It’s probably not quite time to declare that the Indiana men’s basketball program is back; but it’s hard not to feel like they’re working their way back into the conversation. Tonight’s game against Butler was a big deal for the Hoosiers. Sure, they were 5-0 coming into the game, but they played teams that weren’t very good. Time was, you wouldn’t say Butler was a test, but the Bulldogs made the National Championship game the past two years.
So, tonight’s 16 point victory is reason for Hoosier fans to hope that was left unbalanced by Mike Davis’ tenure and destroyed by the Kelvin Sampson debacle. Tom Crean might be a guy we can stick with for a little while. Of course, hope will make it hurt more on those occasions when they don’t live up to their potential. But, that’s part of the fun.
Keep in mind that this is not the same Butler team from the last two years. It certainly looks like IU is improving, but I’ll reserve judgment until they get a road win in conference play. It will be nice when the rivalry is competitive again.
I notice there’s no post about football. Curious.
I’m from Indiana; I wasn’t raised to regard college football as a priority.
(And, duly noted about Butler’s current team — I was looking at their record so far, and they’ve had struggles.)
As I said over at my site, the best thing about winning this game is that it means we didn’t lose. I know that may sound self-evident, but it strikes me as a game that isn’t a huge win, but would have been a big loss. That’s not to say it would have ruined the season, but it would have been a bad sign, and the media feeding frenzy would have been tough to watch. (Purdue probably had a similar mindset going into the Bucket game against 1-11 IU).
I agree with the original poster about the quality of Butler’s current team, but last year’s team didn’t look that great early on, either. Butler has lost three excellent players in the last two years (Hayward, Howard, and Mack) but still has solid talent and a bunch of NCAA Tournament experience. As you say, IU isn’t “back,” but Crean’s first team would have been trounced by this Butler team and the last two IU teams would have gone down to the wire at best. I’m not going to guarantee even an NCAA bid, let alone more, but it looks like it is going to be a fun season and a much better team.
IU “out butlered” Butler in this game. I’m almost back to watching IU again. Biggest mistake they ever made was losing the channel 4 broadcast-time was when every kid in Indiana knew every player on IU’s team. Is it the 17th of Dec. when Butler takes on Purdue and IU takes on ND ($40 gets you tickets to both games, back to back).
Both IU and Butler are going to be much better as the season goes on. Much better.
It is fascinating how Butler has become a pretty big name after their absolutely impressive consecutive runs to the NCAA title game. Butler fans should hope they can follow the trail made by Gonzaga in its transition to perennial NCAA selection status.
BTW, Butler lost to University of Evansville in OT, and IU then beat UE by a fair margin. That was probably their most successful outing of the year so far.
Does IU play college football? Is it a club sport?
Define “play”, Paul C.
Haven’t decided if it is talent, depth or conditioning, this year. Maybe, a combination of two?
Perennial also-ran. Rare when they aren’t down in the lower tiers. Still, hope springs eternal. Look at Northwestern. They were finally able to emerge from the corners of the basement.