iubhounds

If Oregon were to "win them all" that would mean IU couldn't be Natty champs again. Although the that is a real long shot to happen and probably won't.

🤣 Let's don't get too excited Jon ... only wanting good weather in November games??? So are you saying other B10 teams should play in inclement weather only because they live there?? (This is all in a joking manner btw) IU played Purdue in the snow in 2024 Thanksgiving weekend. 2022?? IU played at MSU in the snow and wind, only 6 total pass attempts it was so bad. Your favorite Huskies were beat in bad weather last year in Wisconsin as you mentioned. Bad weather is part of B1G football !!! Where else can you take your coat and shirt off in a snow storm at a B1G game as a college student (alcohol was a rumor) besides playing B1G football in November. I'll give you the 8 straight games thing and the flights back east ... but I am going to have to pass on the "before inclement weather arrives in November" request. BTW counting those easy cupcake OOC games at Bloomington in 2026, they will have played 9 games before their bye week. I know I know ... North Texas and Western Kentucky are not B10 teams but not that bad of teams to be included in a streak of games.

However, screw the folks at B1G HQ You and I at least agree on our feelings about the B1G HQ

A 3-star OL Soren Fifer was offered by Dan Lanning yesterday in Illinois. This morning Indiana's OL coach was paying Soren a visit. What are you doing trying to rob "our" 3-star recruits? 🤣

Based on "years in advance" scheduling the B10 claims, I have a feeling 27 and 28 are already done. The B10 commissioner has nothing in his background that is football related. It's been sports media around MLB.

The B10 Commissioner at the time had the mentality of a rock. He is now the Chicago Bears President and threatening the city of Chicago that he will build a new stadium in Northwest Indiana if they don't agree to terms for a new Bears stadium. That 2020 year the B10 Commissioner said prior to the season, teams had to play at least 6 games to qualify to be champs and possibly a playoff spot. Canceled games did not count. MID SEASON when it looked like OSU would NOT play 6 games, he changed it to 5 games. So when undefeated IU lost at OSU as their 5th game, they qualified. Beat Northwestern (west division champ) in the B1G, beat Clemson and lost to Bama in the playoffs. At the time IU was undefeated when they went to Columbus and lost 42-35 with Michael Penix throwing for 491 yards and 5 TDs. As far as your hoops team ... too many key injuries have killed your season.

If IU had lost those two games they would not have been in the B1G Championship game. IMO they might have not even made the playoffs with two losses with those on the committee remembering what their 2024 team did with two losses. As far as those last minute wins ... I will give you only one example that happened to the "Cardiac Kids" of Indiana in 1967 which resulted in playing and getting beat by USC in the '68 Rose Bowl with a Soph RB named OJ Simpson. The last game of the year it's the annual rivalry game with Purdue. With less than 2 minutes to go in the game with IU leading 19-12 against a #3 ranked Purdue, Purdue fumbled inside IU's 5 yard line and IU recovered the ball and won the game. That made a tie for the B1G with Minnesota. By rule the B10 would send the team that had not be to the Rose Bowl the longest time ... so IU got to go. So LUCK was definitely involved then and in 2025. Honestly I thought it was over in the Penn State game after they sacked Mendoza with no timeouts left and 90 yards to go. After IU lost in the Rose Bowl the final AP rankings had USC #1 and IU #4. 7 of IU's 9 wins were by 7 points or less and 8 of the 11 games (counting Rose Bowl) were decided in the last 4 minutes of the game.

I still cannot find an answer on why they moved the playoff championship game out a week further while remaining with the same 12 teams in the playoffs. How does that affect the number or the length of bye weeks in the playoffs?

Injuries are the main problem with your basketball team. Last night against UCLA 3 of 4 top scorers didn't play in that game, some have season ending injuries. Altman can recruit and gets McDonald All-Americans but no matter how good you are ... injuries are killers in college basketball.

I just posted on another thread the requirements the B10 uses to schedule games. I agree with you HappyToBeADuck ... it just doesn't make sense. Oregon is going to be beat up after 8 straight B10 games with additional travel to the east. The Penn State schedule is totally out of whack. They say the schedule is set "years in advance" ... what like 2 years since the 4 Pac12 teams joined? I would think in today's world of high tech and even AI ... the B10 could come up with something more even(fair) in scheduling. PSU (Iowa State) with a new coach will be THE surprise contender for the B10 Championship with two possibly three games they could lose but should win ... USC, Michigan and Washington. As an IU fan I would like a first round home game in the playoffs but after the weather in 2024 at Notre Dame and the weather in Bloomington this year when you played JMU ... I would not want a home game in that freezing cold weather in Bloomington.

Hoping to find answers for us on this B10 scheduling fiasco, with a new cup of coffee I went to ChatGPT and pulled some of these highlights from their answer. Typical Scheduling Goals -- Every team plays every other team at least once every 2–3 years Home/away balance over a 4–6 year cycle No school gets stuck with all road games vs elite teams in one season Rotations are mathematically optimized (this is where spreadsheets and algorithms come in) TV considerations can influence: Which opponents you get When during the season you play them Home vs away timing Media value is a major driver Once a draft schedule is built -- Schools review it -- Adjustments are negotiated -- The Big Ten officially releases it I think it is safe to say that TV schedulers are the biggest influence in the scheduling while "trying" to stay within the B10 parameters. Due to money and viewership vs SEC games at the same time I am sure the TV executives win vs the B10 office when negotiating teams, places and times games will be played.

That is some data that I don't recall ever hearing on a tv broadcast when the Ducks on the road. Thank you for keeping Bloomington off your schedule.

Count me in. Hard to believe by what some people believe but we really do have paved roads and nationwide mail service back here in Indiana (although I haven't a USPS, FedX or UPS truck in my neighborhood for 5 days since the snow took place). I like the timeline of Oregon123 with a February end date and paid after the season. Injuries even in the spring are part of the game and/or off season surgeries. I will send an email to Cig telling him to stop running the score up in B1G games to keep me in the running to win this thing. This was a great suggestion.

I agree. Mendoza the last half of the season and playoffs was the huge difference. I can almost confirm Josh Hoover does not have that "computer" between his ears like Mendoza had. That was a HUGE difference in their results. But as far as those 4 losses ... when he did one of his first sit down interviews after was hired he was asked "how will you feel if you start this season 3-2?" ... Cignetti replied "we are going 5-0" ... and he did. He has lost more than 2 games at those smaller schools as a HC, all rebuilds. I don't see him losing more than 2 games next year, if that. 12 of 22 starters return. In some positions there will be more speed as in RB's and WRs. 4 of 5 OL's return. On3 say #1 Portal class but I am not sure about that as OSU has imported the southern USA called the $EC. So yes not the same guys but I would say that only at the QB position ... the others like WR, RB, DL will be as good if not better.

I wonder if he is asking himself if that 26 year old model was worth it? 🤔

None of it makes sense. Northwestern has to play 11 games in a row including IU, Penn State, Iowa, Oregon, and Ohio State. Then Penn State gets the schedule of the year with a bye after 7 games and not playing Oregon, IU and Ohio State. Besides getting half shares of tv money or some of the new 4 getting more of half shares (I only know they are not full shares of tv money) it is easy to see the B10 Office has decided those 4 teams are going to have to "pay their dues" so to speak to be in the "Mighty Big Ten" ... It really is that obvious. Thank you for the complement. Like I told Charles yesterday, I was on IU forums back in 1997?, have been on many opponents forums before they were bought out by Rivals/On3 last year and after reading this forum a month or so before joining this is the best forum I go to. Most of the other fans including IU decided to follow those that require a subscription.

Just wait until someone leaks the LSU salaries and who is making what. It's bound to happen. Just wait until someone leaks the payroll list so they see who is getting paid what. Combine that with a couple of losses and their season is total chaos.

I would love to see that but they have played some of those B10 teams for over 50 years. IU finally gets to play them home and home starting in 2030. With their 2026 guarantee of getting into the playoffs every year if they are in the Top 12 of the committee's ranking, they will never join a conference now. They use the B10 for their hockey team because the ACC doesn't having hockey. Sad to say ND will never be relegated to the level of BYU ... their arrogance, entitlement and history are too much to overcome when it comes to relegating them lower.

Great idea as I sit in 6° weather again this morning. 11-1 / 5 / 2 / 315 for B1G games

It's the "cost of doing business" for being in a conference located in the Midwest. I hated to see the Pac12 break up. I couldn't believe the commissioner didn't have a decent tv deal set up. How does a conference with more National Championships won than anyone else do that? 20 years ago I told a fellow college football addict that in our lifetime we would see 64 of the top football teams take their sports and break away from the NCAA, forming 4 different divisions of 16 teams. The teams west of the Rocky Mts would have their own conference.

I understand completely why to some fans it is not fair having to fly back to the Midwest or the East Coast for Big10 games 3 or 4 times per year. It is hard to keep from doing that with 9 B10 games on the schedule. There are only 3 other teams on the west coast and you don't play those teams every year. Let's say for this example Oregon played all three west coast B10 teams annually. That leaves 6 games to play to finish the conference. 2 of 3 OOC games are probably at home every year, 1 or 2 of those west coast teams would be home. So there is possibly 4 home games before any other B10 teams are played. IF 3 of those fly to Eugene to play that leaves a possible 7 home games for the year and 3 games "back east" ... so really there isn't a way to get around from playing B10 games "back east" 3-4 times every year. The big problem I see here while sitting in Indiana ... starting times. For all schools that are flying opposite directions to play conference games. Like Washington in 2024 in Bloomington. That was a BigNoon Fox thing so kickoff is 9am for the Huskies. When IU went to Eugene last fall that was a 3:30pm ET and no problem for an IU team traveling west. It will aways be advantageous for the other 14 B10 schools traveling west for games. TV tells the conference what games are going to be featured on THEIR times ... while not caring for starting times, where or who they played the previous week. Add that to a B10 office that has had mysterious scheduling in football and basketball every since they went from only 10 teams in the conference ... there isn't much hope for logical B10 scheduling.

Actually IU's OOC became easier late in 2023 before Cignetti got there. Tom Allen was trying to save his job so he dropped Louisville who had won the year before. Before Allen could enjoy the fruits of his 2024 OOC schedule change he was fired at the end of the 2023 season with a cupcake schedule on the horizon. Cig shows up in November 2023. He and the AD wanted 7 home games and at the last minute dropped an away game at UVA in exchange for another cupcake to play at home. 2025 rolls around and Indiana State is on the schedule for two reasons. Their head coach is the son of the winningest coach in IU history, even with a losing record, Bill Mallory. The 2nd reason, their program had been close to bankruptcy in recent years where there was talk of dropping the football program. As a favor financially and as an honor to Mallory they were added on the schedule. In 2026 Indiana State will play at Purdue. Cig was not going to schedule JMU but to give a team a chance in that conference to do what they beg for, IU scheduled G5 Old Dominion. First play of the season their QB goes for 75 yard TD. Later after the game was wrapped up, their QB did another 70+ yard TD run. That QB transferred to Wisconsin after this past season. IU use to play Kentucky and Missouri every year on the OOC but years ago when the SEC went to 8 games they both canceled saying they could no longer play teams that were now called P4 teams. IU would usually win those games. When Lee Corse was HC at IU he went to USC, LSU, Arizona, Nebraska and Washington in their OOC games. Like all schools these OOC games are scheduled way in advance. For those that are always bashing IU easy OOC will be happy to hear that in 2030, after years of asking, Notre Dame decided to play IU home and home but only for two years. They would rather beat up Purdue every year like they have done forever. In today's world there is no reason for IU to play a harder OOC ... yet this year two of those teams won more than 10 games and both played in bowl games.

This might help. What did Northwestern do to make the B10 scheduler mad? Their bye is the 2nd week of the season.

IU has the same situation. That reminds me of a little bit of B10 history. When they had divisions IU would play OSU, Michigan, Penn State and a much better Michigan State team every year. Not really a good way to get over the hump in winning games. Most years they would play at least three of those schools in back to back weeks.

There are a lot of great matchups and on top of that new coaches that looked to be better than the ones they are replacing. My only question is how did Penn State not play IU, Ohio State or Oregon???