie Downer but: 1. Indiana is bad because Indiana has always been bad. We will never be good until we break that mental loop. Many have tried and all have failed, or moved on to better jobs. 2. Indiana will never be good when we celebrate signing players that would be 2nd, 3rd or 4th string players at Ohio State or Michigan. And, if they improve the portal is always there for them to escape. 3. We all need to realize that, unlike basketball, football is a "numbers" sport. IU has always been a terrible second half football school because we have never been able to develop depth. Out starters may be competitive but the backup aren't there and other teams wear us down. I don't have the answer to any of these problems and I don't think that we are going to be able to bring in any coach that can answer them. If that coach exists he is already the head of a winning program elsewhere.

.And now it starts to get serious. Win the first game and you have a one game advantage over half of the conference. Obvious? Sure but the opposite is starting the season trying to climb out of a hole. Must game? Yes. In the Big10, if you want to do anything, you need to hold serve. Thoughts on Maryland: This is the return of Geronimo. Couldn't start for us but can for them. They are 3-3 but lost those three by a total of 9. They shoot a 3 41% of the time so we better guard the line. So what's new. Their defense is better than their offense. Finally, they aren't considered a tourney team. Thoughts on IU: How healthy are we? Reneau/Johnson has to be better than Cupps/Walker or Banks. If we lose two starters for this one and play with a shorter bench, how much will we drop off offensively? Not going to be easy but we SHOULD win this one. However I might revisit the prediction based on the injury report. Hoosiers 70 Maryland 64

Congrats to rcs29 on a well played season, much better than the Hoosiers. After finishing 2nd in the 22-23 Basketball Prediction League to a sharpie, you have shown not only skill but staying power. Also congrats to Class of '66 Old Fart, After leading into the final game you showed yourself a true Hoosier through and through by blowing the goal line stand as time expired. Also a nod to cthomas for picking up 3rd in your first year. A huge hug and warm fuzzies to LIHoosier for running the show this year. Thank you so much for giving this meaningless season some purpose. Taking on the responsibility for running a league like this is so often a thankless job. You deserve all of our gratitude. THANK YOU! Finally, this was my first year trying to pick football games, not normally my cup of tea, and I'm proud of my 4th place finish. Time to go back for some serious reflection on what went wrong and to start preparation for next year. Go Hoosiers, and BTW, let's all root for IU MBB to beat Harvard this afternoon.

Would rather see this game played in Bloomington but that isn't how it works. Harvard isn't dog meat and Indiana is probably the toughest game they will face this year. That isn't saying that they will sweep through the Ivy League. Got to think that IU wins this one based on talent alone, though it hasn't always showed up for games thus far. let's hope that we learned something about ourselves in the Big Apple that translates into better play. Still it could be a dog fight for most of the game. Indiana Hoosiers 75 Brainiacs from the East 66

Knight knew who he wanted to be shooting the ball and who he didn't. You have an All American you get him the ball and in a position where he can score. Just makes sense to get the ball to the guy that has the best chance of getting it in the basket. Knight's teams were built around discipline on both ends of the court. You start taking what Knight considered "bad" shots and your time on the court were limited. He wasn't one for caring much about your feelings. You did it his way or you didn't play. Not sure how many of today's players would buy into that philosophy. Never the less the fact remains that you will always will do better when you have five players on the court with one goal - getting the ball into the basket more than the other team. And as to shooting quickly. Doesn't matter as long as it is a good shot taken by a player that has a very good chance of making the basket.

And that is why they were All Americans. Looking at present group and I don't see any of those. In Knight's time you shoot one of those without a go ahead from the coach and you buy pine time real quick.

Even a Bucket Game win won't save this season. End of the season - GAG! Hoosiers 3 TD =21 1 FG = 3 Total = 24 Little Sister to the North 4 TD = 28 2 FG = 6 Total = 34