Indiana has immediate questions, like whether the Hoosiers can break their 3-game losing streak Saturday vs. Penn State.

But the big question — the only one that anyone really cares about — will come after the season: What should Indiana do about coach Mike Woodson? Should he be sent into retirement or should he get at least another year? If it’s the latter, and Indiana seems more likely to let him have a chance, then be certain of this: Woodson will be charged with cleaning up a mess that is of his own doing. There’s no one else to blame, as much as Woodson has seemingly wanted to as the losses have mounted in a season that could end without even making the NIT.

Woodson needs to own it — like, actually say it out loud — then set off to try to fix it. No more pointing figures at an injury to point guard Xavier Johnson. No more blaming Johnson’s youthful backup. No more blaming shooting or a bad whistle or players or any thing or any body else. The finger points inward. Woodson, in his 3rd-year as Indiana’s head coach, has a bad roster this season, but he alone built it. It wasn’t inherited. This isn’t the NBA; a general manager didn’t sign a bunch of players, then hand the coach the keys. No. Woodson built this dysfunctional 14-12 squad that was booed off the floor in Assembly Hall on Wednesday as it was being blown out by Nebraska, a Cornhuskers team, of course, that that had previously been winless on the road in the Big Ten.

Now, don’t misunderstand. Indiana has talented players, like Malik Reneau, who would be a star anywhere in the Big Ten, or Kel’el Ware, who could thrive given the right motivation, or Trey Galloway, who would be great if he wasn’t pressed into being in a more significant role than he should. Freshman Mackenzie Mgbako, one of the 3 former 5-star prospects on the roster, has shown tremendous upside at times this season.

But the pieces don’t work together, and there’s only one architect of this calamity. Indiana has one of the most poorly constructed rosters in the recent history of the Big Ten, given that the Hoosiers have talent that doesn’t equate to consistent performance. Why was there no backup plan for Johnson, considering the point guard was coming off an injury-plagued season? How did IU miss on attracting an incredibly much-needed shooter to put in its backcourt, leaving the Hoosiers — again — to be one of the country’s least-efficient teams from the perimeter? They make just 32% of their 3s — 264th in the country. They only make 5.1 per game — which ranks 336th in the country. Why is 6-8 Mgbako playing the 3, which gives Indiana NBA-like size in its starting lineup, but creates imbalance in the college game? Why have players not developed to fill some of the gaps?

It’s hard to reason. If Woodson stays, he needs to take better care of building his roster in a mold that creates a cohesive basketball team, not recruit star rankings and then hope the pieces work out. Or, if he can’t do that, then he needs to put someone on his staff — an assistant? Calbert Cheaney? Some other new hire? — at the helm of roster management. It’s not an easy task in 21st century athletics, with the transfer portal making for virtual free agency, but the ability to put together rosters on an annual basis now is a bigger and more challenging task than ever.

This season is nearly gone. It’d take a miracle for Indiana to make the NCAA Tournament, most likely needing the automatic bid in the Big Ten Tournament to do so. And, frankly, the 32-team NIT might be a long-shot, unless the committee wants to add IU because of its rich basketball history. It’s probably more likely, as crazy as this sounds, that the Hoosiers lose out, considering they are likely to be the underdog in each of their remaining 5 games.

Then, the big question, and regardless of the answer, an offseason that will shape the future of Indiana basketball.