October 31, 2025 • 32 mins
On this episode, Alex Bozich is joined by Josh Pos of Inside the Hall to discuss what we learned from IU basketball's exhibition games and preview IU football's road trip to Maryland.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:17):
Welcome back to a new episode of Podcasts on the Brink, Friday,
October thirty first, a day that kids look forward to
every year. It is Halloween, but we're not talking Halloween
here on Podcasts on the Brink, We're talking I You
Basketball and IU football with Josh Pose inside the Hall.
(00:39):
Before we get to Josh, quick reminder, if you enjoy
the show, please leave us a five star rating and
review over on Apple podcast and Spotify. And if you're
watching this on YouTube, we are. I just looked about
one thousand, about eleven hundred subscribers away from ten thousand,
so we'll continue to grow our numbers there. If you
(01:00):
enjoy the show the video podcast, continue to like the
videos over there, subscribe. And I also wanted to mention
Ryan As recently introduced a new format for film session
this season. It's very good. I recommend if you haven't
had a chance to go check those out. He's done
one on Tucket Derees from the first exhibition game. Lamar
Wilkerson was the focus from the Baylor exhibition, which we're
(01:22):
going to talk about well, Josh. One other brief note
that we're not going to get into too much on
the show. Von Carvala, a class of twenty twenty six
wing originally from Wisconsin now playing at Belavis, the prep
out in Arizona's going to announce his college decision Saturday afternoon,
coincidentally the same time as IU football will be kicking
(01:43):
off against Maryland on CBS, so you might have to
go dual screen if you want to watch the announcement.
It's going to be streamed over on the Belvis to
Hoops YouTube channel. Josh, Happy Halloween. Thanks for coming back
on the show. I know you're had a little family
excursion right now, so I appreciate you taking the time
(02:04):
to to join us. What what's the what's the plan
for for Halloween? If you I'm a little too old
to dress up, but you're still uh you know, a kid,
I guess right, still in college. So yeah, what's the
what's the what's the get up tonight for Halloween?
Speaker 2 (02:20):
It's all reliable for me. It's it's coach Mike Dicta
Dow Bears. I have the sweater vest, I have the
fake mustache, I have the Aviator sunglasses. Don't have a
super Bowl trophy, but uh, I gotta go Mike Dica
and I have some family here who love Da Bears,
and so do I, but they grew up in the
(02:42):
Dicca era, so I am. I'm set for a good
win against the family.
Speaker 1 (02:48):
Had I known this before, I would have actually had
you put the costume on for the podcast. I actually
been on a special trade for the YouTube audience. Uh
Josh poses Mike Disha, But no, that would be I need.
I need a picture when you're in full costume, at
least just to see what it all looks like. But
you were with me court side on Sunday at game
(03:10):
rich Sfield House. It was I don't want to say
lighter than expected crowd because we kind of knew a
couple of days before that ticket sales maybe weren't as
brisk as everyone would have hoped. But still I think
roughly forty five hundred people were there. It was a,
in my opinion, a pretty high level game between two
teams that are completely new this season and Baylor in Indiana. Oh,
(03:34):
some things to take away, obviously, But you were down
in Puerto Rico, you were at the Marion exhibition game.
But I think this is maybe our first chance to
see Indiana against a high cow. I don't want to say,
Mega wasn't a high caliber opponent, but this is, you know,
a better gauge of kind of where this team is.
What were your thoughts on how India played on Sunday
(03:54):
and kind of some some takeaways coming out of that game.
Speaker 2 (03:57):
I thought they played as good as you could play
for an exhibition game, Alex. It wasn't great, but it
wasn't completely ugly. There were some things to take away
the rebounding, defensive rebounding, Indiana was outside, but then if
you look at points in the paint, Indiana one thirty
four to twenty eight. So it was a give and
take and you'd never really guess that those two would
(04:20):
have been so separate from each other, just based on
how people talk about Indiana size and how the rebounding went.
But at the same time, I thought it was a
really good test for both teams. But for Indiana, after
those first four games, you had he had an idea
of what this team would be like, but you saw
it against a team just at Indiana's caliber, that bubble team,
(04:44):
that at large team in Baylor. They're not what they
used to be at least yet they receiving a vote
I think or two. But I think it was a
good chance for us to see and Darren DeVries to
see how his team stacks up against Division one, a
high major caliber opponent, did.
Speaker 1 (05:05):
In the way Indiana played on Sunday? Did it make
you any more? Did it make you more optimistic or
less optimistic as to what this team can be this
season in terms of their spot in the Big Ten
and what they can ultimately become by the end of
the year, or not at all because you don't really
take much much out of it since it's an exhibition.
Speaker 2 (05:24):
Yeah, it didn't move me either way, because I remember
watching the Tennessee game last year and thinking, Oh, this
team could be really, really good. The only difference is
that Tennessee played it differently than Indiana did last year.
Both of these teams, Indiana and Baylor played like they
wanted to win the game this year. So I'd say
it didn't move me, But if it had to, it
(05:45):
had been a little bit more optimistic about this team.
Speaker 1 (05:49):
One thing that you were talking to me about is
we kind of watched the game. I had noticed it
as much, but I noticed it as the game went along,
and you pointed it out pretty quickly. The chemistry between
Lamar Wilkers and and Tuker debris. Is that something that
you saw pretty quickly in Puerto Rico. Is that something
that maybe has been building over the course of the
(06:09):
fall And are you surprised at those two? It does
look like in many ways that they've played together for
a lot longer than what four or five months is
what they've been together dating back to early summer in Bloomington.
But you can just see that they both kind of
know where the other one likes the ball, and they
had a couple of plays where it's just they had
(06:30):
the synergy of two guys that have been teammates for
a lot longer than they have been.
Speaker 2 (06:34):
Yeah, you could you could see it a little bit
in Puerto Rico, But the first marrying of the Marrian
exhibition game, that's when you started to see it a
little a little more. And they had I believe, like
two months to figure that out and learn each other
a bit more than they had going into Puerto Rico.
But it more starts off the floor with me. At
Big ten media day, you could tell that they were
(06:55):
really close. They joked about how each other was older
than I think AARs is older than Tucker but Tucker
still is called the old head of the group. You
could tell that it's built off the floor that that
led to Tucker knew where Lamar was going to backcut
to Lamar knew where Tucker wanted. Every shooter wants it,
(07:17):
but he would get the pass right to Tucker's tip
pocket for a three. So those two they didn't really
have it because Tucker was struggling so much in Puerto Rico,
especially from three. But you can see the growth between
them because they are the two leaders, especially on the
offensive side of the ball.
Speaker 1 (07:38):
Yeah, Lamar, I thought in particular, he didn't have his
best offensive game in terms of his shooting, but the
fact that he was able to get to the line
like he was is very encouraging from the standpoint of
it wasn't an opponent that lacked athleticism or size on
the wing. He was doing it against the team that
you know. I don't want to make any conclusions before
I've seen most of the Big Ten, but I would
(07:59):
say and correct me if you think I'm wrong. I
would say Baylor are on the wing and guard positions
is going to be as athletic or more athletic than
what seventy five percent of the teams are going to
face in the Big ten. So the fact that he
was able to get to the line he like he did,
I thought was an encouraging thing. And Tucker the thing
about him that really stands out, Like you said, he's
(08:20):
not shot the ball. I don't think up to the
way he can potentially so far in these exhibition games.
He's obviously still working his way back into things. He
missed a significant amount of time last year. He's fully healthy,
but you know, any player who's coming back from an
injury that's season ending, it's going to take them some
time to get the rhythm back. But he does all
these little things that impact winning, you know, the assists,
(08:43):
the rebounding, and defensively. You look at him sometimes and
you think, you know, yeah, he could get blown by
at times, or he could be at a disadvantage from
an athleticism standpoint, but he always knows where he's supposed
to be. Such an intelligent player. You know, it's a
cliche to say coach's son, but in this instance, he
really does know the ins and outs of the system
(09:04):
and knows where he needs to be. And I think
that's such a valuable team thing for this Indiana team.
That's bringing a whole you know, a ton of new
guys together and trying to still figure things out. Even
though they have had these extra practices in the summer,
the exhibition games. I think those have been helpful. But
I don't think you can expect this team to just
be firing on all cylinders when the regular seasons start,
because it's a brand new team with a ton of
(09:24):
new faces and a brand new system and coach.
Speaker 2 (09:27):
Yeah, they're going to figure it out. And actually it
was a lot of people's first game watching this team.
I've had the luxury of seeing them for all their
exhibition games, but everybody said to me before the game,
ob Tucker is much bigger than I thought he was,
and he is. He is. He's much more filled in.
He doesn't really look like a guy. He kind of
(09:48):
has the Evan Fitzner build, a lot more athletic. I
didn't mean to bring up a name like that, but
having the five assists, six rebounds, two blocks, two steals,
eight points, it's really impressive. And he's it's always been
known that he's going to lead this team, just leadership wise,
(10:08):
maybe not on the floor. But filling up the stat sheet,
not only on offense or on defense. While his offense
really struggled and his shooting gets there, Indiana is gonna
have to find a way. And Lamar getting to the
line eleven times, he's gonna have to find a way.
They're getting inside the paint when their shots aren't falling.
They have the IQ, the basketball IQ to say, Hey,
(10:31):
our shots aren't falling, we're gonna still take them, but
we're gonna try to get some two point shots. We're
gonna hit a mid range, We're gonna go drive to
the lane, draw file, And that's what's gonna impress people
this year. They're not going to try to shoot themselves
out of slumps. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (10:44):
I think Tucker, just seeing them up close at that
exhibition game, watching him go through warlcks, watching him shoot,
I was thinking, this guy's got a real chance to
play in the NBA for a while because with that
size and that ability to space the floor and shoot
him with just how smart of a player he is.
And you look at kind of what the NBA has
gone to in terms of a ton of three point shooting,
(11:06):
and with his size, I think there's a chance that
he's a long time pro. I'm not saying that it's
definitely gonna happen, but I think he's gonna be a
guy if he can stay healthy all season play up
to his potential. You know, his age obviously works a
little bit against him, but you know, I think there's
examples of guys. You know, Duncan Robinson's a great example
coming out of Michigan who has made a living and
made a ton of money in the NBA just by
(11:27):
being a knockdown shooter. And I think Tucker in many
ways has a more rounded skill set than what Duncan
Robinson did coming out of Michigan. So he's a he's
a player. I think Indiana fan should really be excited
about watching the season. Another guy that I think coming
out of the exhibition that you have to be encouraged
by their players taking Conaway because defensively he is so
(11:49):
far as advertised in terms of the pressure he puts
on the ball. His positioning kind of knowing where to
be can get a little bit over aggressive at times
with the fouling, but I think given the context of
no one was going to foul out in that game,
maybe he was a little bit more aggressive than he
would be in a normal game, but offensively. I remember
talking to Darren Devrees over the summer for an interview
(12:11):
for the site that we did, and he talked about
Tayittan's kind of a guy that you have to live
with some of the risks that he takes, particularly offensively,
because he makes some plays that are kind of head
scratching at times, but oftentimes they work out and you
kind of have to live with that. We kind of
saw some of that on Sunday. That last bucket that
he scored. He kind of just took it upon himself
(12:32):
to go right in the lane and score and get fouled.
It wasn't like he was looking for anybody else. It
was like, this is my ball, I'm going to go
get the bucket. I think that aggressiveness is something that
is going to be a an asset to Indiana at times.
Like I said, it could be to his detriment, but
I think for him, striking the balance between playmaker and
being aggressive and kind of trying to get the ball
(12:53):
into the paint and look for his offense is an
encouraging thing as you watch him. What are your impressions
so far? If Tate and are you, you know, high
on him in terms of what he can bring to
this Indiana team this year.
Speaker 2 (13:06):
Yeah, I'm really high on Taton Connorway just because of
the brand of basketball he plays. He's not afraid to
get in there, take a charge, try to get a steal,
go out for a steal. But another thing is with
his defense is that I think I said it to you, Indiana,
he and Indiana as a whole just didn't get back
cut for how aggressive he he was. There was never
(13:29):
a time where he was getting beat on the back
door cut, which was very impressive. So you're gonna take
that and you're gonna look at that and you say
he's playing really, really good defense. And then Indiana kind
of lacked that kind of I'm gonna take the ball
and I'm going to go score a guy last year.
And to see him do that in an exhibition game,
and he's not Lamar Wilkerson, he's not Tucker de Breeze.
(13:50):
He just went and took the ball and said I'm
going to win this game for my team, and he did.
Sometimes he's gonna miss. But the brash confidence that he
has and we saw it, I think he had eighteen
first half points in the second game against Mega in
Puerto Rico, and didn't play really the second half, but
we saw the offensive flashes. He gets two feet in
(14:11):
the lane, he'll pass it out. I think there was
a couple times where he didn't just go up and score,
if memory serves me right. But that's where you're gonna
have that head scratching moment. But he's gonna find guys
in transition on the run. He was the guy that
was pushing the ball and he's really he's really exciting
to see.
Speaker 1 (14:29):
Yeah. The thing I like about Hm too is he
always seems to have a smile on his face. Just
from talking to him, getting a chance to talk to
him this summer, and seeing some of the pictures of
him just kind of in these public events, and even
saw a couple of pictures of him from the Han
and holl hoops last night. He seems genuinely happy to
have the opportunity to play basketball Indiana, and I think
that is something that can be contagious on this team
(14:52):
in terms of just he's one of the obviously the
leaders on the court in terms of running the team,
but he's just a guy that I think other players
are drawn to and like to be around, and he
really has worked his way up through the ladder of
college basketball, spending time at a couple of different junior colleges,
I believe, then going to Troy and working his way
up through there. So he's a guy that's you know, older, experienced,
(15:14):
and I think is going to be a huge asset
to the scene. The last thing I wanted to kind
of touch based on is just the front court situation,
because I think the biggest question mark you mentioned it
a little bit earlier, the rebounding coming out of that game.
Reed Bailey didn't have his best showing against Baylor, a
little bit more athletic maybe than, as I mentioned, than
some of the opponents that he's going to be facing
(15:35):
this season. But what what's just kind of your your
sense of how this front court rotation is going to
work out? Is going to Are there gonna be games
where Indiano is gonna be able to ride read a
little bit more than what we saw against Baylor, and
Sam Alexis won't be needed as much. And there's probably
gonna be some games as well where Indiana is gonna
have to heavily rely on Alexis because as we saw,
he's their best friend protector, blocked a couple of shots
(15:57):
against Baylor. I think he's their best rebounder too. I
think that's kind of the biggest lingering question for a
lot of people is just how this front core situation
is gonna work out. So how do you kind of
size that all up right now? And the balance between
how they used Bailey and Alexis.
Speaker 2 (16:13):
I think it's gonna be personnel based for the opponent's
personnel that Indiana's gonna have to really adjust and no
One's gonna be adjusting to Indiana's bigs this year. I
really did like Sam Alexis in the back to the
basket role that he had. We talked to Darren Debries
during Big ten media days and he said he's gonna
be more Bartie. We've enjoyed his back to the basket.
(16:36):
We can see him shoot a three, but we want
him to go back to the basket. While Reid kind
of stands out as a stretch five, Red Daily kind
of was quiet, like you said it was it eighteen minutes,
Alexis had twenty five, and he was more brash. He
was four or five from the field, Like, there's gonna
be games where one steins in the other doesn't. I
(16:58):
think that'll be the major already of the season. They're
not both gonna go at the same time. I think
I wrote about it the Big Ten media, like the
notebook I had that they're gonna play two bigs. They
went to it for a little bit, but they didn't go,
they didn't stay in it. They didn't play well in that.
So I and they succeeded when one or the other
was on the floor. That said, there's gonna be teams
(17:20):
that have that give Indiana no choice to play two
bigs on the floor at one time. So they're gonna
have to adjust and find a way to work together
in that system.
Speaker 1 (17:32):
Yeah, they're gonna also have to kind of balance right
now the lack of depth, and I don't know that
they can necessarily afford to play both of them together
for too long because they have to be aware that,
you know, if one guy gets in foul trouble, the
other guy's gonna have to play a ton of minutes.
There's really no one else to kind of eat up
(17:52):
those of those minutes. I mean, I guess, and a
pinch you could play some Trent Sisily as an undersized side,
but that's really kind of stretching it. Josh Harris looks
to be out for quite a while and he's not
a center either. So if there's one thing just personnel.
While I was looking at this roster that Indiana maybe
lacks is its depth at the five, and I think
they're gonna have to be really careful about how they
navigate the minutes for those two. But Josh, want to
(18:15):
switch gears. You obviously have covered IU football as closely
as anybody this season, your covers on Inside the Hall.
A lot of people have reached out and told me
how much they've enjoyed it. It's been going great so far,
and what a what a first year to cover football
and Inside the Hall Indiana. Yeah, I think coming into
it you may disagree with this. I didn't think there
(18:38):
was a chance that India was going to be eight
to o at this point of the season. You know,
I thought it was, you know, maybe nine to three,
ten and two best case scenario season. Especially after last year,
you think, you know, that was kind of a once
in a lifetime season. But here we are again, Indiana
eight to o headed to Maryland, this season are this
weekend for a three point thirty kickoff on CBS. You
(19:00):
didn't seem to think that there's any chance that this
is kind of a trap game or a game that
Indiana overlooks, just because this is the same scenario now
several weeks in a row, Indiana kind of comes in
as a heavy favorite, has been taken care of business.
So maybe a two part question, is there any chance
that Indiana goes into this game and has any trouble?
And two, why have they been able to continue to
(19:24):
just dominate opponents on a weekend week out basis? It's
not like they're more Obviously they've got a ton of talent.
They've got a lot of good players, but it's not
like they're a roster full of five star players. Obviously
we know Kurt Signetti, but this team just seems on
a mission to accomplish something and accomplish things that we've
never really seen before in Bloomingson.
Speaker 2 (19:44):
I think this question the two two parts answered with
one name. It is Kurt Signetti. I think Indiana has
a chance to have a little bit of a stinker
this week. It's their first road game since earning that
number two title. It's the first road game since the
Oregon game. So and College Park isn't the hot bed
(20:06):
for college football right now by any stretch of the imagination.
Maryland's kind of struggling right now. But this team is
different because Kurtzignetti's mindset instilled into them. Every Monday, he
comes in with an opening statement and he likens every
team to probably the greatest team of all time. This week,
(20:26):
we're gonna keep the theme here. He likened them to
the eighty five Bears. Nearly. He talked about their defense
and how they have takeaways and they stuff you at
the line. They're gonna win you, they're gonna beat you
in the trenches. Well, he said the same thing about
how UCLA was a great football team in Indiana one
by fifty. So I think that Indiana as a mentality
(20:49):
as a team, as the players, it's kind of hard
to go out there as twenty one point favorites and
you're gonna have to play your best and it's difficult
to do it on a weekly masis. But their coach
won't allow anything different than forty fifty point wins. They're
the only team with a conference win of fifty plus
(21:10):
and They've done it twice this year. The three of
their last four home games have been fifty plus point victories.
This team isn't normal. This is a very good team.
Maryland is struggling. They have a freshman quarterback who's only
been sacked twice. But if I bring you back to
the last Indiana road game, Dante more and Oregon had
only been sacked once and he got sacked six times
(21:32):
in the game. And he has defensive line he's still
Signetti caled Mikyle Kamara Kamara out by name. I think
he has a big day and this defensive line is
just going to recavoc all day.
Speaker 1 (21:45):
Oh. I'm sure the defensive line is well aware that
he's only been sacked twice, so they're probably going to
try to double that on Saturday. Won't surprise me if
that happens. Fernada Mendoza right now kind of at the
top of the most of the Heisman lists, depending on
where you look, what's gonna have to happen from here
on out in your mind for him to actually win
that award? How important are do you think? It's more
(22:08):
based on how if how Indiana continues to play as
a team or his individual stats that are going to
ultimately decide if he wins an award, because you know,
I think a lot of it's gonna be also depending
on what happens in that that Big Ten Championship game,
because I think the voting closes maybe a little bit
after that game, and that that's gonna have a big
part of it too, is assuming Indiana gets there. But
(22:29):
do you think this is more about Obviously Mendoza's played terrific,
but do you think Indiana has to keep winning big
uh for him to continue to stay at the top
of the list.
Speaker 2 (22:41):
Yeah, outside of Travis Hunter, it is a team award.
If you if you are succeeding, you are having those
Heisman moments with your team, you are going to win
the Heisman Trophy awards. So that that Big Ten Championship game,
like you said, Julian Sane right up there with Mendoza
as the front runner for the Heisman. So whoever has
that Heisman moment in Indianapolis on December sixth. It might
(23:04):
not be Ohio State because they haven't beaten Michigan in
five years, so I can't really say that for sure
that they're going to be there. But Fernanda Mendoza is
in a perfect position right now. The next four games,
the final four games of the regular season, the teams
are one to fourteen. He has a chance to stat
pad and you'll come to see it. Indiana won't put
out a Heisman campaign, I don't think, at least maybe
(23:24):
they'll do it at the bye week between Wisconsin and
Purdue and try to fluff something up. But you're gonna
see Indiana at first single situation, second and goal inside
the five, and they usually run the ball. They're going
to pass the ball, and they're going to show that
he is the Heisman. They're gonna pad his numbers, and
I think that he wins it based on stats in
(23:47):
Indiana going into that Big Ten Championship game, even with
the loss, having the Heisman moment in that game going
down on a long drive after an interception like he
did against Oregon. No other quarterback has the amount of
those moments. The Iowa game, Illinois just throttling them and
scoring on eight straight possessions. So I think he can
(24:09):
put a fork in everyone in that Big Ten Championship game.
But it's gonna be the stats he puts up in
these next four.
Speaker 1 (24:15):
Is there any concern this week with the status of
Aidan Fisher. I know Signetti mentioned him as being probable.
Is there any lingering concern there? Do you expect him
to be able to play?
Speaker 2 (24:26):
I think he's gonna play. Everyone's saying, oh, sit him.
It's just Maryland, or it's just Penn State, or name
the other two in Wisconsin, Purdue. That's how Kurt Signetti works.
If Aiden Fisher is gonna play, or if Aden Fisher
is healthy enough to play, he is going to play
because Indiana can't take any risk of losing one of
(24:46):
these games. I think he'll be fine. He was walking fine.
The only reason I think he was out of the game.
I think if that was a one score game at halftime,
he's still playing. I think it was a three four
score game at that point, so he was taken out precautionary.
I think the MRI they said that they were going
to do MRI X ray probably came back negative. If
(25:07):
he's probably the only issue right now I think is
Brendan Frankie, who got hurt on that opening kickoff. I
think at the end of the press conference, after Tzignetti
was talking about his favorite candy and the Signetti impersonator.
He said that Franky's listed as questionable. That's the only
other injury concern for Indiana right now, is it.
Speaker 1 (25:27):
That's not really necessarily a big deal either, right. They
have guys that can compensate there they do.
Speaker 2 (25:33):
But Frankie hit that was fifty fifty eight yarder, so
he would be if he can get back for a
big ten championship game or later in the season to
kick in the cold, that would be, that'd be that
would suffice it for Indiana.
Speaker 1 (25:52):
Yeah, it's crazy looking at the ESPN FPI rankings and
the projections the rest of the season. This is Indiana's
second toughest game remaining just based on the FBI, and
they've got a ninety zero point four percent chance to win.
That kind of tells you how dominant this team is.
I mean, is not to look through this game and
not to look past it, not to say anything can happen.
(26:12):
Obviously it's and that's kind of what Kirk Sett Kurtz
Signetti has emphasized to his team. Anything can happen on
a given Saturday in college football. But are are all
eyes in your mind? Kind of on that Penn State
game on November eighth, then what happens there in terms
of Indiana being able to run the table and get
through this season undefeated.
Speaker 2 (26:32):
Yeah, these next two road games are the ones that
we'll see. Will Indiana go twelve and ero they can
fly by Maryland and Penn State. Their records kind of
deceiving in my eyes. They still have the bones of
a really good football team, so I think that game
will be closer. But if they get their their breaks
feeding off of them this weekend in Columbus against Ohio State,
(26:55):
which they probably will nitty lyon stadium. Is that it
was called Happy Valley, I'm just called Happy Valley.
Speaker 1 (27:04):
Yeah, Hebby Valley.
Speaker 2 (27:05):
Yeah, that that place will be dead. So it won't
be that much of a concern for Indiana crowd wise
as we thought it would be at the beginning of
the year. But I think that the Penn State game
will tell us who Indiana is. Can they go in
on the road in a potentially tough environment and do
(27:26):
what they've done all year? Are they going to struggle
like they did against Iowa? Either way, a win would
be a win and they'd get to the Big Ten
championship game. They'd be a moretal lock with the disaster
going on up in Madison and up in West Lafayette
where they're winless in conference place. So these next two
games on the road will give us everything we need
(27:47):
to know about Indiana's future for the Big Ten Championship
and well beyond.
Speaker 1 (27:52):
So before we go, it is Halloween. Josh Kurtztignetti told
us on Monday that his favorite Halloween candy I believe
Snickers in recent cup is what he mentioned. I kind
of I pulled the list of the top ten Halloween candy,
so I'm just gonna I was gonna have you power
rank these, but again, ten candies is a lot to
kind of remember empower rank. I'm just gonna ask you
(28:14):
buy or sell on each of these. When you are
going through that bag of candy that you're gonna you're
gonna collect, You're not gonna collect candy tonight, surely. I
hope Mike Dick is not gonna go pick up candy.
Speaker 2 (28:26):
I'm gonna steal candy from the I'm not stealing candy.
I'll find my own candy.
Speaker 1 (28:32):
I used to joke with my kids, candy tax thirty percent.
Get them prepared, you know, for the real world. You
gotta pay taxes in life, So I'm gonna take thirty
percent of your candy and you kind of have to
get ready for the real world that way. But I'm
just gonna give you. I looked up a list of
the top ten candies, and I'm gonna have you buy
or sell each one, and we'll see if I'm gonna
get a better feel for your candy taste. Recy cup,
(28:54):
oh bye, Okay, Snickers.
Speaker 2 (28:59):
And the day I'll buy that.
Speaker 1 (29:02):
How about regular Eminem's?
Speaker 2 (29:04):
Oh sell big time? Cell?
Speaker 1 (29:07):
Why why? Why?
Speaker 2 (29:08):
Not?
Speaker 1 (29:08):
A fan of the regular Eminem's.
Speaker 2 (29:10):
I don't know if it's a taste of version for
having too much as a kid, But I'm an almond
Eminem's or peanut M and M's and miss me with
the peanut butter eminems. Those are the words. But that's
the worst of the bunch.
Speaker 1 (29:23):
That's my favorite eminem Don't don't do not do not
hate on the peanut seanut butter eminem. You kind of
let us write into the next one, Peanut M and M's.
I assume that's a buy.
Speaker 2 (29:32):
For you based on your major buy. That's that's one
of the biggest buys. Skittles I've grown up, So that's
that's cell.
Speaker 1 (29:43):
Derreck Rose would be very disappointed. He was a big
skills guy, and I know you're Chicago sports fan, so
I believe he. I believe he had he had a
Skittles machine in his house, so I don't know if
you ever saw that. But sour Patch kids.
Speaker 2 (29:57):
Oh who, going back to my younger days, I'm gonna
go sell. I like them a little bit more now,
but I'm not gonna take it any over some of
the other ones that I think are on this list.
Kid Cat, Yeah, no, no, that doesn't do anything for me.
I'm gonna sell that one too.
Speaker 1 (30:18):
Hershey the traditional, good old Hershey bar.
Speaker 2 (30:23):
I'll buy that good chocolate good, not much of a crunch,
but it kind of melts in your mouth once it
once it hits your once it hits the tongue.
Speaker 1 (30:31):
Good with s'mores, right, that's I mean, you gotta have
perfect milky Way sell.
Speaker 2 (30:39):
I don't understand the fascination behind milky Way for some people.
Speaker 1 (30:42):
And last, but maybe not least in my mind, but
maybe at least for some people, Twicks.
Speaker 2 (30:49):
I'll buy it. I kind of like the wafer.
Speaker 1 (30:52):
It's the only one with the way, So what is
your favorite? What is your favorite?
Speaker 2 (30:57):
And it's not even close. It's Reese's pecis Okay, you
will never be able to get me away from that.
I so I'd like to eat Rece's pecies. It's not
a Halloween thing for me. Popcorn reces PC's in.
Speaker 1 (31:11):
There, like buttered popcorn.
Speaker 2 (31:15):
No, like regular popcorn like I have it. I don't
even know what it's called, but popcorn reces PCs. You
get that like sweet and salty flavor. I mean, you
can't beat it. Watch a movie with that. I'm all in.
I'm like salivating right now thinking about it.
Speaker 1 (31:34):
Well, there you go, just what you wanted on your
Halloween afternoon. Josh pose's candy taste, but had it felt
like we had to, you know, with Signetti giving us
his his rankings, it felt like I had to quiz
Josh on his pretty pretty good taste in candy. There, Josh,
I question your your takes on the M and M.
But we can we can address that off off air.
(31:55):
But have a good weekend, have a good Halloween everybody.
As always, thanks for listening. If you enjoy the show,
please leave us the rating and review over on Apple Podcasts.
On or Spotify. If you're watching us on YouTube, like
the channel or like the video. Subscribe to the channel
as we inch closer day by day to ten thousand subscribers,
and we'll be back soon with another episode of Podcast
(32:17):
on the Brain.
Welcome back to a new episode of Podcasts on the Brink, Friday,
October thirty first, a day that kids look forward to
every year. It is Halloween, but we're not talking Halloween
here on Podcasts on the Brink, We're talking I You
Basketball and IU football with Josh Pose inside the Hall.
(00:39):
Before we get to Josh, quick reminder, if you enjoy
the show, please leave us a five star rating and
review over on Apple podcast and Spotify. And if you're
watching this on YouTube, we are. I just looked about
one thousand, about eleven hundred subscribers away from ten thousand,
so we'll continue to grow our numbers there. If you
(01:00):
enjoy the show the video podcast, continue to like the
videos over there, subscribe. And I also wanted to mention
Ryan As recently introduced a new format for film session
this season. It's very good. I recommend if you haven't
had a chance to go check those out. He's done
one on Tucket Derees from the first exhibition game. Lamar
Wilkerson was the focus from the Baylor exhibition, which we're
(01:22):
going to talk about well, Josh. One other brief note
that we're not going to get into too much on
the show. Von Carvala, a class of twenty twenty six
wing originally from Wisconsin now playing at Belavis, the prep
out in Arizona's going to announce his college decision Saturday afternoon,
coincidentally the same time as IU football will be kicking
(01:43):
off against Maryland on CBS, so you might have to
go dual screen if you want to watch the announcement.
It's going to be streamed over on the Belvis to
Hoops YouTube channel. Josh, Happy Halloween. Thanks for coming back
on the show. I know you're had a little family
excursion right now, so I appreciate you taking the time
(02:04):
to to join us. What what's the what's the plan
for for Halloween? If you I'm a little too old
to dress up, but you're still uh you know, a kid,
I guess right, still in college. So yeah, what's the
what's the what's the get up tonight for Halloween?
Speaker 2 (02:20):
It's all reliable for me. It's it's coach Mike Dicta
Dow Bears. I have the sweater vest, I have the
fake mustache, I have the Aviator sunglasses. Don't have a
super Bowl trophy, but uh, I gotta go Mike Dica
and I have some family here who love Da Bears,
and so do I, but they grew up in the
(02:42):
Dicca era, so I am. I'm set for a good
win against the family.
Speaker 1 (02:48):
Had I known this before, I would have actually had
you put the costume on for the podcast. I actually
been on a special trade for the YouTube audience. Uh
Josh poses Mike Disha, But no, that would be I need.
I need a picture when you're in full costume, at
least just to see what it all looks like. But
you were with me court side on Sunday at game
(03:10):
rich Sfield House. It was I don't want to say
lighter than expected crowd because we kind of knew a
couple of days before that ticket sales maybe weren't as
brisk as everyone would have hoped. But still I think
roughly forty five hundred people were there. It was a,
in my opinion, a pretty high level game between two
teams that are completely new this season and Baylor in Indiana. Oh,
(03:34):
some things to take away, obviously, But you were down
in Puerto Rico, you were at the Marion exhibition game.
But I think this is maybe our first chance to
see Indiana against a high cow. I don't want to say,
Mega wasn't a high caliber opponent, but this is, you know,
a better gauge of kind of where this team is.
What were your thoughts on how India played on Sunday
(03:54):
and kind of some some takeaways coming out of that game.
Speaker 2 (03:57):
I thought they played as good as you could play
for an exhibition game, Alex. It wasn't great, but it
wasn't completely ugly. There were some things to take away
the rebounding, defensive rebounding, Indiana was outside, but then if
you look at points in the paint, Indiana one thirty
four to twenty eight. So it was a give and
take and you'd never really guess that those two would
(04:20):
have been so separate from each other, just based on
how people talk about Indiana size and how the rebounding went.
But at the same time, I thought it was a
really good test for both teams. But for Indiana, after
those first four games, you had he had an idea
of what this team would be like, but you saw
it against a team just at Indiana's caliber, that bubble team,
(04:44):
that at large team in Baylor. They're not what they
used to be at least yet they receiving a vote
I think or two. But I think it was a
good chance for us to see and Darren DeVries to
see how his team stacks up against Division one, a
high major caliber opponent, did.
Speaker 1 (05:05):
In the way Indiana played on Sunday? Did it make
you any more? Did it make you more optimistic or
less optimistic as to what this team can be this
season in terms of their spot in the Big Ten
and what they can ultimately become by the end of
the year, or not at all because you don't really
take much much out of it since it's an exhibition.
Speaker 2 (05:24):
Yeah, it didn't move me either way, because I remember
watching the Tennessee game last year and thinking, Oh, this
team could be really, really good. The only difference is
that Tennessee played it differently than Indiana did last year.
Both of these teams, Indiana and Baylor played like they
wanted to win the game this year. So I'd say
it didn't move me, But if it had to, it
(05:45):
had been a little bit more optimistic about this team.
Speaker 1 (05:49):
One thing that you were talking to me about is
we kind of watched the game. I had noticed it
as much, but I noticed it as the game went along,
and you pointed it out pretty quickly. The chemistry between
Lamar Wilkers and and Tuker debris. Is that something that
you saw pretty quickly in Puerto Rico. Is that something
that maybe has been building over the course of the
(06:09):
fall And are you surprised at those two? It does
look like in many ways that they've played together for
a lot longer than what four or five months is
what they've been together dating back to early summer in Bloomington.
But you can just see that they both kind of
know where the other one likes the ball, and they
had a couple of plays where it's just they had
(06:30):
the synergy of two guys that have been teammates for
a lot longer than they have been.
Speaker 2 (06:34):
Yeah, you could you could see it a little bit
in Puerto Rico, But the first marrying of the Marrian
exhibition game, that's when you started to see it a
little a little more. And they had I believe, like
two months to figure that out and learn each other
a bit more than they had going into Puerto Rico.
But it more starts off the floor with me. At
Big ten media day, you could tell that they were
(06:55):
really close. They joked about how each other was older
than I think AARs is older than Tucker but Tucker
still is called the old head of the group. You
could tell that it's built off the floor that that
led to Tucker knew where Lamar was going to backcut
to Lamar knew where Tucker wanted. Every shooter wants it,
(07:17):
but he would get the pass right to Tucker's tip
pocket for a three. So those two they didn't really
have it because Tucker was struggling so much in Puerto Rico,
especially from three. But you can see the growth between
them because they are the two leaders, especially on the
offensive side of the ball.
Speaker 1 (07:38):
Yeah, Lamar, I thought in particular, he didn't have his
best offensive game in terms of his shooting, but the
fact that he was able to get to the line
like he was is very encouraging from the standpoint of
it wasn't an opponent that lacked athleticism or size on
the wing. He was doing it against the team that
you know. I don't want to make any conclusions before
I've seen most of the Big Ten, but I would
(07:59):
say and correct me if you think I'm wrong. I
would say Baylor are on the wing and guard positions
is going to be as athletic or more athletic than
what seventy five percent of the teams are going to
face in the Big ten. So the fact that he
was able to get to the line he like he did,
I thought was an encouraging thing. And Tucker the thing
about him that really stands out, Like you said, he's
(08:20):
not shot the ball. I don't think up to the
way he can potentially so far in these exhibition games.
He's obviously still working his way back into things. He
missed a significant amount of time last year. He's fully healthy,
but you know, any player who's coming back from an
injury that's season ending, it's going to take them some
time to get the rhythm back. But he does all
these little things that impact winning, you know, the assists,
(08:43):
the rebounding, and defensively. You look at him sometimes and
you think, you know, yeah, he could get blown by
at times, or he could be at a disadvantage from
an athleticism standpoint, but he always knows where he's supposed
to be. Such an intelligent player. You know, it's a
cliche to say coach's son, but in this instance, he
really does know the ins and outs of the system
(09:04):
and knows where he needs to be. And I think
that's such a valuable team thing for this Indiana team.
That's bringing a whole you know, a ton of new
guys together and trying to still figure things out. Even
though they have had these extra practices in the summer,
the exhibition games. I think those have been helpful. But
I don't think you can expect this team to just
be firing on all cylinders when the regular seasons start,
because it's a brand new team with a ton of
(09:24):
new faces and a brand new system and coach.
Speaker 2 (09:27):
Yeah, they're going to figure it out. And actually it
was a lot of people's first game watching this team.
I've had the luxury of seeing them for all their
exhibition games, but everybody said to me before the game,
ob Tucker is much bigger than I thought he was,
and he is. He is. He's much more filled in.
He doesn't really look like a guy. He kind of
(09:48):
has the Evan Fitzner build, a lot more athletic. I
didn't mean to bring up a name like that, but
having the five assists, six rebounds, two blocks, two steals,
eight points, it's really impressive. And he's it's always been
known that he's going to lead this team, just leadership wise,
(10:08):
maybe not on the floor. But filling up the stat sheet,
not only on offense or on defense. While his offense
really struggled and his shooting gets there, Indiana is gonna
have to find a way. And Lamar getting to the
line eleven times, he's gonna have to find a way.
They're getting inside the paint when their shots aren't falling.
They have the IQ, the basketball IQ to say, Hey,
(10:31):
our shots aren't falling, we're gonna still take them, but
we're gonna try to get some two point shots. We're
gonna hit a mid range, We're gonna go drive to
the lane, draw file, And that's what's gonna impress people
this year. They're not going to try to shoot themselves
out of slumps. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (10:44):
I think Tucker, just seeing them up close at that
exhibition game, watching him go through warlcks, watching him shoot,
I was thinking, this guy's got a real chance to
play in the NBA for a while because with that
size and that ability to space the floor and shoot
him with just how smart of a player he is.
And you look at kind of what the NBA has
gone to in terms of a ton of three point shooting,
(11:06):
and with his size, I think there's a chance that
he's a long time pro. I'm not saying that it's
definitely gonna happen, but I think he's gonna be a
guy if he can stay healthy all season play up
to his potential. You know, his age obviously works a
little bit against him, but you know, I think there's
examples of guys. You know, Duncan Robinson's a great example
coming out of Michigan who has made a living and
made a ton of money in the NBA just by
(11:27):
being a knockdown shooter. And I think Tucker in many
ways has a more rounded skill set than what Duncan
Robinson did coming out of Michigan. So he's a he's
a player. I think Indiana fan should really be excited
about watching the season. Another guy that I think coming
out of the exhibition that you have to be encouraged
by their players taking Conaway because defensively he is so
(11:49):
far as advertised in terms of the pressure he puts
on the ball. His positioning kind of knowing where to
be can get a little bit over aggressive at times
with the fouling, but I think given the context of
no one was going to foul out in that game,
maybe he was a little bit more aggressive than he
would be in a normal game, but offensively. I remember
talking to Darren Devrees over the summer for an interview
(12:11):
for the site that we did, and he talked about
Tayittan's kind of a guy that you have to live
with some of the risks that he takes, particularly offensively,
because he makes some plays that are kind of head
scratching at times, but oftentimes they work out and you
kind of have to live with that. We kind of
saw some of that on Sunday. That last bucket that
he scored. He kind of just took it upon himself
(12:32):
to go right in the lane and score and get fouled.
It wasn't like he was looking for anybody else. It
was like, this is my ball, I'm going to go
get the bucket. I think that aggressiveness is something that
is going to be a an asset to Indiana at times.
Like I said, it could be to his detriment, but
I think for him, striking the balance between playmaker and
being aggressive and kind of trying to get the ball
(12:53):
into the paint and look for his offense is an
encouraging thing as you watch him. What are your impressions
so far? If Tate and are you, you know, high
on him in terms of what he can bring to
this Indiana team this year.
Speaker 2 (13:06):
Yeah, I'm really high on Taton Connorway just because of
the brand of basketball he plays. He's not afraid to
get in there, take a charge, try to get a steal,
go out for a steal. But another thing is with
his defense is that I think I said it to you, Indiana,
he and Indiana as a whole just didn't get back
cut for how aggressive he he was. There was never
(13:29):
a time where he was getting beat on the back
door cut, which was very impressive. So you're gonna take
that and you're gonna look at that and you say
he's playing really, really good defense. And then Indiana kind
of lacked that kind of I'm gonna take the ball
and I'm going to go score a guy last year.
And to see him do that in an exhibition game,
and he's not Lamar Wilkerson, he's not Tucker de Breeze.
(13:50):
He just went and took the ball and said I'm
going to win this game for my team, and he did.
Sometimes he's gonna miss. But the brash confidence that he
has and we saw it, I think he had eighteen
first half points in the second game against Mega in
Puerto Rico, and didn't play really the second half, but
we saw the offensive flashes. He gets two feet in
(14:11):
the lane, he'll pass it out. I think there was
a couple times where he didn't just go up and score,
if memory serves me right. But that's where you're gonna
have that head scratching moment. But he's gonna find guys
in transition on the run. He was the guy that
was pushing the ball and he's really he's really exciting
to see.
Speaker 1 (14:29):
Yeah. The thing I like about Hm too is he
always seems to have a smile on his face. Just
from talking to him, getting a chance to talk to
him this summer, and seeing some of the pictures of
him just kind of in these public events, and even
saw a couple of pictures of him from the Han
and holl hoops last night. He seems genuinely happy to
have the opportunity to play basketball Indiana, and I think
that is something that can be contagious on this team
(14:52):
in terms of just he's one of the obviously the
leaders on the court in terms of running the team,
but he's just a guy that I think other players
are drawn to and like to be around, and he
really has worked his way up through the ladder of
college basketball, spending time at a couple of different junior colleges,
I believe, then going to Troy and working his way
up through there. So he's a guy that's you know, older, experienced,
(15:14):
and I think is going to be a huge asset
to the scene. The last thing I wanted to kind
of touch based on is just the front court situation,
because I think the biggest question mark you mentioned it
a little bit earlier, the rebounding coming out of that game.
Reed Bailey didn't have his best showing against Baylor, a
little bit more athletic maybe than, as I mentioned, than
some of the opponents that he's going to be facing
(15:35):
this season. But what what's just kind of your your
sense of how this front court rotation is going to
work out? Is going to Are there gonna be games
where Indiano is gonna be able to ride read a
little bit more than what we saw against Baylor, and
Sam Alexis won't be needed as much. And there's probably
gonna be some games as well where Indiana is gonna
have to heavily rely on Alexis because as we saw,
he's their best friend protector, blocked a couple of shots
(15:57):
against Baylor. I think he's their best rebounder too. I
think that's kind of the biggest lingering question for a
lot of people is just how this front core situation
is gonna work out. So how do you kind of
size that all up right now? And the balance between
how they used Bailey and Alexis.
Speaker 2 (16:13):
I think it's gonna be personnel based for the opponent's
personnel that Indiana's gonna have to really adjust and no
One's gonna be adjusting to Indiana's bigs this year. I
really did like Sam Alexis in the back to the
basket role that he had. We talked to Darren Debries
during Big ten media days and he said he's gonna
be more Bartie. We've enjoyed his back to the basket.
(16:36):
We can see him shoot a three, but we want
him to go back to the basket. While Reid kind
of stands out as a stretch five, Red Daily kind
of was quiet, like you said it was it eighteen minutes,
Alexis had twenty five, and he was more brash. He
was four or five from the field, Like, there's gonna
be games where one steins in the other doesn't. I
(16:58):
think that'll be the major already of the season. They're
not both gonna go at the same time. I think
I wrote about it the Big Ten media, like the
notebook I had that they're gonna play two bigs. They
went to it for a little bit, but they didn't go,
they didn't stay in it. They didn't play well in that.
So I and they succeeded when one or the other
was on the floor. That said, there's gonna be teams
(17:20):
that have that give Indiana no choice to play two
bigs on the floor at one time. So they're gonna
have to adjust and find a way to work together
in that system.
Speaker 1 (17:32):
Yeah, they're gonna also have to kind of balance right
now the lack of depth, and I don't know that
they can necessarily afford to play both of them together
for too long because they have to be aware that,
you know, if one guy gets in foul trouble, the
other guy's gonna have to play a ton of minutes.
There's really no one else to kind of eat up
(17:52):
those of those minutes. I mean, I guess, and a
pinch you could play some Trent Sisily as an undersized side,
but that's really kind of stretching it. Josh Harris looks
to be out for quite a while and he's not
a center either. So if there's one thing just personnel.
While I was looking at this roster that Indiana maybe
lacks is its depth at the five, and I think
they're gonna have to be really careful about how they
navigate the minutes for those two. But Josh, want to
(18:15):
switch gears. You obviously have covered IU football as closely
as anybody this season, your covers on Inside the Hall.
A lot of people have reached out and told me
how much they've enjoyed it. It's been going great so far,
and what a what a first year to cover football
and Inside the Hall Indiana. Yeah, I think coming into
it you may disagree with this. I didn't think there
(18:38):
was a chance that India was going to be eight
to o at this point of the season. You know,
I thought it was, you know, maybe nine to three,
ten and two best case scenario season. Especially after last year,
you think, you know, that was kind of a once
in a lifetime season. But here we are again, Indiana
eight to o headed to Maryland, this season are this
weekend for a three point thirty kickoff on CBS. You
(19:00):
didn't seem to think that there's any chance that this
is kind of a trap game or a game that
Indiana overlooks, just because this is the same scenario now
several weeks in a row, Indiana kind of comes in
as a heavy favorite, has been taken care of business.
So maybe a two part question, is there any chance
that Indiana goes into this game and has any trouble?
And two, why have they been able to continue to
(19:24):
just dominate opponents on a weekend week out basis? It's
not like they're more Obviously they've got a ton of talent.
They've got a lot of good players, but it's not
like they're a roster full of five star players. Obviously
we know Kurt Signetti, but this team just seems on
a mission to accomplish something and accomplish things that we've
never really seen before in Bloomingson.
Speaker 2 (19:44):
I think this question the two two parts answered with
one name. It is Kurt Signetti. I think Indiana has
a chance to have a little bit of a stinker
this week. It's their first road game since earning that
number two title. It's the first road game since the
Oregon game. So and College Park isn't the hot bed
(20:06):
for college football right now by any stretch of the imagination.
Maryland's kind of struggling right now. But this team is
different because Kurtzignetti's mindset instilled into them. Every Monday, he
comes in with an opening statement and he likens every
team to probably the greatest team of all time. This week,
(20:26):
we're gonna keep the theme here. He likened them to
the eighty five Bears. Nearly. He talked about their defense
and how they have takeaways and they stuff you at
the line. They're gonna win you, they're gonna beat you
in the trenches. Well, he said the same thing about
how UCLA was a great football team in Indiana one
by fifty. So I think that Indiana as a mentality
(20:49):
as a team, as the players, it's kind of hard
to go out there as twenty one point favorites and
you're gonna have to play your best and it's difficult
to do it on a weekly masis. But their coach
won't allow anything different than forty fifty point wins. They're
the only team with a conference win of fifty plus
(21:10):
and They've done it twice this year. The three of
their last four home games have been fifty plus point victories.
This team isn't normal. This is a very good team.
Maryland is struggling. They have a freshman quarterback who's only
been sacked twice. But if I bring you back to
the last Indiana road game, Dante more and Oregon had
only been sacked once and he got sacked six times
(21:32):
in the game. And he has defensive line he's still
Signetti caled Mikyle Kamara Kamara out by name. I think
he has a big day and this defensive line is
just going to recavoc all day.
Speaker 1 (21:45):
Oh. I'm sure the defensive line is well aware that
he's only been sacked twice, so they're probably going to
try to double that on Saturday. Won't surprise me if
that happens. Fernada Mendoza right now kind of at the
top of the most of the Heisman lists, depending on
where you look, what's gonna have to happen from here
on out in your mind for him to actually win
that award? How important are do you think? It's more
(22:08):
based on how if how Indiana continues to play as
a team or his individual stats that are going to
ultimately decide if he wins an award, because you know,
I think a lot of it's gonna be also depending
on what happens in that that Big Ten Championship game,
because I think the voting closes maybe a little bit
after that game, and that that's gonna have a big
part of it too, is assuming Indiana gets there. But
(22:29):
do you think this is more about Obviously Mendoza's played terrific,
but do you think Indiana has to keep winning big
uh for him to continue to stay at the top
of the list.
Speaker 2 (22:41):
Yeah, outside of Travis Hunter, it is a team award.
If you if you are succeeding, you are having those
Heisman moments with your team, you are going to win
the Heisman Trophy awards. So that that Big Ten Championship game,
like you said, Julian Sane right up there with Mendoza
as the front runner for the Heisman. So whoever has
that Heisman moment in Indianapolis on December sixth. It might
(23:04):
not be Ohio State because they haven't beaten Michigan in
five years, so I can't really say that for sure
that they're going to be there. But Fernanda Mendoza is
in a perfect position right now. The next four games,
the final four games of the regular season, the teams
are one to fourteen. He has a chance to stat
pad and you'll come to see it. Indiana won't put
out a Heisman campaign, I don't think, at least maybe
(23:24):
they'll do it at the bye week between Wisconsin and
Purdue and try to fluff something up. But you're gonna
see Indiana at first single situation, second and goal inside
the five, and they usually run the ball. They're going
to pass the ball, and they're going to show that
he is the Heisman. They're gonna pad his numbers, and
I think that he wins it based on stats in
(23:47):
Indiana going into that Big Ten Championship game, even with
the loss, having the Heisman moment in that game going
down on a long drive after an interception like he
did against Oregon. No other quarterback has the amount of
those moments. The Iowa game, Illinois just throttling them and
scoring on eight straight possessions. So I think he can
(24:09):
put a fork in everyone in that Big Ten Championship game.
But it's gonna be the stats he puts up in
these next four.
Speaker 1 (24:15):
Is there any concern this week with the status of
Aidan Fisher. I know Signetti mentioned him as being probable.
Is there any lingering concern there? Do you expect him
to be able to play?
Speaker 2 (24:26):
I think he's gonna play. Everyone's saying, oh, sit him.
It's just Maryland, or it's just Penn State, or name
the other two in Wisconsin, Purdue. That's how Kurt Signetti works.
If Aiden Fisher is gonna play, or if Aden Fisher
is healthy enough to play, he is going to play
because Indiana can't take any risk of losing one of
(24:46):
these games. I think he'll be fine. He was walking fine.
The only reason I think he was out of the game.
I think if that was a one score game at halftime,
he's still playing. I think it was a three four
score game at that point, so he was taken out precautionary.
I think the MRI they said that they were going
to do MRI X ray probably came back negative. If
(25:07):
he's probably the only issue right now I think is
Brendan Frankie, who got hurt on that opening kickoff. I
think at the end of the press conference, after Tzignetti
was talking about his favorite candy and the Signetti impersonator.
He said that Franky's listed as questionable. That's the only
other injury concern for Indiana right now, is it.
Speaker 1 (25:27):
That's not really necessarily a big deal either, right. They
have guys that can compensate there they do.
Speaker 2 (25:33):
But Frankie hit that was fifty fifty eight yarder, so
he would be if he can get back for a
big ten championship game or later in the season to
kick in the cold, that would be, that'd be that
would suffice it for Indiana.
Speaker 1 (25:52):
Yeah, it's crazy looking at the ESPN FPI rankings and
the projections the rest of the season. This is Indiana's
second toughest game remaining just based on the FBI, and
they've got a ninety zero point four percent chance to win.
That kind of tells you how dominant this team is.
I mean, is not to look through this game and
not to look past it, not to say anything can happen.
(26:12):
Obviously it's and that's kind of what Kirk Sett Kurtz
Signetti has emphasized to his team. Anything can happen on
a given Saturday in college football. But are are all
eyes in your mind? Kind of on that Penn State
game on November eighth, then what happens there in terms
of Indiana being able to run the table and get
through this season undefeated.
Speaker 2 (26:32):
Yeah, these next two road games are the ones that
we'll see. Will Indiana go twelve and ero they can
fly by Maryland and Penn State. Their records kind of
deceiving in my eyes. They still have the bones of
a really good football team, so I think that game
will be closer. But if they get their their breaks
feeding off of them this weekend in Columbus against Ohio State,
(26:55):
which they probably will nitty lyon stadium. Is that it
was called Happy Valley, I'm just called Happy Valley.
Speaker 1 (27:04):
Yeah, Hebby Valley.
Speaker 2 (27:05):
Yeah, that that place will be dead. So it won't
be that much of a concern for Indiana crowd wise
as we thought it would be at the beginning of
the year. But I think that the Penn State game
will tell us who Indiana is. Can they go in
on the road in a potentially tough environment and do
(27:26):
what they've done all year? Are they going to struggle
like they did against Iowa? Either way, a win would
be a win and they'd get to the Big Ten
championship game. They'd be a moretal lock with the disaster
going on up in Madison and up in West Lafayette
where they're winless in conference place. So these next two
games on the road will give us everything we need
(27:47):
to know about Indiana's future for the Big Ten Championship
and well beyond.
Speaker 1 (27:52):
So before we go, it is Halloween. Josh Kurtztignetti told
us on Monday that his favorite Halloween candy I believe
Snickers in recent cup is what he mentioned. I kind
of I pulled the list of the top ten Halloween candy,
so I'm just gonna I was gonna have you power
rank these, but again, ten candies is a lot to
kind of remember empower rank. I'm just gonna ask you
(28:14):
buy or sell on each of these. When you are
going through that bag of candy that you're gonna you're
gonna collect, You're not gonna collect candy tonight, surely. I
hope Mike Dick is not gonna go pick up candy.
Speaker 2 (28:26):
I'm gonna steal candy from the I'm not stealing candy.
I'll find my own candy.
Speaker 1 (28:32):
I used to joke with my kids, candy tax thirty percent.
Get them prepared, you know, for the real world. You
gotta pay taxes in life, So I'm gonna take thirty
percent of your candy and you kind of have to
get ready for the real world that way. But I'm
just gonna give you. I looked up a list of
the top ten candies, and I'm gonna have you buy
or sell each one, and we'll see if I'm gonna
get a better feel for your candy taste. Recy cup,
(28:54):
oh bye, Okay, Snickers.
Speaker 2 (28:59):
And the day I'll buy that.
Speaker 1 (29:02):
How about regular Eminem's?
Speaker 2 (29:04):
Oh sell big time? Cell?
Speaker 1 (29:07):
Why why? Why?
Speaker 2 (29:08):
Not?
Speaker 1 (29:08):
A fan of the regular Eminem's.
Speaker 2 (29:10):
I don't know if it's a taste of version for
having too much as a kid, But I'm an almond
Eminem's or peanut M and M's and miss me with
the peanut butter eminems. Those are the words. But that's
the worst of the bunch.
Speaker 1 (29:23):
That's my favorite eminem Don't don't do not do not
hate on the peanut seanut butter eminem. You kind of
let us write into the next one, Peanut M and M's.
I assume that's a buy.
Speaker 2 (29:32):
For you based on your major buy. That's that's one
of the biggest buys. Skittles I've grown up, So that's
that's cell.
Speaker 1 (29:43):
Derreck Rose would be very disappointed. He was a big
skills guy, and I know you're Chicago sports fan, so
I believe he. I believe he had he had a
Skittles machine in his house, so I don't know if
you ever saw that. But sour Patch kids.
Speaker 2 (29:57):
Oh who, going back to my younger days, I'm gonna
go sell. I like them a little bit more now,
but I'm not gonna take it any over some of
the other ones that I think are on this list.
Kid Cat, Yeah, no, no, that doesn't do anything for me.
I'm gonna sell that one too.
Speaker 1 (30:18):
Hershey the traditional, good old Hershey bar.
Speaker 2 (30:23):
I'll buy that good chocolate good, not much of a crunch,
but it kind of melts in your mouth once it
once it hits your once it hits the tongue.
Speaker 1 (30:31):
Good with s'mores, right, that's I mean, you gotta have
perfect milky Way sell.
Speaker 2 (30:39):
I don't understand the fascination behind milky Way for some people.
Speaker 1 (30:42):
And last, but maybe not least in my mind, but
maybe at least for some people, Twicks.
Speaker 2 (30:49):
I'll buy it. I kind of like the wafer.
Speaker 1 (30:52):
It's the only one with the way, So what is
your favorite? What is your favorite?
Speaker 2 (30:57):
And it's not even close. It's Reese's pecis Okay, you
will never be able to get me away from that.
I so I'd like to eat Rece's pecies. It's not
a Halloween thing for me. Popcorn reces PC's in.
Speaker 1 (31:11):
There, like buttered popcorn.
Speaker 2 (31:15):
No, like regular popcorn like I have it. I don't
even know what it's called, but popcorn reces PCs. You
get that like sweet and salty flavor. I mean, you
can't beat it. Watch a movie with that. I'm all in.
I'm like salivating right now thinking about it.
Speaker 1 (31:34):
Well, there you go, just what you wanted on your
Halloween afternoon. Josh pose's candy taste, but had it felt
like we had to, you know, with Signetti giving us
his his rankings, it felt like I had to quiz
Josh on his pretty pretty good taste in candy. There, Josh,
I question your your takes on the M and M.
But we can we can address that off off air.
(31:55):
But have a good weekend, have a good Halloween everybody.
As always, thanks for listening. If you enjoy the show,
please leave us the rating and review over on Apple Podcasts.
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the channel or like the video. Subscribe to the channel
as we inch closer day by day to ten thousand subscribers,
and we'll be back soon with another episode of Podcast
(32:17):
on the Brain.
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