IT ALWAYS made sense to me why Indiana Hoosiers fans celebrated the start of basketball season. For decades, IU suffered weekly on the gridiron. But every year in mid-October, the campus sports narrative in Bloomington switched. Basketball became the center of every conversation. As a Purdue fan, I’ve realized that I’ve been in the same position for several years.
With last year’s unexpected role switch, Indiana entered a golden age in which football has taken center stage and receives top billing in the news cycle. IU basketball, still considered by some to be the calling card of the Cream and Crimson, possesses the talent to be very good in its own right but is moving to second place.
Meanwhile, Purdue football fans cringe at the thought of another effort. I came into this season hoping first-year head coach Barry Odom could pull off a percentage of the success his cross-state rival Curt Cignetti has achieved. In retrospect, my hope was misplaced.
I’m especially upset that there were games Purdue should, by all accounts, have won and didn’t. Watching the collapse of the last several contests, I realize this team is not very good and has a lot of basics to learn before success will follow. Developing a winning a strategy would be great (see Minnesota and Rutgers games), but just being able to play defense would be significant (see every game). Last year’s team lost more talent to the portal than this year’s team has assembled.
Regarding candor, how can you not love Cignetti, who approaches the game with a chip on his shoulder? His attitude comes through best in short one-line responses to the media, and his scowl is now recognized by all.
As hard as this is to write, I find myself rooting for IU—something I rarely do. It’s exciting to have a nationally ranked team with massive talent and skill in our state that isn’t named Notre Dame.
While IU still trails Purdue by 34 games in the historic Old Oaken Bucket contest, I expect a blowout victory by Indiana in this year’s game later this month, which will the tighten the overall record to 44-77-6 in 127 battles between the rivals.
Which brings me to Purdue basketball and the possibility of a winning team. What was thought to be another deep postseason run by the Boilermakers just took a hard left turn following their exhibition loss in Lexington to the University of Kentucky. That contest proved that just because a team has talented players doesn’t mean they always play well together. But this is something I have confidence in head coach Matt Painter to solve. And it’s something Cignetti demands of his team and has, in turn, managed to execute every week. That’s what makes both coaches so good in their respective sports.
