Indiana Basketball - Schedule Preview

We just posted our player preview (see below) and now we preview the IU schedule. The Gardner-Webbs, Grand Valley States, and Findlays of the world have shown that you can't take anything for granted, but I'm feeling like a cocky s.o.b., so I am going to chalk up victories in the first 4 games against Chattanooga, Longwood, UNC-Wilmington, and Illinois State. The next three games should provide a different flavor for the freshmen and JuCo transfers. Those games will be against Xavier or Kent State (neutral site), Georgia Tech (part of ACC-Big Ten Challenge), and their first true road game will be a big challenge at Southern Illinois. I think this 3-game stretch will tell us a lot about where this team is. Most likely, these teams will be bigger, faster, and much better defensively than the opening four games. In addition, it will also be a test of where the Hoosiers are defensively. The defense is currently Sampson's biggest concern. They are extremely talented on offense, but have not looked very good on defense in the exhibition games. The good news is that Sampson focuses on defense and held a practice this past week where 100% of the practice was defense. The Hoosiers then have Tennessee State (win by 40) before they "welcome" Kentucky into Assembly Hall. I think Kentucky will bounce back after the Gardner Webb loss, but I like the fact that this game is in Assembly Hall. I'm hoping IU can beat Kentucky and Tubby Smith (now coaching Minnesota) twice. That would just have an all-around good feeling. I actually like Tubby Smith as a coach, but he is forever linked to Kentucky and we must destroy him. After the big Kentucky show-down, Indiana finishes the non-conference schedule with Western Carolina, Coppin State, and Chicago State. For these 3 games, www isn't just the start of a web address. Oh man, that was weak. Why am I still typing? Why am I not backspacing over that weak commentary. Too late now, I must press forward. The Big Ten schedule opens with two on the road -- at Iowa and at Michigan. If you want to win the Big Ten, these are exactly the types of games you have to win. Last year, the top 8 or 9 teams pretty much held court at home. But if you want to win the conference, you have to win on the road against both the lower and middle tier of the Big Ten. Again, these two games should tell us a lot about where this team is -- are they a Top 10 or even Top 5 type of team or are they struggling to put it all together? We shall see. Personally, I think both Iowa and Michigan hired good coaches, but I also think this year will be an adjustment year and the Hoosiers will prevail. The first home conference game is against Illinois and the towel-boys will be busy with Weber crying all over the place. This one's a win for the Hoosiers, but it ain't gonna be pretty when Gordon and IU head to Illinois. Next three games are @ Minnesota and home against Penn St and Iowa. If the season is going as planned, I like our chances during this stretch. Then we have the odd non-conference game against UConn. This year, it's at Assembly Hall, so I am hoping can take care of business in this one. Following UConn is a trip to Madison to play the Badgers. The Kohl Center may be the toughest place to play in the Big Ten and Bo Ryan always has Wisconsin playing tough. Home against Northwestern before heading to the game at Illinois. This one might just get a little media attention. Gordon is going to hear it big-time from the Illinois fans, but I don't see him being bothered by it. Hopefully, Gordon will leave Bruce Weber speechless because I really can't stand to hear him cry or whine anymore. After the win at Illinois is a tough 4-game stretch, but fortunately 3 of them are at home. It's at Ohio State followed by a 3-game home stretch against Wisconsin, Michigan State, and Purdue. This year, the Big Ten did expand the conference schedule to 18 games instead of just 16, but that still leaves 2 teams that you only play once. Unfortunately, the Big Ten was not smart enough to preserve rivalries and we only play Purdue once. That's just wrong. With the only IU-Purdue game at Assembly Hall, we better make sure we take the rivalry this year. By the way, Purdue has an outstanding recruiting class and I think the rivalry is headed in the direction of being a battle at the top of the Big Ten again, instead of in the middle of the Big Ten as it has been for the past decade or more. Then at Northwestern and home against Ohio State before the Hoosiers travel to Michigan State. If the prognosticators are right, this trip to East Lansing could be for the Big Ten title. The Hoosiers finish the Big Ten campaign with a home game against Minnesota and then at Penn State. If there is a conference title on the line, I would certainly hope that IU could finish the deed with these two games. At this point, you hope the Hoosiers are healthy and peaking so that they can make a post-season run. Go Hoosiers!