The State Of Indiana: December 7

For this installment (and most likely future installments as well) I've enlisted help from two fellow Hoosier college basketball followers. (Hoosier by state of collegiate attendance, not necessarily by collegiate affiliation.) Anthony "Zeus" Zeese (Indiana) and Tim Young (Valparaiso) were kind enough to discuss and rank the 10 D-1 teams of Indiana with me. Check it out!


#1 Purdue (Prev. 1)

Don't take Purdue's loss at Richmond to be any cause for #PANIC. Purdue will cruise into Big10 play with easy games against Valparaiso, North Florida, Indiana State, and IPFW. Their first four Big10 game are extremely winable, as well. That kind of confidence is exactly what Matt Painter's side needs before getting to the meat of the competition (Michigan State, @ Ohio State, Minnesota, @ Wisconsin, Indiana, @ Illinois, Wisconsin, Ohio State, @ Indiana, @ Michigan State, Illinois...WOW WOW WOW.)

BBState.com: 15
RPI: 68
SOS: 177
Record: 7-1 (0-0)
vs IN: 0-0
Most Important Win: Virginia Tech (58-55)
Most Detrimental Loss: Richmond (65-54)
Michael: 1
Zeus: 1
Tim: 1


#2 Butler (Prev. 2)

Though they've had their struggles, Butler is still the clear #2 in Indiana. Hopefully there won't be any water fountain incidents in Cincinatti on Thursday against Xavier...

BBState.com: 32
RPI: 37
SOS: 9
Record: 4-3 (1-0)
vs IN: 1-1
Most Important Win: @ Siena (70-57)
Most Detrimental Loss: Evansville (71-68)
Michael: 2
Zeus: 2
Tim: 2


#3 Notre Dame (Prev. 3)

Besides knocking off Wisconsin in Madison, Notre Dame has really only face medicore competition at home and neutral sites. A neutral game against Kentucky will be a great barometer of just how much this team can do, and the Gonzaga game could be one for the ages. Maybe.

BBState.com: 47
RPI: 27
SOS: 141
Record: 8-0 (0-0)
vs IN: 1-0
Most Important Win: @ Wisconsin (58-51)
Most Detrimental Loss: None
Michael: 3
Zeus: 3
Tim: 3


#4 Indiana (Prev. 6)

Indiana really hasn't played anyone (SOS of 256...ouch) besides Boston College, but that being said they've destroyed everyone but BC. They have't given up more than 66 points in a win, and have scored over 67 points in every game. Kentucky and Northern Iowa will provide tough tests before their conference schedule starts up.

BBState.com: 105
RPI: 103
SOS: 256
Record: 7-1 (0-0)
vs IN: 1-0
Most Important Win: None
Most Detrimental Loss: @ Boston College (88-76)
Michael: 4
Zeus: 4
Tim: 4


#5 Valparaiso (Prev. 7)

The team showed a lot of scrap coming back from 14 down at Ohio (one of the toughest places to play in Mid Majordom), but really didn't put up much of an effort against Kansas. They'll have a true home game against Purdue at the ARC, but winning might be out of reach still. HOWEVER...Never bet against Homer Drew.

BBState.com: 52
RPI: 31
SOS: 60
Record: 6-2 (2-0)
vs IN: 0-0
Most Important Win: @ Illinois-Chicago (68-66)
Most Detrimental Loss: @ Ohio (78-75)
Michael: 5
Zeus: 6
Tim: 5

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#6 IUPUI (Prev. 5)

The Jaguar's season is full of "almost" and "could have". They held a lead against Miami, San Diego State, St Louis (tied), and Oral Roberts. They are 9 points (average of 2 to tie + 1 to win) away from being 7-2. A game Thursday against AP #2 Ohio State is going to be a MAJOR task.

BBState.com: 153
RPI: 269
SOS: 215
Record: 4-5 (1-1)
vs IN: 0-0
Most Important Win: vs Green Bay (63-46)
Most Detrimental Loss: Oral Roberts (63-61)
Michael: 6
Zeus: 5
Tim: 6


#7 IPFW (Prev. 9)

IPFW has beaten a fairly easy schedule this year while falling to the two difficult teams they've played. Dan Fife's club typically plays to the level of their opponent, but they're showing they can't pull away from bad clubs like SIU-Edwardsville, UMKC, and Southern Utah. They had a chance for a major upset at Xavier but were made quick of in overtime.

BBState.com: 196
RPI: 116
SOS: 225
Record: 5-2 (2-0)
vs IN: 0-0
Most Important Win: vs UMKC (76-72)
Most Detrimental Loss: @ Xavier (76-66)
Michael: 7
Zeus: 7
Tim: 7


#8 Ball State (Prev. 10)

Ball state is impressive in their ability to travel and play well. They've had exactly two games in Muncie and the won both. Their other win, though, came against a bad Southern Utah team. Their losses? At Butler by 33, vs St John's by 5, and at Alaska Anchoage (non D-1) by 18. Their high BBState.com ranking comes from playing on the road and nothing else.

BBState.com: 104
RPI: 146
SOS: 171
Record: 3-3 (0-0)
vs IN: 1-1
Most Important Win: None
Most Detrimental Loss: Alaska Anchorage (62-44)
Michael: 8
Zeus: 8
Tim: 8


#9 Evansville (Prev. 8)

The win over Butler was a fluke, plain and simple. Games against teams like Indiana and Air Force are more indicitive of how good Evansville is: They're not. Should get a few big wins (in score, not in meaningfulness) before diving into the MVC headlong.

BBState.com: 169
RPI: 55
SOS: 28
Record: 3-3 (0-0)
vs IN: 1-1
Most Important Win: @ Butler (71-68)
Most Detrimental Loss: @ Air Force (57-56)
Michael: 10
Zeus: 9
Tim: 9


#10 Indiana State (Prev. 5)

How this team beat Oral Roberts is beyond me. They got smacked around by Wyoming, Ball State (WHAT?!), Eastern Kentucky, and Loyola Chicago. Some how they managed a victory against giant-slayer ORU, and hung very tough with Notre Dame on the road.

BBState.com: 236
RPI: 179
SOS: 175
Record: 3-5 (0-0)
vs IN: 0-2
Most Important Win: @ Oral Roberts (74-69)
Most Detrimental Loss: All of them
Michael: 9
Zeus: 10
Tim: 10