According to a well connected fan on another site…

[SRThoosier]

Woodson’s demise in Atlanta and New York:
Poor substitutions
Lack of discipline
Bad sets
Wouldn’t involve assistants

Google it sports fans. Dolson would have known all this, but he was simply a puppet in this farce. Hired a guy who won 46% of games coached with little playoff experience. Yeah, let’s hand this guy the keys to our program.

 

[Vern Pain]

Need better talent evaluators. It seems all the good players ranked by Fatjohns and our staff are atrocious.

Who have been the good Indiana players last 5 years? Besides smith, has there been any good ones? I honestly don’t know.

It may be just outside that five year threshold but Demizi Anderson beating Henry to the punch and making Henry's decision to sign with MSU much easier. Armaan Franklin was really solid too. I don't know if I've heard the reason he split. Wouldn't have minded having a backcourt of those two for a couple years.

 

[ams66]

Romeo is out of the nba. Was shitty at shooting since the day he was born.

Yes, he was so bad that...

• 1st in B1G and 5th nationally in Freshman scoring
• 6th in B1G in scoring
• Big Ten Freshman of the Week (11/19), (Co 12/10), (1/7), (1/14)
• USBWA All-District
• Second Team All-Big Ten (Coaches)
• Third Team All-Big Ten (Media)
• Big Ten All-Freshman Team (Coaches)
• Big Ten Freshman of the Year (NCAA.com’s Andy Katz)
• Played in and started 32 games...top freshman scorer in the Big Ten and IU leader at 16.5 ppg... had 3rd highest scoring average among major college freshmen

(source iuhoosiers.com).

 

[Tammany Hall]

Yes, he was so bad that...

• 1st in B1G and 5th nationally in Freshman scoring
• 6th in B1G in scoring
• Big Ten Freshman of the Week (11/19), (Co 12/10), (1/7), (1/14)
• USBWA All-District
• Second Team All-Big Ten (Coaches)
• Third Team All-Big Ten (Media)
• Big Ten All-Freshman Team (Coaches)
• Big Ten Freshman of the Year (NCAA.com’s Andy Katz)
• Played in and started 32 games...top freshman scorer in the Big Ten and IU leader at 16.5 ppg... had 3rd highest scoring average among major college freshmen

(source iuhoosiers.com).

Didn’t he play injured too? I liked him and I don’t know why more people didn’t.

 

[Victorbmyboy]

Good for OSU. They’ll go get a good coach. Guessing it won’t be an NBA guy

Will they? Was the 15 mill buy out good? Extension?

 

[Brewskie]

If Braden Smith is the barometer, then there have been plenty.

Soph JJ Starling at Syracuse is avg over 13 pts
Soph Jalen Washington at North Carolina is getting about 9 mins/game for a good UNC squad
Blake Wesley would be a junior and he is playing in the NBA for the Spurs.
Junior Brooks Barnhizer at NW is avg like 15 and 7
Connor Essegian of Wisconsin has had some moments
Jaden Ivey, Nijel Pack, was in the 2020 class, they were pretty good.

Those are just off the top of my head but the talent is there. Its coaching that's missing.

Sean East, Romeo's teammate at New Albany has done well at Missouri the last 2 years, tho Mizzou stinks this year.

 

[IUCrazy2]

Need better talent evaluators. It seems all the good players ranked by Fatjohns and our staff are atrocious.

Who have been the good Indiana players last 5 years? Besides smith, has there been any good ones? I honestly don’t know.

2024-25 Men's Basketball Roster - Purdue Boilermakers

The official 2024-25 Men's Basketball Roster for the Purdue University Boilermakers

purduesports.com

Seriously?

"Get a bunch of good players from Indiana and then go out and grab a couple out of state guys to fill your roster needs...."

That is one team that is a title contender this year and technically was last year as well even with their ignominious early round exit. There are more than enough good players to do well. We want to run our program like Kentucky while hiring like Ball State. Indiana needs to pick. If you want to get players like Duke and Kentucky then you need to flush the whole pious thing and be willing to do things that look ethically questionable. If you aren't willing to do that, you have to get a really good system and then use the recruiting pull of the school to land good Indiana and Ohio Valley type of players and pair them with a 5* out of state kid here and there. You can't straddle the line like we have tried to do for 20 years.

 

[HUD628]

Adding to the in state kids discussion, Goode and Loyer out of Ft Wayne in back to back years, both of whom would be the best shooter on IU.

 

[Sobchak_Security]

Style of play is losing. If we win they come to IU, but losing at IU really sucks for Indiana kids. Very hard on them.

Not sure I agree. Pound it in the post and space the floor with not a ton of movement, take long 2’s and near the bottom of the barrel in 3-point attempt is a hard sell in modern basketball. Probably a direct link to the inability to recruit guards. Actually, who was the last guard recruit landed and when did he commit?

 

[GeorgeStrait IU]

Appears Woodson is going to get next season, barring an absolute collapse down the stretch. Same person said he thinks Sisley ends up at Purdue, Mullins to ND and Haralson to Duke. He said the families of these kids like IU, but just not a fan of the style of play.

Man, if you can’t recruit your own state…..

Well this entire situation just needs to be euthanized. I'm alrady done, not like anyone cares, but i also have anour 20 or so just like me. It shows they're not even taking this situation seriously, if true. Just here for back n forth.

 

[bsmitty08]

Why the hell are people concerned with getting Indiana players. News flash, they normally suck!!!

We got lander and Romeo with Archie, worked out real well.

Just get good players, who cares where the hell they are from.

I forget if Furst and Trey Kaughman were from Indiana, they suck too!

Really? Zeller, yogi, hulls, Romeo, TJD,etc..

Purdue is number 1 two years in a row with 7 scholarship Indiana kids. Culture brother

 

[Sobchak_Security]

Well this entire situation just needs to be euthanized. I'm alrady done, not like anyone cares, but i also have anour 20 or so just like me. It shows they're not even taking this situation seriously, if true. Just here for back n forth.

I have 2 good buddies who are alums, one was a frat buddy of Dolson, and they are at the apathy stage. There just isn’t much to be excited about and no clear vision for how it gets better.

 

[IUNorth]

2024-25 Men's Basketball Roster - Purdue Boilermakers

The official 2024-25 Men's Basketball Roster for the Purdue University Boilermakers

purduesports.com

Seriously?

"Get a bunch of good players from Indiana and then go out and grab a couple out of state guys to fill your roster needs...."

That is one team that is a title contender this year and technically was last year as well even with their ignominious early round exit. There are more than enough good players to do well. We want to run our program like Kentucky while hiring like Ball State. Indiana needs to pick. If you want to get players like Duke and Kentucky then you need to flush the whole pious thing and be willing to do things that look ethically questionable. If you aren't willing to do that, you have to get a really good system and then use the recruiting pull of the school to land good Indiana and Ohio Valley type of players and pair them with a 5* out of state kid here and there. You can't straddle the line like we have tried to do for 20 years.

This one should be easy.

Involve the influential high school and AAU coaches in the state. Invite them down for coaching clinics, host their teams, etc... Pawn all that crap off to some staffer in your down line, if necessary. But hopefully you're genuinely a basketball person, so interacting with seemingly successful HS/AAU leaders shouldn't be like pulling teeth. This should be easy, they'll literally come to you if you invite them. And gestures like that keep you in good favor.

When there are players that actually make sense, recruit them. For any/all of their top players, that don't make sense for IU, help them get looks at lesser schools. Its really not a ton of work...and again, if you want, you can delegate a lot of this stuff down.

But you're overall recruiting approach is always best fit/best players, from wherever they may come from.

Jack Benter ends up being a kid that kills IU, when he's playing alongside all american level players...like Loyer right now, as an example. Without Edey, and I'll add Smith, guys like Loyer, Furst, TKR...they probably look a lot like Leal, or Trey. But with them, their "Indiana" skills get amplified.

So scour the top 50 National kids, every year. Scour the top 50 portal guys, every year. Fill your roster with those types of players, and 'fill in' the gaps with Indiana kids.

 

[birdforbogey]

Yes, we are not getting any of those guys. Purdue has been the school for Indiana kids

And to be honest, you really can't blame them.

 

[IUCrazy2]

So scour the top 50 National kids, every year. Scour the top 50 portal guys, every year. Fill your roster with those types of players, and 'fill in' the gaps with Indiana kids.

"Get a bunch of good players from Indiana and then go out and grab a couple out of state guys to fill your roster needs...."

You are saying the inverse of what I said. I think you go and get the best you can from Indiana (highest priority), Ohio, and Illinois and then you fill the gaps with the Top 50 kids.

We aren't Kentucky, Kansas, North Carolina, and Duke. We aren't willing to go to the lengths required to rely on national players with a sprinkling of Indiana kids to fill the gaps. We should be doing the opposite of that. You should have an easier sales job on the Indiana kids to get the good ones in here and then you supplement them with the harder to sell national kids. And you have to have a system in place that allows you to weather years where you just don't get the high end recruits you want so that you don't completely fall off the map in a year where you don't have a parade of Top 50 players coming.

It really isn't rocket science but we have tried to occupy an area somewhere in between those two philosophies for 20 years now and it has been a total failure. If you want to be Kentucky, you have to be willing to make ethical trade offs that our admin has never been willing to make. Bob Knight laid a blue print and Matt Painter is following that path to pretty decent success at a school with less resources than Indiana coaches have available to them. And we will be Portal U again next year expecting different outcomes. That is not a path to success.

 

[bailey777]

I have 2 good buddies who are alums, one was a frat buddy of Dolson, and they are at the apathy stage. There just isn’t much to be excited about and no clear vision for how it gets better.

It will not until or if IU ever gets serious about hiring a real coach.

 

[Tammany Hall]

Next year is gonna be a repeat.

 

[PanDatrick]

Well it took until about 16 games in to stop giving a damn and expecting to lose every game this season.

Guess I wont have to even care at all next year. This program is officially nowhere near a blue blood and won’t be for a long time. Pretty pathetic.

 

[IUNorth]

You are saying the inverse of what I said. I think you go and get the best you can from Indiana (highest priority), Ohio, and Illinois and then you fill the gaps with the Top 50 kids.

We aren't Kentucky, Kansas, North Carolina, and Duke. We aren't willing to go to the lengths required to rely on national players with a sprinkling of Indiana kids to fill the gaps. We should be doing the opposite of that. You should have an easier sales job on the Indiana kids to get the good ones in here and then you supplement them with the harder to sell national kids. And you have to have a system in place that allows you to weather years where you just don't get the high end recruits you want so that you don't completely fall off the map in a year where you don't have a parade of Top 50 players coming.

It really isn't rocket science but we have tried to occupy an area somewhere in between those two philosophies for 20 years now and it has been a total failure. If you want to be Kentucky, you have to be willing to make ethical trade offs that our admin has never been willing to make. Bob Knight laid a blue print and Matt Painter is following that path to pretty decent success at a school with less resources than Indiana coaches have available to them. And we will be Portal U again next year expecting different outcomes. That is not a path to success.

Everything hinges on having a good coach. So any of this recruiting strategy talk is pointless, if we have a coach like Davis, Crean, Miller, and/or Woody.

But assuming we have a good coach...why stop fishing in the Duke/Kansas ponds? We've been bad, and yet we still routinely catch fish from those ponds. We haven't been bad because we had JHS instead of Loyer. We've been bad because the coach we had didn't use the players we had correctly.

You need players from the Duke/Kansas pond to expect to make Final Fours and contend for Natty's. I get that we're so far from that right now, that the Purdue model is far superior to anything we've done since the good RMK years. So sure, I'd obviously take Purdue's success lately over ours. But they haven't made a final four in over 40 years. Their "model" has been what you're pining for. I don't want to lower our ceiling like that.

 

[T.M.P.]

Appears Woodson is going to get next season, barring an absolute collapse down the stretch. Same person said he thinks Sisley ends up at Purdue, Mullins to ND and Haralson to Duke. He said the families of these kids like IU, but just not a fan of the style of play.

Man, if you can’t recruit your own state…..

Cool story, bro.

 

[IUCrazy2]

Everything hinges on having a good coach. So any of this recruiting strategy talk is pointless, if we have a coach like Davis, Crean, Miller, and/or Woody.

But assuming we have a good coach...why stop fishing in the Duke/Kansas ponds? We've been bad, and yet we still routinely catch fish from those ponds. We haven't been bad because we had JHS instead of Loyer. We've been bad because the coach we had didn't use the players we had correctly.

You need players from the Duke/Kansas pond to expect to make Final Fours and contend for Natty's. I get that we're so far from that right now, that the Purdue model is far superior to anything we've done since the good RMK years. So sure, I'd obviously take Purdue's success lately over ours. But they haven't made a final four in over 40 years. Their "model" has been what you're pining for. I don't want to lower our ceiling like that.

I am not saying not to fish in that pond. I am saying you have to selectively fish in that pond while mostly sticking to your main watering hole.

 

[Ohio Guy]

Will they? Was the 15 mill buy out good? Extension?

Holtmann did sign an extension in '22. Their new AD - Ross Bjork from Texas A&M - probably didn't want that hanging over his head and probably wants to make a splash with a big basketball hire.

As an aside, with all the talent and new coaches they brought in on the football side, Ryan Day probably needs to win the Big Ten outright and be at least in the final four of the new playoff to keep his job, as crazy as that sounds.

 

[IUNorth]

I am not saying not to fish in that pond. I am saying you have to selectively fish in that pond while mostly sticking to your main watering hole.

So Purdue...cool.

You young enough to endure a 40 year Final Four drought?

Good coach...

8-9 top 50 level kids, regardless of where they're from...

2-3 D1 level Indiana/Regional kids...

1-2 end of bench Indiana kids...

Or...

2-3 top 50 level kids...

8-9 D1 leve Indiana/Regional kids...

1-2 end of bench Indiana kids...


Top one gives us a legit Natty Contender ceiling, most years.

Bottom one makes us Purdue.

Better than we are now. Not what Indiana should strive for.

 

[Victorbmyboy]

Holtmann did sign an extension in '22. Their new AD - Ross Bjork from Texas A&M - probably didn't want that hanging over his head and probably wants to make a splash with a big basketball hire.

As an aside, with all the talent and new coaches they brought in on the football side, Ryan Day probably needs to win the Big Ten outright and be at least in the final four of the new playoff to keep his job, as crazy as that sounds.

I know..I’m just getting people to think about what they are saying. Trying to compare the fire Woodson with Ohio state firing Holtmann. You can’t compare the two. Plus you don’t fire a coach after year three.

 

[Victorbmyboy]

So Purdue...cool.

You young enough to endure a 40 year Final Four drought?

Good coach...

8-9 top 50 level kids, regardless of where they're from...

2-3 D1 level Indiana/Regional kids...

1-2 end of bench Indiana kids...

Or...

2-3 top 50 level kids...

8-9 D1 leve Indiana/Regional kids...

1-2 end of bench Indiana kids...


Top one gives us a legit Natty Contender ceiling, most years.

Bottom one makes us Purdue.

Better than we are now. Not what Indiana should strive for.

Can’t say this enough!!!!

 

[HoosierJimbo89]

Then whoever is making the decision to keep Woodson needs to be let go as well, and they probably shouldn't be hiring the next coach, anyways. The administrative incompetence wouldn't surprise me, unfortunately.

 

[Ohio Guy]

I know..I’m just getting people to think about what they are saying. Trying to compare the fire Woodson with Ohio state firing Holtmann. You can’t compare the two. Plus you don’t fire a coach after year three.

Crazy to think OSU hired Holtmann the same year IU hired Archie Miller.

 

[bsmitty08]

Everything hinges on having a good coach. So any of this recruiting strategy talk is pointless, if we have a coach like Davis, Crean, Miller, and/or Woody.

But assuming we have a good coach...why stop fishing in the Duke/Kansas ponds? We've been bad, and yet we still routinely catch fish from those ponds. We haven't been bad because we had JHS instead of Loyer. We've been bad because the coach we had didn't use the players we had correctly.

You need players from the Duke/Kansas pond to expect to make Final Fours and contend for Natty's. I get that we're so far from that right now, that the Purdue model is far superior to anything we've done since the good RMK years. So sure, I'd obviously take Purdue's success lately over ours. But they haven't made a final four in over 40 years. Their "model" has been what you're pining for. I don't want to lower our ceiling like that.

Yet they have beaten teams like Duke.

 

[bsmitty08]

So Purdue...cool.

You young enough to endure a 40 year Final Four drought?

Good coach...

8-9 top 50 level kids, regardless of where they're from...

2-3 D1 level Indiana/Regional kids...

1-2 end of bench Indiana kids...

Or...

2-3 top 50 level kids...

8-9 D1 leve Indiana/Regional kids...

1-2 end of bench Indiana kids...


Top one gives us a legit Natty Contender ceiling, most years.

Bottom one makes us Purdue.

Better than we are now. Not what Indiana should strive for.

You don’t think IU can use what PU has done and then sprinkle in your JHS?
You have to have a core and a culture. We have chased the Vonlehs, Romeo’s, MBAkwo, types and won absolutely nothing. Recruit a core!! I would love to have guys like Gillis, Smith and a Loyer on our roster.

 

[IUAndy]

I have 2 good buddies who are alums, one was a frat buddy of Dolson, and they are at the apathy stage. There just isn’t much to be excited about and no clear vision for how it gets better.

Not sure I get this. Aren't a lot of people here alumni? I don't think you need to have gone to school with Dolson to understand this season hasn't been up to snuff. That being said, Dolson cannot fire a guy after year three unless he's bringing in a top notch can't miss, now or never hire. Woody might not be the best coach in the world, but he's not an idiot. He's talking BIG and National Championships. He's not going to slog through multiple seasons like this. He'll quit if they suck again next year, guarantee it. Dolson pulled the plug on CTA and he had a HUGE buyout. He'll pull the plug on Woody when necessary. But all the moaning and whining about this year isn't going to get Woody fired. I could see him quitting but I just don't see him getting fired after year three unless there's a heavy hitter lined up chomping at the bit which is probably not the case.

 

[ButHerEmails]

Yes, we are not getting any of those guys. Purdue has been the school for Indiana kids

Seems like when Purdue has their top notch years, it’s almost always when IU is the absolute shits.

 

[Sir_Saucy]

If Braden Smith is the barometer, then there have been plenty.

Soph JJ Starling at Syracuse is avg over 13 pts
Soph Jalen Washington at North Carolina is getting about 9 mins/game for a good UNC squad
Blake Wesley would be a junior and he is playing in the NBA for the Spurs.
Junior Brooks Barnhizer at NW is avg like 15 and 7
Connor Essegian of Wisconsin has had some moments
Jaden Ivey, Nijel Pack, was in the 2020 class, they were pretty good.

Those are just off the top of my head but the talent is there. Its coaching that's missing.

Also Markus Burton at ND, was Indiana Mr. Basketball last year
Johnell Davis at FAU
Jake Laravia at Indiana State then Wake Forest, drafted 19th overall in 2022
Keion Brooks - was obviously an overrated recruit but still a high profile guy

Desmond Bane as well, but he is 25 now so a little older

 

[Sobchak_Security]

Not sure I get this. Aren't a lot of people here alumni? I don't think you need to have gone to school with Dolson to understand this season hasn't been up to snuff. That being said, Dolson cannot fire a guy after year three unless he's bringing in a top notch can't miss, now or never hire. Woody might not be the best coach in the world, but he's not an idiot. He's talking BIG and National Championships. He's not going to slog through multiple seasons like this. He'll quit if they suck again next year, guarantee it. Dolson pulled the plug on CTA and he had a HUGE buyout. He'll pull the plug on Woody when necessary. But all the moaning and whining about this year isn't going to get Woody fired. I could see him quitting but I just don't see him getting fired after year three unless there's a heavy hitter lined up chomping at the bit which is probably not the case.

Indiana can do whatever it likes with regard to the men’s basketball program. Fans will respond accordingly.

 

[z_one]

Can’t say this enough!!!!

Don't worry, you'll get to 40+ with your formula! LOL

 

[bailey777]

Well it took until about 16 games in to stop giving a damn and expecting to lose every game this season.

Guess I wont have to even care at all next year. This program is officially nowhere near a blue blood and won’t be for a long time. Pretty pathetic.

I gotta help them get over the hump this is a game that you know I thought we had our chances to win and I couldn’t get them over the hump tonight

LOL!

 

[bailey777]

Not sure I get this. Aren't a lot of people here alumni? I don't think you need to have gone to school with Dolson to understand this season hasn't been up to snuff. That being said, Dolson cannot fire a guy after year three unless he's bringing in a top notch can't miss, now or never hire. Woody might not be the best coach in the world, but he's not an idiot. He's talking BIG and National Championships. He's not going to slog through multiple seasons like this. He'll quit if they suck again next year, guarantee it. Dolson pulled the plug on CTA and he had a HUGE buyout. He'll pull the plug on Woody when necessary. But all the moaning and whining about this year isn't going to get Woody fired. I could see him quitting but I just don't see him getting fired after year three unless there's a heavy hitter lined up chomping at the bit which is probably not the case.

To be fair fred glass was talking national championships when he hired archie. Anybody can talk national championships that does not make woodson unique in the least more likely just delusional in his abilities.

 

[IUNorth]

You don’t think IU can use what PU has done and then sprinkle in your JHS?
You have to have a core and a culture. We have chased the Vonlehs, Romeo’s, MBAkwo, types and won absolutely nothing. Recruit a core!! I would love to have guys like Gillis, Smith and a Loyer on our roster.

With the right coach, IU can easily do what Purdue has done. I want a higher ceiling than that, is my point.

And I think Indiana is probably the ONLY school in the country that can both tap in to Indiana's wealth of solid basketball talent AND go after 4/5 star level HS and portal kids nationally. And we haven't had a coach that could effectively and consistently execute that, since mid 90's RMK. And when I say execute that, I mean put a roster together with the best blend of national and home grown talent, AND use them correctly.

When I hear "focus on Indiana" kids, I immediately think of Purdue. Purdue very, very rarely goes after 4-5 star kids outside a few hours from their campus. Well, Purdue hasn't been to a final four in over 40 years. And they've only sniffed one a couple times in 40 years, and their most recent sniffing only happend because a Texas kid went out of his mind nuclear from the 3 point line for two weeks... And then despite its long and rich overall history, its not like they were all that successful on a national stage before 1980 either. Purdue is a very, very good regional college basketball program. Right now, they're maximizing that, they're squeezing every little drop of potential out of that lately... And maybe this is the year they break through and do make a FF and/or win a natty? I doubt it. They'll lose to a team with a more talented and athletic group of HS and Portal kids, that come from varying parts of the country...like they always do.

The IU coach should have the unique advantage to fish in both ponds, and fill his roster how he sees fit. Best available, best fit, no matter where they're from. While ALWAYS staying involved and in touch with all the biggest influential people in Indiana HS and AAU circles.

 

[bsmitty08]

With the right coach, IU can easily do what Purdue has done. I want a higher ceiling than that, is my point.

And I think Indiana is probably the ONLY school in the country that can both tap in to Indiana's wealth of solid basketball talent AND go after 4/5 star level HS and portal kids nationally. And we haven't had a coach that could effectively and consistently execute that, since mid 90's RMK. And when I say execute that, I mean put a roster together with the best blend of national and home grown talent, AND use them correctly.

When I hear "focus on Indiana" kids, I immediately think of Purdue. Purdue very, very rarely goes after 4-5 star kids outside a few hours from their campus. Well, Purdue hasn't been to a final four in over 40 years. And they've only sniffed one a couple times in 40 years, and their most recent sniffing only happend because a Texas kid went out of his mind nuclear from the 3 point line for two weeks... And then despite its long and rich overall history, its not like they were all that successful on a national stage before 1980 either. Purdue is a very, very good regional college basketball program. Right now, they're maximizing that, they're squeezing every little drop of potential out of that lately... And maybe this is the year they break through and do make a FF and/or win a natty? I doubt it. They'll lose to a team with a more talented and athletic group of HS and Portal kids, that come from varying parts of the country...like they always do.

The IU coach should have the unique advantage to fish in both ponds, and fill his roster how he sees fit. Best available, best fit, no matter where they're from. While ALWAYS staying involved and in touch with all the biggest influential people in Indiana HS and AAU circles.

Yes a mix but you can’t tell me PU isn’t doing something right. They have been the most dominant team in the country for two years now. I’d bet they make a final 4 this year if not win it all. I haven’t seen anyone wow me this year

 

[IUNorth]

Yes a mix but you can’t tell me PU isn’t doing something right. They have been the most dominant team in the country for two years now. I’d bet they make a final 4 this year if not win it all. I haven’t seen anyone wow me this year

Hilarious. Dominant teams don't lose to FDU...and/or get swept by IU...

The FDU game is used as a punch line...but its a very real example of why they're going to struggle to win 4 games in a row and get to a FF...let alone 6 games in a row.

Basically ALL of their perceived national "dominance" has been based on a handful of neutral site games, on or around Thanksgiving in both seasons PreConference schedule. These early season tournaments lack the intensity, feel, atmosphere...really everything of importance, that games in March in the NCAAs have.

Look at their true road games this year...

7 of them so far
5-2 record
1-2 against teams that have a prayer at NCAA...with their two losses against teams that would likely be 2nd round caliber teams.
1 other close one at Rutgers

In order to make a FF, they might have to beat 3 teams better than ANY of the teams they've played on the road thus far. In order to win a Natty, make that number 5.

True road games are essentially the most similar games teams can play to simulate NCAA tournament conditions. Purdue has been barely above average in those games the last couple years, this year included.

 

[bailey777]

Yes a mix but you can’t tell me PU isn’t doing something right. They have been the most dominant team in the country for two years now. I’d bet they make a final 4 this year if not win it all. I haven’t seen anyone wow me this year

This will be the 7th of the last 9 season where painter will win over 26 games. We can all rip in them for not going far in the tourney but that is pretty darn good. He is 80-16 so far the last three seasons. My guess is he will eventually make a final four. I mean we have only made one final four in 30 years so we really go nothing to brag about.