Certain days just have a different, more exciting feel about them, and every year this is one of those days for me.

Another season of Hoosier hoops tips off tonight.

Tom Crean and his young, talented team take the Assembly Hall floor tonight against Howard. The Big Ten Network is carrying the game, which will tip off at 8:00 ET. (FYI, find out all IU basketball viewing info at our 2009-10 IU basketball TV schedule).

Indiana has rolled in two exhibitions games over Grace and St. Joseph’s (Indiana), which is exactly what they are supposed to do. Neither game was televised here in Dallas, so tonight will be my first opportunity to see IU’s much heralded group of newcomers that will be making their official debuts this evening:

• Jordan Hulls
• Bobby Capobianco
• Maurice Creek
• Derek Elson
• Bawa Muniru
• Jeremiah Rivers

And then the guy that I am the most excited to see: Christian Watford.

IU basketball game days are always the hardest days to get through. But hey, at least I now have a job where I can pass some of the time by writing about the Hoosiers.

Hoping for a solid 15-20 point victory tonight and a good confidence builder for all the new guys. Nothing spectacular, but this is a game we should control from the outset and win with the cruise control on during the last ten minutes. We may not be experienced enough yet to do that, but I think it would show a major improvement over last season if we could.

And that’s all this season is about: improvement.

I’m also interested to see what Devan Dumes’ role will be this year. He was the go-to guy on offense for much of last season until Verdell Jones stepped up late in the year, but Dumes plays wild and out of control a lot of the time. His experience, I presume, will keep him as a key cog in the rotation, but I wonder how his role with start out and then evolve as the season progresses.

Just one of the key questions heading into tonight. Can’t wait. Go IU!

(Come on…you knew the headline had to have some kind of lame pun involving “grace”.)

Yes, it was only an exhibition game against Grace, but last night proved to be an encouraging and auspicious beginning to the 2009-10 basketball season for a program seeking redemption.

Tom Crean and the Indiana Hoosiers did exactly what an IU team should do: impose their will on a far inferior opponent and cruise to an easy victory. Though reports of the game indicate that Grace played the Hoosiers tough for the first 24-25 minutes, IU won the game 96-73.

Coming off of a season that saw the Hoosiers lose home games to Northeastern and Lipscomb, any win — even an exhibition win that doesn’t count — is a welcome event.

And for anyone who took IU’s opponent last night for granted, just ask Syracuse fans how that worked out for them.

Let’s go around the IU blogosphere and newsosphere for reaction to the game. I had previous obligations and was not available to plunk down the $3 to watch it live on the Big Ten Network’s website (although I would have), so I’ll let those who actually saw the action provide the insight.

From what I’ve read and from the time I’ve spent trolling IU forums this morning, a couple of things are clear:

1. What we expected is confirmed: the talent level is way, way, way up this year.
2. Christian Watford is a really talented all-around player.
3. Bloomington native Jordan Hulls is going to be this team’s floor general and a fan favorite from Day One.

Reaction below. As detailed in our handy-dandy 2009-10 Indiana mens basketball tv schedule, the Hoosiers next take on St. Joseph’s (of Indiana) in their second exhibition game on Monday.

Indiana Struggles Early, Rolls Past Grace in the Second Half — (Inside the Hall)

A couple of thoughts from Indiana’s exhibition opener:

Watford was very effective after he settled down. He looked a bit anxious early, which is to be expected for a freshman, but his athleticism around the basket made an instant impact. He got to the line nine times and connected on all of his attempts. Impressive debut.

The basketball IQ of Hulls will make him a fan favorite in Bloomington. He has a knack for setting up teammates and when left open, he was able to knock down some shots. And he didn’t register a turnover.

Here are some player interviews (including Jeremiah Rivers, Verdell Jones, Jordan Hulls, and Christian Watford) found at Inside the Hall:

And here is the post game audio from Tom Crean.

Freshman Impressive in IU Exhibition — (CJ.com)

On a night when all eyes were on IU’s highly touted recruiting class, the freshmen didn’t disappoint.

Christian Watford had 19 points and 11 rebounds, helping IU’s five freshmen combine to score 52 in a 96-73 rout of Grace College.

“We’ve been looking forward to showing people what we can do,” Watford said. “A lot of publications have us ranked last in the Big Ten in the preseason, and we just think we’re better than that.”

IU Gains Fresh Start to Season — (FW Journal-Gazette)

“I don’t put a lot of emphasis on the points, I put more emphasis on the rotations, playing through fatigue, and I thought we took quality shots,” IU coach Tom Crean said. “… I thought all our freshmen came in and contributed and made strides as they got better.”

**********

* – Christian Watford photo credit: Rob Goebel / The Star via IndyStar.com

Wednesday cannot come fast enough. After watching the Browns stumble through another horrible Sunday, I am already excited about the turning the page and moving on to college basketball season.

Truthfully, I’ve always been a college basketball fan more than I am a fan of any other sport, and this year there will be nothing distracting me from following every second of Indiana’s 2009-10 season, which should see Tom Crean and the Hoosier program rebound from the unavoidable train wreck that was the 2008-09 season.

Last year was obviously tough to suffer through, but I am firmly behind Crean and the plan he has in place to return Indiana’s basketball program to respectability, and ultimately to prominence. I’m not expecting miracles this year, but I do believe that a .500 record is within reach now that the talent level is more commensurate with a Big Ten power.

When and where can you watch the team this year? Below is the 2009-10 Indiana Hoosiers mens basketball TV schedule, along with some helpful links to help you find good deals on IU basketball tickets.

• StubHub: Indiana Basketball Tickets
• TicketsNow: Indiana Basketball Tickets
• RazorGator: Indiana Basketball Tickets

Indiana Hoosiers Mens Basketball 2009-10 TV Schedule

Words cannot express how excited I am for the upcoming IU basketball season.

Actually, I take that back. Certain words can express my excitement, such as the ones written by Dana O’Neil (thanks @ryancorazza) a few days back at ESPN.com.

Since I don’t have much time today for writing, I will give you an excerpt, a link to her story, and then some other intriguing Friday afternoon links.

I love the NFL and the MLB playoffs, but I will always be a college basketball fan at heart. I’m ready for Year Two of the Tom Crean Era (i.e. The Purge Kelvin Sampson From the Memories of All IU Fans Era) and it cannot get here soon enough.

So why bother? Why sign on with a program that is just laying the first bricks of rebuilding?

“We’re going to hang banners and win awards before we leave here,” Elston said. “But we’re also going to change the program. We’re going to be the team people talk about for a long time, the ones that brought Indiana back. That’s something a lot of people don’t get the chance to do.”

IU’s fresh faces offer hope for fans — (Dana O’Neil, ESPN)

Here is one more excerpt to whet IU fans’ appetites for the coming season(s):

But when Hoosiers coach Tom Crean went out to find the pieces to begin rebuilding his roundball phoenix, he targeted a certain kind of kid.

OK, for starters, he wanted good players. That was helpful, and he got them. Creek played in the Reebok All-American game; Watford is listed as No. 26 in the ESPNU top 100; Hulls was an Indiana Mr. Basketball.

More than that, Crean wanted kids with strong character, the kind who wouldn’t hang their heads when things got tough and wouldn’t be overwhelmed by the expectations of a fan base patiently waiting to get back to the business of winning.

It took just one weekend’s worth of practice to assure Crean he has the right guys.

I am pumped already. No, I am not expecting miracles this season. I would be satisfied with a .500 record after last season’s debacle, with any postseason play a success. The expectations obviously increase for next season, Year 3 of the Crean Era, but for this year I just want to see something that resembles IU basketball again. The kids played their hearts out last year and I appreciated every second of their effort, but the talent just wasn’t there.

Coach Crean is bringing the talent back to Bloomington. The wins should follow.

In other basketball news, everyone’s favorite NBA writer has a new NBA column out. Read it while you’re shirking your work responsibilities (you know you are!) this afternoon:

• Welcome to the NBA Preview, Part 1
• Welcome to the NBA Preview, Part 2

I don’t know if Bill Lynch is the man who can return Indiana football to its glory years of the 1980s under Bill Mallory — and yes, for IU, those were glory years — but I am definitely rooting for the guy.

And although the Hoosiers have fattened up on some weak non-conference meat so far this season, certainly there have been Hoosier teams that have started out worse than 3-2. So Lynch and the Hoosiers have that going for them, along with the positive vibes from the Hoosiers’ solid performance at Michigan.

For goodness sakes though, will someone please get Bill Lynch some sunscreen?

The picture immediately to the left was taken of Bill Lynch this spring. The photo below and to the right was the headline shot on Peegs today. I’m not sure when it was taken, but I am assuming that it was taken recently.

As we all know, a picture is worth a thousand words, and I think these two pictures sum up what it’s like to be the head coach of Indiana football better than any two thousand word statement ever could.

Look at Lynch before the season: calm, serene, a little bit of color in his face, well-kempt hair, the collar/sweater combo. He’s optimistic about the 2009 season, but realistic about the possibilities having been associated with IU football for a long time.

And then look at Lynch now, five games into the season with a two-game losing streak: skin as red as his crimson shirt, hair disheveled, eyes angrily squinting either because of the sun or because he’s trying to see first place. and not concerned that IU isn’t supposed to beat Michigan or Ohio State…just pissed that they didn’t.

I’m hoping that Lynch (a good guy who I remember well from my childhood days running around that IU complex) and the Hoosiers can get one step closer to bowl eligibility this weekend against Virginia and then come back next weekend and get their first Big Ten win against Illinois.

You will remember that Lynch had the unenviable task of taking over for the late, great Terry Hoeppner a few years back, and I think he has done an admirable job all things considered.

Not much was expected of Indiana coming into 2009, and although the Hoosiers have yet to beat anyone of significance, Hoosiers fans can at least hold their head high with a 3-2 record and a solid performance at Michigan under the team’s belt.

Plus, regardless of what happens this season, IU fans and Lynch will always the video below, which is an obvious top 5 candidate whenever an official list of the “Most Emphatic Angry Gum Tosses” comes out.

I was in Memorial Stadium the last time Indiana beat Michigan in football.

The year was 1987, and Indiana was just a few years removed from a winless season. With Bill Mallory as head coach, and led by Anthony Thompson and Dave Schnell, the Hoosiers put together one of the best seasons in school history that year. They beat both Michigan and Ohio State and found themselves in the top 10 for the only time since I’ve been alive.

Today, the Hoosiers — this edition coached by Bill Lynch and led by freshman RB Darius Willis and junior QB Ben Chappell — almost knocked off the Michigan Wolverines for the first time in two decades, but ultimately fell just short.

And the Hoosiers should justifiably be feeling cheated as they fly home.

Who knows what would have happened if the referees had not awarded possession to Michigan on a controversial interception with 2:30 left in the 4th quarter, but it sure would have been nice to see the Hoosiers have a chance to drive down the field.

(Follow the link to ESPN’s recap of the IU-Michigan game, including video of the controversial play and Bill Lynch going nuts.)

The team, its coach, and its fans deserved better.

But Indiana has been getting screwed in The Big House for years. One of the only times I ever saw the great Bill Mallory lose his composure was after a game against Michigan.  I don’t remember the exact nature of the call, but I know it was on special teams and went against SS James Summerall. Mallory rightfully called out the officials in the post-game press conference and was disciplined for doing so.

I haven’t seen Bill Lynch’s press conference yet, but I hope he spoke his mind. The Hoosiers deserved better.

Congratulations on a great effort IU. There are no moral victories, but there are losses that you can be more proud of than others. This was one of those days for IU.

And you can bet that Jim Tressel and the Buckeyes won’t be sleeping on IU next weekend.

**********

* – Bill Lynch photo credit: Herald Times Online

Enjoy, and welcome aboard Joe!]

——————–

Bob Knight. The General.

Three national championships. Eleven Big Ten Championships. Olympic Championship.

Four-time National Coach-of-the-Year. Six time Big Ten Coach-of-the-Year. All-time winningest coach in college basketball history.

Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame Inductee.

This is an unbelievable compilation of accomplishments, but one is still missing: an induction into Indiana’s Athletics Hall of Fame. This seems like a no-brainer for the Indiana coach of 29 years, but if you’ve been alive the last couple decades you know about the “departure” of Bob Knight from Indiana and why it’s taken so long for this day to come.

On November 6th of this year, Bob Knight’s name will finally be added to the list.

Now that Coach Knight will finally be inducted, the next question is whether or not he will attend. This question has loomed around the sports world for a few weeks now and one thing is for certain: no one but maybe Coach Knight himself knows the answer to that question.

I can only imagine all the thoughts and questions that must be going through his head.

On one side, the administration that fired him is basically gone, but on the other hand it was a ridiculous timeline of events and sets of egos that got him canned. It’s been almost a full decade and I wouldn’t blame him for still feeling uneasy and not wanting to make the trip.

It must be like that girlfriend that got away; the one that dumped you after a couple years. There were many great moments shared and memories had, but you’ve been trying to close that chapter. Now you have that wedding or event you know she’s going to be at and you’re struggling with whether or not to go.

This is how I envision Coach Knight feeling, with so many great times and memories, but with that sour note at the end. Put yourself in his shoes for a moment and envision that car ride into campus and seeing the first couple glances of Assembly Hall. If he’s as hesitant as he seems, this would be a tough ride to make.

However, Coach Knight may also be taking the opposite approach. If there is one thing we’ve learned from Coach, it’s to expect the unexpected.

This is an enormous honor at any university and especially one with the athletic, most notably basketball, history of Indiana. Even though one of the many things that made him a great coach is he always put the students first and made coaching all about his students and not his individual accomplishments, there must still be some hidden pride in being included in the HOF. He might even see this as “getting the last word in” with those that fired him. Maybe he sees this as an opportunity to close one more door before leaving the game entirely.

Whatever Coach Knight chooses, show or don’t show, I certainly hope that he does. It’s long overdue and as a lifelong Indiana fan, I’d like to be there to honor him as he so rightfully deserves to be honored at the place where he built his legacy.

As with anything Bob Knight though, he’s his own man and he’ll do what he wants to do. Let’s all just hope we see an unbuttoned dress shirt and sweater come November 6th.

**********

And the reason is that Doug Towey is the man responsible for one of my most anticipated moments of every year: the inspiring sounds and thrilling video of the One Shining Moment that ends every NCAA Tournament.

Doug Towey passed away today at 61. There are probably many people out there, like me, for whom the name Doug Towey will not immediately ring a bell. But there cannot possibly be any fan of college basketball who has not been touched, inspired, and entertained by One Shining Moment, which will no doubt be one of Towey’s most enduring legacies.

As told earlier today by Tom Hoffrath at Farther off the Wall:

Folk singer David Barrett penned the song in 1986 and gave it to his high school friend CBS News Chief Investigative Correspondent, and then Sports Illustrated staff writer, Armen Keteyian. He passed it along to Towey who planned to use it to accompany the network’s closing highlights of Super Bowl XXI in January 1987. But due to long-running interviews the song never made it to air.

A couple of months later, Towey was looking for a way to bring CBS Sports’ NCAA Tournament coverage to a close and decided to use it. “One Shining Moment” made its Final Four debut on March 30, 1987, following Keith Smart’s baseline jumper in the final seconds that gave Indiana a 74-73 victory over Syracuse.

And here is video of the very first appearance of One Shining Moment at the NCAA Tournament. I get goosebumps every time I watch this, the first and greatest One Shining Moment video of all.

The ball is tipped…and there you are…

One Shining Moment Video: 1987 (Indiana 5th National Championship)

Holy crap, it’s amazing how that video and that song can still give me chills after all these years. I realize I am biased, and that I like this particular One Shining Moment video over all of the others because it is from the last year when my Hoosiers won the title — but the truth is that they are all awesome, and all special, in their own way. Each One Shining Moment Video perfectly captures the magic, majesty, and magnificence of the greatest three weeks in sports.

And the song, of course, plays its role perfectly.

I was only five years old when Keith Smart made the most famous shot in the history of Indiana basketball, and perhaps Big Ten basketball; and certainly one of the five or ten most famous shots in the history of college basketball. I have no specific recollection of watching Keith Smart make that shot live as it happened, but over the next six or seven years I popped my tape of the 1987 National Championship game into the VCR at least 15 or 20 times. I didn’t usually watch the whole game, but I would always watch Keith make that shot, watch he, Coach Knight and Steve Alford get interviewed after the game, and then cap it by singing along with One Shining Moment.

(Side note: And I will never, ever forget Don Fischer’s call of the Keith Smart shot, thanks to one of the greatest gifts ever: a framed picture of the shot with a display base that had a little button you could press to play Fischer’s call: “Out to Smart…baseline jumpshot in the air GOOOD! Four seconds, three seconds, two seconds, one…the Hoosiers have won the National Championship! And there is pandemonium…here at the Superdome as Indiana’s won it.“)

As I got older and become more and more obsessed with college basketball, and basketball in general, One Shining Moment became one of my favorite songs. The first reason, of course, is because of the incredible imagery, memories, and visceral feelings the song evokes, especially for a born and raised basketball junkie from the Hoosier State like me. The second reason is that it’s just a good damn song.

There have been plenty of remixed and revamped versions (Luther Vandross did one, video below), but nothing beats the original song used in 1987 for me. There is more than one burned CD from my high school college days that has One Shining Moment randomly thrown onto it — usually as the final song, where it should be.

So on the day of his passing, I just want to say thank you to Doug Towey for recognizing the greatness of David Barrett’s song and for creating one of the most sublime moments of the sports year.

Towey was a 34-year veteran of network television and “played a role in the broadcast of virtually every major sporting event in the world” according to the article by Tom Hoffrath linked above, so being responsible for One Shining Moment capping every NCAA Tournament is certainly not Towey’s only shining moment. But it is the one that I will always remember him for and be grateful to him and songwriter David Barrett for creating.

And speaking of Barrett, he certainly appears to have been quite certain of how good the song was from the second he wrote it. From the official website of One Shining Moment:

David comments about the writing of One Shining Moment:

“Writing this song changed my life. Strange how that is so. I mean; the writing came so effortlessly. I knew immediately after that I had something special on my hands. In fact I got up from the piano and went immediately to the phone and called a friend and said… “Glen I just wrote a great song.” It was almost like… “where did this come from?” In any case, the song opened all sorts of doors for me in a professional sense. But on a personal note, it also showed me to write about what mattered to me. I mean, I just wrote it because I thought it was worth writing. I learned to trust that. For years I had been listening to what others thought was valid. It was this song that made it clear to me that my job was to write about what I know, and tell the truth about that… Simple.”

And just in case you do not know them all by now, you can also see the lyrics for One Shining Moment at the website as well.

To close this post, here are two more One Shining Moment videos for you. The first is the most recent, from Kansas’ National Championship run in last year’s Tournament. The second is from 2003, when Carmelo Anthony led Syracuse to its One Shining Moment. If you are looking for one in particular, just search YouTube and there is a good chance you will find it.

One Shining Moment Video: 2009 (North Carolina National Championship)

One Shining Moment Video: 2008 (Kansas National Championship)

One Shining Moment Video: 2003 (Syracuse National Championship)

I’m fairly certain that if I didn’t have other pressing things to attend to tonight that I would probably search for each video since 1987 and embed them all here. Do me a favor if you wish: put links to the videos for other years in the comment section, or just embed the video. Let’s get as many One Shining Moments in this post as possible — a last tribute to Doug Towey for making the final few minutes of the NCAA Tournament the most shining of all.

Update: The great folks over Cuzoogle have a post that shows the One Shining Moment videos from 1987, 1988, 1996, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2008, and some other One Shining Moment parodies.

This will be a fun series for me to research and write, however, because I can relive the glory days of Indiana basketball — that wonderful time when a 1-17 conference record would have been deemed a complete impossibility. As this year proved, however, even the most incomprehensible collapse of a once proud program is possible with the perfect storm of catastrophic player departures and recruiting scandals. All of us IU fans are clinging to the optimism that it was just a one year blip and that Tom Crean will have us back competitive again next year.

Because, you see, while the IU program took a big hit this season, the IU tradition is still alive and strong; and the reason for that is IU’s splendid history of NCAA Tournament excellence. No, Indiana has not been a great tournament team over the past 15 years (except for that awesome 2002 run), but between 1973 and 1993 there were few teams who could match IU in postseason success. The table below, which lists the schools with the most NCAA Mens Basketball Championships, is proof positive of this.

Let’s get to the table and then analyze a bit. First, a few relevant NCAA Tournament links (some of which have not been posted yet, but will be), especially if you are planning on attending any of the tournament games this year:

• 2009 NCAA Mens Tournament Dates and Site Breakdown
• 2009 NCAA Womens Tournament Dates and Site Breakdown
• NCAA Mens Basketball Tournament History: Past Champions, Final Four participants, Final Four locations by year, and interesting tournament tidbits
• NCAA Tournament All-Time MOPs: Mens and Womens Basketball Tournament Most Outstanding Player Winners
• NCAA Womens Basketball Tournament Champions
• StubHub Tickets: 2009 NCAA Mens Tournament Tickets
• StubHub Tickets: 2009 NCAA Womens Tournament Tickets

The following table provides an ordered list of NCAA Champions in mens college basketball from most to least. It includes the number of titles for each school that has won at least one, and the years in which those titles were captured. I actually included this table at the bottom of a previous post, but figured it deserved its own. Here you go:

Obviously, for me, the best part about this NCAA Champions table is the school in third place: Indiana. The Hoosiers have won as many titles as the rest of the Big 10 combined. The Big 10 needs to get a move on or it could get shut out this decade. Michigan State closed the 90s by winning the 1999-2000 championship, but it has been bupkus ever since for the conference.

North Carolina actually has a pretty good shot to tie the Hoosiers with their fifth championship if the Tar Heels can D up in the tournament. They certainly have the talent to win it all and will likely enter the 2009 NCAA Tournament as the #1 overall seed.

We know one thing: Kentucky won’t be adding to their total any time soon.

UCLA obviously has the most impressive historical resume of any school in the country — by a long shot. And the Bruins have reached three straight Final Fours, but have been unable to close the deal. It appears that UCLA is not good enough to make the Final Four this year, but stranger things have certainly happened. It still boggles my mind to look at their dominance in the 60s and early 70s. Just an amazing run, led by native Hoosier (but collegiate Boilermaker) John Wooden.

Kansas joined the rarified air of 3-time NCAA Champions with their title last year. UConn, Louisville, and Michigan State all have two, but could stretch that number to three in this year’s tournament. I think there is a good chance that San Francisco will be sitting on their two titles for a long, long time in the future…

Out of the NCAA Champions in the Top 6, Indiana is obviously the furthest away from claiming another title based on our performance this season. However, Hoosier fans can take solace in that fact that each of the five other schools has dealt with periods of turmoil and struggle to rebound and become national powers once again. If Indiana is to hang a sixth banner in Assembly Hall, it will have to follow a similar path.

Hopefully Tom Crean is leading us on a path to do just that.

So, there will be no suspense in Bloomington come Selection Sunday this year. Indiana will end the 2008-09 season the same we have ended every one since 1987: with 5 National Titles.

Well, as you may have noticed over the past couple of weeks, I have been doing a lot of research on the history of the major conference basketball tournaments. As always, I try to enlighten you with the fruits of my research. Because I anticipate the IU-Wisconsin game to be painful to watch, I decided to only give it partial attention, and use the time to do some research on the history of the NCAA Tournament.

So let’s break down the long and storied history of what we all affectionately refer to as “March Madness”. Here are a few quick links of note for this year’s NCAA tournament:

• 2009 NCAA Mens Tournament Dates and Site Breakdown
• 2009 NCAA Womens Tournament Dates and Site Breakdown
• NCAA Mens Basketball Tournament History: Past Champions, Final Four participants, Final Four locations by year, and interesting tournament tidbits
• NCAA Tournament All-Time MOPs: Mens and Womens Basketball Tournament Most Outstanding Player Winners
• NCAA Womens Basketball Tournament Champions
• StubHub Tickets: 2009 NCAA Mens Tournament Tickets
• StubHub Tickets: 2009 NCAA Womens Tournament Tickets

First, a quick breakdown of every Final Four since they started having Final Fours way back in 1939, plus more interesting notes and tidbits after the table:

Note: The number listed by each team is their tournament seed. Seeding did not occur until 1979, which interestingly is the year that many people feel changed college basketball forever: the Magic-Bird title game. FYI, future Final Four sites include:

• 2010: Lucas Oil Stadium — Indianapolis, IN (April 4th, 6th)
• 2011: Reliant Stadium — Houston, TX (April 2nd, 4th)
• 2012: Louisiana Superdome — New Orleans, LA (March 31st, April 2nd)
• 2013: Georgia Dome — Atlanta, GA (April 6th, 8th)
• 2014: Cowboys Stadium — Arlington, TX (April 5th, 7th)
• 2015: Lucas Oil Stadium — Indianapolis, IN (April 4th, 6th)
• 2016: Reliant Stadium — Houston, TX (April 2nd, 4th)

The NCAA Tournament has expanded on numerous occasions since 1939. Interestingly, before 1975 only one team per conference was allowed to be in the NCAA Tournament. Here is a breakdown of the number of teams in the tournament during each different iteration:

• 1939-1950: 8 teams
• 1951-1974: varied between 16 teams and 25 teams
• 1975-1978: 32 teams
• 1979: 40 teams
• 1980-1982: 48 teams
• 1983: 52 teams (48-team tourney with four play-in games beforehand)
• 1984: 53 teams (48-team tourney with five play-in games beforehand)
• 1985-2000: 64 teams
• 2001-present: 65 teams (64-team tourney with one play-in or “opening round” game beforehand)

Six times, the National Championship game has been decided by one point, with two of those games being decided in overtime. The most recent 1-point game was 1989 when Michigan beat Seton hall in OT. The largest margin of victory in an NCAA Championship game was 30, when UNLV beat Duke 103-73 in 1990. For more interesting news and notes, follow the link to the NCAA Tournament history page at Wikipedia. Below is a recreation of the table you will find at the above link that lists out the number of NCAA Championships won by each school, with reorganization in order of most titles:

And now that this post is done, I must say that creating the two table above was quite an enjoyable experience — and a nice reminder of the wonderful tradition of IU basketball. Only two schools have won more NCAA Championships, and hopefully Tom Crean can be the guy to add a few more to the list.

Only one week until Selection Sunday…

Luckily, we have the rookie season of 2007-08 Big Ten Freshman of the Year Eric Gordon to provide a few smiles during perhaps the least competitive season of Indiana basketball in the Hoosiers’ rich and storied tradition.

Today’s Los Angeles Times features a very nice profile of Eric Gordon by Lisa Dillman. I have to admit that between managing this site and wallowing in the misery of the Hoosiers horrid 2008-09 season, I have not been staying as up-to-date on EJ’s exploits as I should be. But what a season he is having:

• Eric Gordon averaged 21.9 points per game in January and was selected the Western Conference Rookie of the Month;
• He is averaging 14.7 points per game for the season;
• He scored 41 points, a Clippers rookie record, against Oklahoma City
• He scored 19 points in the Rookie-Sophomore game during NBA All-Star weekend.

Here is a nice laudatory excerpt from the article:

LOTD:

Clippers’ Eric Gordon is no laughingstock — (LA Times)

Gordon averaged 21.9 points per game in January and was selected the Western Conference rookie of the month; he also became the Clippers’ go-to guy (admittedly, a small selection given the injuries to marquee players) and entered the conversation for NBA rookie of the year. If he was not on the same page as the likes of Chicago’s Derrick Rose and Memphis’ O.J. Mayo, then he at least appeared in the same chapter.

“Derrick’s got the ball in his hand the whole game,” said Neil Olshey, Clippers assistant general manager. “So does O.J. for the most part. Eric’s out there with All-Stars. He’s sharing the ball with Baron Davis, Zach [Randolph], Marcus Camby and Al Thornton.

“Were Eric getting the same number of attempts and touches in attack mode, as he did in January, for the rest of the year, then I think February, March and April would be up for grabs, believe me.”

Said Jordan: “He’s a monster.”

Well done Eric.  Here’s hoping you finish strong and earn the Rookie of the Year at the end of the season.  It is the only bit of good news IU fans can still hope for this season.

Now some other links for your afternoon enjoyment:

The Week That Was in College Basketball — (Sparty and Friends)

2009 Mock Draft Muncher — (Scout.com)

Shane Battier: The No-Stats All-Star — (New York Times)

Former MSU Spartan Jason Richardson Suspended 1 Game — (Arizona Republic)

Ten of the Weirdest Athlete Endorsements Ever — (RootZoo)

Former White Sox OF Ken Griffey Jr. Picks Braves over Mariners — (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

If Steve Nash doesn’t fit your system, then your system sucks — (Ben’s Suns Blog)

Fantasy Baseball Position Preview – 2B — (Sharapova’s Thigh)

Our Burning Questions for ARod — (Hugging Harold Reynolds)

Greg Oden: Mr. Glass — (Josh Q. Public)

and finally, because ARod continues to prove that he is a complete douche…

Alex Rodriguez is Emotional, Dumb — (Deadspin)

In the second half of today’s rematch in Bloomington, however, the Hoosiers perhaps offered a sign of what is to come in the near future: real competitiveness against a top-20 team.

Despite being down 38-21 at halftime, and continuing to play without suspended leading scorer Devan Dumes, Indiana played hard and played well in the second half. On a couple of occasions the Hoosiers got the Illini lead down to 8 or 9 points, but were never able to take the next step and erase the rest of Illinois’ advantage.

(Follow the link to view the Indiana-lllinois box score)

For the Illini, the game was won inside. Indiana actually held Demetri McCamey to only two points, but Mike Davis and Mike Tisdale combined for 32 points, 16 rebounds, and 6 blocked shots. Davis in particular was impressive with his poise and athleticism, and turned in what IU fans will no doubt agree was the best performance ever at Assembly Hall by someone named Mike Davis.

No offense intended for IU’s former coach of the same name, but it what it is.

While another home loss is hard to take, and Indiana never truly threatened to win this game, the team’s fight and defense in the second half was encouraging. Matt Roth and Malik Story played especially well in the second half, doing everything they could to compensate for the offensive void that Devan Dumes’ absence has left. Story finished with 9 points and was assertive in taking the ball strong to the hole. Roth finished with 13 points and put some juice into IU’s comeback attempt by nailing three second half 3-pointers.

At the end of the day, the same problems plagued Indiana today that have plagued the team all year: overall lack of talent and depth and an inability to make free throws. The Hoosiers shot 24 free throws but made only 11. In a 13-point loss, it doesn’t take a genius to figure out how much different the game could have been if the Hoosiers had made their free ones.

In a season of moral victories, the second half of today’s game was another one. It continues to be imperative for IU fans to maintain realistic expectations of this year’s undermanned team. We all want victories, but this is another building block game that helped us to build the foundation for many more victories in the future.

Or at least we hope.

That said, it always sucks to lose by 13 at home, especially to Illinois. Another reward like we got a few weeks back against Iowa sure would be nice before this season is over. Maybe once Devan Dumes is back we can get one.

Junior guard Devan Dumes has been suspended indefinitely after being kicked out of the Hoosiers’ game on Saturday for some flailing elbows, one of which caught Michigan State center Goran Suton in the twig’n'berries.

Here is the press release, courtesy of Peegs.com:

DEVAN DUMES SUSPENDED INDEFINITELY

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Indiana University men’s basketball coach Tom Crean has suspended indefinitely junior guard Devan Dumes for his actions during Saturday’s game at Michigan State.

“After coming home and having the opportunity to review the game film, I believe that discipline is necessary and deserved in this matter,” said Crean. “A line was crossed that was unacceptable. However, Devan is one of ours and like with all of our players we want them to learn and understand what it takes to be successful.”

Dumes will not play when IU visits Minnesota on Tuesday night.

“I truly regret my actions and I will learn from this situation,” said Dumes. “I apologize to everyone involved for doing something that is uncharacteristic of how I play the game. I am looking forward to putting this behind me and being a better leader to my teammates.”

Dumes will continue to practice and travel with the team.

In case you didn’t see it on Saturday, here is the video of the flying elbow that got Devan Dumes kicked out of Saturday’s game:

I could not find video of the elbow Dumes threw into Goran Suton’s junk, but it looked about as bad as this one. Basically, Dumes and Suton were running to the other end of the court side-by-side and Dumes wound his arm up and then back, into Suton’s package, in an exaggerated running motion. Suton doubled over and had to take a breather on the bench.

We’ve all been there. It didn’t look good.

The officials took a break to look at the video of that elbow, but decided to not even call a foul on Dumes, who was called for an offensive foul earlier in the game for clearing space with his elbows while holding the ball on the offense.

Needless to say, the flying elbow in the video above was the straw that broke the camel’s back.

I really like Devan Dumes. He is unruly and gets out of control at times on the court, but he plays hard and with passion — too much sometimes, obviously. I applaud the move by IU and Tom Crean, and hopefully Dumes does indeed learn from this. Anyone who has watched IU play this year knows that our only prayer to get victories is to have Dumes leading us on offense. Not having Dumes against Minnesota will make being competitive a much tougher challenge. But hopefully taking a stand now will help Dumes, and the new foundation of IU basketball being built by Tom Crean, grow for the future.

And while Dumes suspension is not good news for the Hoosiers, as least it proves one thing: we now have a coach who will take a stand with players and insist on discipline and sportsmanship. It’s a far cry from the last two years under the jackass-who-will-not-be-named.

Good move Crean. Devan, learn your lesson and get back on the floor. I think the Hoosiers have one more win in them this season, but we all know that we need Devan Dumes at the top of his game for it to happen.

I have to admit that doing this preview is a little bittersweet for me as an IU fan. This season’s Big Ten Mens Basketball Tournament will most likely mark the first (and hopefully only) time that Indiana comes in as the #11 seed. As IU fans, we all understand that It is the price we have to pay for the era of the lying-cheating-bastard-who-shall-not-be-named, but it does not make it any easier to handle.

Still, there will be a twinge of excitement come March 12th when the Hoosiers tip off against whoever the #5 seed winds up being in this topsy-turvy season of Big Ten basketball. Maybe Devan Dumes and Matt Roth can get hot from the outside and the Hoosiers can pull off an upset. Not likely, I know. Still, the Hoosiers will have a definite home-court advantage playing in front of their fans in Indianapolis, and after last season’s heartbreaking loss to Minnesota on a wild last-second shot, the Big Ten Tournament owes us one.

Anyway, enough pipe-dreaming from me. Onto the particulars of the 2009 Big Ten Mens Basketball Tournament:

• Dates: March 12-15
• Location: Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana
• TV: Big Ten Network, ESPN, ESPN2, CBS Sports (see below)
• StubHub Tickets: Buy Big Ten Mens Basketball Tournament Tickets
• StubHub Tickets:2009 NCAA Tournament Tickets

And let’s take a quick trip down memory lane and count down the past Big Ten Mens Basketball Tournament Champions: 1998 Big Ten Mens Basketball Tournament Champion:

• #4 seed Michigan defeated #3 seed Purdue 76-67
• Chicago, IL

1999 Big Ten Mens Basketball Tournament Champion:

• #1 seed Michigan State defeated #11 seed Illinois 67-50
• Chicago, IL

2000 Big Ten Mens Basketball Tournament Champion:

• #2 seed Michigan State defeated #4 seed Illinois 76-61
• Chicago, IL

2001 Big Ten Mens Basketball Tournament Champion:

• #6 seed Iowa defeated #4 seed Indiana 63-61
• Chicago, IL

2002 Big Ten Mens Basketball Tournament Champion:

• #2 seed Ohio State defeated #9 seed Iowa 81-64
• Indianapolis, IN

2003 Big Ten Mens Basketball Tournament Champion:

• #2 seed Illinois defeated #8 seed Ohio State 72-59
• Chicago, IL

2004 Big Ten Mens Basketball Tournament Champion:

• #2 seed Wisconsin defeated #1 seed Illinois 70-53
• Indianapolis, IN

2005 Big Ten Mens Basketball Tournament Champion:

• #1 seed Illinois defeated #3 seed Wisconsin 54-43
• Chicago, IL

2006 Big Ten Mens Basketball Tournament Champion:

• #2 seed Iowa defeated #1 seed Ohio State 67-60
• Indianapolis, IN

2007 Big Ten Mens Basketball Tournament Champion:

• #1 seed Ohio State defeated #2 seed Wisconsin 66-49
• Chicago, IL

2008 Big Ten Mens Basketball Tournament Champion:

• #1 seed Wisconsin defeated #10 seed Illinois 61-48
• Indianapolis, IN

2009 Big Ten Mens Basketball Tournament Champion:

• #3 seed Purdue defeated #5 seed Ohio State 65-61
• Indianapolis, IN

Who will this year’s Big Ten Mens Basketball Tournament? At this point, it looks like a major toss-up. Michigan State, Michigan, Purdue, Illinois, Ohio State, Minnesota, and Penn State have looked capable of winning it at different points this season. And if history is any indicator, a dark horse may emerge once the balls get rolled out on March 12. Four times in the brief ten-year history of the Big Ten Tournament, a team seeded #8 or lower has played in the championship game. The lowest seeded team to ever win the Big Ten tournament, however, is #6 seed Iowa in 2001. So the smart money would go on one of the teams listed above.

Either way, I’m sure it will be an exciting weekend — and the only chance for Indiana to crack this year’s field of 64. No, it isn’t likely. But you better believe Hoosier Nation will be out in droves on March 12th hoping their undermanned Hoosiers can pull off an unlikely first round upset.

A little background: back in the day, my dad had two season tickets and went to the games with my mom, until one fateful night when Bob Knight grabbed the jersey of then-IU freshman Delray Brooks and she vowed never to go to an IU game again. (Brooks, of course, later transferred to Providence and played on their Final Four team under Rick Pitino.) Her loss, however, was my gain. I slid into her seat and never missed a game until the year after my family moved from Bloomington in 1994. And I guess the timing of this move was fitting, considering the 1993 IU basketball team is my favorite sports team of all time, and IU basketball has never been as good since.

Well, in the more than 20 years that I have been following Indiana basketball, from both up close and afar, I would rank last night’s home victory over Iowa in my all-time Top 10 most rewarding and appreciated wins. Sure, scores of wins have meant more in the conference standings or for tournament seeding purposes. And it isn’t like IU knocked off a conference giant — quite the contrary, as Iowa is in 10th place and was playing without their best player. And the game was at home, in Assembly Hall, where victories used to be a given and not a cause for jubilant celebration.

But this is not a normal season, nor a normal team. And I do not feel one iota of shame or embarrasment or foolishness for feeling, at least for a split second, like IU had won some kind of championship. When you have 5 national championships, a history of consistent success, and are one of the winningest programs in the history of college basketball, you aren’t supposed to be excited about being 1-8 in the conference. Well, screw that. I am excited, and I am really proud of Tom Crean and the Hoosiers.

I would also be remiss if I did not dole out some well-deserved kudos to Devan Dumes. He has taken all kinds of flack — and deservedly so — for lacking poise late in games and making silly turnovers or taking unnecessary shots. Think back to the Michigan game. But last night, Devan Dumes literally put on a shooting performance that is among the best ever witnessed in Assembly Hall. For one night, Devan Dumes allowed IU fans to harken back to the days of Steve Alford, Greg Graham, Calbert Cheaney, Damon Bailey, AJ Guyton, and Tom Coverdale, among others. Look at his statline:

Devan Dumes versus Iowa:

• 27 points
• 8-9 FG
• 5-5 3 FG
• 6-8 FT
• 4 Reb
• 2 Assts
• 2 Stl
• 2 TO
• 35 minutes played

If you substituted Calbert’s name atop that statline and told me it was a game against Michigan and the Fab Five or Jim Jackson and Ohio State, I’d believe it. That’s how good Devan Dumes was last night. And he was certainly not the only one who brought it.

The entire team only committed 11 turnovers, which is how many the Hoosiers have by halftime a lot of games. Kyle Taber played very solidly inside, grabbing 8 boards and scoring 7 points. Nick Williams was his usual scrappy and AJ Moye-esque self, grabbing 9 rebounds (6 offensive) and scoring 14 points. And Malik Story came off the bench to score 9 points in 15 minutes, while being the confident and assertive player that we have seen emerge over the last few weeks.

And as Dumes said after the game, according to the Big Ten Network, the team is looking forward to more such victories over the next month:

“I’m just focused on the second half of the season, and coach told us we can make some magic things happen,” Dumes said. “It’s just really exciting to finally get that first win. There was a lot of smiles in the locker room and a lot of relief.”

Ah yes, the coach: Tom Crean. He is off to one of the worst starts, record-wise, in the long and storied history of IU basketball. Yet, I feel more confident about the direction of our program right now than I did at any time under Mike Davis or the jackass who shall not be referred to by name. Crean’s attitude and positivity and optimism just speak to what I have always wanted IU basketball to be about. And I have been so impressed by how hard we have played all season long despite the consistent losing.

IU fans remember the NCAA tourney flameouts during the final years of Knight’s tenure in Bloomington, and the often disinterested look that Mike Davis’ team gave, and the complete lack of discipline displayed under the lying snake of a man who shall not be referred to by name. Sure, Tom Crean is only in his first season and all of the players are fresh and new — but for a team that has been so consistently beaten down this year to just keep getting up and fighting, and to never give up, well it’s all I want to see out of my basketball team. Wins, no doubt, will follow.

After the game, Tom Crean and the Hoosiers stayed on the court for a little while and soaked in their first victory. The Hoosiers high-fived the fans and Tom Crean even took the microphone to personally thank the fans and tell us that this win was ours. Watch the highlight video from the Big Ten Network if you didn’t see it last night. For any IU fan who has suffered through the last 11 games, and who will probably suffer through more losses this season, last night was a great reprieve from a very frustrating season.

And Coach, while all IU fans appreciate your dedication of the victory to us, last night’s win was yours and the teams’. You guys have battled, and fought, and clawed your way to so many close losses against teams with a lot more talent. Last night, you earned a well deserved victory. We’ll take the next one, but last night was yours.

And the first of many, many, many memorable wins that will happen under Tom Crean at Assembly Hall.