IUCrazy2

So....go Rutgers?

Yes.

All it takes is for Penn State to get hot from 3. Maryland isn't exactly setting the world on fire.

Haven't done all the math, but seems like Michigan St. is almost locked into that 6 spot.

I think a 12-8 team would get the nod over an 11-8 team and an 11-8 team would get in ahead of an 11-9. Not sure though.

Indiana to win and then I think we need 1 of either Iowa, Northwestern, or Maryland to lose. If any of them lose and we win, I believe we are a 4th seed. Any additional losses could potentially move us up. Think if we win and they all win we are a 5 seed. Heading into today the BTN just posted that Purdue is 1, Iowa is 2, Maryland is 3, Northwestern is 4, Michigan is 5, Michigan St. is 6, and Indiana is 7. Edit to add: Illinois is 8, Rutgers 9, and Penn State 10.

Last week sucked for Indiana basketball, Women and Men, be nice to start this week off a little more positively.

I want the f'in Frans again.

Christian Watford said that JHS going in the first round after this year would be best long term for Woodson. I think he is coming from that from a players perspective, but it makes sense. Look how many players Calipari still draws even though his track record has kind of stunk lately. Duke is still pulling and Kryzewski isn't even there anymore....

Sometimes taking away a crutch forces you to walk. TJD in particular has been the cheat code for the rest of the team. As far as Cupps and XJ go, Capps will be facing one of the best on ball defenders in the BIG every day in practice. I would think that would only make him better.

Survive and advance.

I don't think I want the poster boy for my product being someone who basically overdosed on it... 😉

Give me the South then.

Does that Midwest end up in Louisville? I would take Orlando to Louisville all day. Give me Toledo too. No P5 opponents this year and Mike Lewis beat them on their floor. I am calling Mike for a scouting report.

There is a chance. The most important thing is taking care of business. If we win on Sunday, the worst seed I have seen is a 5. If Iowa, Maryland, and Northwestern all win we are a 5. Any other scenario and we are 4 or better. (Edit to add: I believe all 3 of those are the road team in their games. So if we win, for our worst case scenario we would need 3 road wins to put us at 5.)

Possibly. I think it is a stretch to get to 3. We just need Indiana to handle business and the rest will work itself out I guess.

A 5 means you have to play an extra game to win it all. With as gassed as we have appeared to be lately, I think there is a big difference between 2-4 and 5 for that alone.

I don't even think of it in those terms. I know that every year I am tired of hearing how bad we do in the tournament and the fact Indiana has never won it. Woodson has been erasing some of the "streaks" for the program in the past 2 up and down years, killing this 25? year streak would be lovely. I would trade a 3 seed for a 4 and a BTT win at this point. The see matters for one game. Playing a 5 or 6 in the second round isn't that much difference and then a 1 or 2 in the Sweet 16 is going to be negligible this year too. There are no "OMG" teams this year.

For real. We have never won that thing. Anything that gets us closer to that final game is preferable to getting one more Q1 win. And if we do well in the tournament, we are adding Q1 wins anyway.

Hopefully Michigan finishes 11-9....

Here are the winners of Chapionships going back to 1990: Duke 5 times UNC 4 times UConn 4 times Kentucky 3 times Just want to stop here and point out that these 4 teams account for half of the titles won since 1990. Kansas 2 Nova 2 Florida 2 That concludes the multiple winners. 32 titles won since 1990 and 22 have been won by 7 teams. Baylor, Virginia, Louisville, Syracuse, Maryland, Michigan St., Arizona, UCLA, Arkansas, and UNLV round out the field with 1 each. I am not going to do the leg work on Final Fours but I would be willing to bet that those teams listed above have an overwhelming presence there too. College basketball has always been about the jersey. That isn't to say you don't get a team that pops up here and there and makes some noise, but the same teams have been showing out for the past 30 years. If you go back from there you will add a few more teams to the list but you see Indiana multiple times. Louisville multiple times. More Kentucky. More North Carolina. More Villanova. More UCLA. There are a ton of schools in D1 so yeah, there has always been a mushy middle, but there is a very clear hierarchy.

Mmhmm.

When you look at who is in the Final Four (in college), who is winning the Championships (in both), I think it clearly shows that the jersey does matter. There has always been parity in the mushy middle, but the same teams generally are bringing it home and going the deepest. This year has been a little more equal than most, but those years happen from time to time. There will probably also (hopefully) be a bit of the changing of the guard but Duke, Kansas, North Carolina, Kentucky, Connecticut, and Villanova are all over the championships the past 20 years. Sure there is a Baylor here and there, but still.

I would be careful saying that around Alabama....

https://www.ncaa.com/history/basketball-men/d1 I think the front of the jersey matters quite a bit. It does in the NBA too.