Setting Up IUBB's Big Bubble Battle vs. the Buckeyes in Bloomington [342]

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After a productive trip to the Pacific Northwest, where the Hoosiers smacked Washington and barely fell short at Oregon (thanks, refs), IU comes back to Assembly Hall for the regular season finale. It's a big one, as the Hoosiers will take on the Buckeyes on Senior Day with both teams on the bubble. What are the keys to victory?
What lessons can IU learn from recent games to help them the rest of the season?
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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:06):
Okay, I you fans looked. The Hoosiers went out to
the Pacific Northwest, thousands and thousands of miles away.

Speaker 2 (00:16):
And.

Speaker 1 (00:18):
It was mostly good. I think I'm mostly happy with
what I saw. Obviously, the Hoosiers clapped up by Washington
by significant margins. Again, I was projected to be close.
Indiana smashed the Huskies in their building and then look
that game against Oregon. We're gonna have a lot to

(00:39):
talk about. Obviously, I you held a lead with under
two minutes to go. Oregon came back, heaved in a
bomb from Shelstad to take the lead, and then they
pulled away from there. This all sets up a gigantic
clash with Ohio State on Saturday afternoon Assembly Hall. Matt

(00:59):
and I will discuss the Washington game, the Oregon game,
the Ohio State game, that is Chester around the corner,
so much more. Here on episode three forty two of
The Hoosier Sound, where we are the official podcast of
Indiana HQ. We're recording this edition of The Hoosier Sound
on Thursday, March sixth, twenty twenty five. Here I am

(01:25):
your co host Nathan Christian. Along with me is Matt
Luken's Matt It's March. John Rothstein knows this calendar. Indiana
Indiana to Seattle crushed the Huskies, and then that game
against Oregon. I mean, we could talk about it in
so many different ways. What were your immediate reactions to

(01:48):
Indiana's close I'm gonna call it a nail biting, tough
loss at Oregon by nine back on Tuesday night, because
there are a lot of things you can discuss here.

Speaker 2 (02:01):
Yeah, I mean the nine point score line at the
end is not indicative brutal of how close that game was.
I was just I you fouling down the stretch and
take tanking our net rating and Ken Pop numbers. But
that doesn't matter tbh. What did matter on that day

(02:22):
is that I thought, I, you played as good, if
not better than Oregon in that game, Yeah.

Speaker 3 (02:29):
But got completely screwed by the referees and big ten refs.
It was about as egregious.

Speaker 2 (02:41):
A game as I have watched. That was until I
watched the Nebraska Ohio State game that happened immediately after.
That was also maybe the worst officiated game I've ever seen,
So that those two games going back to back was
a little bit just awful to watch. But no, I

(03:02):
I thought, I you got host at Oregon. I will
say I I've gained a lot of confidence in this
team based off of the last two performances. Though one
because even with the refs completely jobbing IU, no one
wins in Oregon in March. You ask anybody on the
West Coast, they don't lose in March. Especially at home

(03:24):
in Oregon. They're very hard to beat. H Dana Allman
always has his team, you know, ramping up into March.
It's why they've made final fours under his his his
tutelage and and his leadership, and and and they've been
competitive in NCAA tournaments. Basically every single year they're in
the tournament. So I'm not surprised with you losing. I

(03:47):
think on the schedule at the beginning of the year,
I put this game as a loss anyways, just because
again the West Coast trip, whatever, like second game out
there on the West Coast, tough team, tough environment in
your night for them, like all those excuses whatever. They
played well, like I you played well. They played one
of their better games of the year. They just ended

(04:07):
up losing because while they were playing five on six
right and then the Washington performance was very It was
an extreme confidence boost for me in the team because
they did exactly what I wanted them to do, which
is go out and show that they are significantly better,
more talented, better still somehow better coached, more well put

(04:32):
together program and team which they are like that Washington
program isn't has not been good for a while now.
They have not been ran well for a while now,
and I you showed that golf and class out there
for maybe the first time this year, really that they've
they've They've gone into a game and really imposed their

(04:55):
will from the tip. I thought I was a pretty
thorough performance by them. So overall my confidence in the
team is higher now. They could obviously tank all that
conference that I've built up in them against Ohio State here.
But again, I doesn't lose at home on Senior Night.
I mean, the record kind of speaks for itself. There's
only a handful of losses on Senior Night in the

(05:16):
history of the school, especially over the last like thirty
forty years. Even when we've been bad, we still don't
lose on Senior Night. So I'm expecting an iew out
of the Ohio State game. But yeah, I mean, you
guys saw the I'm sure you're on Twitter you saw
the vitriol directed towards the refs. I mean that was
thoroughly deserved. I had Aunt texting me afterwards being like,

(05:39):
y'all got gamed, y'all got jobbed. I was like, I
know I've seen that before out of IU. I'm just
glad that it's like not just coming from IU friends
who are kind of like the bias, right, because you know,
when I'm watching an IU game, like that's a foul, right,
Like I'm a fan, of course I have that I'm
gonna be thinking that we're getting jobbed at every every

(06:00):
single uh you know, turn and every single opportunity. But
I I was seriously pissed watching this game the other night,
and and I'm glad that not only the IU fan
base was matt Like I was getting text from my
Wisconsin friends and whatever, like, yo, like what is going on?
So guys, like it wasn't crazy that we were complaining

(06:21):
about the officials. That was the right thing to be
doing because they were terrible at their job on that night.

Speaker 1 (06:28):
Yeah, it was just uney. It was totally uneven and
uh the common rule of sports. Yeah, it's not just you, Matt,
Like ninety nine point nine percent of people who complain
about officiating are upset because it happened against their team
that they root for, or the team that they gambled on,
or the team that you know they have ci a

(06:51):
rooting interest in. When you get this rare point one percent,
it's actually very very noticeable. And that's what you saw.
You saw a lot of people go outside of people
who root for Indiana or gambled on Indiana. He had
a lot of people say, look, this is just the
wrong this was just the wrong treatment for the Hoosiers

(07:13):
in that game you talked about. And he had his
audit yesterday of the second half alone when when Oregon
again before all the fouling happened at the end, Oregon
had nine free throw attempts in the second half, Indiana
had just two, what too, or before all the fouling

(07:36):
took place, And you cannot tell me when you watch
that game that you know Indiana was more aggressive or
more physical or more in attack mode than Oregon was.
Oregon was just as hacky, just as aggressive, just as

(07:56):
get go, get it, if not even more. And that's
not how it was called the.

Speaker 2 (08:02):
Stats tell you that Oregon is one of the teams
in the Big Ten that fouls the most. They are
one of the teams that fouls at a higher rate
than most teams. And for I you to only be
awarded two free throws the entire time when you're playing
through the post for a majority of the game as well,
it's just impossible.

Speaker 1 (08:20):
It's absurd, and it's absolutely absurd. And so you know,
the funny thing is, we'll talk good about We'll talk
about it when we discuss Ohio State. Ohio State fouls
a lot too. So yeah, we'll see if we'll see,
we'll see if the three guys and stripes on Saturday
call things a little differently. Of course, I you will
be at home. And then there's this other thing. I

(08:42):
feel like I saw a lot of commentary about how
I you let this game slip away from them or
Indiana like lets another one go no on the stretch,
like this is not this is not the same as
maybe that Maryland game was. If you want to point
to one example, this was a game where Indiana and

(09:04):
Oregon where neck and neck and playing intense basketball for
thirty eight minutes, and then Jackson Shelstad hits a bomb.
I'm not gonna call it a prayer because he's a
good long distance shooter. He also does that is kind
of yeah, but it was a bomb. I mean, Jackson

(09:26):
Shelstad is also a college basketball player. He's not in
the NBA. You're gonna live with a thirty five foot
three point attempt at the end of the shot clot
every day of the week. This is not Dave li Lillard,
it's not Steph Curry. He's just Jackson Shelstad. And he
bombed the thirty five foot pray thirty five footer I

(09:48):
almost did it. I'm not gonna do it, thirty five
footer to take the lead. And then the following possession
there was just a lot of contact beyond the arc
by t bomb bound Trade Galloy that went uncalled, and
then of course Indiana has to foul and Oregon made
their free throws. And you tip your cap to a
team that is an nc DOUAA tournament team who closed

(10:12):
that game out. Now, the officiating was absolutely awful, there's
just no question about it. But a couple of other things
did cross my mind watching the course of that game.
First of all, I still don't get how Indiana can
have issues with defensive rebounding with this personnel. You have

(10:35):
guys like Renew and Bollow and Galloway is a good
rebounder as out of the guard position, as is Anthony Leal.
Lou Goody shows a lot of effort when it comes
to the defensive glass and cleaning things up, but once
again Indiana gives up double digit offensive rebounds. Oregon set

(10:56):
a season high with fifteen offensive rebounds, also set a
season high in second chance points. This is really frustrating
to me because I look at the personnel that Indiana has,
just like I sit here and say, this group of
players should be getting to the free throw line. They

(11:17):
should also be rebounding the basketball after getting stops, And
I just don't get how Indiana can continue to give
up numerous offensive rebounds as you get closer and closer
to NCAA tournament time. It's something that's plagued Mike Woodson
throughout his entire tenure. It happened against Miami in the

(11:39):
tournament game that I think we all sort of look
back to us a really disappointing conclusion to that season
where Woodson had Trace Jackson Davis and Jalenhood Schaffino. Indiana
gave up a crap ton of offensive rebounds to Miami
in that game, and they did it a bunch last year.
They've done it a bunch this year. Man, I don't
know this offensive rebounding thing. As far as the other

(12:02):
team grabbing offensive boards. It's really frustrating because I look
at the guys that we have and I say, it
doesn't make sense, especially now that guys like Anthony Leel
are getting more playing time, they should be able to
steal those possessions.

Speaker 2 (12:16):
Yeah, it doesn't make sense. But at the same time,
like a lot of teams, i U's been forcing teams
to take a lot of deep shots right and and
the deeper the shot is, the longer the rebound right
when you're and when you're when you're playing two bigs right,

(12:37):
for which i U was playing a decent amount at
least in the Oregon game. You have two guys down low,
so you're out numbered no on the perimeter when it
comes to rebounding. So like it's like counter intuitive almost
to have two bigs and think you should just automatically
be good at rebounding. But if you're if the rebounds

(12:59):
was a lot of them for or getting work. Longer rebounds.
When you're boxing somebody out, you're actually kind of at
a disadvantage because now I have to reach behind where
they're positioning, right. So the longer the rebound, that actually
like the harder it is for bigger teams to get.
So that kind of makes sense that way that I's

(13:20):
been struggling with that, But I mean it also is
like I use also trying to leak out because they're
having a hard time in the half court, especially in
the second half the game, they're having a hard time
getting half court often is going right, So you're sending
guys on rebounding opportunity to leak out to go and
maybe find an opportunity right an easy basket and easy

(13:40):
to that you might not find, you know, if in
a normal half court situation. And so there was also
a couple of times where you know, maybe a Trey
Galloway or you know, a Miles Rice could have been
in position for a rebound, but they're kind of already
starting to leak out after the shot just in case
it's missed, and a to kind of get a faster

(14:03):
opportunity and a faster look at a basket down the
other side of the court. So yeah, I mean, it's
just unfortunate. Basketball bounces in funny ways, and unfortunately for IU,
it bounced not in the way that it wanted to.
And then it didn't help. They played well enough, even
with the offensive rebounding from organ you were in it.
They played well enough to win that game and they

(14:25):
were screwed out of that game for reasons that were Yeah,
I was just out of their control.

Speaker 1 (14:32):
By the way U c l A Northwestern back on
Monday night was also an all bad job. I mean
when I when I say that, right, I'm calling I'm
talking about uneven and uneven whistle. As long as you're consistent,
I really don't care if you're letting the guys play
freely with more with fewer fouls called, or if you're

(14:55):
being really tight and you're saying all this freedom of
move and stuff, all this contact is impermissible. Fine, just
call it both ways. And as you and I saw
during IU Ohio State primetime game a couple of years ago,
they the reps even adjust at halftime to how they
call the game. If you guys go back, you can
watch that you know the Ohio State IU game that

(15:16):
was on primetime on Fox a couple of years ago
in the Pitshafino season, the officials like were miked up
or they followed them into the locker room at halftime
or something, and they like adjust the way they call
the game at halftime. Fine, you can do that, but
at least call it the same for both teams. And
then also, by the way, when you review a play,
get the review right. And that did not happen the

(15:38):
UCLA Western game, No a couple of different times, which
was shocking to see. A couple other rapid fire things
related to IU met Malik Renew looks more and more
healthy as he keeps going here. There was clearly a
drop off when he was injured in January. So for
everyone who wanted to run him out of town back

(15:58):
in the middle of the season, like you look absolutely foolish.
Malik Renew is a double digit scoring machine. He's scored
in double digits every game since the since the Michigan
game except for Oregon, when, of course we're sitting here
and talking about how there was an uneven whistle in
many situations where Renew had the ball. I think renew

(16:23):
is a top priority for the next head coach, right, like,
you have to do what you can't to have it
back next season because clearly he's playing better and better
now that he's healthy.

Speaker 2 (16:33):
This could be a hot take for some people, but
I'm gonna whisper it into the microphone.

Speaker 4 (16:38):
He's playing out of position. He's playing as a four,
and I think he's more of a small ball five.
And uh, you know who runs great small ball five systems?
The guy at Ahio at Iowa State State. Yeah, yeah,

(16:59):
that guy, that guy really well. I was watching their game.

Speaker 2 (17:01):
They lost their game to b YU, but they had
a big they had a five man and that that
Iowa State does that. You know, he has the ball
in his hands, Loot makes a lot of decisions with
the ball. Sounds familiar.

Speaker 1 (17:13):
That a little familiar a little bit.

Speaker 2 (17:15):
All I'm saying is is that that guy fits. That
guy's are renew fits that guy's system, if you know
what I'm talking about. So that's something to look forward to.
But yeah, I mean, he's he must keep his There
was a double digit scorer, what the second leading scorer
on last year's team, and then he's gonna probably be

(17:37):
what the the second leading scorer on this year's team.
I think so the way things are looking, and he's
gonna be a senior, like fourth year in the program, right,
been under you know, uh under under the tutelage of
of a guy that's known for developing bigs. Pretty well,

(17:59):
I don't don't see why. I don't see why you
wouldn't I want to keep that guy.

Speaker 1 (18:04):
Yes, especially if you can cut down his fowls just
a little bit. That's an off season that's an off
season task. You know. If he can cut down the
fowls just a little bit, he becomes even more valuable.

Speaker 2 (18:16):
Kevin, I would say at this point, I don't know
if I if I'm going to ask him to do that,
because that's what we asked him to do this summer
and that did not show up in the results.

Speaker 1 (18:27):
So hey, look, look, sometimes you can't you can't keep it.
Sometimes you can't teach an old dog new trip.

Speaker 2 (18:34):
You know, sometimes it's built into his DNA.

Speaker 1 (18:37):
Look, all I'm saying is, maybe why are we Why
are we calling this nice young man a an old dog.
That's really unnecessary.

Speaker 2 (18:50):
All right, He's uh, he's a dog having a mid
life crisis.

Speaker 1 (18:57):
All right, Look, hey, to be fair to Elk, he
goes from he goes from three point one fouls per
game to two point six this year. Now his playing
times been cut down just a little, so the per
forty stuff is about consistent. Like if he can trim
it by ten percent fifteen percent next year, I would

(19:18):
be a big fan. But even if he doesn't, there's
so much production on both sides of the ball. And
the last thing I would want to do is let
him go to another team, especially a team like in
the conference. And I'm looking exactly at Maryland. I was
talking about Kevin Willard there just a second ago. He
was saying yesterday how someone like Julian Reese at Maryland

(19:40):
has gone through the ups and downs with the Urbs. Right,
he went through a coaching change, he went through a
season last year in Maryland, missed the NCAA tournament, and
he just keeps sticking with the keep sticking with him.
And you're seeing Maryland now in the top twenty everywhere.
And I think Malik Renew can make something like that
that happened next year for IU. I would love to

(20:04):
see him back in an EU uniform next season as
well as a few other guys. That's something Matt and
I can talk about a little bit later. Also, Matt
like Woodson. Woodson's shortened a rotation quite a bit, and
he's leaning more into you know, Lele and and Goodie
and Rice. He's listening.

Speaker 2 (20:22):
I think he's listening to our podcast.

Speaker 1 (20:24):
Actually, I like what I'm seeing. He's giving Canaan Carlisle
a little bit of a chance to prove himself. I
like that. You always need a little bit of a
late season story to happen. And I know Carlisle does
a thing or two that makes you want to, you know,
pull your hair out. But I can also see.

Speaker 2 (20:42):
Him losing hair because of him. I heard he he
owes me a plane ticket to Turkey. That's all I'm saying.

Speaker 1 (20:49):
I think I think there might be a game here,
might be Saturday, it might be in the Big Ten Tournament.
Where it happening is Oregon, frankly, where Carlisle hits a
couple shots in the first half to make sure the
deficit doesn't get bigger, or in a late game situation,
maybe Indiana does have foul trouble, Carlisle, you need to

(21:12):
trust someone to come in and hit a couple of
quick shots for you at some point in these tournament
type games. And it's not like you're asking can and
Carlisle to play the role he played at the start
of the season where you're expecting him to really be
a critical factor. You're saying, hey, look man, you're coming
off the bench. We know what Miles Rice can give
us off the bench. With Miles Rice isn't going to

(21:32):
be like an automatic, sort of instant offense shot maker,
which is what Canaan Carlile can do. I like what
Woodson's doing. I said this last time we had a
podcast episode after the Purdue game, Like Woodson's pushing a
lot more pushing the right buttons a lot more right
now over the last five six games than he is

(21:55):
at any point this season. And in fact, I was
even thinking about this during the Oregon game, like, I,
you almost outsmarted Oregon on their way to victory Indiana.
I just out prepared and out focused Washington on the
way to a twenty point Well it was it was
the actual fight. It was a sixteen point win. So

(22:17):
that's what I like to see. And guess what I
guess Ohio State coaching matchup is gonna be tough the
Big Ten Tournament, especially if it's against Altman. It's gonna
be tough again because Indiana Oregon looks like they're headed
for an eight to nine overall. Matt, I think Woodston's
pushing a lot of the right buttons. I like what
I'm I like what I'm seeing here. Is that crazy? No?

Speaker 2 (22:39):
No, that's not crazy. I think that circles back to
kind of what I opened up the podcast with, Like,
my confidence in this team is growing. Is that a
bad thing too? I don't know too, I don't know,
but my but every time I watch this team, I go,
I love what I'm seeing from Leo Good. He's looking

(22:59):
more comfortable by the day. Miles Rice looks way more
comfortable when his roll off the bench. Like, okay, people
are like, oh, it's Miles Rice time when he takes
a late game shot, but he's at least he's not
afraid to take the shot. Like that's that's the thing
is that it's it's about a game. It's about a
you know, basketball is a game of averages, right, Like

(23:21):
he's bound to make one of these right that you
guys are calling Miles Rice moments. But like I can
get why it's frustrated to watch, but like, the guy's
got to take the shot and somebody has to and
he's our pretty much our best perimeter creator, so so
like he is the guy for the job to do that,
and the team has asked him to do that, and

(23:42):
he's taking those shots, but he's supposed to be taking
so like it's is the results not there?

Speaker 1 (23:48):
Right?

Speaker 2 (23:48):
The results sucks, which you know, the results for IU
basketball have sucked for a long time, all right, so
at least at least they're trying, right, So but yeah,
where was I going with this? I've just been rambling better.

Speaker 1 (24:06):
They're playing better. They're playing they're playing better, and they're
playing better. Yeah, and and and with Woodson too, Like
I'm not I'm not expecting you to win the national championship,
but keep oh god, no, this like improvement going as
as long as you can. That's what I was concerned
with as IU went out to the Pacific Northwest. I

(24:28):
was sitting here and going, hey, you know, like you
beat Purdue at home, you beat Penn State at home,
is there going to be a letdown? It would have
been totally understandable. Yeah, and it would have been so
typical of this IU team under Winston, especially to go
out to Washington and lose by double digits or go

(24:50):
to Oregon and lose by fifteen or twenty. And they
did it. They played, They played seventy eight minutes of
really good basketball. And and this is this is what
it takes like as you get to these tournament type games.
You want to make sure you're playing as well as
you can going into the Big Ten tournament or the

(25:12):
NCAA tournament. And so you know, it's really encouraging to
see that take place. We got a lot more to
talk about here as far as IU men's basketball is concerned,
a lot going on around the program, huge game against
Ohio State coming up on Saturday. The first is time
for who won the week this past week in IU sports?

(25:32):
And how about we tip our cap two the Indiana
men's swimming and diving program, who won their fourth straight
Big Ten championship over the weekend in Minneapolis. The Hoosiers,
number two ranked in the country, won the event by
four hundred and thirty one points, which was the largest
in Big Ten history. Eleven individual championships won by the

(25:57):
Hoosiers over the course of that Big Ten Swimming and
Diving Championship, and then I saw that on the women's side,
Alex Shackle, who was an Olympic gold medalist in Paris,
Carmel High school swimming superstar, committed to the IU swimming

(26:19):
and diving program. Uh to, you know, to under the
tutelage of Ray LuSE. Of course, it's really incredible because Shackle,
I believe I saw, was one of a handful of
swimmers in Indiana swimming and diving history to win the
state title in a specific event in all four years

(26:41):
she was in high school, which is crazy. I think
she's on a fourteen or fifteen swimmers in the state
of Indiana to ever do that. And then she went
to Paris over the course of last summer. It's part
of the was was a was a gold medalist on
the other free and then she believe had originally committed
to cal the swimming and diving program out there on

(27:04):
the West coast, and then some.

Speaker 2 (27:07):
Fell No one wants to go swimming in the a SEC.

Speaker 1 (27:10):
It fell through, and Indiana is going to get a
superstar on their hands here as far as the women
swimming and diving program is concerned, which is one of
the and uh, yeah, huge, the acc got in every
sport is just.

Speaker 2 (27:26):
So so bad. Uh did you see speaking of swim
and diveing, did you see there was an event and
it might have been the men's side where they placed one, two, three, four, five,
like they were so dominant in this this victory that
there was an event where literally the only other you

(27:47):
know team that that placed like decently was in sixth place.

Speaker 1 (27:52):
I did, I didn't see that. I did see that. Why,
I can't imagine there are too many other Big ten
championships in track and field or in other sports where
one university finishes one through five at any particular event.
Are you crazy? That's absolutely Sarah, I did see that.

(28:13):
And this programs a juggernaut, Matt. I mean, if you
guys haven't gone to a swimming and diving event at
I you like, I would highly recommend doing so. It's
definitely a fun experience for sure. Quick reminder, if you
enjoy our show, leave us a review, tell a friend,
share our links. Your support really helps us grow this
podcast and reach more passionate IU fans such as yourself.

(28:35):
You can find us on social media, in the NHQ
or at the Hoosier sound man, Let's talk a little
bit about the bubble before we dive into Ohio State.
Of course, this Indiana team squarely in the discussion for
the NCAA tournament. They are in the field right now.
According to bracket Matrix, they are in one hundred and
fourteen out of one hundred and eighteen brackets listed on

(28:59):
bracket meeting dot com as of March fifth, So there
are four out of one hundred and eighteen that don't
have Indiana in the field. Indiana is an eleven seed
and look, IU has accumulated four quad one wins, they
have avoided a loss in quadrants two, three, or four.

(29:20):
That stands out significantly compared to the other bubble teams
that Indiana is competing with. Ohio State is one of them,
and Ohio State went to you know, went to double
overtime against Nebraska back on Tuesday night. That loss really
hurt Nebraska's case, in addition to Nebraska losing to the

(29:42):
Gophers in Lincoln over the weekend. As you look at
this bubble, Matt like, what are you what are your
reactions to what you're seeing as far as this bubble
is concerned. Because Indiana's competing with teams like Arkansas, Ohio State, Nebraska, Oklahoma,
Boise State, Xavior, North Carolina, Texas. It's just, you know,

(30:06):
this whole season, we've compared ourselves to the top of
the class of the Big Ten, and then when you
see Indiana against these other bubble teams, the Hoosias don't
look too terrible.

Speaker 2 (30:15):
The bubbles extraordinarily actually unprecedentedly bad. This year, the bubble
is awful. And it's small too. There's only only a
couple teams.

Speaker 1 (30:29):
Now.

Speaker 2 (30:30):
I'm really worried about bid Steelers. We talked about the
sin last podcast, but there's there's a couple of bids
Steelers out there that I'm I'm I'm afraid of. But
everything goes well in those small conference tournaments. I mean,
I you needs to obviously win on what Saturday, Sunday.

Speaker 1 (30:51):
Saturday Saturday afternoon in the US.

Speaker 2 (30:55):
Sunday morning for me. But anyways, they need they need
to win Saturday for most people that are watching this podcast.
They need to win on Saturday, and then I think
they probably need to win that first game of the
Big Ten tournament.

Speaker 1 (31:10):
Maybe they might not.

Speaker 2 (31:13):
Even need to win that if they just beat Ohio
State on Saturday, but they probably need to win two
more games and then I start to feel comfortable. But
the problem is we might end up playing Oregon again.

Speaker 1 (31:26):
Yeah, we might.

Speaker 2 (31:28):
I'm I I don't want to play Illinois. Illinois is
going to kill us though they've played. We did catch
Illinois at a bad time, Yeah, exactly, so it would
be interesting to see how that game unfolds. Illinois not

(31:48):
been not been doing too hot as of recent I
don't if I'm correct, me if I'm wrong, but I'm
pretty sure. Yeah, no, absolutely, it's just been really hit
or miss with them, and they're one of the war
shooting teams, if not the worst shooting team on volume
in the country. I think that's that's the statistic, Like
they shoot so many threes and they're so terrible at

(32:11):
shooting threes. It doesn't make sense.

Speaker 1 (32:13):
But except that.

Speaker 2 (32:15):
Except Addison by Hall, where they become fanos, I don't understand.
But hopefully Ohio State doesn't do that on Saturday.

Speaker 5 (32:20):
So yeah, I think two wins, two wins in there
in two wins in there for sure, and they're not
in the first four, like right, I think one win
and they lose in the first round of the.

Speaker 2 (32:31):
Big Ten Tournament, which always happens, then we'll be playing
in Dayton. But I think they're in the tournament with
a win on Saturday, irregardless.

Speaker 1 (32:40):
I'll be honest with you too, though. I'll be honest
with you though, mat Like, even if Indiana loses twice,
which is to Ohio State at home and to let's
say a quad one team on on well, it won't
be a quad one team on Wednesday if Indiana plays Wednesday,
because losing Ohio State means Indiana would play on Wednesday.

(33:02):
So look, if you lose to Nebraska usc Iowa on
Wednesday the Big Ten Tournament, that would that wouldn't That
wouldn't be great. But like, I don't think Indiana is
going to be eliminated from the bubble discussion, even with
two losses, which is crazy to say, because even with

(33:25):
two lives, Indiana's at fourteen and nine and twelve and
Big ten play, Like, I don't think they would be
eliminated from conversation.

Speaker 2 (33:36):
Oh maybe in the first four out, I think yeah,
with that regard probably, which means obviously obviously they're still
in the conversation. But I think I think there will
be big Steelers. So if you're in the first four
out and you're and you're looking for an invite to
the dance, Oh, I don't. I don't think you're even
You're you're not even. Yeah, you're not You're not getting

(33:58):
any help from anywhere.

Speaker 1 (34:00):
Yeah, and you're talking about you know, look at teams
like Drake in the Missouri Valley. Right, if Drake in the.

Speaker 2 (34:07):
Missouri Valley, what if uh.

Speaker 1 (34:10):
Mcneise mc McNeice in the Southland, yep, Yale. I think
Yale probably has to auto qualify. You see, San Diego
is probably making the tournament out of the Big West,
even if they lose in the conference tournament. You see,
San Diego has a top forty. I think top forty
can pop that. I think they I think they're top

(34:34):
forty in both.

Speaker 2 (34:36):
What what if somebody in the West Coast Conference outside
of Gonzaga or Saint Mary's wins it, right, yeah, because Zaga,
Saint Mary's, Gonzaga Saint Mary's for sure, you know. And
what if what if somebody outside of the ordinary and
the Big ten wins it? Like for God's sake, what
if Rutgers goes on a run, right, or what if
somebody in the ACC goes on a run and steals

(34:58):
a bit, right, Like, so it's not even just the
minor conferences, the major conferences. We've seen an NC State
team that probably shouldn't have been in the tournament make
a run and then get in and then make a
run in March. Right, So, like it, it's not been
that long since we've seen some of these teams who
were you know, on the outside looking in turn it

(35:20):
up in a conference tournament in March go from you know,
first four out or next four out into the tournament
into a play in, into a final four appearance. Like
this is not out of the question in the sport.

Speaker 1 (35:33):
Yeah, someone in the American Conference outside of Memphis, that's
a candidate. There.

Speaker 2 (35:39):
There's so many conferences, Like the ACC is terrible. Uh,
I'm trying, I'm trying to think the American is awful.
The West Coast conferences you're outside of Gonzaga and Saint
Mary's has been atrocious. But I wouldn't put it past
any of those teams for losing their conference tournament and
giving an extra bid to that conference, right, Like, what

(36:02):
if Duke slips up in the tournament and you know,
they're they're you know, kind of sparingly using flag and
you know their shots aren't falling. On one night they
get upset all of a sudden, the accs why the
heck open? And you can get a big stealer there.
So you know, we got to watch as IU fans.

(36:23):
This is not a comfortable position to be in because
you've got to watch every single tournament because you could
go from last four into first four out very quickly
by no fault of your own.

Speaker 1 (36:36):
Very true, A lot lot a life will be a
lot easier, especially if you beat Ohio State, because not
only do you beat the buck guys who are a
fellow Bubble team, but that also clinches a top nine
finish in Big ten play. For IU, that means you're
you know, you're playing on Thursday at the Big ten tournament. Obviously,

(36:58):
playing on Wednesday gives you a a more free win
to add to your win last Ledger, but from an
optic standpoint, you finish ten and ten and Big ten
play top nine in the league. You don't play until
Thursday of the Big ten tournament, and then your two
other Bubble peers, Ohio State and Nebraska play on Wednesday

(37:22):
and all of a sudden, it's hard to really create
an argument for Ohio State or Nebraska over Indiana. Plus,
you're at Assembly Hall, you're at home, You're facing a
team you've beaten before this season, so taking care of
business against Ohio State will go a long way. There
is also some discussion out there about not knowing how
much the Committee takes conference tournament results into consideration. There

(37:45):
have been examples in the past where the Committee really
doesn't put too much influence in conference tournament play. Of course, yeah,
the big difference is if you go through and you
win it, or maybe you unexpectedly make the final, do
something really out of the ordinary. But Indiana and Ohio

(38:05):
State both might want to do work here on Saturday,
And of course it helps the Hoosier significantly that they
beat Ohio State in Columbus and they have the buck
guys now in Bloomington coming up on Saturday. The final
thing I'll say here is if you take Indiana out
of the picture for another bubble team, like forget the

(38:26):
vin Steelers for a sec, but if you take Indiana
out for another bubble team, I would really like to
know who that bubble team is, because right now when
you look at the teams that are out of the
field that need to work their way back in according
to bracket matrix, teams like Boise State or Xavier, or
North Carolina or Texas, their resumes are really, really, really bad.

(38:51):
I mean, and I understand Texas was a little bit
of a victim of the SEC this year. The SEC
is very, very tough league. But at the same time,
like my friends in Texas, don't lose to Georgia at
home by sixteen. Oh, don't go to South Carolina lose
by fifteen. Of course, a mutual opponent between Texas and

(39:14):
Indiana and the game Cocks the Futures beat South Carolina
like everyone else did. Texas lost to South Carolina by
fifteen just a couple of weeks ago. So this bubble.
If North Carolina loses to Duke this weekend, I'm really
not sure how North Carolina can have any kind of
argument except for a brand bias thing. If you're going

(39:34):
to replace Indiana with another bubble team, I don't know
who it is. And by the way, I don't really
care if Indiana plays in Dayton. And I know most
people will probably disagree with this, but look, you if
you don't have to play in the first four. Fine, Like,
I'm not going to be upset with that, But Dayton

(39:56):
is not a competitive disadvantage. Actually, as you go into
the round to sixty four, plenty of teams have gone
to Dayton, played well, won, and you keep the vibes
going into Thursday and Friday of the round to sixty four.
When Indiana played in Dayton, it went badly against Saint
Mary's because Indiana played like crap against Saint Mary's. It

(40:18):
wasn't because there were you know, it wasn't because they
played in Dayton. They had some traveling to do. But
Indiana also played three games in the Big Ten tournament
the previous weekend and then they went from Dayton to Portland.
And all I'm saying is like, I don't care if
Indiana plays in Dayton or doesn't play in Dayton. I

(40:39):
just want Indiana to hear their name called out selection Sunday,
so we'll see what happens there. If you want to
talk about that, Matt, you can after this or we
can dive into Ohio state. But first it's time for
a social media shout out where I have to remind
all of you once again, if you enjoy our show,
leave us a review, tell a friend, share our links.

(41:01):
That kind of support really helps us grow this podcast.
If you want to find us, you can find us
on Twitter, Facebook, or YouTube at Indiana HQ or at
the Hoosier Sound been on Instagram or not Indiana.

Speaker 2 (41:13):
HQ but what are we Indiana dot HQ.

Speaker 1 (41:16):
You can find us. There lots of engagement, lots of chatter,
a lot of comments going on all across social media
to make sure you join if you have not already. Yeah,
I mean that's how I see this bubble thing play out.
Of course. Matt a fellow bubble team here at the
Ohio State Buck Guys, they're gonna be coming to Bloomington

(41:37):
on Saturday, three forty five Eastern tip off against the Buckeyes.
I actually do have to give a shout out to CBS,
unlike other networks that broadcasts the SEC. For example, CBS says, hey, look,
we'll give a fifteen minute buffer at the end of

(41:58):
our first game so that we don't have to join
the second game the succeeding game ten minutes into the
first half. So on Saturday, there's a game before Indiana
Ohio State on CBS. Iowa State plays Kansas State on CBS.
That's a one thirty start. So instead of jamming it

(42:19):
right up against that one, CBS says, hey, Ohio State, Indiana,
we'll get started three forty five. Give all of you
enough time to tip things off. So shout out to CBS.
Great business decision there. The Hoosiers, Matt, are going to
be favored against the buck guys. I think it's going
to be by a point or two. Indiana went to
Ohio State and won back in January. It was kind

(42:44):
of a game that I think a lot of Hoosier
fans kind of blocked out of their memories because I
had I had lost to Illinois, they had lost Iowa,
and then they played this really just Friday night January
road game in Columbus that the metrics sit back and say, Wow,
great job usuer is way to go to Columbus and

(43:07):
what a big time game that looked great in the metrics. Matt,
what are your initial thoughts here Ohio State and Indiana
Assembly Hall Senior Night Mike Woodson's final game as head
coach of Indiana in Bloomington. What are your thoughts here,
Ohio State versus Indiana. Everyone's going to be watching.

Speaker 2 (43:24):
Everyone's going to be watching. It's a huge obviously you've
just talked about. It's a huge game for the bubble,
This huge game for both teams to kind of get
on the right side of the bubble going into the
Big Ten Tournament. I like the Hoosiers in this matchup.
I know I alluded it to it the top of
the top of the show, but like, you know, like

(43:45):
IU doesn't lose on senior night, all right, Historically this
is not a thing.

Speaker 1 (43:50):
We do not do that.

Speaker 2 (43:52):
We will not be losing on senior Night. And I
refuse to believe that would change at any point in time,
even with the you know, current state of the program.
So I have faith in these guys. And I think
I used playing some of it's better basketball and they
beat Ohio State when I was playing like a subpar program.

(44:12):
So so I like you in this this matchup. How
about you, Nissan?

Speaker 1 (44:17):
Uh me too. I will say Indiana did lose to
Rutgers in Woodson's first season. Uh senior night, that required
a that's true, yeah A Uh. I was gonna say
a Dylan Harper senior it's a joke. But Aron Harper, Aron.

Speaker 2 (44:34):
Harper, your stupid buzzer beater. I was there for that
game that sucked.

Speaker 1 (44:40):
Yeah, yeah, I forgot about that one. Allen kind of stings.

Speaker 2 (44:46):
That one hurt. That one really hurt, man.

Speaker 1 (44:49):
And that was a similar circumstance. To remember, Rutgers in
Indiana were both on the bubble that year too. Now
Indiana got in even though they lost against Rutgers. That's
encouraging to see. Of course I played Wyoming that your
Dayton before Saint Mary's. But you know, we're.

Speaker 2 (45:05):
Protected to play Saint Mary's again, by the way. Fun fact,
you know, I mean, it's not really a fun fact.
I don't know why I said it like it was
a fun fact. That's not a fun fact. I don't
like playing Saint Mary's. Can we not play Saint Mary's?

Speaker 1 (45:16):
Please?

Speaker 2 (45:16):
Thank you?

Speaker 1 (45:17):
Yeah. I'm gonna say one thing, like Randy Bennett can coach,
He can coach the best of them. And remember Indiana's
oh and one against the West Coast Conference this year,
and the team that Indiana lost to uh got wrecked

(45:40):
by Saint Mary's in the in the West Coast Conference race,
like through a three game margin at the top of
the West Coast Conference this year, and so it's like
kind of wild. I mean, Mark, you can coach as well,
and and Saint Mary's really ran away with it. I like,
I like he also drive.

Speaker 2 (46:00):
But anyways, continue, Yes.

Speaker 1 (46:03):
Yeah, Rany Bennett doesn't. Randy Bennett does not. I like
Indiana too, just because just because I'm I'm sitting here
and thinking about how Ohio State went two overtimes back
on Tuesday night and mm hmmm, like they won the game.

(46:28):
I would be more nervous about Ohio State had they
lost to Nebraska and Columbus, right, because then they are
really playing this desperate, balls to the wall, relentless crazy
type of basketball where they are really thinking about this

(46:48):
game on Saturday as if their season is really really
really on the line. If Ohio State loses a quad
one road game to Indiana, it's not great for their resume.
But like they'll say here and say, hey, look we
can make it up Wednesday or whatever in the Big
Ten tournament. But by winning that game, I'm sorry, And
so by winning that game against Nebraska on Tuesday night,

(47:11):
I think they might have a little bit less desperation
as they come to Assembly Hall on Saturday. But The
one thing I will say is like as much as
we like having this game at Assembly Hall, as much
as we like this game, you know, being Senior night,

(47:32):
Senior Day, and of course you'd rather be at home
than on the road, there is this added element where
if ohiotid goes out there and takes a lead and
sort of Indiana has a couple of defensive breakdowns and
maybe they make a coaching mistake at some point at
substitutions or something, the pressure in Assembly Hall could really

(47:55):
make things uncomfortable on Saturday. So hopefully what we get
is forty minutes a fun, exciting basketball where Iyu really
plays with a positive spirit, a positive mindset to hit
some shots. That first half against Oregon, the threes wouldn't fall,
and looking back, you know that would have made a

(48:15):
pretty significant difference in the game if they had just
hit one or two more in the first half there,
because in the second half the Hooiars won six to
fifteen beyond the arc against the Ducks. But you can
just get that first, you know, you get hit some
threes early, get the crowd really into it, throw some
dunks down in the fast break, because if it does

(48:36):
get negative, that pressure and assembly halk get really uncomfortable
Saturday afternoon. But with that said, like Ohio State statistically
does a couple of things that I think should really
really help IU. And you know, we talked about it
a minute ago. One of the things the buck Geys

(48:58):
do quite a bit is foul they they put they
put their opponent on the line quite a bit. And
Mike Woodson ripped the officiating after the game against Oregon.
And so I'm sitting here and I'm like, hey, look,
Ohio State, a team that's given up at least seventeen
free throw attempts in every game since twenty twenty five began,

(49:22):
Indiana should really be able to get to the line
twenty five thirty times against the buck guys here, even
if the game doesn't go into ot If not twenty,
let's go twenty twenty five against the buck guys here,
because like Renew and Ballow and the way Rice and
Gallowy penetrate into the paint, Embaco like I use, I use,

(49:46):
players should be getting to the free throw line fairly
consistently in this one. And of course, look you gotta
make them once you get there. But uh, but you know,
if if the Hoosiers can get to the line if
nothing else, that might put the Buck guys into a
little bit of foul trouble. And the other thing, too,

(50:06):
is Ohio State does turn the ball over a good amount,
and normally I wouldn't pay too much attention to that,
but it's funny, like a lot of their turnovers are
just kind of foolish mistakes, like those things like illegal
screens and stuff like that. And what I'm hoping to
see on Saturday afternoons that the Buck guys do commit

(50:30):
some turnovers that in turn fires up the crowd, that
in turn gives Indiana maybe a couple of easier baskets.
The Buck guys only had nine turnovers against Nebraska, but
you definitely hope Indiana can sort of turn up the heat,
turn up the intensity against Ohio State here force them
to make some mistakes, because I will say, in the

(50:52):
event of a close game, the Buck guys are very,
very very good free throw shooting team, and so I
hope that Indiana doesn't get into like a free throw
like you know, Indiana doesn't have to foul Ohio State
late like they did have to foul Oregon late, because
then at that point, the buck guys could potentially pull
away a little bit. Ken pum Matt has this game

(51:15):
seventy six seventy five in favor of Indiana, seventy five
to seventy four in favor of Indiana. I don't see
that many points in this game. I really don't. I
feel like it goes under. I have Indiana winning this game.
I think the Hoosiers will take this one something like
seventy one sixty seven. Good game, just like the Oregon game.

(51:38):
You know, both teams playing well, but I think Indiana
will have just enough there to get the job done.
Is that how you see this game going back? Who
do you have winning?

Speaker 2 (51:46):
And by how much you're You're still in my thunder here,
because I think it's almost exactly how the game goes.
I just think the Hoosiers will find a way to
win on the free throw line. I don't know if
it's gonna be the last seconds because they're getting fouled,
or just throughout the game because they're going to be
getting found through the game, but they'll win this game

(52:07):
at the line, which means I think Imbacco is gonna
have a big game because he's one of our better
free throw shooters. I think Miles Rice will get to
the line a bit. And I'm hoping for one of
the best games from Omar Ballo when it comes to
his free throw shooting, because he should be getting to

(52:29):
the line a bit as well. So yeah, I got
the Hoosiers winning about seventy to sixty four. I don't
think it's going to be that close to the end.
I think they'll win comfortably through free throw margin.

Speaker 1 (52:40):
Yeah, and as you were talking about with Rice and Mbaco,
the other guy would really like to rely on to
make some free throws and just have a good game overalls.
Louke Goodie who of course led all scorers with twenty
three against Ohio State back when the Hoosiers last time
the Buckeys in Columbus. So yeah, And of course in

(53:01):
that game, Indiana did not have Malik Renew and Indiana's
going through a psychological crisis. So now Indiana has Malik
Renew and we're I wouldn't say we're in crisis mode anymore.
So you know, he'll take those two things. He'll take
those two things as advantages here and so and so yeah,

(53:25):
Luke Goody, I love your call there. Miles Rice McKenzie
and Bacco hopefully and Baca can hit a couple of
shots early, feel good about himself and be an X
factor for IU against Ohio State on Saturday. Any final
thoughts here as we wind down on this Thursday, Matt
big Ten basketball, this season has been a wild ride.
Tournament play kicking off today for the women's team against

(53:48):
Oregon and then the men's team next week, hopefully on Thursday.
What are your final thoughts here as you wind down
on March sixth.

Speaker 2 (53:57):
Yeah, I mean March is here. I got my office
in China doing a March Madness bracket. I'm putting up
on my own money to run, which should be fun.
I have a bunch of chin you know, native Chinese
people betting on not betting, sorry, because there's no betting
in China, disgusting.

Speaker 1 (54:19):
And having fun talking about.

Speaker 2 (54:22):
Handshaking and having a fun giggly time about March Madness
in the office, which would be fun, And it would
be way more fun if I could just purposefully int
and ruin my bracket by not ruin my bracket, but
you know, faithfully predict I you to win a national

(54:43):
championship in my my you know, my my.

Speaker 1 (54:47):
My office bracket.

Speaker 2 (54:48):
So hopefully they make it there so that I can
have that opportunity to do that little mean slash what
will happen?

Speaker 1 (54:54):
So, yeah, what about you slash what will happen? Yes? Correct,
we are all in C State at this point, everyone
is at C State. We can all do it.

Speaker 2 (55:07):
I I'm I'm I'm down. But I mean, does that
mean Whatson comes back next year? That's the question I
don't want to answer.

Speaker 1 (55:16):
I mean, he answers though he's not coming back next
year in the National Championship and he's done.

Speaker 2 (55:22):
We talked about this on an stream, we talked on
ants space. It's not happening.

Speaker 1 (55:26):
So he might he might have the larger say in
Indiana Highers this last season. We might give him. We
might give him an opportunity to throw in a good
word for someone. But but no, he's not coming back.

Speaker 2 (55:41):
Zero Roseman, welcome to.

Speaker 1 (55:47):
Yeah. Uh no, overall, I like what I'm seeing here.
As far as I you playing better, I think you
hit the nail on the head in the first you know,
five minutes. Like when I watch I don't I'm not
dreading watch this team right now. I'm looking forward to
every single time I U plays, and I honestly think
they're capable of beating anyone on any given day, particularly

(56:10):
because this entire conference is I think, well, I think
the elite team is Michigan State, and Indiana won in
east Land, sing So I think Indiana is one of
the few teams really in the Big Ten that could say, oh,
you know, we feel good about playing Michigan State, or
we feel good about playing Maryland, or we feel good
about pay whoever, because Indiana is competing against those teams,

(56:31):
and over the last few games, like one thing that
has really stood out, especially since the Purdue win, is
that I using a good job of preventing things get
away from them. It's funny because like, there are so
many different games of basketball played within forty minutes, and
you know, sometimes you'll be on the front foot and

(56:52):
you'll be playing better, you'll be taking and making threes,
and you'll be getting out fast break, and then there
will be other times when the other team is doing
that team you and in those situations like you can't
let it get out to ten or twelve or fourteen
or sixteen point deficit. Indiana's done a good job against
Penn State and against Oregon of making sure that they're

(57:13):
within arms reached, they're within arms reach, within arms reach,
and that allows them to potentially go on a run
and take the lead in the second half. And that's
exactly the recipe for success that they had against Penn State.
And that's exactly how they played the first thirty eight
minutes against Oregon before Schelstad hit that bomb from thirty
five feet. So that to me shows concrete improvement, it

(57:38):
shows progress. I mean, if Indiana plays Oregon, I can't wait.
If that's what it takes Thursday in the Big Ten Tournament,
I'm pumped, like I would love to see that matchup
in Indianapolis. If Indiana plays Illinois, I'm ready to go.
I'm ready to see what the Hoosiers have in store.
I believe, though I have to double check, but I
believe Indiana can only play Illinois or Oregon. No, that's

(58:06):
not right. I take that back. Just ignore everything I
said there in the last five seconds. But at the
end of the day, it is very possible that Indiana
plays Oregon on Thursday. I would be ready to see
that matchup. Of course, what that would mean as if
Indiana wins, they probably face Michigan State on Friday, which
I'm sure tom Izzo and his team are linking their
chops at that opportunity. But you know, I like the

(58:28):
way Indiana's playing, and I will say, like, if big
Steelers take Indiana spot in March Madness, so be it.
But if there's a bubble team that's gonna jump in
there for the Hoosiers, I'm going to be really really surprised.
I mean, I understand it could take in North Carolina
went over Duke or Texas run in the SEC tournament,

(58:51):
but wow, I mean their resume is right now, are
really really awful. Indiana has done some good work like
winning in Columbus, winning against Penn, stay on the road,
beating Purdue by fifteen, all things that you'd love to
see there. But folks, that about wraps it up for
a three hundred and forty second show of the Who's
Your Sound? Thank you so much for joining us. Really
appreciate your support to hear more fantastic episodes like the

(59:13):
one you heard today. Be sure to follow us at
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as always, thank you for listening. Who's your nation and
we will see you next time. Love,