We broke it all down, including Indiana’s lack of focus and energy, Cody Zeller’s strong performance, and some disappointing behavior from IU’s fans, on the latest edition of The Assembly Call IU Postgame Show.

Here is the mp3 of the IU-Minnesota postgame show. Download it to your computer, or click here to subscribe to The Assembly Hall on iTunes.

You can also use the player below to listen:

Here is a link to Zach Osterman’s recap of the game. I haven’t even read it yet. About to as soon as I publish this. But I’m sure it’s spot-on. Always is.

Hat tip to Jeff Rabjohns for the image of the night, which is IU senior Verdell Jones out on the Assembly Hall floor shooting after an 0-6 performance.

Image source: Here

At one point in the game, smatterings of boos could be heard after Verdell missed a shot, which everyone associated with The Assembly Call things was totally unnecessary. Critique his play, of course. But respect his effort and commitment to this program. Verdell Jones, nor any other IU player, does not deserve to be booed by his home fans. Ever. Shame on anyone who did so.

Let’s bounce back against Ohio State boys. Big game. Compete with defense first. Don’t forget what got us back in the top 25, otherwise we’ll right back out of it before we know it.

Immediately after, the Assembly Call crew will be here to provide instant analysis and a forum for fan reaction. So before you go out to ring in the new year, join us for one last (and hopefully victorious) Assembly Call before 2012 begins.

IU-Ohio State Game Info

• Date: Saturday, December, 31st
• Tip Time: 7:00 ET
• TV: ESPN2
• Announcers: Dave O’Brien and Dan Dakich (!!!)
• Point Spread: Ohio State -4
• Over Under: 139
• Other Gameday Info: Peegs.com
• KenPom: InstaGamePrep (subscriber only)
• First Postgame Show: The Assembly Call
• Second Postgame Show: Crimson Cast

IU-Ohio State Quick Preview

Simply put, we are going to learn a lot about our Hoosiers in this game. Coming off the first loss of the season, with one of the best teams in America invading the Assembly Hall, we will find out what kind of resolve and mental toughness, as well as talent, this year’s Hoosiers posses.

On that note, I was encouraged by these quotes from Verdell Jones, as tweeted just a few minutes ago by DustinDopirak:

We have the confidence to know that we can play with anybody.

We definitely got an edge. We’re hungrier more than ever. We really want to prove that the non-conference wasn’t a fluke.

If the team’s energy and focus match Verdell’s words we’ll be just fine. Now, let’s hope the team’s energy and focus does indeed match Verdell’s words.

As for Will Sheehey, there is no new news to report. Tom Crean continues to, smartly, play it close to the vest. Why give Ohio State any information to prepare with? Sheehey remains day-to-day, via Dopirak and InsideTheHall.

If you’re interested, here is Tom Crean’s press conference previewing the Ohio State game:

Saturday is a very big game for three people in particular.

First, it’s a huge game for Crean. This year’s Hoosiers have been riding high, higher than any of us expected. The Michigan State game was the first setback of the season, and in addition to poor performances from the next two people I’m about to discuss, I thought Crean made several strategic errors as well. He needs to bounce back with better judgment against Ohio State.

Second, it’s clearly a big game for Cody Zeller.

After breezing through the non-conference schedule (relatively speaking) and picking up multiple Big Ten Freshman of the Week awards, Zeller was exposed a bit by Michigan State as not quite being ready for the physical play of Big Ten basketball. It gets no easier against Ohio State. In fact, it gets much tougher.

Jared Sullinger is one of the best post players in the last 20-25 years of Big Ten basketball, and he was dominant as a freshman. If Zeller wants to prove he is an impact freshman anywhere close to Sullinger’s level, he needs to show it against Sullinger.

Third, Jordan Hulls needs to bounce back. No one will get upset at Hulls for having an off shooting night. It happens to even the best shooters, as Hulls proved against Michigan State. Missed shots can be forgiven, but poor decision-making in the halfcourt from your junior point guard cannot. I thought Hulls made a number of poor decisions directing the Hoosiers offense against Michigan State, and that can’t happen if we want to beat Ohio State. As for the shooting, we’re back at home. Hulls will shoot just fine.

Please don’t take me calling these three guys out as negatives. I think all three will step up to the challenge against Ohio State, and I foresee Indiana competing very well. I expect to win this game. I won’t be devastated if we don’t, considering the competition, but I will be very disappointed if we aren’t competitive for 40 minutes. That is what this team is capable of, and we should expect nothing less.

Let’s go Hoosiers. It feels damn good to have confidence again that we can defend The Hall against anyone. Now let’s do it.

IU-Ohio State Postgame Show

As soon as the final buzzer sounds, The Assembly Call begins. Listen here live on New Year’s Eve:

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Use this number to call in and provide your thoughts on-air or to listen on your phone.

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IU-Ohio State Chat

The 4-2 Maryland Terrapins visit the 3-3 Indiana Hoosiers in the 2009 Big Ten/ACC Challenge.

I am as patient a Tom Crean supporter as you will find anywhere. I was able to find the silver lining throughout the bleak blackness of last season. I was disappointed, but not dispirited, by IU’s porous 0-3 performance in Puerto Rico.

But make no mistake about it: I expect the Hoosiers to be very competitive at home tonight.

I’m not yet at the point of saying I expect a victory over a team with an outstanding senior guard like Maryland has in Greivis Vasquez, but I do expect IU to begin showing more poise down the stretch in close games.

And at a minimum, this should be a close game that the Hoosiers have a chance to win in the final 5:00. Anything less, at home, is unacceptable.

I fully expect these young Hoosiers to get run out of a few teams’ gyms this season. Michigan State and Purdue are both probably talented and experienced enough to put this year’s IU team away in the first half. I hope that’s not the case, but I am realistic.

At home, however, there is enough talent and, yes, experience on IU’s roster to be competitive with most teams. I know that IU has a lot of freshman in its rotation, but they also have Verdell Jones, Tom Pritchard, and Devan Dumes, each of whom played major minutes last year. The Hoosiers also have Jeremiah Rivers, who grew up in a basketball family and played two seasons at Georgetown. So IU is not completely devoid of experience.

Maryland is good, but not great. (They are currently receiving two votes in the Coaches’ Poll.) If Indiana gets beaten soundly by Maryland like we did against, say, Ole Miss, it will be extremely disappointing.

I still believe that a .500 record is a reasonable goal for this season, and I’m not expecting Tom Crean to work miracles. I just want to see growth and maturity as we progress through the season. A win over Maryland tonight would be outstanding, and eventually should be the expectation; a competitive, down-to-the-wire game should be the worst case scenario.

I have a lot of faith in Tom Crean and I think freshmen like Maurice Creek, Christian Watford, and Derek Elston are terrific building blocks for the future. Last year, all IU fans were forced to get both eyes firmly on the future. I think that now, in Tom Crean’s second season, it’s fair to keep one eye on the future and one eye on the present.

A solid (dare I say winning?) home performance tonight against a quality ACC opponent will go a long way towards regenerating the initial excitement that Tom Crean built when he took the job last year. I know that IU fans are trying, but 28 losses in 37 games is difficult no matter how much you expected it or can rationalize it.

The Hoosier fan base is one still clinging for anything resembling hope, optimism, and positive direction for the future. Tom Crean has laid a good foundation of all three during his 1+ seasons at the helm. Tonight, he and his team have the opportunity deliver a signature win upon which the next phase of the rebuilding project can be constructed.

Go get ‘em tonight Hoosiers.

My completely biased, unobjective, and wishful thinking prediction: IU 79 | Maryland 77

Revenge for 2002 is ours!

Note: For all the game info you need, visit the Peegs.com Hoosier Gameday page. To see when IU plays next, visit our 2009-10 Indiana mens basketball TV schedule.

The 2010 Big Ten Mens Basketball Tournament preview post is live.

——————–

Well, to nobody’s surprise the Hoosiers fell short in Madison today. Verdell Jones and Nick Williams gave a tremendous effort, but it wasn’t good enough against a Badger team that has had the Hoosiers number over the latter half of the this decade.
(Whispered side note: How much has Verdell Jones improved since the beginning of the year? He went from a meek freshman who looked terrified when the ball was in his hands to a confident guard with a solid combination of inside/outside scoring ability. Don’t look now, but Tom Crean may be the developing his first All Big Ten player for the future…)

Anyway, now that the Big Ten regular season is over, it is time for the 2009 Big Ten Tournament. Before we break down the bracket and schedule, here are a couple of links that might interest you as a Big Ten fan — especially if you are thinking about going to the games:

• Big Ten Tournament History – Past Champions and Locations
• StubHub Tickets: 2009 Big Ten Basketball Tournament Tickets
• StubHub Tickets: 2009 NCAA Tournament Tickets

Real quick, here are the final Big 10 standings for 2009:

1. Michigan State 15-3 (25-5)
2. Illinois 11-7 (23-8)
3. Purdue 11-7 (22-9)
4. Ohio State 10-8 (20-9)
5. Wisconsin 10-8 (19-11)
6. Penn State 10-8 (21-10)
7. Michigan 9-9 (19-12)
8. Minnesota 9-9 (21-9)
9. Northwestern 8-10 (17-12)
10. Iowa 5-13 (15-16)
11. Indiana 1-17 (6-24)

Now let’s take a look at the 2009 Big Ten Mens Basketball Tournament bracket. The final seedings came down to the last game of the regular season after a crazy Big Ten season in which so many teams were jumbled up in the middle of the pack. But here is how things will shake out when the Big Ten tournament begins on Thursday:

And here are some quick predictions, which almost surely will prove to be false:

Thursday Big Ten Tournament Predictions:

Northwestern is having one of the best seasons in school history and holding onto the slimmest of hopes for an NCAA Tournament berth. I think they find a way against Minnesota. Michigan is also playing for an NCAA Tournament berth and needs a win over Iowa to help their chances. I think they get it. And I think Indiana exacts revenge on Penn State for the one that slipped away a couple weeks ago in Happy Valley. Is this prediction more with my heart than my head? Absolutely. I don’t care. Indiana plays on to Friday!

Friday Big Ten Tournament Predictions:

If my predictions come true, then Michigan State plays Northwestern in the first game Friday. The Wildcats pulled off one of the upset of the year when they beat the Spartans in East Lansing this year. The element of surprise will not be there for Northwestern this time and Michigan State moves on — while Northwestern goes to the NIT. A great season for the Wildcats, and congratulations to Bill Carmody.

Wisconsin plays Ohio State, and I really like how the Badgers are playing right now. They will be too tough for the Buckeyes and their superb forward Evan Turner. Illinois will take on Michigan, and I think they will beat them. The Illini are just a more consistent team.

Then look who will play in the final game on Friday…Indiana and Purdue! Yet another reasonw why I think the Hoosiers will win Thursday night. How can we have a season in which the Hoosiers and Boilermakers only play one? Seriously? And as much as it pains me to do this, I can’t be completely foolish. I think Purdue would win the rematch. They are simply a much better team this year, but things will begin evening out starting next year.

Saturday Big Ten Tournament Predictions:

My picks thus far have set up semifinal games between Michigan State-Wisconsin and Purdue-Illinois. There is just something that I really like about the way Wisconsin is playing right now. I think Michigan State is the better pick to do some damage in the Big Dance, but I like the Badgers in the Big Ten Tournament. They advance. And Illinois just seems to playing better than Purdue right now. I’m picking the Illini, with Purdue a little weary after a knock down-drag out battle with the Hoosiers on Friday.

Big Ten Tournament Championship Sunday Prediction:

I’ve got Wisconsin and Illinois in the Big Ten Championship Game, and I like the Badgers to win it. They struggled early in the year, but Bo Ryan has them playing solid, smash-mouth basketball again. They found their stroke again earlier today and I think the Badgers at their best are better than Illinois at their best. And in a battle between Bo Ryan and Bruce Weber, I give the edge to Ryan.

Besides, look at that picture. Would you want to pick against that man?

So, if you are thinking of placing any bets on the 2009 Big Ten Tournament, you would be wise to pick the exact opposite of what you just read. History has proven that your odds will be greatly enhanced! Either way, the Big Ten Tournament always seems to provide typical March Madness drama: great games, darkhorses making deep runs, and hard-fought battles between teams that know eachother well.

I’m just glad the Hoosiers have one final chance to try and notch a second victory. They sure have earned it, and I’ll be cheering my ass off Thursday night hoping they get it.

Bo Ryan photo credit: AP Photo/Brian Kersey

The game is now over, with the Boilermakers winning 81-67. My prediction was a 4-point win for the Boilers, I think they were favored by 22, and it ended up at 14. I guess that sounds about right. Here is the IU-Purdue box score if you’re interested.

While I am never happy about a loss, especially to Purdue, I think Indiana represented itself it well by playing hard, looking competent for stretches on the offensive end, and not allowing Purdue to ever run away with the game. Until E’Twuan Moore’s three-pointer with about 3:30 minutes left, the Hoosers were hanging around between 6-10 points down, just a few quick threes away from making it a game. But Moore’s three was a dagger that pushed the Purdue lead to 12 and effectively ended IU’s hopes of a comeback.

Here are a few observations and things we learned today:

1 – It is an absolute travesty that IU and Purdue are only playing once this year

This point is really too obvious to spend a lot of time worrying about. Does the Big Ten conference just stick its head up its own rear when it decides on the schedule? Certain rivalries should always be played twice a year, end of story. Indiana should always play Illinois and Purdue twice a season, no questions asked. I’m not even saying anything else because it is the one thing that IU and Purdue fans can agree on. There should be a meeting in Assembly Hall. The Hoosiers might not win, but they certainly could make it a competitive game. Now that this game is over, the fact that IU and Purdue are only playing once this year is really starting to piss me off.

2 – If Purdue shoots well in March (and Hummel is healthy), they can make a tournament run

I am impressed with this Purdue team. They struggled out of the gates in the Big Ten season but are playing really well right now. They play suffocating man-to-man defense and have solid continuity on offense. And when E’Twuan Moore is shooting the ball well from outside they become especially difficult to defend. The big caveat is Robbie Hummel’s health. I don’t think they have enough multi-dimensional players to compete with the top teams in the nation if Hummel is out, as evidenced by their 1-3 Big Ten record without him. With Hummel in the game, however, he provides that one guy with size who can do a little bit of everything.

3 – JaJuan Johnson is talented, but will never realize his potential until he learns how to focus

Full disclosure: This is the first full Purdue game I have watched this year, so Boiler fans can correct me on this one if I am wrong; but JaJuan Johnson really seems to lack focus. He played a very good game today though. 14 points, 10 boards, and 5 blocks. He showed range on his jumper, obvious athletic ability, and has undeniable talent. Yet, he made some really careless turnovers and got caught out of position a number of times on defense. And while I love Tom Pritchard and Kyle Taber, they are not in the upper echelon of big men that Johnson will have to face come March. If Johnson increases his ability to focus, he could be a monster as a junior and senior. He’s so talented, he may be anyway.

4 – Indiana has a team full of role players, but two guys have emerged as pieces to build around for the future

Nick Williams, Devan Dumes, Matt Roth, and Malik Story all bring unique individual abilities to the floor, and all will be solid players in the cream and crimson for the next year (Dumes) or three (the others, all freshmen). However, on a good team that can contend for a Big Ten title, they should be bench players who fill specific roles playing 10-15 minutes a game. And I don’t think that is a knock on them at all. They are getting tons of playing time as freshman because IU had so little coming back this year, and will be better players because of it. But each has critical deficiencies that put ceilings on their potential:

• Nick Williams is too short to be a guy who lacks quickness and handle
• Devan Dumes is not consistent enough as a shooter and plays out of control with the ball
• Matt Roth is a non-factor if he is not getting open looks from 3, and lacks quickness to get open if defenses focus on him
• Malik Story is simply average from a skill standpoint and athletic ability standpoint

With all that said, all four of these guys have tremendous heart and because of it they have been more productive than their respective talent and skills would suggest they’d be. They have also continued to fight in the midst of an awful season and will forever have my appreciation and respect, as well as that of Hoosier fans everywhere. And while they will improve moving forward, these are the kind of guys who should be like Pat Graham, Brian Evans, and Todd Leary on the 1993 team: solid role players who are not asked to do more than they are capable of doing and who contribute to a winning team.

There are two guys on this year’s team, however, that are proving to be future starters that IU can build around: Tom Pritchard and Verdell Jones.

Pritchard has been pretty consistent all season, though his play dipped a bit recently. I thought he played well today though. He was active offensively, made some tough shots, did a solid job on the boards, and played well with fouls in the second half. He finished with 12 points and 8 boards, which I think will be a similar line to what he’ll put up as a senior when he plays Purdue. Pritchard has obvious deficiencies in foot speed, overall athletic ability, and free throw shooting — only one of which he can really do anything about. But he is a physical presence with decent skills and a high basketball IQ. He can be a Matt Nover-type contributor who you can pencil in for 10-14 points and 8-10 boards every night. He is almost that right now as a freshman.

In terms of improvement, no Hoosier has improved more from the beginning of the season to now than Verdell Jones. Honestly, at the beginning of the season I was wondering why we gave him a scholarship and why he was playing so much. He looked scared, he turned the ball over left and right, and had no physical toughness. Over the last few weeks, Jones has shown off his offensive abilities and become a much more poised leader with the ball in his hands. He still does not dribble especially well and makes lazy passes, and he simply has to get stronger, but 16 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists in his first trip to Mackey is nothing sneeze at.

I thought Verdell was outstanding today. For the first time all season I thought he looked completely comfortable on the floor. He made some beautiful passes, did a great job of pulling up for the 10- to 15-foot jumpshot, and led an IU offensive attack that played pretty well, all things considered, against a team that really knows how to lock down on defense.

Verdell Jones also has one huge advantage that cannot be taught: height. At 6’5, he is a tough matchup for most guards in the Big Ten. He has gotten eaten alive though by shorter, quicker players this season when he is careless with the ball; but as his ball-handling and decision-making improves he is going to become a really tough matchup on a night-in, night-out basis. With talented players Maurice Creek and Christian Watford, among others, coming in at the guard and wing spots next season, this year’s freshmen will have more competition for playing time. Verdell Jones is proving that he has the talent to be a starter on a top-flight Big Ten team. If he can continue grow physically, as a ball-handler, and in the mental aspect of the game, we could be looking at a player who puts up stat lines like today’s on a nightly basis.

5 – The IU-Purdue rivalry is going to be really fun again

In the late 80s and into the mid-90s, the IU-Purdue rivalry was awesome. Calbert Cheaney against Glenn Robinson. Brian Evans against Cuonzo Martin. AJ Guyton against Chad Austin. And of course, Bob Knight against Gene Keady. Over the last decade or so, while the game is always exciting, it has lacked that extra bit of star power and top-level performance. A major part of it has been the two programs’ transition from legendary coaches to the guys at the helm now. Another part of it is a huge lull in the two programs’ ability to keep the top in-state talent at home. And honestly, it has been rare recently for both teams to be really good at the same time.

But I think with Tom Crean and Matt Painter settling in as the long-term stewards of Indiana and Purdue basketball, this rivalry is on the right track towards becoming one of the elite rivalries again on a yearly basis.

Painter has done a great job of building a solid nucleus around in-state players. Tom Crean is bringing some good Indiana kids in next year and supplementing them with top-flight national talents like Creek and Watford. Give IU one more year to settle in next season, and then I think these two programs are poised to be in the upper third of the Big Ten for the next decade. And with these two coaches we know that the games will be extremely physical and hard fought.

For once, I am not completely despondent after a Purdue loss. I have resigned myself to the pitiful fate of seeking moral victories in every loss. The state of our program demands it. Today, the Hoosiers showed that they have two starters and four solid bench players ready to go for next season. Assuming three or four of the new guys are ready to step in and contribute right away, we can look forward to a still young but much more talented team next season that should be ready to compete for a Big Ten title again in 2011.

And hopefully, God willing, moral victories will no longer be an option.

On Monday, Ryan over at Inside the Hall encapsulated the Hoosier bashing that permeated the sports blogosphere that day. He cites FOMSF Josh Q. Public’s article about Indiana basketball, as well as the initial Deadspin take on the issue from Rick Chandler. As you can see in the comments section of the Josh Q. Public post, I took exception to points being made by both.

Anyone who knows me knows that I am like a papa bear protecting his cub when people pile on Indiana basketball. I realize that a certain amount of piling on is warranted right now given the way our administration has allowed the IU basketball program to sink to the depths it has fallen to this season. But when you start unnecessarily disparaging Bloomington, or making claims that IU basketball is finished as a national powerhouse, I feel the need to stand up and lend some perspective.

The greatest memories of my childhood involve going to IU games at Assembly Hall with my dad, and then heading right out to the driveway afterwards to pretend that I was Calbert Cheaney or Damon Bailey or Brian Evans. You mess with IU basketball and you’re messing with me. As Colin Cowherd likes to say, “fan is short for fanatic.” Well, that is definitely true in this case.

Rick Chandler, mentioned above, posted about Indiana basketball again yesterday. It took the form of a response to the criticism that he received in many corners of the sports blogosphere. And while I did enjoy the post for reasons I will get to in a second, I wholeheartedly disagree with the following assertion that Rick made in his original post and reiterated yesterday:

Oh, Bloomington will still be a great basketball town, but what I mean by basketball backwater is that the Hoosiers will always take a back seat to Duke and North Carolina and UCLA and even Wake Forest and UConn. They’re no longer special. Email me the next time Indiana reaches the Elite Eight. I’ll be waiting.

He frames this point with a terrifically entertaining anecdote of himself as a young reporter getting a surprising 20-minute interview with Bob Knight. He also describes what must have been a surreal scene in Bedford watching Damon Bailey play in high school. While I obviously do not endorse his pessimistic view of the future of IU basketball, I highly recommend reading the post for an entertaining journey back to, admittedly, the old glory days of IU basketball and Coach Knight.

After reading the article, I decided that if Coach Knight had seen enough of the young Rick Chandler to grant him an interview that surprised everyone Rick told the story to later, I could at least offer up the respect of considering his arguments. Maybe he is onto something, and Indiana basketball as I once knew it is like a dinosaur: legendary and powerful in its day, and still worthy of remembering and appreciating with both fondness and awe; but extinct and no longer relevant for contemporary purposes.

I fully realize that I am supremely biased when it comes to IU basketball. I feel like I can rationally analyze the team’s performance and not make predictions or statements that are too outlandish and blinded by fanaticism, but I know that what I consider to be objectivity can sometimes be imbued with the conflict between head and heart that all die-hard fans experience.

So after reading Rick’s article yesterday I decided that for once I would make my best effort to analyze the current state of IU basketball solely with my head, while fully knowing that it would be impossible to totally remove my heart from the proceedings.

Let’s get a few things out of the way that are and have been well established:

1. Indiana basketball still has amazing fan support. I moved from Indianapolis to Dallas last April, so I have to watch IU from afar this year, but the crowds at Assembly Hall have been outstanding this season. I knew that IU fans would rally around this year’s team if they played hard and showed heart. They have.
2. Tom Crean is the right man to get IU basketball headed in the right direction. When a program has sunk to the depressing depths that IU currently wallows in, you need a coach who is pathologically optimistic and positive, almost bordering on irrationality. Tom Crean’s boundless energy and enthusiasm, and his belief in IU basketball, are exactly what we needed in the aftermatch of the coach who will not be named.
3. You can still recruit to Indiana. Considering his late start, I think Tom Crean did an amazing job of bringing in the freshman class that he did this year. Nick Williams was the Player of the Year in Alabama last year, and came with Crean to IU after committing to Marquette. Sure, he mainly followed the man that recruited him, but the idea of playing for a program as historically prestigious as Indiana had to have a little something to do with it. Even Verdell Jones, while not a superstar by any means, was a top-150 recruit who decided to come to Bloomington late in the recruiting season. And we know about Indiana’s outstanding recruiting class coming next year, led by Christian Watford and Maurice Creek. Any rating service you find has it rated in the top-10. And this is a brand new coach recruiting to a school mired in recruiting violations, probation, and very little tournament success since 2002. The Indiana brand must not be completely dead yet.

All of this being said, I am not foolish enough to think that Indiana is still currently on the same level as UCLA, North Carolina, or even Duke, which itself has played below its previously established standards in recent seasons. Even in the Big Ten, Michigan State is now the alpha dog. While teams like Purdue, Wisconsin, Ohio State, and Illinois have joined Indiana in a rotating wheel of top-level Big Ten competitiveness this decade, Michigan State is always at or near the top.

But we all know that Indiana basketball once was among the elite of the elite. Between 1975 and 1987, Indiana won three national championships, made eight Sweet 16s, had two undefeated regular seasons, and won six Big Ten titles. Expand that to 1993, the last truly great Indiana team, and there were twelve Sweet 16 appearances, seven Elite 8 appearances, and nine Big Ten titles.

Since 1993? The Hoosiers had a magical run to the National Championship game in 2002, and “only” missed the NCAA tournament twice, but only got to the Sweet 16 one other time (1994) and tied for a Big Ten championship in 2002. That’s it. Considering the greatness that IU fans had become accustomed to, the last 15 and now going on 16 years have been pretty down.

So what basis, if any, is there for IU fans to say that Rick Chandler or any number of other non-believers is wrong to say that Indiana basketball as we once knew it is essentially dead? Is there another college basketball program out there that fell on comparably hard times but was rejuvenated?

Let’s consider UCLA as an example. We know about their greatness under John Wooden, but the last season of Steve Lavin’s tenure and the first season of Ben Howland’s tenure produced a record of 29-36. Over the last three seasons, UCLA has been rejuvenated and reached the Final Four every time. But between 1993 and 2002, the Bruins won a National Title, and played in six Sweet 16s. So while they had a momentary blip of failure, there was not such a systematic and consistent decline as we have experienced in Bloomington. Plus, I don’t think even Rick Chandler would consider UCLA’s campus to be “backwater”, thus rendering UCLA moot for purposes of this comparison.

Kentucky is a proud basketball powerhouse that has fallen on more modest times recently, finishing the last three seasons unranked. But before that Kentucky finished #1, #2, and #7 from 2003-2005. There is not really a comparison to be made here, as Kentucky is currently mediocre but certainly not at the depths of Indiana.

Admittedly, I have not dug as far as I could, but I do not have a perfect college basketball comparison to make that suggests Indiana can reclaim its pre-1994 stature among the elite. Perhaps this absence of a direct comparitive college basketball argument to Rick Chandler’s article can be seen as implicit acknowledgment of the validity of his point; but I ask you to hold on for just a minute. While there is a not an obviously perfect basketball comparison to make (at least that I can find), there could be a pretty solid comparison to make from the world of college football.

The program I will reference and explore is Oklahoma. Let’s do some quick analysis:

National Championships:

• Oklahoma has 7
• Indiana has 5
• Both schools are among the top 5 in history in their respective collegiate sports’ record books.

Conference Championships:

• Oklahoma has 42
• Indiana has 20
• Oklahoma is first in Big 12 history, Indiana is second only to Purdue’s 21 in Big Ten history.

All-Time Wins

• Oklahoma has 791 all-time wins, good for #8 in college football history. The Sooners have won approximately 72.8% of their games.
• Entering this season, Indiana had 1,635 all-time wins, good for 10th all-time heading into this season. (They are 11th now, with Notre Dame vaulting over the Hoosiers). Indiana has won 64.8% of its games.

Legendary Coaches

• Bud Wilkinson followed up a very good coach in Bennie Owen and established Oklahoma as a true national power with 145 wins and 3 National Titles between 1947 and 1963. Barry Switzer continued the tradition with 157 wins and 3 more National Titles between 1973 and 1988.
• Branch McCracken followed up a very good coach in Everett Dean and established Indiana as a true national power 364 victories and 2 National Titles between 1938 and 1965. Bob Knight continued the tradition with 661 wins and and 3 National Titles between 1971 and 2000.

Just looking at these raw numbers, there is certainly a comparison to be made. Yes, Oklahoma has the advantage in each category, other than the striking similarities in coaching history, and if you were comparing Oklahoma football to Indiana basketball, the edge would be to Oklahoma; but that is not the goal here. The goal is to establish the comparison of a national powerhouse, located in a so-called “backwater” college town, that has experienced great success, then fell on hard times, but the resurrected itself back to national prominence.

Consider the performance of Oklahoma in the aftermath of the controversial final few years of Barry Switzer’s tenure. Gary Gibbs took over and won 65% of his games, going to 3 bowl games over half a decade. Howard Schnellenberger coached one disastrous season in which he went 5-5-1. Then John Blake coached the team for two years, going 12-22 and Oklahoma fell off the national radar. Then the Sooners hired Bob Stoops away from Florida, everyone hailed him as the perfect fit for Oklahoma, and the program did a complete 180. Stoops has won 82% of his games, brought another National Title to Norman, and has Oklahoma among the nation’s elite again.

Now consider the performance of Indiana in the aftermath of the controversial final few years of Bob Knight’s tenure. Mike Davis took over and won 59% of his games, reaching four NCAA tournaments and had the one magical run to the title game during his half decade. Then the lying snake who shall not be named coached the team to a 43-15 record over two seasons, but was fired in the middle of last season, after which Dan Dakich coached the team to a disastrous 3-4 finish. Now Tom Crean has taken over, and everyone has hailed him as the perfect fit for Indiana. The team is still struggling with the disaster left behind by the coach who shall not be named however, so the 180 has not been as immediate for Crean and IU as it was for OU under Bob Stoops.

The way I see it, the years after the departure of Bob Knight in Bloomington are following a very similar path to the years after the departure of Barry Switzer in Norman. Right now, Indiana is in the midst of its “John Blake years”, so to speak; with the obvious difference being that Blake was not the long-term answer, but Tom Crean is. Crean has taken over a once elite program that returned all of 30 points last season. This year’s Hoosiers are one of the youngest and least experienced teams in college basketball history. The Hoosiers’ performance this year certainly is not an indictment of Tom Crean, and he should not really be judged by wins and losses until probably two seasons from now, next year at the absolute earliest.

So why can’t Indiana experience the same phenomenal resurrection that Oklahoma has experienced? The fan support of the two school is similar, the strength of the historical brand is similar, and both schools’ administrations are committed to fielding elite-level basketball and football programs, respectively. Plus, Oklahoma’s turnaround was marked by the arrival of a high-energy, high-enthusiasm coach known to be a good recruiter. Tom Crean has arrived in Bloomington with obvious energy and enthusiasm, and is also known as a good recruiter. Plus, unlike Stoops when he came to OU, Crean has head coaching experience and has been to a Final Four. You don’t think the status that comes with being Dwyane Wade’s college coach and having a Final Four on your resume won’t help him on the recruiting trail? Look at next year’s class; it already has.

Plus, if Bloomington is “backwater” then what, exactly, is Norman? As referenced by Ryan over at Inside the Hall, Forbes recently rated Bloomington as one of the top-10 college towns in America. (As an alum, I wholeheartedly concur.) And while no one is claiming that the Forbes list is the be-all end-all, I don’t see Norman on there. Yet Bob Stoops consistently signs top-10 recruiting classes. Additionally, Tom Crean has the opportunity to recruit to a “better” academic institution than Bob Stoops, at least according to the prestigious U.S. News and World Report rankings. Indiana was rated #71 out of all U.S. universities while Oklahoma came in at #108.

Again, let me reiterate: my purpose here is not to try to say that Indiana basketball is better than Oklahoma football, and I’m not trying to tell you that Bloomington and Indiana University are necessarily better than Norman and Oklahoma University. The entire purpose of this breakdown of the two programs and the schools is to show you the similarities, and is my best effort to provide solid evidence that Rick Chandler is wrong to believe that my beloved Indiana Hoosiers basketball program can no longer reach elite levels.

After going through this entire exercise (and completely blowing off work this morning), I feel confident in asking Rick Chandler and any other IU basketball non-believers one very simple question:

If Oklahoma could do it, why can’t IU?

I do not dismiss offhand the possibility that there could be compelling counter-arguments to what I have presented today. But, what I can say is that the process of writing this post has made me even more excited about the Tom Crean era of IU basketball and even more fervent in my belief that the Hoosiers can once again become a consistent national contender. At the very least, the story of Oklahoma football has given me a legitimate and very comparative example to grasp onto as I search for reasons to believe as much in the block IU, the candy-stripe warmups, the banners, and the cream & crimson as I did back in 1993.

Who knows, maybe cream & crimson just happen to be the official colors of college sports powerhouse resurrection? Bob Stoops did it in Norman and I see no reason why Tom Crean cannot do it in Bloomington.

You can assess for yourself whether I am making that judgment more with my heart or with my head. I feel pretty good that it’s a healthy combination of both.

And despite all the naysaying, I feel great about future of the Crean & Crimson.

What do you think?

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