T1B

In what will end up a trainwreck of a year for IU basketball I expect many 20+ point losses this year for the Hoosiers. The question is, who will kick their ass the worst. Notre Dame is the leader in the clubhouse currently with a 38 point thumping under their belts. I have a STRONG indication of who it'll be but won't vote for awhile.

I'd say either ND or Gonzaga. I went with ND because I'm more familiar with their team and style of play. If ND establishes Harongody early, and Kyle Mac decides to go nuts, it could get real ugly real fast.

I don't think MSU will be blowing many people out in Big Ten play. They have the talent, but lack identity. Still, I should probably reserve judgment until Suton gets back healthy. They should play like a different team at that point. What kind of team will be the question.

If I had a vote in the polls, I'd probably vote Gonzaga 2nd behing NC. They are sick. I agree it will be either Gonzaga or ND to run IU the fartherst out of the gym.

38 will be hard to top...I took Purdue as a dark-horse. the Boilers can really score the ball from the perimeter.

Here it comes, the game I've been dreading all year. The one where I think IU gets whacked the hardest they've been all year. PU plays a style of pressure defense that will simply kill the young Hoosiers, who are (haven't checked the stats in awhile) one of the 3 worst teams in ALL of D-1 for turnovers/game. If you set the over/under for IU turnovers this game at 25, I'd take the over. I think they can make a run at 20 in the 1st half. Adding to that already unpleasant cocktail is the simple fact that PU and IU hate each other. I figured when IU played MSU that Izzo would take it easy on his buddy Crean. The talent difference would still lead to a large margin of victory but Izzo would have no interest in twisting the knife. Painter and co. will not only gladly twist the knife, they'll stomp on it too. IU thumped PU by nearly 40 a couple years back so I'm sure they'd love nothing more than to exact a bit of payback.

I'm hoping IU only loses by around 25 but I'm expecting worse. Even with Hummel possibly out (the rest of the year).

PU is a 22 point favorite.

Somehow, I like IU to find a way to cover that.

I actually watched the whole thing. I love what Crean is doing with a starting lineup full of freshmen. Four frosh in the starting 5? Sheesh. IU didn't have any 3s in the first half and still had a puncher's chance. They're scrappy, if nothing else. The talent will be rolling into Bloomington the next couple of years, and if they can play with that same kind of intensity with a talent-filled roster...watch out.