IUHoosierJoe

Oh, I don’t disagree with that. And mid-majors that get automatic bids are often seeded too low. The biggest example of that last year was Florida Atlantic, although it didn’t matter. Thought they should have easily been a 4 or 5 seed.

I think you make a good point here. The way teams are evaluated now in terms of Quad wins and losses, a mid-major has an almost impossible task in making it as an at-large. They'd have to schedule like Gonzaga and then actually win a chunk of those games.

Interesting question. I haven't read all the replies yet, but the first thing that popped into my head was, "I'll know it when I see it." Then I realized that probably isn't even true, because I thought we were "back" after the two Cody Zeller years, even though we fell short of our tournament goal his second year. We had two of our best years in a decade and recruiting commitments were rolling in. Then, inexplicably, we had two decommitments, recruiting fell off, and we were looking for a new coach a few years later. At this point, my thought is it's going to take a special coach to get us back to where we want to be. "Back" to me consists of stacking seasons where we at least compete for a Big Ten championship (and win some now and then), are good enough to be considered a Final Four contender (and make it once or twice a decade), and where our rare "down seasons" are no worse than Mike Woodson's first year. And also, start winning some Big Ten tournaments. To me, probably the most damning thing about where we are now is that we have never even won a Big Ten tournament.

Iowa 82, Indiana 78. Giving some folks a chance to move into 2nd place. Hopefully.

Fran will come into our huddle, stare X down for 30 seconds, and X will be called for a Flagrant 1.

Just shows how hard it is, even for RMK

We didn’t make the FF in ‘75. Kentucky beat us in the Elite 8 game.

You must look away from the TV when the other team has the ball, lol.

Illinois 86, Indiana 69

Do you want him to guarantee kids money and playing time?

Was told a few years ago by someone who I think would know that Collins was Fred Glass’ second choice after Archie.

For DePaul?

Not sure if you were joking, but I heard this might actually happen.

Hate to break this to you, but reality and your cute little crystal ball not being identical doesn't make me obtuse.

Umm, yes he would. You said yourself in a previous reply to my post the Indiana is no longer the center of basketball. And you are correct. Nobody is going to come here and be at the level you expect in the first year or two. That's just a reality that a lot of you aren't willing to accept.

So, if we were 8-10 and Tamar Bates was still here and shooting that percentage, you'd be on this board celebrating his FG% and therefore our great system for shooting guards? Please forgive me that I doubt that.

My point, which you missed, is that neither you nor at least half the fan base would give him time to succeed here. It doesn't happen at the flip of a switch.

100% with you on this. Back in the day, our fan base was the best. Now? The most comical thing (at least recently) to me is the pining all over the message boards for Bruce Pearl. Bruce Pearl will be 64 before the end of this season. His first two years at Auburn, he had losing seasons. He was 26-40 and 9-27 in the SEC, for christ sakes. In "Year 7" (as people here like to say) he was 13-14 and 7-11 in the SEC. But Auburn gave him time, and now he's the "best coach in the country" and a no brainer for Indiana to hire. So, if we hired him, he'd be 66 after "Year 2" and 71 after "Year 7" and half the folks on the message boards would have been posting in a "Fire Bruce Pearl" thread after the 5th game of his first season. Yet, those same people think Xavier and C.J. are the embarrassments, lol.

Sure. He’s also in a system with an 8-10 record.

Wisconsin 79, Indiana 64

100% agree with you that Beard is one of, if not the best, coach in the country. I believed that when he was at Little Rock and he proved it beyond a doubt at Texas Tech and everywhere else he’s been since then. Several years ago, there was someone else who fit that profile, named Billy Gillispie. Sadly, he flamed out at Kentucky. Now, I’m not saying everyone is the same. What I’m saying is alcoholics and high-pressure situations don’t generally mix well. When you’re talking about hiring someone to coach 18-22 years olds at this school, that has to factor into the equation.

Purdue 83, Indiana 68

Maybe they called him…..to ask him about Kalen DeBoer.

We probably couldn’t have. And he obviously wouldn’t have stayed even if we could have.

Indiana 73, Minnesota 72