Author Archives: Kent Sterling

Peyton Manning’s Legacy as Great Quarterback Takes Critical Hit During Brutal Super Bowl Performance

by Kent Sterling

The confetti fell like tears all around Peyton Manning as he finished short of his goal yet again.

Peyton Manning doesn’t play special teams, so no one can blame him for Percy Harvin’s kickoff return for a touchdown. And the safety on the first offensive play of the game was on the center, but Manning sure didn’t play well when the ball was in his normally sure hands.

One of the best quarterbacks of all time, Manning had a chance during yesterday’s Super Bowl to elevate his standing among the greats of the game. After throwing two interceptions, looking panicked throughout, and failing to make the plays needed to keep his Broncos in the game, Manning is hardly blameless for the 43-8 ass beating.

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If Manning is physically able to play at a high level for another two seasons, he has a very good chance to own most of the NFL’s significant records at quarterback. Regular season excellence is nice, but the lights shine brightest during the postseason. Careers are made and lost in January and February, and that is when Manning has been mediocre at best.

It’s not just the 11-12 postseason record that Manning now sports. He can’t be the scapegoat for every loss or a savior during every win. Football is a team game, but his performance during the postseason is a stark contrast to what he has routinely done during his 15 stellar seasons.

In 13 postseasons, Manning’s teams have been one-and-done eight times, and in seven of those, his quarterback rating was over 100 just once. In his 12 losses, Manning has totaled 13 picks and 13 touchdowns. In the 11 wins, Manning has thrown for 23 TDs and nine interceptions.

In 23 postseason games, Manning has posted a sub 100 quarterback rating 17 times. Those poor-to-mediocre performances led his teams to a 6-11 record. That leaves six games where he was 100+. Manning’s record in those games is 5-1.

In the regular season, Manning’s teams are a crazy 167-73.

There is no doubt that Manning has been one of the best regular season quarterbacks in the history of football. His intellect, work ethic, and physical talent has resulted in mind boggling stats and ten 12+ win seasons. Not only will Manning be a five-time MVP, his approximate value of 254 to his teams is tied with Brett Favre as the best ever, according to pro-football-reference .com.

Where does Manning stand compared to the meaningful records for quarterbacks?

Manning is 768 completions behind Favre after leading the NFL with 450 in 2013. At that pace, he’ll pass Favre during game ten of the 2015 season.
Manning is 6,874 passing yards behind Favre. At a pace of 5,000 yards per season, Manning will pass Favre with his final pass of the fifth game of the 2015 season.
Manning is 1,717 pass attempts behind Favre. In 2013, Manning averaged just over 41 attempts. At that pace, Manning will pass Favre during week ten of the 2016 season.
The first record that Manning will own over Brett Favre is touchdowns thrown. Manning is only 17 TDs behind Favre, and that record should fall sometime during the 5th, 6th, or 7th game next year.
Favre’s record for total offense is 70,195 yards. Manning is 6,274 behind, and at a conservative 4,500 yards per year, he will pass Favre in the first half of game seven in 2015.

Those records, plus the excellent branding earned by Manning and his laser rocket arm will lift him into the conversation as one of the best ever at quarterback, and on the periphery of talk about the most valuable player in NFL history.

But the overall mediocrity of Manning’s body of postseason work will always haunt him, and unless there is a reversal of fortune that results in at least one more Super Bowl Championship, he will never achieve a consensus ranking as the top gunslinger of all-time.

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Are all those Colts and Broncos postseason losses attributable to Manning? No, but they were losses, and winning is the name of the game. Maybe he deserved to win multiple championships, but like William Munny (Clint Eastwood) says to Little Bill (Gene Hackman) as he prepares to kill him in Unforgiven, “Deserve’s got nothin’ to do with it.”

Manning might be on the Mount Rushmore of quarterbacks, but after last night, he’s not likely to ever stand alone.

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Indianapolis Sports Media Twitter Rankings – Sterling and Buckner Continue to Pile Up New Followers

Indianapolis Star Pacers reporter Candace Buckner did a very nice job keeping fans updated Saturday morning as Andrew Bynum moved closer and closer to signing with the team. That kind of timely delivery of information is what drives follower growth, and she grew by 15.1% from January 1st through this morning.

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Bound to the studio during Saturday’s “Ahead of the Curve,” I relied upon Candace for updates along with a couple of national columnists to keep listeners apprised of Bynum’s status.

For the sports media, Twitter is a direct and cost-free portal into the minds of fans. For a guy like Dan Dakich who hosts a radio show in Indianapolis and serves as an analyst for ESPN on college basketball games, the growth can be profound. His two positions have provided him with a route to gather 69,100 followers, which makes his feed every bit a impactful a marking platform as a billboard next to an interstate.

He doesn’t get the same number of impressions, but because Twitter is an interactive two-way doorway into fans who express an affinity for Dan through opting in, he can strongly affect his own brand as well as that of others through retweets.

Those who embrace Twitter can become the pilot of their own brand awareness. Those who don’t, simply don’t understand their jobs.

People in the media love to see themselves on TV and billboards. Twitter makes it possible for media figures to launch their own media campaign. Why wait for your bosses to invest the cash in building your brand when you can do it yourself?

Here are the rankings for January growth:

Sports Radio in Indy

Kent Sterling – 1070 the Fan 5,400 to 6,025 +11.6%
Dan Dakich – 1070 the Fan 64,912 to 69,100 +6.5%
JMV 21,101 to 22,200 +5.2%
Derek Schultz – 1260 WNDE 4,357 to 4,571 +4.9%
Michael Grady – 1070 the Fan 10,804 to 11,300 +4.6%
Conrad Bruner 1070thefan.com 6,508 to 6,798 +4.5%
Mark Boyle – Pacers play-by-play 9,004 to 9,389 +4.3%
Greg Rakestraw – 1070 the Fan 5,966 to 6,207 +4.0%
Jake Query 1260 WNDE 8,255 to 8,504 +3.0%
Eddie White – Pacers Postgame 4,962 to 5,100 +2.8%
Kevin Lee – 1070 the Fan/NBC 6,782 to 6,871 +1.3%

TV Sports Anchors/Reporters in Indy

Charly Arnolt – Fox 59 2,680 to 2,966 +10.7%
Larry Hawley – Fox 59 1,423 to 1,533 +7.7%
Chris Denari – FSIN 9,569 to 10,200 +6.6%
Dave Calabro – WTHR 9,004 to 9,580 +6.4%
Rich Nye – WTHR 4,869 to 5,125 +5.3%
Anthony Calhoun – WISH 6,745 to 7,094 +5.2%
Chris Hagan – Fox 59 5,277 to 5,524 +4.7%
Dave Furst – RTV6 4,820 to 4,932 +2.3%
Jason Spells – RTV6 1,961 to 2,003 +2.1%
Jeremiah Johnson – FSIN 4,612 to 4,702 +2.0%
Chris Widlic – WISH 1,705 to 1,747 +1.5%
Amanda Maynard – WISH 1,016 to 1,078 +1.3%
Brad Brown – RTV6 567 to 572 +0.9%

Print/Digital – all with Indianapolis Star unless otherwise noted (beat in parenthesis)

Candace Buckner (Pacers) 4,495 to 5.175 +15.1%
Zach Osterman (IU Hoops) 5,744 to 6,037 +5.10%
Mark Ambrogi 2,062 to 2,167 +5.09%
Zak Keefer (Butler) 4,991 to 5,210 +4.4%
Mike Chappell (Colts) 16,794 to 17,500 +4.203%
Bob Kravitz (columnist) 39,732 to 41,400 +4.198%
Stephen Holder (Colts) 10,545 to 10,900 +3.4%
Kyle Neddenriep (Preps) 12,194 to 12,600 +3.33%
David Woods (IU Football) 5,616 to 5,801 +3.29%
Phillip B. Wilson 15,886 to 16,300 +2.6%
Mike Wells (Colts/ESPN) 27,994 to 28,700 +2.5%
Phil Richards 3,137 to 3,206 +2.2%
Dustin Dopirak (Bton H-T) 7,949 to 8,111 +2.0%
Michael Pointer 3,848 to 3,897 +1.3%
Curt Cavin (Racing) 12,847 to 13,000 +1.2%

Digital

Tom Lewis @IndyCornrows 4,829 to 5,004 +3.6%
Chronic Hoosier (hoosierchronicles.com) 17,310 to 17,800 +2.8%
Ken Bikoff @kbikoff 2,003 to 2,038 +1.7%
Alex Bozich @insidethehall 19,988 to 20,300 +1.6%
Mike Pegram @peegs 13,719 to 13,900 +1.3%
Terry Hutchens (Fox – IU) 13,118 to 13,200 +0.63%
Jeff Rabjohns 16,600

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Indiana Basketball – Hoosiers Continue Their Unpredictable Season – Beat Michigan 63-52

by Kent Sterling

Yogi Ferrell had 27 points on 7-8 shooting from beyond the arc. That’s a solid reason for a huge grin.

Yogi Ferrell. Mentioning anyone or anything else as a reason for Indiana beating Michigan this afternoon is silly.

Yogi Ferrell shot, led, and defended like a champion today. He asserted his considerable will and accurate bombing from outside the arc as he propelled the Hoosiers to another win over a ranked opponent after a tough loss.

The team defended well, but you can’t win if you don’t put the ball in the bucket, and Yogi put on his work boots today to score 27 points.

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The Hoosiers have lost to Northwestern and Nebraska while beating Wisconsin and Michigan in one of the strangest seasons of the last 30 years in Bloomington.

Ferrell hit seven of eight from beyond the arc, and bailed Indiana out of several possessions as they ran the shot clock all the way down before Ferrell launched a bomb.

The fans in Assembly Hall appeared uneasy through the first half, lustily booing Indiana coach Tom Crean when he removed either Big Ten freshman of the year candidate Noah Vonleh or Ferrell. They cheered just as loudly when the two returned.

And they were right to.

During the two-minute period four subs joined Stanford Robinson in the first half, Michigan enjoyed it’s only effective run of the game – a 6-0 streak to take a 13-10 lead with 10:10 left.

So Indiana moves to 4-5 midway through the conference season, and 14-8 for the season, while Michigan suffered its first conference loss of the season.

The Hoosiers will travel to Minnesota next Saturday to play the Golden Gophers, who are also 4-5 in the Big Ten. Go ahead and try to figure out what the hell is going to happen in the Barn.

Every time the timing feels appropriate to write off the Hoosiers as young and inept, they win a huge game against a tough opponent, and every time it looks like Crean has the Hoosiers playing well, they lose to what was believed to be a Big Ten bottom feeder.

It’s maddening, but it beats being predictably bad.

The Big Ten continues its overall schizophrenia as the team thought to be good loses to teams thought to be bad.

Today, the insanity paid off for Indiana. Thursday, it went against them as they lost to Nebraska.

Back to Ferrell, who flat out put the Hoosiers on his back and earned them a win that appeared unlikely after what happened less than 72 hours ago in Lincoln.

He’s certainly no stranger to exhibiting greatness in a sea of mediocrity. He was far and away the best player for Park Tudor during his time there, just as he is at IU.

As Indiana fans discuss the possibility of Vonleh jumping to the NBA, and the dearth of size that would result next season, they need to start pondering a future without both Vonleh and Ferrell. Yikes.

Ferrell can handle, distribute, shoot from distance, and competes every night. He’s not going to intimidate anyone in the pros with his size, but it’s not hard to envision Ferrell in the league.

That’s the price of success, I guess. When players turn in a transcendent performance – as Ferrell did today – fears of losing him dance in fans’ heads just as they did in 2013 with Cody Zeller and Victor Oladipo.

Fans had only one question for Crean about Ferrell, “Why did he only play 37 minutes?” Surely, if he can play 37, three more won’t kill him.

The mysterious, magical, disappointing, and thrilling 2014 Big Ten season continues with yet another impossible to predict result.

Maybe today, fans should be content with the win, and not spend too much time fearing the future. Plenty of time for that after whatever might happen over the next six weeks.

Super Bowl Preview – Rick Venturi Breaks Down the Broncos vs. Seahawks and Talks About the Hall of Fame Nominees

by Kent Sterling

Rick Venturi lays out thoughts on the Super Bowl, Hall of Fame, and Pete Carroll.

Nobody explains professional football like Rick Venturi, and I doubt anyone other than the participants are as juiced to watch the match-up between the NFL’s best offense and defense.

Coach Venturi spent some time with me this morning on “Ahead of the Curve” (1070 the Fan/Indianapolis), and laid out his thoughts on the Supers Bowl. The short version is that he can’t wait to see how Seattle sets up defensively to disguise its looks for the man acknowledged as the smartest quarterback in the world. Show too early – Peyton Manning picks you apart. Show too late, and there is confusion.

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Seahawks coach Pete Carroll and Venturi have spent a lot of time around each other, and while I have always had a strong dislike from afar toward Carroll, Venturi likes him and his thoughts on him have caused me to re-think me aversion.

The other issue we debated was the hall of dam class that will be introduced tonight. Specifically, we discussed the candidacy of Marvin Harrison. Does he deserve to jump to the front of the line – ahead of Andre Reed and Tim Brown – or should he be forced to wait his turn like every other receiver since Jerry Rice? Venturi coached against all three, and offers a superb opinion.

Tomorrow, the season comes to an end, and then it will be time to briefly reflect on a very strange NFL season that ended as many predicted – with the Broncos and Seahawks facing off for the Vince Lombardi Trophy.

Indiana Pacers Sign Andrew Bynum – Larry Bird, Frank Vogel, and Paul George (video) React

by Kent Sterling

Andrew Bynum washed out in Philly and Cleveland, but Indiana provides a fresh start with Larry Bird at the helm.

If there was any doubt of the Pacers to do whatever is possible to win an NBA Championship in 2014, it’s gone.

The Pacers have moved their chips to the middle of the table, and Pacers President Larry Bird doesn’t bluff.

This morning, the Pacers announced the signing of mercurial center Andrew Bynum, who has shown himself to be capable of both all-star level basketball and self-immersed and churlish behavior.

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The Cleveland Cavaliers dealt Bynum’s contract to the Chicago Bulls three weeks ago, and he has been sitting since.

Bird has not been sitting. He’s not hoping that the Pacers can continue to play well enough to post the best record in the NBA; he’s continuing to pursue talent where it is.

As for what Bird, all-star wing Paul George, and coach Frank Vogel think about the move, watch the video of what all three said a short time ago at Bankers Life Fieldhouse.

Super Bowl Spectacular “Ahead of the Curve” at 8a Saturday on 1070 the Fan

by Kent Sterling

Antoine Bethea, Jacob Tamme, Adam Vinatieri, Coby Fleener, Rick Venturi, Mike Epps, Eddie White, and Kristi Dosh – author of “Saturday Millionaires” – are the guests for tomorrow’s “Ahead of the Curve.”

The only tough part is trying to squeeze all of them into two hours from 8a-10a tomorrow (Saturday) morning on 1070 the Fan, 107.5 FM, and 1070thefan.com. If you miss any of the interviews, they will be posted right here before Noon.

Every week, I look forward to the show, but for tomorrow I really can’t wait. These are always the best two hours of my week, but as we look ahead to the final chapter of the 2013 NFL season, we all deserve a special show.

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You never know what you are going to get from a Super Bowl, but this has all the earmarks of a classic. The #1 offense in the NFL, and one of the most potent in the history of the NFL with the guy some think is the best quarterback in the history of the game at the peak of his powers matching wits with the best defense in the NFL is a Super Bowl matchup to get excited about.

Peyton Manning vs. the Legion of Boom. Are you kidding me?

Earlier in the day, we will watch the Indiana Hoosiers try to bounce back against a Michigan team that is the lone undefeated squad in the Big Ten. For Dan Dakich fans keep an eye on him as his son takes the floor in the building he called home from 1981-1997 and 2007-2008. Andrew will be wearing a Michigan jersey, but dads don’t see jerseys – they see blood. It will be a special day for the Dakich Family.

Hope you’ll join me bright and early for the best two hours of radio Chris and I can deliver. That’s what we do every week for your enjoyment and ours.

Happy Birthday, Mr. Cub – Ernie Banks Turns 83 – His Example Lives On

by Kent Sterling

This is what your face should look like every morning when you get to work.

Ernie Banks loved his job, and he was very good at it.

For a generation of Chicagoans, Ernie Banks embodied the beauty of enjoying what you do. He hit 512 home runs, and was a first ballot hall of famer for a franchise that absolutely sucked through nearly his entire career. Until Mr. Cub turned 36, the Cubs won more than they lost just once (82-80 in 1963).

Everyday, Banks came to work ready to play – leading the Major Leagues in games played during six of his first seven full seasons. Minus an 18-game stretch in 1956 when Banks was injured, he didn’t miss a single game until he turned 30.

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If not for Banks from 1955-1966, there was no other reason for fans to pay the $3.50 for a box seat or a buck for a bleacher seat. Because of that, when new team president Dallas Green fired Banks in 1982 from his $25,000 a year job, I was as angry with the Cubs as I have ever been (even more than today as the Cubs purposely corrupt their ability to win). Green said Banks was fired because, “I couldn’t figure out what he did.” All he did, and all he has done for 60 years, is serve as the lasting image of the Cubs brand and the most important figure in the history of the franchise. If that wasn’t worth $25,000, what was?

Banks was a living and breathing “Clark the Cub” who played in 14 all star games and won two Most Valuable Player Awards.

The statistical greatness that Banks achieved are easily assessed and recited, but the lasting impact of the man is in his relentless smile and cheerful outlook.

While ballplayers talk about how fatiguing playing a full 162-game schedule of baseball games can be, Banks played a kids’ game with a kids’ outlook. He understood and appreciated his good fortune everyday.

In 2013, four players saw action in the full slate of their team’s games. Hunter Pence, Joey Votto, Prince Fielder, and Billy Butler played the game like Banks. The other 750-ish guys on a major league roster took or were given games off.

There is a great story about Greg Maddux when he was young talking to his manager while in Chicago playing for the Cubs. Maddux was talking about how he was looking forward to the next day off, and the manager reminded him that he gets to play baseball for a living. Maddux agreed, and made the decision to enjoy his job rather than bitch about it.

Banks had that figured out from the day he stepped into Wrigley Field at the age of 22.

For those of you who are familiar with Banks, picture his face. He’s smiling, isn’t he? Of course he is. Google Ernie Banks and click images. There are a couple of pictures where he doesn’t have a broad smile, but no more than 10%.

Remember, Banks played for very few teams that had any chance at all of contending, and he never played in a postseason game. Yet he smiled and signed autographs for an hour every home game.

Those of you who feel worn down by your job, think of the joy Banks had everyday and try to find a way to love what you do enough to smile while you do it. If you are already smart enough to love your job congratulate yourself.

if you don’t enjoy being at work, get over yourself and find a way to help others enjoy their time at work. There is no victory in fighting through misery, and dragging others into it.

Banks has been quoted millions of times as saying, “Let’s play two!” That’s a double shift to you and me. He invited it, and wasn’t full of crap when he did it.

If people in your workplace make it impossible for you to enjoy your work, get the hell out and find a gig where you will be surrounded by good people that you can love.

That is Banks’ lasting legacy, smiling through the pain to show the rest of us that – as Patrick Swayze says in Roadhouse – “Pain don’t hurt.”

Life isn’t about what happens to you, but how you respond. Ernie Banks always responded by showing up everyday, working hard, and smiling because he knew that life is to be enjoyed.

Year after year, loss after loss, and failure after failure, Banks showed up smiling for 19 seasons under 12 bosses.

His birthday should serve as a reminder that mornings should be greeted with a smile, adversity met with glee, and success enjoyed no matter how hard it can be to find.

Happy Birthday, Ernie!

Indiana Hoosiers Search for Answers After Blowing 16-Point Lead to Nebraska

by Kent Sterling

Every game’s end finds one coach relieved and one coach miserable. Tonight, it’s Nebraska’s Tim Miles turn to be relieved.

There are a many reasons I’m not a basketball coach, but one of the reasons I’m glad I’m not a basketball coach is what tonight will be like for Indiana’s Tom Crean. I wouldn’t sleep because I would have spent tonight’s game lamenting that I had no idea how to get the combination of players at my disposal in a position to score enough points to win.

I would wonder whether I didn’t understand something about the game; whether I nodded off during a camp when the strategies for running an offense perfectly suited for a team that shoots it poorly from outside was presented.

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I would wonder how many times I needed to tell the players the same thing again and again to make them understand where they need to be, and what shot we are looking for before it finally sinks in.

There is no shame is losing to Nebraska 60-55 at their place. Ohio State and Minnesota did the same thing this month, and they aren’t too damn bad, although I’m starting to wonder about the Buckeyes who lost at home last night to Penn State.

With tonight’s win, Nebraska won back-to-back conference games for the first time since joining the conference, so now the Hoosiers and the Huskers are tied at 3-5 in the Big Ten, one game out of last place.

The Hoosiers squandered a 16-point first half lead, but that lead was artificially enhanced by consecutive banked three-pointers that turned a one-point lead into a seven-point bulge with 5:13 to play in the first session. If Indiana had won, fans would make no apologies for the gifted triples, but after a loss to a program that not long ago presented a minimal challenge, those points seem even cheaper.

As has been the case when defenses collapse to stop the drive, and allow Indiana to weigh the pros and cons of open three-point shots, the Hoosiers turned it over again and again – a total of 19 times tonight.

Few of those turnovers were the excusable kind. Bad passes. Bad travels. Bad decisions trying to drive through two and sometimes three defenders. Indiana displayed a wide variety of ways to hand the ball to Nebraska.

Fans will look at a wide variety of people to blame for the madness that has wrought losses to Northwestern and Nebraska during the same season. Crean will likely be the source of much of that frustration, and rightly so. He’s the captain of this ship. The buck stops with him. If it’s a player problem, the blame can be laid at Crean’s feet as he’s the guy who invited them to Bloomington. If it’s a strategic issue, that’s obviously Crean.

My take is that this is just an ugly season of fits and spurts with a very young team that does the kind of things very young teams do. Crean is trying everything, and none of it works against a team that can move the ball quickly on offense and move its feet quickly on defense.

Indiana lost 70% of its points from last year’s Big Ten champion, and two-thirds of its rebounds. The top ten recruiting class that is now freshman is talented, long, and athletic, but don’t know how to be consistently focused and productive in the Big Ten. The sophomores – minus Yogi Ferrell – aren’t any better. Maybe the Charmin-soft non-conference schedule gave the youngsters a little more confidence than was warranted.

Lots of maybes this season to go with an uncomfortable amount of losses.

There are moments of grace for the Hoosiers where possessions with crisp execution and good ball movement result in an unchallenged shot. Then there are possessions where players point at each other after throwing the ball away.

It’s hard to watch for fans who all think they could coach because they listened to Bob Knight talk about the beauty and functionality of the motion offense. It’s hard to watch for Crean because Indiana isn’t very good right now, and doesn’t appear to the naked eye to be improving.

And it’s not easy for me because it causes me to admit that not only shouldn’t I coach basketball, I don’t even want to.

Indiana Football – Signing Day Looms; Fred Glass Expresses Optimism in Kevin Wilson’s Program

by Kent Sterling

IU coach Kevin Wilson is moving into his crucial fourth season building the program.

Rebuilding college football teams can take a lot of time. The spoils of the first recruiting class of a new coach can’t really be assessed until the coach’s fourth year on the job. Guess what year Indiana coach Kevin Wilson is looking toward.

This is the year of reckoning – the year when fans can judge whether the Hoosiers have just continued to spin their wheels in the muck of mediocrity or has taken bonafide strides toward the sort of respectability and success that IU students haven’t witnessed in two decades.

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That’s right – seniors on the Bloomington campus the last time Indiana was any good are now in their 40s, old enough that many likely have children who are now students at IU.

There is no question that recruiting has improved, and that the Hoosiers have been very, very young. The offense is explosive, and the defense has been brutal. Wilson fired defensive coordinator Doug Mallory, but the defensive woes stretch back far beyond Mallory’s three year tenure in Bloomington. Indiana’s defense has been ranked 71st or worse since 1999.

The replacement is Brian Knorr. Indiana was able to hire him away from Air Force only a week after he accepted the defensive coordinator gig there. Nice that Indiana is in a position to win the bidding for their guy.

Indiana lost offensive coordinator Seth Littrell to North Carolina, where he accepted the same position. Not so nice to lose a guy to a school willing and able to pay more Co-offensive coordinator Kevin Johns was promoted to replace Littrell, and his cupboard is not bare. Indiana returns eight starters, but lose their best player – wide receiver Cody Latimer, who declared for the NFL Draft.

The coach leading the defense has changed, but the players haven’t. The Hoosiers return 10 starters, including four true freshmen who figured prominently in 2013. Sure, the defense couldn’t have been much worse, so everyone coming back isn’t a guaranteed road to improvement, but they can’t very well backslide from where they where – or have been since Y2K scared the hell out of everyone.

As of today (1/30/14), Indiana has 22 commits in the 2014 class. Dominique Booth is a four-star wide receiver from Pike High School in Indianapolis, and the other 21 commits are three-star kids. There is room for a few more, and signing day is just six days away. Right now, IU’s group would rank near the middle of the Big Ten pack.

Including this year, Wilson has brought in 8 four-star recruits, and 63 rated three stars. Prior to his arrival, Indiana had never netted a four-star recruit as far back as I can check.

In Wilson’s first three seasons, Indiana has improved from one win to four wins to five wins. Anything but a trip to a bowl will be judged as a step back. Despite Indiana’s inclusion in the Big Ten East with Maryland, Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State, Penn State, and Rutgers, fans are likely to be less patient with Wilson and the Hoosiers if the ball bounces the wrong way and they fall short of a 13th game.

Indiana plays six home games – two less than the eight they played in 2013, and the opponents are tough. The non-conference slate includes Indiana State and North Texas at home, and road tilts against Missouri and Bowling Green. The conference games will not present many opportunities for walkovers. Sure, there are home games against Maryland and Purdue, but Michigan State and Penn State are going to be very tough. The road games against Iowa, Michigan, Rutgers, and Ohio State will all be tough wins.

The one favor done by the Big Ten for Indiana is that Wisconsin is gone from the schedule. There isn’t a Hoosier fan, coach, or player who wants to see the Badgers again. Navy too.

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No question that under Wilson the Hoosiers have moved in the right direction. The problem with heading in the right direction is that there will be 13 other Big Ten teams busting their asses to head there more quickly.

Indiana AD Fred Glass said all the right things about the Hoosiers fortunes for improvement when I asked him for his thoughts. Click on the arrow below to listen.

Nearly Halfway Through, Big Ten Basketball Season Is in Chaos

by Kent Sterling

Northwestern beat Wisconsin – the 14th ranked team in the country – last night in Madison. Penn State went to Columbus last night and beat Ohio State in overtime to drop the #23 Buckeyes to ninth place in the conference race.

The last time both Northwestern and Penn State beat ranked teams on the same night on the road? Never.

Michigan is rolling at 7-0 so far playing blemish-free basketball, but one of those wins was by one point at Nebraska, and another was a three-point win over Minnesota at Williams Arena. All but two of their seven wins came by single digits.

Tom Izzo’s Michigan State Spartans are 7-1, but three of their Big Ten wins have come in overtime.

Anything can happen in the Big Ten, and it has in 2014.

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Indiana fans have become a little impatient with the Hoosiers this season coming off their regular season championship in 2013, but with a win tonight at Nebraska they will even their record at 4-4 and jump into a tie for fourth, one game behind Iowa – currently in third. With a loss, Tom Crean’s young team plummets into a ninth place tie with Ohio State, one game out of the basement occupied by Penn State and Illinois.

There is not a single combination of teams that can be counted on to bring about a certain result. The last place team could beat the first place team, and would likely beat them in three times in a ten game series. Gone are the days with a dominant team and at least one patsy.

That means that the Big Ten Tournament is completely unpredictable, and that the parity that all leagues pray for has arrived in America’s premier basketball conference.

What that will mean on Selection Sunday is anyone’s guess. Northwestern is 4-5 in Big Ten play, and 11-11 overall with losses to DePaul and Illinois State, but could find its way to an 11-7 Big Ten mark with wins over Penn State (home), Purdue (away), Indiana (home), twice over Minnesota, and and twice over Nebraska. They could also lose all seven of those games, but beat Michigan State and Ohio State.

It’s Camp Runamok in the Big Ten when a path to 11-7 can be seen for Northwestern.

I keep waiting for the season to bring clarity, but through between seven and nine games we don’t know any more about who might represent the Big Ten in the tournament, or how many. Every game, we hope to figure out more, but last night sure didn’t help that effort.

Normally, we wait until March for the madness to start, but it’s going to be tough for the second half of the season to measure up in terms of wackiness.

The Big Ten Tournament at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis could produce a Penn State vs. Northwestern final. That would be terrible for attendance, but great for two programs previously entrenched as conference doormats. It’s not likely, but Nebraska and Minnesota could get there too. Or Indiana and Purdue. Or Michigan State and Michigan. Or Ohio State and Wisconsin. Or Illinois and Iowa. Or any combination of the above.

In 2014, there is no chalk in the Big Ten.

Can’t wait for tonight. Can’t wait for March.