Todd’s Take: My 2025 Wish Is For Indiana Basketball To Escape Its Purgatorial Vibe

The misery index around Indiana basketball is high. Many fans are irritated, and the on-court performances aren’t settling anyone down. Here’s hoping something breaks to bust the Hoosiers out of their self-made purgatory.

Indiana's Bryson Tucker (8) shoots over Chattanooga's Garrison Keeslar (24) during the Indiana versus Chattanooga men's basketball game at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall on Saturday, Dec. 21, 2204. / Rich Janzaruk/Herald-Times / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Happy New Year everyone! With the new year comes a sense of renewal for many. A chance to start over or reset.

I can think of nothing that needs renewal or a reset more than Indiana men’s basketball.

I’m not just talking about the team, though they play the biggest role in it. I’m talking about the whole world of Indiana basketball. The team, administrators, the fans, the observers like me. The lot.

As Indiana turns to the 18-game run through the Big Ten from January to March, Rutgers comes to Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall at 8:30 p.m. ET Thursday to resume the Big Ten season, the word I’d use to describe the world of Indiana basketball right now is purgatorial.

It feels gloomy. A melancholy that sets in right down to your bones.

Part of that comes from the feeling that whatever is going to happen to Indiana, whether it’s a turnaround or a meltdown, hasn’t happened yet. The reality of this ambiguity – Indiana is 10-3, but hasn’t remotely passed the NCAA Tournament resume threshold or eye test – means the misery index is high for everyone.

I haven’t been inside the Indiana bubble long enough or consistently enough over the years to gauge how this season’s misery index compares to other years where the mood has been low. But I’m not sure I would want to go lower.

It’s bad enough.

On Sunday, when I covered the Winthrop game, the malaise that has descended on Bloomington rolled in like a thick fog and refused to leave – kind of akin to the wet weather that’s hung around in Indiana since mid-December. It’s a gloom that won’t subside.

It didn’t start that way inside Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall. I still think most Indiana fans, many of whom aren’t living 24/7 on Facebook and social media outlet penning repetitive missives on how Mike Woodson has to go, want the Hoosiers to succeed. What kind of fan doesn’t root for success?

The crowd, which was pretty good (14,499) for a NFL Sunday against an opponent that doesn’t sell tickets on its own reputation, basically reflected that. Woodson has been very tepidly booed a few times this season, but I didn’t hear any of that on Sunday.

Don’t misunderstand me. I’m not suggesting everything is hunky dory. I think reasonable fans default to hoping for success first. If it doesn’t come, then the irritation sets in, but most fans want to give themselves the chance to cheer for something good rather than live in the misery of expecting or even wanting something bad to happen straight out of the gate.

Unfortunately, Indiana is very good at cementing that irritation. The Hoosiers proceeded to go into this maddening pattern where it took a decent lead, then let its guard down and let the opponent come back. The crowd politely watched, but there was nothing there to encourage passion. There was plenty on display that fueled angst.

Indiana Head Coach Mike Woodson leans along with a play during the Indiana versus Winthrop men's basketball game at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall on Sunday, Dec. 29, 2024. / Rich Janzaruk/Herald-Times / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

It happens to Indiana a lot, and when you see it constantly you can understand how the keyboard warriors on social media and message boards go off the deep end. The only consistent thing about the Hoosiers is inconsistency. It’s the worst possible thing a team can be – and Woodson has earned the criticism he gets for it. No fix has been forthcoming.

You watch it, even as an objective observer as I am, wishing Indiana would help itself just for the sake of mercy if nothing else. The Hoosiers’ inconsistency and lack of focus makes you question whether they have the self-awareness to know what impression they’re making.

Guys, save yourselves! Don’t throw the ball out of bounds to no one in particular. Don’t call a timeout on an inbounds pass coming out of another timeout. Don’t miss the most basic defensive assignment.

On Sunday, Indiana took four different eight-point leads up until the late stages of the game only to allow Winthrop to get within a possession of the lead after each of them. If that isn’t basketball-induced purgatory, I don’t know what is.

Add in a 1 of 20 performance from 3-point range, which intellectually you know is a freakish occurrence but deep down you know might be an extreme example of a more pervasive problem – Indiana hasn’t shot better than 30% from long range in its last four games, and the misery index continues to rise toward flood stage.

Oumar Ballo’s mysterious absence didn’t help matters, and neither did the non-explanation afterwards.

You’d think over a decade of social media existence would have taught institutions - which always have the involuntary reflex of clamming up - that not confronting an issue just pours gasoline on the always burning tire fire that is the rumor mill.

Half-truths or no-truths become absolute truths in this unfortunate world where speculation is deemed to be just as good as facts. Saying nothing just fuels that. It’s unfair to the athlete or coach who has to endure it, especially if there was an injury involved or if it’s a minor offense or something benign.

But that’s just one more wing of Indiana’s purgatory.

Indiana Hoosiers head coach Mike Woodson and Indiana Hoosiers forward Malik Reneau (5) talk with the referee during the second half against the Winthrop Eagles at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall. / Robert Goddin-Imagn Images

What I fear for Indiana is what the route out of purgatory might be. Some fans hope for a complete meltdown and regime change. I get the sentiment, but the next three months will be unbearable if that played out. That’s not for me.

I’m sure more fans hope for a winning turnaround. But for Indiana, winning isn’t good enough on its own. Indiana’s No. 65 spot in the NET won’t get the Hoosiers into the NCAA Tournament. And, whether you think it’s a stupid system or not (I do), Indiana’s only way to start climbing the NET is to beat opponents by a larger than expected margin.

I don’t think the Hoosiers have that in them as they are currently performing, so the alternative is to compile wins at a Big Ten-contending rate. But Indiana hasn’t demonstrated it can compete at that level, either.

So this purgatory feels inescapable. Will the players escape their purgatory of inconsistency? Will Woodson escape his purgatory of not being able to coach the inconsistency out of them? Will the fans escape the purgatory of angst, annoyance, and in some cases, constant anger?

I sincerely hope so on all accounts. Because purgatory isn’t a very fun place to be, and Indiana desperately needs to find the escape hatch.

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