Aaron

My how we have turned the tables. It used to be PU was the ranked team who dominated the series, but last few years it is IU. We can get mad about our coaching situation with the IU men, but the fact that the Boilers have held on to Sharon Versyp this long and let her drive the program into the ground is mind blowing. Women's Basketball used to be to PU what Soccer is to IU. The difference is when Mike Freitag started driving the program into the ground, IU went out and replaced him to get back to the top while PU just lets Versyp continue to kill the program. No complaints and I am glad we have found our leader who is good at what she does in Coach Moren (and there is a clause in her contract that PU has to pay us Millions to take her from us so we are good there) and PU can continue to employ their incompetent coach who screwed us way back. Schedule is about to get a lot tougher with the Rutgers game cancelled, but we certainly handled the bottom of the Big Ten with no problem winning all six of our Big Ten victories by at least 20 points. MSU and NW on road next who are actually good and I will be thrilled if we get one of them. Time for men to follow suite and win tonight. Boiler down.

Easy win as expected and same should occur against Wisconsin. Until we get to the MSU and NW games on road we have no business losing and should be at least 7-1 in conference heading into those. Cool to see Berger have a triple double.

We will eventually. Even if we get a COVID cancellation it will likely get re-scheduled for later. Big Ten set up several byes for this situation and it might not be bad to play this game later in yr when we are in middle of a tough stretch to get an easier game in between.

I'm worried about two things tonight and neither is us losing. One is the eye injury to Cardano-Hillary and the other is the possibly more serious injury to Penn's ankle, especially after seeing her on crutches. Good news is our next 4 games are against bad teams and we need to win them all with or without those two. I know we were picked to win the Big Ten but I was skeptical we could top Maryland. Basically we were picked ahead of them because of experience and Maryland losing a couple players. Doesn't matter they re-load with 5* recruits every year. It would be like IU picked to win Big Ten East next year over OSU in Football because we return more players. Realistically though those teams have plenty of players in waiting and will still be better. My bigger question is much like the Football team, can we jump Iowa, NW and OSU and clearly position ourselves as second best team in conference instead of 4th or 5th. That is what I am looking for. What happened tonight I knew was coming a mile away and doesn't change anything. Only worried about the unjuries.

Oh I remember the 90's well. That's why I said a 'decade ago in college and further back as a kid'. I followed team closely since 96 when I was 10 and grew up in Bloomington and dad took me to a couple games a yr. Outside of Randle El, Williams and a couple receivers like Mercy Gadis and Jerry Dorsey we did not field a Big Ten level team. That's why I also said 'outside of skill positions'.

One other positive thought: A decade ago when I was in college and further back as a kid, we looked nothing like a Big Ten team with a defense that was tiny, thin and couldn't make plays and kickers and punters who had legs of 35-40 yards max. Now we have a team that looks like it has Big Ten athletes all over the field and kickers and punters with normal 50-55 yard range. I used to think outside of skill positions, I was watching a team playing in mud and not very good. Now we look like a Big Ten team in all aspects pretty much which is a huge step forward. Still have more steps to take, but at least the talent is closer on level with many fellow conference schools now and you feel like you are watching a Big Ten team rather than a MAC team.

Apparently Tuttle has a separated shoulder which to me proves all the more what I said about Sheridan. Why are you not calling more runs up gut that were working if he is playing in that much pain makes me question play calling more? Kudos to Tuttle for sticking it out, but I stand by what I said that he is a mediocre to decent Big Ten QB and doesn't get the ball down field enough or accurately. Not a bad player and better than many we have had but he is no Penix, Ramsey or Sudfeld and getting QB's on that level is what you need to really compete in Big Ten and he is one step below but makes a fine backup.

Today was simple and we have two problems that need to be evaluated. One is Nick Sheridan who has been OK this year but nothing special. Today he was beyond atrocious against Ole Miss that can't do anything on D and all those bubble screens instead of taking more shots down field is inexcusable. I don't know if he needs to be fired but certainly evaluated and figure out if he can get better and more creative. Second is Jack Tuttle is a decent, but not great QB and if we want to go where we hope, we need either Penix to stay healthy or McCulley to be the QB we think he is coming in next yr and certainly the backup when Penix inevitably gets hurt. In another era Tuttle is totally fine and no worse than Richard Lagow, Ben Chappell or Blake Powers who were mediocre to decent Big Ten QB's. This was a case of the ratings missing a bit and he should be a low 3*. He is fine as a backup or a starter on another team, but he will not lead you to where you want to get ultimately. Ramsey is better but his career could be over and he is absolutely a starting QB on a high level program and with our situation you can't keep him as a backup to Penix or a primary guy. Very happy for what he has done at NW and no bitterness there. Just hoping McCulley is the answer and he should be as he is ranked higher than any QB we have ever had and first guy who is top 150 and borderline 5*. Lastly, we can not blame committee or Big Ten now for slighting us and don't be surprised if we get passed over again next yr again and we will have no right to complain after NW took care of business against a better Auburn team and OSU trashing Clemson. Got to prove it and we didn't. Great season and another step forward but some issues remain that need to addressed.

I believe NCAA made rule this year that any transfers that occur during this academic year are immediately eligible next yr because of COVID. Don't think he will have to sit out but could be wrong

We took care of business which is all we can ask. Most importantly though what happened today has nothing to do with us and is a result of team NOT taking care of games you should. The big news is NW fell to the same Nebraska team IU beat by nearly 40. IU, Maryland and NW are the a cut above everyone in the Big Ten (Iowa, OSU, Mich and MSU are solid to decent and other seven teams are garbage) and that is an inexcusable loss for a very veteran Wildcats team that still has Lindsey Pulliam and Veronica Burton who are probably two of the top 5 players in the Big Ten. Very good news for IU that NW pulled the choke of the yr today. Now comes the big test against Maryland in what is the only good team we play in the first eight games (the other seven are among the bottom 7 teams that I said are garbage) as the schedule is loaded in the back half. This game against the Terps is a bonus to me and I don't expect to win but if we do I will be so happy and it would give us an early edge in the conference title race after the NW surprising loss today.

Agreed. But Buffalo will need that game for the very valuable 2 seed (even without a bye it guarantees two home games in playoffs instead of 1 which is huge) unless Colts win in Pitt and then that Buffalo Miami game becomes irrelevant from Colts perspective. I would rather it not come down to Buffalo-Miami for Colts to get into playoffs, but Buffalo will need to go all out and will not be able to rest starters as many have suggested.

My problem today is more the macro then the micro. While, the offense stinks at times, we hung with a top Illinois team. To me the bigger problem is that Illinois, who was at the same point as IU when we each made our coaching hires, has surged far ahead of IU and Underwood has done a much better job coaching and recruiting. We need to follow Illinois model and after two terrible hires from Mid Major Level they hired a guy with Power 5 experience while IU did not. IU needs to hope three is a charm like it was for Illini and get someone with Power 5 experience. IU to Dayton is to big a jump. Not Archie's fault but the job is to big for him. That is on administration for not going out and hiring someone with High Major experience.

Illinois needs to be our example unfortunately. After two terrible hires of Mid Major coaches who were clones of Crean and Archie, Illini got it right by hiring a Power 5 coach. IU is a pressure cooker job and you need someone with Power 5 experience. It's that simple. That's the reason why Illinois was in same mediocrity we were 3 yrs ago and has jumped near top of Big Ten while IU is still in neutral. IU needs a good Power 5 coach with the pressure cooker this job is. Not Archie's fault, but he was promoted to a big job before he was ready. That's on our administration. A few more yrs at Dayton and another low end Power 5 job in between and he could be a great hire for a big time school but he is not ready yet.

Minnesota upsets Iowa in the Barn in an OT thriller as the Gophers got red hot from 3 late. Other than Nebraska who is a step behind, and Maryland and PSU being maybe a half step behind but dangerous, this Big Ten is absolutely brutal and anyone can win any given night. Teams better be ready.

Michigan wins fairly handily at Nebraska and controlled much of second half. Nebraska is better and plays hard for a half. However, they still look like the worst team in the Big Ten who lack depth and can't hang with teams for a full 40 minutes.

Maryland came back, but PU held on thanks to something IU fans are all to familiar with in that the Terps could not shoot FT's. This Maryland team looks very beatable but can IU take advantage and get a W?

We could be headed to dangerous Title IX territory here. Would the men stop their whole season over an outbreak or resume when it gets back under control? If the answer is the men would keep playing once outbreak passes and the women want to play, but administration says no, Title IX could get murky. I am sure they are quicker to stop women for safety which is not wrong, but does expose how much money the men's side brings in and how they are slower to stop all together. It's not just Duke, but all kinds of Title IX questions could arise depending on how this plays out and raises uncomfortable questions about it we never expected because of the pandemic. Update: Per release this was purely Duke's decision. Assuming that's true they should be OK, but does raise the question if the men opted out would they be pushed harder not to do so?

Maryland getting hammered by PU. If we can't beat Maryland and PSU who look like garbage right now, its game over for our season (those are our next two games after Illinois this weekend).

To be optimistic Illinois went from Bruce Weber who was a Tom Crean clone of inconsistency to John Groce who may be a clone of Archie Miller with just plain bad. Try three they got it right and are now a Big Ten Title Contender. Follow that path and we will hit a great hire next time. The last two hires (Weber, Groce and Crean, Archie) have gone identical. Now we need to make sure we follow suite a third time.

She played late in the game when benches were emptied.

Much much better. Granted Minnesota is garbage and unlike the Men's Side, the bottom of the Big Ten is quite a bit worse than the top. With that said I liked a lot of things from today regardless of the opponent, as we shot the ball better and made the easy layups with had been an issue. 7 of the first 8 games in the Big Ten are against the bottom feeders so we need to take care of business during this stretch. That said, 2 games from now we have a huge test @Maryland which will say a lot about whether we can win the conference.

Semi-related to game but apparently Iowa fans are as salty at Gary Barta for betraying his own school as we are at him as Hoosier fans. They think that by Barta keeping IU out over Iowa St (and there's strong evidence he lobbied for Iowa St. over IU) it hurts them a lot more since that is an in-state rival who could hurt them in recruiting a lot more than Hoosiers getting into New Years 6 from same conference. Also by not putting IU in, it knocked Iowa down a bowl and they would of been in Outback had he advocated harder for IU. Barta sounds like kind of an idiot in general. To stick it to a team in his own conference (IU) in a way that hurt the very school he is athletic director for in a couple ways says he is not good at his job. Be curious if Iowa people have more to say to him about this, as that will be a lot more powerful and hurtful than anything we can do to him as Hoosier fans.

Hypothetical question: How much did our COVID outbreak hurt us? Let's assume we don't have an outbreak (I am assuming PU does) and we are able to play against Iowa championship week? Do we get into a New Year's 6 by beating solely Iowa? Do we get in if we play both the Bucket Game and beat Iowa if neither IU or Purdue has outbreak? I don't want to hear we were screwed (which we were) and committee hates IU, but reasonably does an Iowa and/or Purdue win get us into New Year's 6 under same circumstances otherwise?

Fans will be in the stands by next fall. Schools will be requiring students to be vaccinated before returning to campus (IU has already hinted they will require it) and certainly athletes and staff will have it by then. Even Dr. Fauci said a few weeks ago he expects NFL stadiums to have fans by fall. You never know, but I'll be shocked if stadiums are not at least 50% capacity if not full by September. Vaccines will be widely available by early-mid summer and things will be returning to normal by fall. I am by no means a COIVD denier and have rarely left the house since the pandemic because I am scared of getting it, but if you don't think things will start to get back to normal by summer you are just being a pessimists for no reason.

This is where I kind of have a problem. I know college football and college basketball are different, but if the Big Ten is going to insist on keeping teams like Indiana, Maryland, Illinois etc. down in football, than teams like Rutgers, NW, PSU and teams need to be kept down by conference in basketball. I know what I am saying is not logical, but based on their system, if the Big Ten want to keep IU and bottom feeders down in football, it needs to do the same with the historic bottom feeders basketball. Instead, they have no problem with everyone being good in basketball, which while makes for a tough conference and allows teams to beat up on each other and drag down the better teams slightly. Obviously, I don't want anyone held down in basketball really, but if the Big Ten is not going to care about NW, PSU ETC. bubbling up in basketball, it needs to not sabotage IU and other bottom feeders in Football. Can't have it both ways but it appears that is what Big Ten wants.