Aaron

Nothing impressive about Ohio State. Their offensive attack and continuity looks really rough and IU easily shut them down. Only real dangerous moment in second half was when Buckeyes hit the post on a half chance. The game in general was hard to watch and a disorganized battle in midfield. Penn State, Michigan, Northwestern, and Penn State don't belong in Big Ten Tourney and almost certainly won't make it and their year will end after last regular season conference game. However, of the other seven teams in league, one really good one is going to be left out of conference tourney and all of these other seven have a really good chance of being in NCAA Tourney.

Just a heads up: there is a massive overlap between the IU and Colts fanbases on this board. You’re completely entitled to your opinion on the team—trust me, plenty of us Colts fans have been frustrated with Irsay's decisions for years. But painting the entire fanbase with one brush here is basically insulting a huge chunk of this community. It’s a "Colts/Bears/NFL" thread for a reason. My grandfather always had a saying about separating thought from action, and online, and in life, that means thinking about how our words impact the people around us. Unless it's a rival like Purdue, it's usually not a great idea to blanket-bash a team so deeply tied to the same state or region as the message board topic.

Much better. This team is a bit schizophrenic. At its best its solid but needs to be consistent. Talent is there.

Drew Mestemaker at Oklahoma State or Colton Joseph at Wiscy have been better on far lesser teams. Imagine what they could do here. I know its not Cig's ideal prototype with either but Hoover was definitely NOT been best portal QB. I'm fine with a pro style guy like Cig wants, but then it needs to be someone like Rourke who isn't turnover prone then and has to have interceptions coached out of them. Turnover prone QB's often end up far more like Hoover and throwing high to compensate when trying to fix it. Mendoza was special and Cig hopefully learned you need someone who doesn't have to have turnover prone play coached out of them to have best chance to be elite. Hoover is who he is. An average QB with elite team around him that can be compensated for. Not ideal but definitely not something that can be counted on in future.

Cig made the classic mistake of thinking because he turned Mendoza's interception problem around he could do it with anyone. Some turnover prone QB's adjust by throwing high as Hoover has when trying to coach it out of them. Much rather have a QB like Rourke who is more boring and not turnover prone. If you can find a Mendoza and coach it out of him great but can't be expectation. Still love this team and Cig and only a minor blemish and expect to win out this season. However, IU is extremely lucky they have two 1st round draft picks at wide receiver and two pro running backs and an elite defense where you can scheme around Hoover and still win 10-11 games. Won't always have that and QB with Hoover's issues could easily drop Hoosiers to a 7-8 win squad in other seasons if talent around him were not this elite. Hopefully its a lesson to Cignetti that he can't take every turnover prone QB like Mendoza and turn him into a Heisman winner. I totally understand the thinking after last year but this should teach him most turnover prone QB's are not so easy to fix. When he goes into portal next year need someone who is more accurate and not turnover prone. Especially with Moshaun Sales and Davion Chandler and a transfer or two as main WR's likely. Won't be able to just put it near them like Hoover does with Becker and Marsh and they usually catch it anyways. Need a much more accurate non-turnover prone QB in future.

This was a more encouraging performance than last week but still not finishing sets which is becoming a problem. Team went from sure fire top-15 to hopefully being in tourney. Got to figure out what has gone wrong last couple weeks suddenly.

I hate these games in the pouring rain that can lead to these results as the wet field and moisture coming down leads to all kinds of weird results for the less talented team which is certainly Rutgers. It wasn't the Hoosiers best night but the price of playing in weather like that leads to this somewhat. The Scarlet Knights absolutely pass the eye test as a first round tourney bubble team. That's enough on a night like tonight to knock off an elite team in terrible weather. As for IU, was really hoping this team was 2107 and 2018 good but look much more 2019 to 2023 good. The defense is definitely vastly improved from previous two seasons and Mroz gives you best goalie since Celentano. However, as good as the Hoosiers' D is, it still will give up a goal nearly each game but never more. The question is if Indiana can create at least two goals on a given night and usually they can but not guaranteed. When it relies on Njike setting others up and Easton Bogard at your striker spot, who is solid but not bona fide scorer, you won't always put up huge numbers but usually can. This squad still has more than enough for a top 8-12 seed and could well be in College Cup. However, they could also have an off night offensively and lose 1-0 in Sweet 16 like tonight or fall in a tough Elite 8 game at someone like Georgetown or Clemson in a heavy weight battle. Losing to a top-30 squad on road only cost team two spots in RPI and they remain inside top-10. Key is getting that second home game in tourney and if really lucky a third. Next two are cannot lose against teams well outside top 50 in RPI before two matchups against powers UCLA and MSU inside top 20 and will decide conference title. Everything still in play and tonight only a minor ding resume wise. Its more not repeating it in tourney against a squad very similar in talent to Rutgers and hopefully in better weather. You used the one mulligan you had both RPI and conference championship wise tonight and lost margin for error. However, everything is still possible if this is it on defeats.

Yes im here. Butler crowd was slightly into it for a while till game got out of hand. IU fans not at all and hard to tell any here outside colors despite being 20-25% of crowd.

Still wouldn't know there is a single IU fan there as Hoosier’s superior talent finally letting them pull away. Def atmosphere of an exhibition game and IU fans especially and to lesser extent Butler fans zero investment tonight. IU’s transition to a full blown football school appears complete. In all seriousness, very good showing by team though which is most important. Ingredients there to be good finally if Hoosiers continue to gel.

Im guessing that means other Indiana TV markets like Terre Haute, South Bend, Evansville, and Fort Wayne and MAYBE Louisville. Doubt it means any others including Chicago.

Correct. Anyone in Indy TV Market (includes Bloomington) with a paid TV service of some kind or antenna.

Or most local paid television services have it as its local CW.

Love what i see so far from Burton. Much bigger and more athletic team. Also pathetic showing from our fans. Hinkle 80% full only, just 20% IU fans and might as well be zero with no one cheering really.

And now we can be terrified. Never seen a team go from looking like a contender to one who doesn’t belong in tourney in a single week. Getting swept off your home court by a decent but far from great USC squad. Suddenly this program has a lot of questions to answer and if they even belong in postseason. They better figure out why for a year and a half they looked like contenders to suddenly how they were at very beginning of Steve Aird era. To go from challenging the best in conference to now getting swept by elite and mid pack squads is really concerning. Hopefully just a bad week but alarm should be sounding close to def-con one at moment.

A few tickets remain from Butler website: https://am.ticketmaster.com/butler/buy/ism/MjdNQkJHMDE=

These last two matches give me just a small twinge of concern. Making the postseason is in no danger and like with football its incredible we are even having this conversation, but this week better be the exception rather than the rule if team wants to be anything more then lose first game of NCAA Tourney. They ultimately won the Rutgers match but even letting them take a set off of you says team was not focused as Scarlet Knights are the worst team in the conference. As for Nebraska, you were not beating them on your best day and they operate at a whole different level. I was hoping though to challenge them in at least a couple sets and threaten to take one of them. The fact the Hoosiers were blown away in all three sets and did not even get to 20 in any of them as almost every other squad (including Rutgers) has done was a bit of an 'uh oh' moment if this is how things are rest of fall. Hopefully this was just a bad week of play and going forward team will look like they had to this point and will host first two rounds again and threaten a Sweet 16 squad finally. This is the ceiling and where things appeared to be headed till this week. Hopefully team doesn't bump against the floor as they did anymore last few days as that means losing every toss up match and traveling for postseason and not going far once there.

Defense is a lost art in college soccer and it makes games not as fun to watch in general. IU's defense is as good as it gets with the second tier players now playing in college but its basically free target practice on goal. Good news is Mroz finally gives you a goalie who you feel good about for first time since Roman Celentano when/if team gets into a PK shootout in postseason. Finally has the size and instincts for the position needed. Terps are basically Hoosiers of last year with elite attack and awful defense (although a solid goalie that keeps it from being a total disaster). Indiana has an avg defense and above avg goalie which in today's landscape is better than anyone else.

Settle for a coach with a mediocre resume and squad ends up being only fall team sport of the five in competition currently not ranked and doing well. Every other program got best coach available at time and this one settled, hence the difference. Clearly IU had to draw a line somewhere which I am fine with but its clear this program is here to satisfy Title IX so men's soccer can exist and win big. No issues with that but it explains the massive gap in the other fall sports so far compared to this one.

Not even mad. That they can now compete with Wisconsin shows they are as least as good if not better than last yr and actually gives them legit shot in Sweet 16 to win this time. Had this as a sure loss in three sets so they are clearly much better than I thought (and I thought they were good but Wiscy much better). Win the winnables which they have done beautifully so far and get a few good resume wins and you are hosting again. Georgia, TAMU, and UCLA fill this and the three losses are to elite national contenders. Question again seems to be will they host over will they make it (particularly with Avry Tatum eligiblity for now). Big gut check will be if they can finally beat Purdue at home which is now their equal rather than a bridge to far. Just give Nebraska and Minnesota all they can handle and win a few more tossups (Purdue, Oregon, Washington, Penn State) and take care of business and team is sitting really pretty for postseason.

Well Colvin's reign as highest ranked recruit in program history lasted only a few weeks since Jackson is four spots higher. Sixth time Colsten Thompson has reeled in the highest ranked player in program history since becoming recruiting coordinator and second time for 2027 class. These two classes look MUCH more like Michigan's classes with immediate impact players after losing Naz Hilmon who brought program to a top level much like Berger and Holmes did at same time. Michigan never dropped off since these top classes came as soon as Hilmon left and were contributors immediately. IU's pipeline was delayed a couple of years, hence the drop off, but seems to be fully flowing now with Thompson at helm.

I'm not 100% sure but I believe the same bag policy applies for indoor sports like women's basketball and volleyball but not for outdoor sports like soccer, softball, and baseball. That could have changed this year but I am fairly sure that's how its been through last spring.

I really hope this is a repeat of the 'great freakout of early 2012' when our no. 1 ranked basketball squad got taken to the wire by Georgetown early in season and everyone panicked. Turned out no one knew the Hoyas were a top 10-15 squad with future pro Otto Porter who SHOULD have been ranked there (and were pretty quickly) much like this Northwestern squad who probably will be eventually. I will say Hoover and this secondary scare me a bit. The RB's, WR's, front seven, and O-line are pretty much championship worthy. As long as QB and CB play can be just average this should be a playoff team. Hoover just needs to stop missing open throws and secondary needs to stop leaving gaping holes in coverage on back end. Its the difference between 8-10 wins and getting decent bowl or sneaking into playoffs and 11-12 wins with being a championship contender.

This game perfectly captures both why you feel so much better about this team and why they still scare you to death. It was an absolute microcosm of what the change to Mroz in goal—combined with a backline improved 100% from last year—delivers. It was also the full showcase of the Njike experience: everything he creates and everything he leaves on the table. Defensively, Indiana has cut opponent chances to a fraction of what they surrendered last season. Even so, all it takes is one wonder-strike—an opponent fluke goal that Indiana was helpless to stop—to tie the match and put everything in jeopardy. At the same time, we saw exactly why putting Mroz between the pipes is a total game-changer. IU could have easily been down 2–1, watching Penn State bleed out the clock, if not for his massive breakaway save—one that neither keeper from last year likely makes. Outside of that moment, the Nittany Lions generated virtually nothing, a massive upgrade from the half-dozen quality looks the backline conceded on a nightly basis a year ago. Then there is the offense and the sheer adventure of watching Njike. His dribbling and on-ball ability are among the best I have ever seen at the college level. That skill set is 100% the reason the game-winner materialized; he created the opportunity out of nothing to set up Moller Jensen, a play very few collegiate attackers could pull off. The downside, however, is his finishing touch. He puts way too much power behind certain shots. His lack of composure is why the Hoosiers failed to bury the game on a penalty sequence late, blasting an easy rebound over the bar after a solid initial save—a tap-in that 99% of attackers convert. Blown chances like that left IU vulnerable at the death, surviving only because a late handball review in the box went their way. Still, pairing Njike with Moller Jensen on the flanks makes for a lethal wing tandem, and you simply have to take the good with the bad here. My biggest concern remains Easton Bogard at striker. Bogard would start for 90% of programs in the country, but his ceiling doesn't quite match Indiana’s historical standard at that spot. You find yourself wishing for Palmer Ault from last year, or any of the endless line of future pros IU normally features up top. It is not the subpar striker play of the mid-2010s; it is slightly above average when this system demands elite—especially with dynamic creators feeding balls in from the wings. This roster is trending toward a top-eight, if not a top-four national seed reminiscent of the late 2010s. Yet the attack feels equally capable of driving a run to the College Cup or bowing out in a heartbreaking Sweet 16 overtime loss. If IU had a true dynamic threat leading the line, I would put their College Cup odds at 75%. Outside of that spot, there are very few glaring holes, and historically, a solid Hoosier squad can cruise to the Elite Eight before facing a true 50/50 test. Right now, though, an underdog could still steal a result in the opening rounds—something that never felt possible during the dominant 2017 and 2018 runs, when results were basically decided before kickoff and the only real tests were heavyweight battles against the likes of Michigan State or Notre Dame in regional final in each season.

Yup. Exactly what I described above. If you still had Palmer Ault from last year, this is sure fire no. 1 team and would be a tragedy if they didn't win it all similar to 2017 and 2018.

Yup. And healthy big Z can be close to that. Especially with adding Kenzie Hare and Jess Petrie in portal who are dead eye three-point shooters. My concerns are Z staying healthy, who is go to scorer, and is their enough depth in the backcourt. That's what needs to be paid attention to this yr. Not adding a top center which is on roster if healthy.