Maedhros

The context around the Elon game, and the ensuing discussion, sure changed after last night. All the caveats being made for the level of competition we were playing, then Iowa loses to an even worse Eastern Illinois team. The Panthers are currently 349 out of 363 on KenPom. I don't know what they were ranked going into the game, but I'm guessing it was worse than 349. Iowa was without Connor McCaffery & Kris Murray, sure, just as we were without Trayce and Xavier. The Hawkeyes still lost by 9 as a 31.5 point favorite. Along with the obvious schadenfreude, it's a good reminder as fans to never take anything for granted. It sure changes how I read this thread.

Why? College athletics are a billion dollar industry. What should a $50K write off matter at all? In the resistance to NIL, I've always wondered: is there an argument for players not receiving money that isn't just some variation of "that's how it's always been"? If we were building it all from scratch, would anyone actually suggest Trayce Jackson-Davis play for a coach making several millions of dollars, at an organization that signed a media rights deal for over a billion dollars, and think it fair that he be compensated only in tuition, room and board? Anyone judging that structure would think it corrupt as hell. But because that's how we started it'll take change to get to something better, and change is hard for some. For myself, I truly don't understand the problem some have with Trayce Jackson-Davis receiving the money other people want to give him. If the NCAA had never made it a rule, would there be an issue at all? We all know the NCAA sucks, and post about it often, except for in this one area. The only reason for such support seems to be because it's the status quo, and the status quo is comfortable.

I'm with you. I've seen a real pessimistic streak come out since that Rutgers loss, and fair, we got punked. But everyone gets punked sometimes and a Top 30 loss on the road isn't the worst thing. Neither is a Top 10 loss on a neutral court. Arizona was just a better team, with the size to neutralize our strength in the front court. I actually thought we fought pretty well, we just dug too big a hole when our only available ballhandler wasn't on the court. Kansas is likely a better team too, especially at their place. If we lose I expect the pessimism will increase. It shouldn't, because every one of us if asked would have pegged this game as a loss to start the season. If we win, it's a huge boost. If we lose, oh well. Our goals of a Big Ten title, heck even a Final Four, will still be on the table.

The Eagle has six locations, only one of which is in Indiana, and the original was in Cincinnati. It's on my list of places to try, to be sure, but not something I would credit to Indiana. Here on the northeast side of Indy I would nominate the chicken sando from Four Day Ray. I get it Nashville every time. The Local Eatery & Pub also has a solid offering.

Appreciate that @IUFLA. It's something I haven't quite yet learned how to do on this site.

The discussion has moved on, but this Tweet is relevant to the title, at least: https://twitter.com/GreggDoyelStar/status/1600955215980761088

I'll try to grab a cart that someone left stranded in the lot on my way in, and just reuse it. Saves someone a trip to go fetch it.

If it helps: Rutgers is unranked in the AP, but they're also 31 on KenPom, 32 on Torvik. If you remove preseason inputs on Torvik, Rutgers moves to 22. I'd like it too if we were more competitive, but every team will have a road loss to a team of that caliber on their resume by season's end. Most already do.

Sounds like an extension of the shopping cart rule: “To return the shopping cart is an easy, convenient task and one which we all recognize as correct, the appropriate thing to do. To return the shopping cart is objectively right. There are no situations other than dire emergencies in which a person is not able to return their cart. Simultaneously, it is not illegal to abandon your shopping cart. Therefore the shopping cart presents itself as the apex example of whether a person will do what is right without being forced to do it.” If character is how we act when no one is watching, then this is a pretty decent test of character. And yeah, people who leave their shopping cart in the middle of the parking lot, instead of returning it to one of the designated areas, are definitely one of my pet peeves.

The one smart device I like having is our garage door opener. I replaced that myself a few years back, after the old one started ghost activating on us. It's comforting to have an app you can check to confirm the garage door was shut when you left the house, especially before long road trips and vacations.

The women are now up to 4 in the new AP rankings, behind only South Carolina, Stanford, and Ohio State. UConn's loss dropped them to 6, moving us up a spot. Yeah, that's right, we're ahead of UConn, and Notre Dame, and Tennessee, and just about every other legacy program in the country.

Gary Parrish updates daily, so the adjustment for Rutgers was made Sunday. We dropped five spots then, and moved up one today after Creighton lost. But we dropped only five spots because a true road loss to a top 30 team KenPom isn't a big deal. Look below us, and every team has a loss like that on their resume, some more than one. Baylor got drubbed by 26 at #38 Marquette. Arizona got beat by 15 at #51 Utah. Tennessee lost by 12 to #61 Colorado in Nashville. It's been almost 50 years since a team went undefeated. Every college basketball team loses games like @ Rutgers, even Final Four teams and national champions. The freakout when it happens is always overblown. By itself the game doesn't mean a whole lot. What matters is how we respond and how we play the rest of the season.

I want every team on our schedule to win every game they play, except when they play us. So much better to beat the best. Yes, even Purdue. The rivalry is better when both teams are good.

I have no issue with the ranking, but it was odd to read "first win of the season over a team ranked in the top 30 at KenPom.com" given as a reason to move us up, when we have a true road win against the team ranked 31. A distinction without a difference.

Late to the thread, but want to say that was a great game against UNC. Doing all that without Grace Berger against #6, looking like we're underrated even at 5. It's a shame the upcoming games will all be BTN+. These games are fun to watch!

Oh it's real good. Smooth creamy chocolate without being overly sweet or too thick. You get graham cracker next, and it finishes with a dry boozy kick. I'd put it right up there with Teddy Bear Kisses as a perfect beer for drinking by the fire on a winter night.

I tried the Italian chicken sandwich Burger King has been advertising recently. It's awful. Just a breaded chicken breast on a plain bun, with marinara and some mozzarella cheese slices. No embellishment whatsoever. You could make a whole bunch of your own with a quick trip to the grocery store.

I have some 2022 Dragon's Milk Reserve on tap for the game tonight. Bourbon Barrel Aged with Chocolate, Marshmallow and Graham Cracker.

The writeup was worse. He was critical of our schedule, wondering why we weren't playing anywhere over Thanksgiving, with no acknowledgement that we have UNC, Arizona and Kansas coming up in our next five games. He dropped us three spots after the Xavier win because he said he still didn't trust our point guard play, after XJ went for 23/7 but only had two assists. There's a segment of the media that's grown accustomed to thinking of Indiana as the punchline to some joke. Seth Davis is absolutely among that group. And to be fair, for much of the last decade we've been more of a meme factory than a blueblood contender. I'm looking forward to that changing, to becoming a program you keep ranking highly because they're just always there. I'm hoping we make a statement tomorrow night, but that's the shame of UNC falling from #1 and Bacot being injured. Now there's a story Seth and others can tell to say our win wasn't impressive because it was expected. So let's knock off Arizona and Kansas, too.

When asked about this in his media availability today, Woodson brought up Kentucky as his preferred replacement for this event. That would be fine trade.

Per Goodman, here's what the teams were promised when the event was scheduled: https://twitter.com/GoodmanHoops/status/1596595940718444544

Exactly what I thought. I've been to EYBL events in Westfield with better environment. B4A is in a ballroom, yes, but the difference in effort to make it feel like an actual arena just doesn't compare to whatever this is.

Have you seen the venue? It's a damn hotel ballroom. They just put a court down on top of some carpet and set up some folding chairs around it. Why on earth would you bring teams in to Las Vegas, including a top ten team, and not have them play in any of the assuredly many actual basketball venues within the city. Like, who agreed to this? I can't believe an actual game that counts is being played like this, and if Berger's injury is significant it'll be a real shame.

3rd game in six days. Against 327 in KenPom. We'll be fine tonight. Rest and get healthy guys.

I'll never forget we were so mad about losing to IPFW by two points in overtime on the road, that we fired that coach and brought in a guy to lose to the same team by 20 in Bloomington.