Agreed. Getting that home-and-home locked down is critical. Until that happens I think your right that a decent club in a respectable conference with a recruiting trip should be the goal.

You make a good point. I count four solid opponents at this point (Pitt, Butler, Louisville, SMU—not sold on Lamar,) so one more should be in there.
I’d pick up someone in a fertile recruiting area for a home-and-home, and it doesn’t have to be a top-5 program, just someone solid—-maybe someone in the LA area (UCLA is an option with Alford, but even USC or a team like St. Mary’s would be interesting,) in Texas (A&M, maybe,) or a UMass from the northeast.

Marcus,

Agree that the low-end needs to be better, but there clearly is NOT a sufficient amount of games against top-notch opponents.

Magic Number is 5. See below. I’m a huge Crean and Glass fan but they’ve got to stop kidding themselves and get five real games on the schedule.

Xavier
Non-Conference: 4-2
against SIX Teams in the top 120
played Tennessee twice (7), Iowa (28), Cincy (23), Alabama (92), Wake (118)
In-Conference: 10-8
Result: NCAA

Illinois
Non-Conference: 3-2
against FIVE Teams in the top 130
played UNLV(91), Georgia Tech(109), Auburn(129), Oregon(29) and Mizz(78)
In-Conference: 7-11
Result: #2 seed in NIT

Indiana
Non-Conference: 1-3
against FOUR Teams in the top 100
played Washington(95), UCONN(8), Syracuse(16), Notre Dame(99)
In-Conference: 7-11
Result: Missed NIT

SMU
Non-Conference: 2-2
against FOUR Teams in the top 130
played Arkansas(52), UVA(4), TA&M(121), Wyoming(128)
In-Conference: 12-6
Result: Missed NCAA

Cal
Non-Conference: 1-3
against FOUR Teams in the top 60
played Arkansas(52), Syracuse(16), Dayton(38), Creighton(24)
In-Conference: 10-8
Result: Missed NCAA

Get five legit non-con games on the schedule, go 3-2, be avg in a great conference…. make the NCAA.

Yup. Not to mention keeping the money in-state.

Exactly. If we’re going to play a cupcake why can’t it be IPFW? Probably get more competitive games too since there is a pride thing on the line.

I hope they don’t do away with the Crossroads either. Indiana basketball is sacred and we should always play the top teams in our state. I like your idea of a tournament too, IU, ND, Butler, Purdue, Evansville, Indiana St., Valpo, Ball St.. I realize not all of these teams are very good (or at least not consistently) but this would be better than playing Nicholls St. or Oakland.

This latest expansion only reinforces the point that the B1G hierarchy has but one “priority”… $. Tradition means nothing. Market share is king.

It’s true that protecting rivalries hasn’t been a priority but I initially read this to mean that basketball doesn’t appear to be a priority (and I think both are accurate). The times, they are a-changing…

I agree, but as of now, the Big Ten hasn’t done anything to protect rivalries in basketball and it doesn’t appear to be a priority, either.

I agree that we should never go a year without playing Purdue twice. But you don’t need arbitrary divisions to make that happen. Just more attention to the scheduling.

Northwestern has been on the brink for a few years now and with their coach now getting his footing I’d forecast them as “on the rise”.

Heck yea we do!

After being at the Barclays center for the Legends Classic back in 2012, I can confidently say the IU fan base in the NYC area is substantial to say the least. It won’t be as raucous as assembly hall would have been, but there still will be a lot of people in cream and crimson there