A few weeks ago, Indiana looked like a contender in the B1G race and a lock for the NCAA tournament. But over the last few weeks, the Hoosiers have suffered five straight losses and continue to plummet in the conference rankings.

Tuesday night, IU dropped a 73-66 contest to Northwestern to fall to 12-7 on the season and 3-5 in the B1G. Injuries and depth have been issues for Archie Miller and Co., but the Hoosiers have looked like a completely different team over the past three weeks.

So, what’s going on in Bloomington? Stadium’s Jeff Goodman believes it still falls back on Tom Crean and the situation he left for Miller.

“They’ve got two really good players; Juwan Morgan, who Tom Crean left, and Romeo Langford, who Archie Miller and his staff convinced to stay in-state, he was kind of the prized recruit,” Goodman said. “But Tom Crean didn’t leave a lot else. He didn’t. People are probably going to want to blame Archie Miller for this and he did what he was supposed to do. He brought in Romeo Langford and some other decent pieces.

“When you look at it, I think you have to look at what Tom Crean left behind, and it wasn’t enough.”

Crean was at Indiana from 2008-17, compiling a 166-135 record and winning two B1G titles. He was fired following the 2016-17 season, a year the Hoosiers finished 18-16.

Miller has recruited fairly well through his first two years in Bloomington, but clearly Goodman doesn’t believe that’s been enough.

Things don’t get much easier for the Hoosiers in the coming games. They’ll host No. 5 Michigan on Friday night and then play Rutgers next Wednesday. Indiana then plays No. 6 Michigan State in East Lansing and hosts No. 19 Iowa.

If Indiana is going to keep its NCAA tournament hopes alive, it’s going to have to turn things around quickly.