Since the inception of the Big Ten post-season conference tournament in 1998, Indiana Hoosier basketball is a dismal 12-22. Only Northwestern has a poorer record at 9-22. Ohio State, the football school, leads the overall conference standings at 26-14. They still have a chance to add to that distinction after beating Indiana again today and forcing them out of prime post-season. To make matters worse, the I.U. Hoosiers, once a prominent basketball program, has failed to win the tournament 22 consecutive times. Only in 2001 did they make it to the final game, losing against Iowa 63-61 under interim Coach Mike Davis, once Bob Knight was fired in September. Then they went on to lose in the First Round of the NCAA Tourney against Kent State and finished the season at 21-13. The very next year Davis guided them to an NCAA Championship game against Maryland. The ironic thing is that Maryland eventually became a BIG Ten school, so I guess you could say they lost two BIG tournaments in the same year, because Iowa also beat them in the Second Round of the official conference tournament. In 2013, I.U. won the BIG conference regular season championship, but Wisconsin got in the way in the tournament. It’s a disappointing track record after the glory years of 5 National Championships.

Even more controversial is the fact that Iowa was coached in both conference tournament losses by former I.U. star Steve Alford. Plus, the 2002 tournament was played in Indianapolis, Indiana that probably should have given the home-state Hoosiers an advantage. Coach Davis was eventually replaced in 2006 by Kelvin Sampson who managed his way to NCAA probation for recruitment violations. Coach Tom Crean tried to right the ship but last year Archie Miller got the nod. This string of coaching adjustments after the Bob Knight era accounts for all 22 failures in the conference post-season. 22 Blown Opportunities!

Coach Knight did not have a conference tournament to deal with, and I believe had fought the idea for several years. He did win the Big Ten eleven times and was Coach of the Year eight times. There was also that remarkable string of consecutive victories. I.U. lost to Michigan in a 1973 playoff game to break a regular season tie, but went on from there to go undefeated two consecutive regular seasons before losing to Purdue in 1977. Thirty-Six straight Big Ten Conference wins, long before it was re-branded BIG with more teams. This year we lost 7 straight conference games, followed by an additional 5 straight and then finished with a blown opportunity. Fittingly, we’ll probably end up playing another Big Ten squad in the unheralded NIT or “Not In Tournament” like Penn State that won it last year. Just another reason for my Purdue friends to make fun of me.

After all the disappointment this year, there was a temporary spark of life, as if the Basketball Gods had flipped a switch. An I.U. team that was in my opinion one of the “worst shooting” clubs I’ve ever seen on the court suddenly began to cut down on turnovers and consequently won four straight to close the regular season. They looked like an entirely different team. With double wins over Co-Champ Michigan State, an overtime victory against Wisconsin, and “Quad 1” upsets of Marquette and Louisville, they were gaining momentum for an NCAA Tournament bid. Just one more BIG win over Ohio State would have probably clinched it. Instead, they fell flat on their faces. “One and Done” Romeo Langford had just 9 and two critical turnovers. Team leader Juwan Morgan could produce only twelve points and seven rebounds, both well below his average. They somehow found themselves relying on Devonte Green’s career-high 26 even despite 4 painful turnovers, and graduate transfer Evan Fitzner’s 8, while De’Ron Davis and Al Durham contributed just nine each. It was not a clutch team performance when the Hoosiers really needed one. A Blown Opportunity!

After setting the table with the late-season rally for an NCAA meal, all they’ll get are NIT scraps. Langford probably won’t play so as to not damage his NBA prospects in meaningless competition. Morgan may do the same. This would really taint an already tarnished season that finished in an unfulfilled comeback flurry that could have been avoided by not falling so far behind. They resorted to alley-ball rather than teamwork, and became the 17-turnover machine that plagued them all of last year and most of this season. Plus, they were only 10-15 from the free throw line, while the more muscular Buckeyes were 15-18. I.U. lost 79-75. Five more free throws and they might have pulled out an undeserved victory! It was a BIG letdown on a BIG day – a whimper when they needed a roar. A “Blown Opportunity” that could have saved their I.U. legacy and perhaps launched themselves into greatness.

As a side note, it’s hard to believe that Romeo Langford’s NBA stock continues to stay strong. He’s proven over and over again that he’s not a clutch player. (See Post #850). He needs a couple more years of college (but most likely D-League) to develop his shooting skills. He fell asleep in some critical situations when his teammates needed him most in this “must-win” game. Sorry, Romeo, but despite my anger I still do wish the very best for you. It was not an appropriate way for the former “Mr. Basketball” to end his time at I.U. It was, in fact, a “Blown Hoosier-tunity.”