BottomLine

Can we expect a "court stormin" here? Doesn't look likely. Maybe with a whole complete and healthy lineup I might go the other way. Let's face facts we are short handed. IU is 12-1 at home. OTOH Pursue is 10-0 on the road. Offensively both teams are close statistically. Purdue has significantly better defensive numbers. TJD isn't going to have a easy time shooting that baby hook over a 7-4 guys outstretched hands and I don't see TJD drawing the big guy outside. Add to that we are short handed on the front line. Geronino and Duncomb are probably not going to play and Thompson has lost a step. I'd rather see all hands on deck instead of next man up. The only way we win this is if we get super hot from the outside. Can the Hoosiers win - yes. Do I want the Hoosier to win - yes. Is it probable that the Hoosiers will win - not very. OTOH it is a rivalry game. Purdue - 71 Hoosiers - 68

If I pick this one with my heart I go for the Hoosiers. If I pick this one with my head I go with Maryland. Maryland is 13-2 at home this year. The Hoosiers are 3-5 on the road. It is very hard to win on the road in the Big10. Hoosiers 68 Maryland 71

The Hoosiers are 11-1 at home. Ohio State is 2-7 on the road. Hoosiers got a wakeup scare at Minnesota and should be back into form. Still worried about Hood-Schfino's shooting wrist. We need at least TWO solid scorers behind Jackson-Davis. It helps a ton if Hood-Schfino is a solid #2 and then we will take whoever has a good game from the rest. At Minnesota we were missing that critical #2. I will not change me pick - I will not change my pick - I will not change my pick. On the other hand there is always the possibility that .......... Fingers in ears and humming. I'm not listening to myself. I will not change my pick. Hoosiers 74 Buckeyes 71

Thump thump thump! That is the sound of the heal of my hand striking my forehead. I changed my score prediction about 30 minutes before tipoff. That cost me 10 points and a move back into the lead. Add that to the 55 points it cost me when I switched from Rutgers to Indiana, and I've thrown away 65 points. I swear I will never make a last second change again - so help me Bobby Knight. Now on to Ohio State.

More often than not I get myself in trouble when I start second guessing myself. The only changed pick I have made previously was to switch from Rutgers to IU, and we all know how that worked out. Nevertheless, I think Minnesota is banged up worse than I thought and so I have changed my score prediction. Feel better about this score. Hoosiers 83 Gophers 64

Indiana needs to be careful here. After three strong efforts this could be a bounce game. Mix a bit of over confidence with a road game isn't a good recipe. Also worried about Hood-Schfino's left (shooting) wrist. After falling on the wrist in the first half of the Illinois game, he has scored only two points total in his last three halves. So far others have stepped up to cover the deficit. Geronimo, Bates and Galloway have filled in the scoring nicely. Hope this continues. Maybe it is Kopp's turn again. To win consistently IU need a couple of reliable scorers behind Jackson-Davis. Hoosiers 73 Golden Gophers 64

Trying not to be too emotional and pick with my head instead of my heart. Last game I picked Illinois and cheered like crazy for the Hoosiers. This season is turning into a roller coaster. Hoosiers are back at home and MSU is a bit down this year. Won't be easy but we should get this one. Hoosiers 72 Spartans 68

My residence on the top of the hill didn't last long. Oh well, only down by 9 points. As MacArthur said, "I shall return". Couldn't help myself, I'm a retired history teacher.

We aren't as bad as the team that lost to Penn State (Hard to overcome 18 3's). We aren't as good as the team that beat Wisconsin (Down year and best player out). We aren't as good as we were earlier in the year when we were ranked. So how do we stack up against Illinois? The team that Woody built is a wreck right now. Thompson and Johnson are out and the bench has been stripped to plug in the holes in the starting lineup. That leaves us with a weaker starting lineup and a bench that isn't going to contribute much. We have two senior leaders on the bench. We are down to only one consistent rebounder. It is not a good place to be. As for the "Next man up" philosophy, that doesn't work very well when the bench hasn't shown much growth since the start of the season. Sometimes s*** just happens and there isn't much you can do about it. So Indiana, a poor road team, goes off to Illinois to face a team that is still intact. This is a game the November Hoosiers would have won, but this is January. The good news is I think we might win our next three despite everything. Hoosiers 68 Illini 75

King of the Hill! King of the Hill! Come and get me guys!

I go back a long long way (IU class of 69). I can still remember the days when you marked your season schedule with four wins right off the bat - 2 v. NW and 2 V. Wisconsin.

Slowly the season is starting to slip away from us. Forget the big show. We may not be able to get to the NIT with the way the season is going. That makes this HOME (we are 9-1) GAME a must win. I know this is Wisconsin and Wisconsin has owned us for the last two decades, but this is a back to the wall win or go back home and crawl under your bed game and cry game. I hope home cooking, friendly rims, a loud crowd, and good officials all help. Though I'm not sure about the officials. At least Wisconsin is having a down year too and they don't score bunches. IU - 70 Wisconsin - 66

Looking over your shoulder? Don't. You might get nervous.

Should have had that game at home against NW. Scored plenty of points - much more than I expected. The same can be said about the Iowa game. We lost because we made a ton of crazy turnovers and mostly because our defense is a shambles. Everybody seems to be able to drive the basket on us. Reminds me of the Tom Crean years. We also can not get out quick enough to stop the outside shooters. I thought this year was supposed to be about defense but that plan has crashed and burned. With our shorter bench the players are wearing down in the second half. I bring all of this up because it has an impact on my predictions. We aren't the team we were earlier in the year and adjustment is needed. We need ball handling but I'm not sure where that is going to come from. We need to slow the other team up when we are on defense. Did like to see the 3/4 court press dropping back into the 2-3. Know coach is a man-to-man guy but he need to do something to keep Jackson-Davis closer to the basket on defense (who else do we have that can rebound in a crowd?). Hope to see more changing defense here and a deeper bench. With Leal a ghost and Johnson and Thompson gone, we are down to 10 scholarship players. It may to be time to throw Banks and Duncomb into the fray for short periods and see what they can do. They can't play defense that much worse that what I am seeing. Sorry for the rant. We are all ranting. I was thinking 73-69 PSU for this game but because of the above I'm going to push those numbers up a bit and see what happens. PSU -79 IU - 75

Hello guys! After four games I was in 39th position and 33 out of first. It has been a long climb out of that hole. Now in 3rd and only down by 16. Bit early for the leaders to be counting their chickens. Hear those steps coming right behind you?

This season is starting to give me a headache. Remember almost beating these guys up there last year with half of the team suspended. Should be able to beat them at home with half of the team injured or banged up. But, who knows? IU 69 NW 64

What a mess! On the road! Been off for almost two weeks. Our point guard only has one leg and will be in civilian clothes until who know when. Our center and backup point guard have bad backs. Like Bates in the starting lineup but our bench is going to suffer and the bench is going to get shorter. The starters are going to play more - not good in the long run. Who is going to score our points in the clutch final minutes? Then how will Iowa adapt to having their coach step aside for a "rest". What must be going through their heads? Whatever the final score it won't be a surprise. Anything might happen here. Hoosiers 73 Iowa 77

Hoosiers 81 Owls 61 Everything seems a bit low - but who is going to play?

How is the prediction league impacted if the slaughter rule kicks in at half time? Do we just double the scores. Wait! What am I thinking. This is "big boy" NCAA basketball and not the Saturday morning pee wee league at the local YMCA. Though 2-10 Elon may have trouble winning at the Y also. Hard to pick the score here. This one could get away and IU could score 110, or it could become a glorified practice and IU decides to work on "things" that need work. How long will our "good guys" play? Pop a bowl of popcorn, turn on the tube, and let the slaughter begin. IU - 85 Elon - 54

Don't want to think much about this game. We are good team without H-S and a very good, bordering on elite with him in the lineup. It isn't that he is so good but what his presence allows coach to do with the other players. Hoosiers 67 Jayhawks 77

Wasn't this suppose to be the Miller v Miller game. My how the times change. I HATE to pick against the Hoosiers because that means I'll be rooting against my pick during the game. Still there are two big reasons to pick against the good guys. I'm not sure if Hood-Schfino will play or if he does what condition he will be in. He does make a difference and I might go the other way if he were 100%. Also we can't count on Galloway and Bates to go for 39 again. In fact this team has still to prove that they can hit the 3 on the road. That killed us in the game with Rutgers. On the other hand, defense travels and we have only given up 70+ once this year. That was 79 to Xavier on the road. Gulp I'm picking Arizona to score 80. My heart says IU but my brain says Arizona. Them guys from out yonder 80 The guys from good old Boomington 78

We lose at home to Nebraska and we could be looking at a very long year. Can Hood-Schfino really be that important? Picked Rutgers last time and then switched at the very last moment because IU was undefeated. That is no longer a problem. I've promised myself no more second guessing - I think - maybe. Hoosiers 75 Huskers 63

IU has lost to Rutgers FIVE times in a row. That is worse than losing to Wisconsin at Wisconsin 55 times in a row, or whatever the stupid number is. For GOD'S sake this is RUTGERS! Time to return proper balance to the Big10. Rutgers has defeated Columbia, Sacred Heart, Mass Lowell, Rider, and Central Conn. In other words they have beat up on a bunch of "chumps of the week". They lost to Temple and Miami (Fla). I think IU beats either of those two. Edge to the Hoosiers it what may turn out to be a rock fight. Hoosiers 65 Those guys from Piss-The-Cat-Got-Away 64

Everyone knows this is a big game and the pressure is on. Glad the game is at home. NC just played a couple of pressure games and came up on the wrong end in both. Previous games were not impressive either. Think we will be fighting against a wounded team that has their back to the wall so this one won't be easy. I'm sticking with the Hoosiers until they lose but I'm praying that nobody shows up with big eyes. The atmosphere should be special. Hope we can feed off that. Hoosiers - 75 Them Tar Guys - 72

Lock it when they toss the ball, or scheduled tip off. Doesn't make any difference as long as everyone knows the rule.