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Fist 30/25 game in the tournament since Elvin Hayes in 1968

Tarris Reed's 27 rebounds save the day for UConn. They just had a 1:35 long possession because of his offensive boards. With 74 seconds left he has an outside shot at a 30/30 game lol

UConn in trouble

Very true!

Likely. And the kid he plucked out of nowhere in D2 is probably playing in the NBA next year. He's got 2 more wins and 2 less losses in the NCAA tournament than DDV and he only became a D1 coach last year lol. They don't have a ton of NIL, but it doesn't matter because McCollum clearly knows how to identify underrated talent and develop it. Very wishful thinking IMO that he's going to suddenly flounder because of one player leaving given his track record. If someone wanted a Cig like basketball hire, that's your guy.

It is a question mark, but I am happy to go on the record now and say "probably a lot better than people are thinking"

Purely stylistically, I enjoyed watching Iowa play more than Indiana this year. Call me a McCollum fanboy if you want lol

Crean's issue is not that he lost the state lol. It's that he was disorganized and at times seemingly manic. He's a good guy - always grateful he came here when we were in a bad spot. Like him in the media. Put together some really talented teams, made a really good run here. He simultaneously overachieved his abilities and underachieved with the talent he had. Just was never gonna win a title. And he stunk at UGA after. Why ignore that but not his first 3 years here? Lol. It was time.

I do not care to rehash Tom Crean. We clearly think differently about how his tenure ended and that's perfectly okay. The actual point in this conversation is about what the program, who spends at the top of CBB, should expect in a given decade. We have 9 years of Crean, with 4 NCAA appearances, and 9 years of Archie, Woody, DDV for a combined... 2 NCAA appearances. That's 6/18 (33%) by the way. Neither decade has been up to the standard of a program that spends like we do. That has 0 to do with the Indiana fanbase or brand.

I'm not sure why you seem to have trouble understanding where I stand. It's a pretty linear train of thought, similar to Woody needing to go, that you're bizarrely contesting lol. I did not say a coach needs to do that. I said the program needs to do that. Which perfectly aligns with the idea that you can a sorry SOB like Archie or Woody who has proven himself to be a bad coach by year 3. Because it's obvious. Crean consistently underachieved with his talent. He rode D Wade to a final four, showed himself to be incapable of winning a title due to the complexity of beating a 2-3 zone, was given the opportunity to keep going, then flamed out. Also, he made the tournament... 4/9 years.

I think a program that spends like ours should, in a decade, bare minimum expect to make the tournament more often than not with at least a couple teams that make the second weekend. We can all agree on that, right? That's putting aside all of IU basketball's history, no FF/title expectation, no demand for star recruits or the best players from Indiana, etc. If we can't agree on that, well okay, but I guess I'd sorta wonder how any fan could enjoy watching a program that had the last 10 years we did. And how anyone could think the way it would've been better was to extend Tom Crean (47-75 [.385], 15-57 [.208] SEC with Anthony Edwards) or Archie or Woody, lol

Gutted for Santa Clara. What a freakin game.

Santa Clara Kentucky has been a freakin amazing game. This tournament has been so so good this year. Even better than most years so far.

Oh, the diehard fans on our message board would absolutely have Hurley on the hot seat in the same scenario. I just don't think they'd have any influence on whether he stays or goes. Would Hurley have seen a 5th season at IU? IMO, with almost absolute certainty, yes. His first four years at UConn were almost the exact inverse 4 years of Woody at IU. Both went 2/4 on making the tournament and neither made it past the first weekend. Difference is, Woody made the first two and Hurley made the last two. While they hadn't accomplished the desired success with Hurley yet, his program was making obvious progress and had momentum. Woody's program was regressing and had no wind in the sails, so it was getting downright ugly IRL, not just message boards. Momentum is so important. You can build it quicker in this era of CBB. Was Hurley capable after year 4? It wasn't beyond a reasonable doubt yet, but there was a preponderance of evidence to support the claim. He earned the right for more time and UConn was repaid handsomely immediately with back to back titles. What does hiring a capable coach look like? I don't care for platitudes like "refuse to lose" "not just the will to win but the will to prepare to win." There are different flavors of capable coaches and everyone will have a preference. To me, at the P5 level, this is roughly the profile of a capable coaching hire: - Been a HC for at least 12 years with an identity for how they play and proven playbook for establishing their culture - W/L record improves YoY for the most part at each stop / is sustained at a high % - Strong network in the coaching fraternity particularly regionally - Assess the efficiency metrics for their offense and defense from the most recent few seasons - In this era, ideally they come in with a full staff and a few players.