Aaron

Just as I predicted. A true home game with a top flight atmosphere that was almost all IU fans. That was a different experience for Clark and Iowa on road this year not having half the sold out crowd and what was essentially a neutral environment in someone else's gym. Credit to the Indiana fans for that and I think it threw the Hawkeyes off their game to face such a hostile environment. Also, Clark was far more gracious in defeat tonight in postgame presser I watched compared to last year so full credit for that. Part three very likely coming in Minneapolis on Saturday of Big Ten Tourney assuming neither slips up Friday. As expected, bracketology projects Indiana to host again and win basically cancelled out Illini loss in metrics. Really fun game and first time team looked like they could potentially make a deep March run.

Again his Letter Of Intent is signed. He can't just de-commit and waltz out as so many people believe. IU has to let him out of his LOI or he plays nowhere next year without sitting out. If Woodson is gone, no doubt he may leave and would get out of his letter if he wanted. That happens a ton when a coach changes so if you are suggesting Woodson might go than there is a legit possibility he does not come. If administration is the same I have never heard of a kid asking out solely because of a poor performance the season before. Mgbako was let out of Duke because the spot he thought would be open and was promised for playing time was not. Even that is rare though. McNeely asking out without a clear player taking his minutes solely because the Hoosiers had a bad year is completely unprecedented and never heard of it happening.

As I said above we need to get used to fact that colors no longer determine home and road. Like that in pretty much every sport now. Light colors no longer mean home and dark no longer mean road. It is random choice by night in pretty much every sport.

Sorry missed the humor as did Wat Shot with his comment it appears:(. My bad. I have seen to many silly posts that all these Iowa fans are somehow going to invade Assembly Hall this week. Also if one thinks darker colors feel like road uni's you are not watching enough other sports besides college basketball. Any other sport (including NBA) you often have dark uniforms regardless of venue. This idea that home teams where lighter colors has not been a thing for years in anything but college bball and that is changing too. We need to get used to the fact that the color of the uniform no longer indicates whether game is home or away but chosen at random.

Iowa is not going to have that many fans there. Yes Caitlyn Clark draws on the road, but at any team worth a damn this season it is 80-90% home fans. Don't expect different at IU. I don't like these uniforms either but Adidas kind of forced IU to do it and am much more concerned about results on court than what team is wearing. Iowa had maybe 10% of the fans in Assembly Hall last year with a similar team and the game was not even sold out. This one has been for weeks and to get into the stadium will cost premium prices on secondary. 'The worry about it being this huge invasion of Iowa fans is so beyond ridiculous. It reminds me of the AFC Championship between Colts and Patriots I went to almost 20 years ago where everyone was worried about this huge invasion of Patriots fans. It ended up being 90% Colts fans and the best atmosphere ever. Same with IU Kentucky with Wat Shot. Will be absolutely similar tomorrow and best atmosphere for any game in Assembly Hall since last season men or women with Hawkeyes facing a very hostile crowd. Also remember with new system the lower part of the arena is now assigned seating for season ticket holders and only a few hundred are available on secondary market (out of nearly 7,000). Any Iowa fan who bought tickets five weeks ago in GA before sellout will be relegated to row 32 and above (court level GA is being done differently with wristbands and not just available for anyone per an IU release today). I am fine with people taking issue with the uniforms or white out. However, this worry about it looking like an Iowa home game or not having an elite home court advantage is really really silly.

You can't just "Decommit" once you sign a letter of intent as McNeely has. IU has to let him out of the LOI or he sits out a year. Without a coaching change, it is very rare for players to ask out of their letter no matter how bad a season the team you are going to has. If this happens, would be very unusual and would be a another black eye on program (as if program does not have enough of this already) as bad performances very rarely make kids want out. Of course if their is a coaching change as many want but seems unlikely, than all bets are off and wanting out of his LOI would not be unusual.

Can't disagree there.

He added in his postgame presser it will likely be 4-8 weeks.

I can. When you don't beat anyone higher than a projected seven seed you don't host. Beat Iowa (either this Thu or Sat. in Minneapolis which is 99% likely to be matchup then) and you take care of that problem and will host if you don't slip up against anyone else (NW, Maryland, and Fri Big Ten opponent) between them. 1-1 vs. Iowa and 3-0 against the rest will do the trick. 0-2 against Iowa or another loss in the other three and you don't host without winning Big Ten Tourney.

You want any chance of hosting NCAA Tournament games? Win this. NET feel to 17 after yesterday. If you lose probably need to win Big Ten Tourney to host as NET will fall to 20 and only way it gets back to top 15 and hosting is going all the way in Minny with a couple signature wins over Hawkeyes and Buckeyes. With a win, your NET probably goes back to 14-15 and if you can blow out Northwestern by 20 or more and beat Maryland by double digits, probably back at 11-12. As long as you don't take a bad loss Friday in conference tourney, your NET stays right there regardless of Saturday if it is close and that is good for at least a 4. More than anything though, despite 6 Quad one wins over tourney teams and no losses in quads 2, 3, or 4, best win is over a projected seven seed at home. I can almost guarantee you the reason IU was a 15 seed in first reveal despite NET being a few spots higher, is lack of win over a team that is in top-16 and hosting. Beat Iowa and that problem goes away and your seeding likely matches NET going forward.

This is dangerous game. Illinois has all the talent in the world despite massively underachieving this season. Really need to go at least 1-1 this week to stay in prime position to host NCAA games. 2-0 would lock it up assuming they don't slip up in their final two conference games. At that point, team is just trying to use Big Ten Tourney to move up to a two or three seed rather than a four seed. If team goes 1-1 over next few days, probably need to get to at least Saturday in Minneapolis to hold onto that four seed and host. 0-2 this week will probably require getting to Sunday in Minneapolis just to get back to a four seed. Team is likely to be somewhere between a three and six seed unless they win the Big Ten double which would likely bump them to a two. Vice Versa, unless they lose next five before March Madness, won't go below six. In other words to host: 1. 4-0 finish locks it in regardless of performance at conference tournament 2. 3-1 probably will require winning Friday and getting to weekend in Minneapolis 3. 2-2 or worse probably means needing to get to at least Sunday to host and be better than five or six seed. A reminder that women's tourney has a 11 days between that and NCAA's rather than the four days on the men's side. This means a deep run in league tournament will not impact rest time before March Madness.

That was a signature road win that will look great on the NCAA Tournament resume come selection time. 7-2 final score. Struggling George Mason tomorrow at 11am to close the weekend on ESPN+.

IU has blown this one open. Cerny with a two-run RBI single to give the Hoosiers the two runs back he cost them with his big error in sixth that led to game tying runs. Than Shepard belts a two-run home run to dead center and it is 7-2 Indiana top 9.

Brandon Burckel with potentially the biggest hit of the season so far as he ropes a tiebreaking solo HR into the LF bullpen in the top of the 8th. IU up 3-2 now and six outs from victory.

That is a really a bad loss to a mid-major that was double-digit games under .500 last year and cancels out the Oregon win essentially. Given the competition, this was a weekend IU needed to sweep if they wanted to stay ranked. Still solid start to season, but this defeat hurts the resume big time.

Really sloppy inning. I had zero issues with anything yesterday and Duke was just a little better. Today it is a 2-2 tie to the 7th due to the Hoosiers' own mistakes. They have left a ton of runners on base which is somewhat out of your control. However, D really struggled in the sixth with a couple mistakes which gave Coastal a couple of free runs. IU should probably be up something like 5 or 6-0. However, it should be at least 2-0 if the defense were clean. Somewhat encouraged by the pitching outside of Kraft. Still makes me really nervous to not have legit starters who can go 5-6 innings. However, four at a time can work but remains to be seen. Bats always take a few games to heat up so no concern there.

#15 is fair. Yes they only have losses to top five teams. However, they have not beaten a single team projected higher than a seven seed. They have dominated teams at the back end of the tournament. With that said, they have not beaten anyone who is projected to host or be playing in second weekend of March Madness. Committee looks at who team has beat, as much as who they have lost to. No bad losses and plenty of good wins. However, no great wins either. Beating Iowa next week is critical. Especially if they lose to someone else.

Actually women have won a ton in a row in Madison. It is only a men's team problem in Kohl Center.

While the NET is a tool, it is not an absolute and Minny's NET will continue to fade late in season as they move further from .500 in conference and fall down the standings. Illinois' record is not likely to be good enough despite good metrics. Michigan's might be if they can establish consistency which I would not count on. Big Ten might be a seven bid league but no more than eight.

Not likely on Minny. They are fading fast and lost their best player for the rest of the season. Michigan would be the eighth team with a chance but their problem is they can literally beat or lose to anyone on a given night.

Well considering IU is three games ahead of fourth and fifth with tiebreakers, it is nearly certain IU will finish with the one, two, or three seed for Big Ten Tourney. Now facing them in the 3-6 or 2-7 game on Friday would indeed be a nightmare and is possible. Hopefully MSU gets the four of five seed and IU can't face them before the weekend.

Not going there either. IU has shown a certainty of beating any unranked team pretty easily with or without Parrish at this point. They certainly could lose to any of the above teams but I would be shocked. At this point they have shown you exactly who they are and that is a team that will beat anyone worse than them and lose to anyone better than them. This late in season you know what a team is and IU has been pretty clear in who they are. I fully expect them to beat everyone else on their schedule besides Iowa and then win the Friday game in Big Ten Tourney and lose Saturday to OSU or Iowa. Then get a four seed in tourney win first two games and lose in Sweet 16 to a one seed. Until further notice or something changes I would be very surprised at any other outcome. This team has a clearly established pattern that is likely to continue and that is regardless of Parrish's health. Losing to any of the above teams you mentioned besides the Hawkeyes would be just as much of an outlier as beating an elite squad and IU has shown either of those things is unlikely.

Cuse is a projected six seed which is higher than any team IU has beaten (and ironically in the Bloomington pod). Auburn is a fringe tourney team and not a great loss but I look at who you have beaten (which ND and LSU have a top-end win) as much as who you have lost to and IU really lacks there. Just more opportunities in ACC and SEC big wins this season which is no one's fault. Blame Michigan, Maryland, and Illinois for not being the top-end teams they were last year which is really hurting IU with no signature wins pre-conference as well. Ohio State has that including beating IU, Iowa and UCLA, while Hawks have victories over VA Tech, IU, and Kansas State. Big Ten is much deeper this year but much weaker on high end teams than past couple seasons. IU's resume just doesn't stack up to higher than a four seed right now with zero bad losses, but no wins over anyone projected higher than a seven seed in field. That puts you right around 14. Like I said, beat Iowa and/or someone really good in Big Ten Tourney and then I can get on board with being in top-10 and a three seed bordering on a two.

I would argue both teams have the top end win IU does not. Notre Dame has three losses to solid tourney teams and one to an elite team. What they have IU does not is a win over UConn on the road that is an elite squad likely to get a host spot. Similar resumes but that is likely a differentiator. If IU beats Iowa they should move up as then the resumes are almost the same with IU's losses being slightly better (albeit neither bad). As for LSU, they have a win over VA Tech, who is an elite team competing for a host spot with losses again to Tourney teams. Until IU beats Iowa or another team competing for a host spot (and Iowa is only chance for that in regular season), can't be mad about being below them but certainly anyone can beg to differ. Big Ten is hurt by the fall off of Maryland and Michigan this season. This gives the three top teams (IU, Iowa, and OSU) only two squads to notch ranked top wins against, instead of four like last season. Don't see IU getting above a four seed or maybe very last three, unless they beat Hawkeyes at home or in the Big Ten Tourney or OSU in Big Ten Tourney. If they lose to no one else but their fellow championship contenders, still a solid host but not above a four and probably cannot afford more than another loss in general. Get one of these against the ranked conference foes and you will have wiggle room to stay a four and maybe even move to a three and possibly a two if they win conference tourney.

Like it or not this is the about the right ranking for them. What you are saying isn't wrong. While you could certainly argue they have three losses to top-10 teams on road, I could turn it around and say they have not beaten a ranked team or anyone projected higher than a seven seed. Yes, they have handled every matchup against potential second round level teams at any venue (Tennessee, Princeton, Michigan, Nebraska, PSU, Maryland). This is why they are projected a 3-4 seed in NCAA Tourney that will host and can handle first two rounds with teams on that level. However, until they beat a likely second weekend team that has good shot at Sweet 16, I can't be mad at that ranking or see a ceiling higher than losing in final 16. Until they beat Iowa at home or Ohio State or Iowa in Big Ten Tourney, I can't be on board with them being better then about 15th nationally and a low three seed or high four seed. It is about who you have beaten as much as who you have lost to, and so far they have not beaten anyone that has a chance to be around for the Sweet 16. I know they have had few opportunities, but you have to evaluate who they have beaten and I am trying to look at this objectively like a neutral pollster or the committee. If they can beat Iowa or OSU before March Madness, then they can get to low two line or high three line with a ceiling of the top two seed if they win Big Ten Tourney. They have beaten a lot of good teams which is why they are correctly around 15. However, until they beat a great team which they are 0-3 against, I can't be mad at this ranking. The Iowa home game will tell us a lot and if team deserves to be closer to 10 than 15, but until when/if they win that, I have zero issues with current ranking. Ranking is based on whole season. Not one week. Being the 14th best team in the country is nothing to be mad at, and until five years ago any fan would give a body part to be that good. I hope last year didn't blow expectations out of proportion. If this year is who they are going forward, everyone needs to take it and that goes even if they are just a solid tourney team from now on. No different than baseball, post Kyle Schwarber years. Good tourney team, but not great and that is just fine.