
Indiana, Mike Woodson facing pressure-packed rivalry moment vs. Purdue
Indiana basketball: premier blue-blood brand or perennial NCAA Tournament bubble team?
For fans of Hoosiers basketball, that’s the unfortunate reality of the past decade, and one that Mike Woodson was brought on to correct. The former program legend turned Indiana head coach appeared to have done that with back-to-back tournament appearances in 2022-23, including a 4-seed in 2023.
Even that high-water mark ended in disappointment with a lopsided 2nd-round loss at the hands of Miami. And ever since, Woodson’s Hoosiers have done nothing to prove they can become a regular in the Big Dance.
Last season, Indiana reloaded with some talented pieces in the portal, only to finish .500 in Big Ten play. The team never cracked the AP Top 25, was blown out in both rivalry games against Purdue and suffered a disastrous loss to Nebraska in the B1G Tournament.
This season, things were again supposed to be different. More roster turnover and shaping actually had Indiana opening the season at No. 17, just 3 spots behind Purdue.
Somehow, voters believed things in Bloomington would be different, putting IU as the 2nd-highest ranked B1G team entering the season. That optimism can now be described as misguided, at best.
As of last week, ESPN’s Joe Lunardi had the Hoosiers still standing in the NCAA Tournament picture, but the longtime bracketologist also said Indiana needed a win at Northwestern to hold its spot. The Hoosiers fell 79-70 and followed that up by falling again to Maryland at home.
Woodson’s group has now lost 4 of its past 5 games with the lone win in that stretch coming against Ohio State, which is 4-5 in Big Ten play. Of Indiana’s 5 conference wins, exactly 0 have come against a team that is currently .500 or better in league play.
That stretch has since dropped the Hoosiers out of Lunardi’s projected bracket and into the “first four out” section of the bubble. Making matters worse, B1G teams such as Nebraska, Penn State and Northwestern are also on the bubble and behind Indiana.
— Joe Lunardi (@ESPNLunardi) January 28, 2025
That’s not the kind of return on investment many expected from Woodson leading IU. And it only stings worse contrasted next to the elite stability Matt Painter has established in West Lafayette.
Sure, the past 2 seasons were easy to bang on Painter’s Purdue Boilermakers and their success. It’s easy to win when you have a 7-4 Zach Edey who benefits from every whistle, right?
Those criticisms were always short-sighted and never gave Painter and his staff — or Edey himself — the credit for developing into a true NBA prospect. But even if they were legitimate, where are they now?
With Edey off to the NBA, Purdue did bring in another lanky juggernaut to man the middle of the floor in Daniel Jacobsen. There’s just one problem.
The freshman 7-4 prospect was injured in the 2nd game of the season and is lost for the year. But even that would not be the downfall of the Boilermakers.
It’s true the season is far from over, and Purdue is far from the favorite to win a national title. The Boilermakers are actually +5000 to win it all and DraftKings, and fans can track the odds with our Michigan sports betting apps.
But the real dilemma is not whether or not Purdue can or will win the national title. It’s the fact that the Boilermakers were dealt a raw hand early on, and the trajectory of the program remained undeterred — even without Edey’s presence to whine about.
The Boilermakers are still a top-15 team — check that, a top-10 team per the latest AP Poll — as we prepare for February. And revisiting Lunardi’s projections, Purdue is currently slotted as a 2-seed and the top B1G team in his latest bracketology.
Translation: All the pressure in the rivalry is now squarely on the shoulders of Indiana. And failure in the rivalry this season could mean the final nail in the coffin for IU’s NCAA Tournament hopes.
If we’re honest, that’s looking more and more probable than anything else. And if it does play out that way, it might be time to have tough conversations about Mike Woodson’s tenure.