by Colin Lavery, Athlon Sports
Indiana's defense ranked near the top of all college FB in 2024. Two DT's starters gone from that team were CJ West & James Carpenter. Byrant Haines, DC will have Marcus Burris & Tyrique Tucker back but neither produced at the level as West & Carpenter, so Indiana hit the portal for a pair of DTs in Hosea Wheeler & Dominique Ratcliff. Of the two, Ratcliff (6-3, 296) is more highly touted by both 247 Sports & PFF. In fact, one of the first things that jumps out about Ratcliff is that he graded just 5 spots behind West in PFF's overall ranking for defensive lineman in 2024. While West graded higher as pass rusher, Ratcliff actually turned in higher grade as a run stopper, which should make him an automatic starter in Haines defense. Getting a player of Ratcliff's caliber signals a clear intent to continue making it difficult to run the ball against Indiana, Haines, & Cignetti. Though, pass rushing isn't his strength, he still posted more sacks over the last two years than West, so there's reason to believe he'll improve in that department.
Coming from Texas State, Ratcliff will be competing against better talent which could affect his production. On the other hand, Cignetti & his staff made All-Americans of three JMU transfers on defense in their first seasons at the Big Ten level.

through all the coach hire drama, there is still a game being played tonight

IU -5.5. / 150.5

IU 74
PSU 63

A win tonight pushes us into the upper half of conf standings. Nothing to be proud of, but considering 7-10 days ago we were talking about missing the B1G tourney, it's worth noting.

Lundari now has us in his first 4 out (last week it was 2nd four out) while Palm still has us in the 'first 4 in" / 11 seed.
Lundari also has OSU as in the first 4 with bye (ie the first 4 above the 'first 4 in') due to their much higher NET rating (35). That senior day game vs OSU is shaping up to be rather important for both teams.

Northwestern's win caused them to leapfrog us in the NET.

anything less than 3-1 and were done, at Washington is a game that worries me

Increases deficit by $300 billion per year. I’m with the Democrats on this one…but probably for different reasons

Noticing Nate has the fastest tempo in county, McCollum is slowest at #364… but…

Houston, ahem, at 360th
Sant Mary’s is 359th
Tennessee is 344th
Also, scroll down to the “holy crap look at all that winning” part:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_McCollum

So I don’t care all that much about tempo, because I’d take either winner. Plus I hear McCollum’s O is all about taking quality shots (something where Woody’s teams have been utterly dreadful). Oats has an 18 million buyout though, biggest in basketball.

Idk, hire Beard. Make some damn waves.

Please no more in-depth profiles about the career of Buzz Williams or random Coach X…

Thinking I could see Shaka on the sidelines though and be cool with it. Havoc checks the “make waves” box. What was up with his Texas teams though?

Big news coming later today!

Check out this vid and tell me it isn't completely insane:

Trump Gaza

Elon really is a f#cking genius 🫣 That’s a joke you grumpy old farts. @BradStevens the AI is getting impressive. I had it run simulations for PLO ranges, 3 bets, bluffs, proper sizing, and etc. You can teach yourself a shit ton of information in a short amount of time. You can analyze any spot. I was blown away how good it was.

He wants the best chance to win another National Championship. Between April and when he decides to retire, he would be very likely to do that at Indiana. He's on record as saying his time at St.Johns has been the least enjoyable of his career. [Ep 2, St.Johns on Vice]. I would like to have 4-6 years of a lot of winning. Then we can see who he recommends as his successor.

Curbelo to end up in prison after his dismissal from Southern Miss?

Seems his severe case of Trump Devotion Syndrome did not pay off. He's gone from America's Mayor to Trump's Chump.

But Georgia beating Florida is not what we wanted to see tonight.

we should be deporting everyone who voted for the dumbass, it's unbelievable that the rest of us will have to suffer. has to be the most incompetent and corrupt boob to every be a head of state, much less the United States. saw where he just made a right-wing podcaster 2nd in charge of the FBI. how many idiots with absolutely no qualification has he appointed to his cabinet and high-level jobs. it's almost unbelievable

Is IU’s next coach on this list?
I see my favorite on it.

2025 Werner Ladder Naismith Men's College Coach of the Year Watch List
Greg Gard l Wisconsin
Dennis Gates l Missouri
Todd Golden l Florida
Penny Hardaway l Memphis
Tom Izzo l Michigan State
Pat Kelsey l Louisville
Dusty May l Michigan
Grant McCasland l Texas Tech
Ben McCollum l Drake
Matt Painter l Purdue
Bruce Pearl l Auburn
Rick Pitino l St. John's
Richard Pitino l New Mexico
Kelvin Sampson l Houston
Jon Scheyer l Duke

Over the past few weeks, there have been rumors on BTB about IU hiring a General Manager for the men’s basketball team. Some even speculating that Cody Zeller might take the role (LOL).

Programs like Duke, Villanova, and, as of today, UNC have already established this position. GMs assist with roster construction, NIL management, the transfer portal, etc. I can’t help but wonder if some coaches who left college basketball due to the chaos of NIL might be enticed to return with the support of a GM.

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"This move tears at the independence of a free press in the United States. It suggests the government will choose the journalists who cover the president. In a free country, leaders must not be able to choose their own press corps.”

"It means the president can pick and choose who covers the executive branch, ignoring the fact that it is the American people who through their taxes pay for the running of the White House, the president’s travels and the press secretary’s salary.”

"A dangerous move for democracy."

IU coach. Has had a pretty good career but not sure what happened at UNLV. Under .500 there.

Per previous reports from the most trustworthy sources, Brad Stevens was given a deadline of Feb. 26 to make a decision on the IU HC position. We all already know why Feb 26 was the deadline and why this date is so important. I guess we will know tomorrow whether or not we can end the coaching search or cross one more candidate off the list.

Godspeed to ya.

I just spent over $50,000 to put a bank vault style door on my recently purchased Cave-front property..., along with another chunk of change on pallets of MRE's (the shipping is the killer) plus water storage and purification units And Now these scientists who said there Was a Real chance of the Big One landing on the Greater Indianapolis Area change their freaking minds...!??!?

Time to investigate NASA Elon... 😉

🍺🌖🌔🌗🍺

Will the basketball team win more Big Ten games than the football team?

The football team won 8 conference games. With the unexpected wins at Michigan State and vs. Purdue, we sit at 7 conference wins with 4 games to go. All 4 games are winnable, but also losable! We should beat Penn State and Ohio State at home... should. We should win at Washington, but the road is always tough, particularly traveling all the way to the Pacific Northwest. Not sure I expect a win at Oregon but you never know.

I think we'll get to 9 at least, but this team is so up and down, who knows. I don't think it's crazy to think we could lose 3 or all of the remaining games and not make it past the football team.

What say you?

I can't recall when a story about people I do not know has made me this sad and this irate. Sextortion of American teens by criminal gangs are causing suicides. Teen suicides often follow months or years of depression and often heroic efforts of parents and mental health professionals. These sextortion cases often do not, leaving grieving families bewildered and wondering what signs they missed. Tragically, they often missed none. Talk to you kids, especially teens. Tell them that your love and support is unconditional.

Don Fischer on Indiana beating Purdue and the hope the remainder of the season to keep NCAA hopes alive.
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Don Fischer on Indiana beating Purdue and the hope the remainder of the season to keep NCAA hopes alive.
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