Big Ten 2010 // Keeping the Enemy Close - Boilermaker Thoughts on Hoosier Football
What would Indiana Week be without some snarky thoughts from a rival Purdue blogger thrown in? Although it's hard to drum up distaste for a an opponent who offers up gimme wins yearly, the excellent BoilerTMill of Hammer and Rails was happy to offer his thoughts on "rival" Indiana.
What impact does Indiana football have on Purdue football?
You mean Indiana has a football team? I kid. Honestly, I like having Indiana as a rival at the end of the year. For the past 13 years we've been able to look at that game and think, "Well, we're getting a win to end the regular season." It is reassuring, especially if you can have five wins before that game.
Indiana football has little impact on us except for seasons in which we lose to the Hoosiers. They are rare of late, but it leaves an awful taste in our mouths because each of Indiana's last two wins in the series have come in tight games where they stormed the field after wins.
I think most Purdue fans view Notre Dame as a bigger rival in football. We expect to beat Indiana. I like it as a rivalry game because I can usually go to Bloomington and scalp great seats for less than face value on Gameday. Twice I have sat on the 45 yard line for $20.

Everyone here at TRE predicted '09 Indiana would be better than '09 Purdue. We were wrong. What happened? Are you angry at us?
As for you guys, I'm not mad. I knew we weren't as bad as people thought coming into the season. I am more annoyed with the fact that we blew so many games and could have easily been 10-2 with a surprise trip to Pasadena. You can't say that about IU.
If Indiana and Purdue were family members, who would be what?
The family member thing is the best part. Obviously Indiana is our red-headed stepchild (ed note - ironic that Ben Chappell, below, seems to fit the description) that we beat to feel better about ourselves. Even in the three losing seasons the last few years we have reassured ourselves by beating Indiana.


This week...
MONDAY: Spring Field Guide
TUESDAY: Your Team Almost Lost to Indiana in '09 - What the Hell is Wrong with You?
WEDNESDAY: Randle El Puts 470 yards up on Minnesota...Ten Years Ago
THURSDAY: MVP Profile - Ben Chappell
FRIDAY: Keeping the Enemy Close - Rival Blogger Interview
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Big Ten 2010 // Indiana MVP Profile: Ben Chappell
Believe me, I didn't pick Chappell for Indiana's MVP profile just because, well, he's a quarterback and probably the only player most casual fans might know on this non-descript Hoosier squad. He was chosen because, as my "domino theory" effect below will show, his continued improvement and success will be the difference between the expected 4-8 record or a surprisingly solid 7-5.

Point 1: There Will Be No Defense in Bloomington
Indiana's defense, as LB points out here, is in a state of flux. The standout players from last year are almost all gone...and that was from the Big Ten's 2nd worst defense. This wasn't a scheme issue, there were just too many weak players to succeed.
This 2010 IU defense will face Terrelle Pryor, an on-the-rise Purdue team, John Clay, and Ricky Stanzi...and the NW spread. I refuse to believe a somewhat talentless IU defense that's moving offensive players to defense during Spring Practice will be able to slow most of these established offensive threats.
So with that said...
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Big Ten 2010 // Remembering an Indiana win from a decade ago
As a Gopher fan, the Hoosiers have always been a bit of a breath of fresh air. There aren’t many "gimme’s" for my Gopher football squad (unless you’re talking about Mason-era non-conference foes… then it’s gimme-city), but in their last 10 meetings against Indiana, the Gophers have won 6. That doesn’t sound like much, but when you’re a Gopher fan, believe me, that feels like domination.
But Indiana has played the spoiler for Minnesota in the past. In 2004 the Gophers rolled into Bloomington with a 6-2 record, ranked in the top 25 in the nation, and feeling good about getting their 7th win. Instead the Hoosiers handed the Gophers their 3rd loss of the season, which was the beginning of a 3-game losing streak to end the Gophers season.
But the game that sticks in my craw (no, I’m not from the south, but I do have a craw… don’t I?), happened on October 21, 2000. The Gophers walked into Memorial Stadium on that Saturday with a 5-2 record, and ranked 22nd in the nation. More importantly, they had just come off of a potentially program changing win over the then 6th ranked Ohio State Buckeyes IN Columbus… yes, you read that right, the Gophers really HAVE won a game in Columbus. Shocking, I know!
Can you even imagine the momentum that you’d have as a football team coming off of a win like that? You’re a perennial cellar-dweller in your conference and you’ve just beaten one of the top teams in the country and one of the top two teams in your conference year-in and year-out. How about that? You’d come out in your next game guns a-blazin’ wouldn’t you?
Instead it was the classic Gopher Football letdown game.
(See also Gophers v Michigan State, 2005, after the Gophers had won the previous week in Ann Arbor).
Indiana, or more specifically, Antwan Randle-El, absolutely tore the Gophers apart that day. If there was ever a game where a single player "stuffed the stat sheet," it was Randle-El against the Gophers in 2000.
Randle-El completed just 12 passes, on 21 attempts, but those 12 passes were good for 263 yards and 2 touchdowns. In addition, Randle-El did what he did best against the Gopher defense and ran for 210 yards and 2 touchdowns. All by himself he was responsible for 473 yards… a staggering 77% of Indiana’s total offensive output for the day.
Indiana finished the 2000 campaign with just 3 wins, but Randle-El’s performance on that day against the Gophers will always be stuck squarely in my craw (if I do, in fact, have a craw).
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Big Ten 2010 // Your Team Almost Lost to Indiana in '09 - What the Hell is Wrong with You?
The odd thing is, Indiana's designated chair in the basement was kept warm by the '09 Hoosiers. But there's more to the story - this four win team was a couple minutes away from a .500 record...or better. And YOUR tradition-laden, recruit-gathering school almost fell victim to this hard-working, high-spirited Indiana team. Tell us how it felt, TRE writers. Were you embarrassed? Were you ashamed? Do close losses mean Indiana football is on the rise?
YOUR TEAM ALMOST LOST TO INDIANA IN '09 - WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?
Michigan 36, Indiana 33
By GregGoBlue
For the University of Michigan Wolverines, the Indiana game was an inauspicious and ominous beginning to the Wolverine's Big Ten season. Still riding the high from the last-second, Forcier-led comeback against the mighty (well... at the time, right?) Notre Dame Fighting Irish, Wolverine fans quickly learned that the demons of 2008 could not be expunged so easily. Though our offense displayed the ability to score, the defense looked completely and repeatedly inept against a resilient and quick-scoring opponent. The game was a real back and forth nailbiter until a last-second Martavious Odoms touchdown pass from Tate Forcier allowed the Wolverines to scrape by Indiana. We would not be so lucky with the rest of our Big Ten schedule, making Indiana the sole Big Ten win for the Wolverines in 2009 (1-7, friends. That hurts).

Though putting up big numbers against Michigan's defense last season was by no means a rarity, the Hoosiers, especially with their quick pistol offense, are on the rise. The Hoosiers put up 467 total yards of offense against the Wolverines, which is more than Penn State, Michigan State, Iowa, or Ohio State hung on Michigan last season.
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Big Ten 2010 // Indiana Spring Field Guide
Did you notice anything different when you logged onto the site? You should have. Today is the beginning of Big Ten 2010, our comprehensive spring preview series. From now through the end of May, we'll be dedicating each week on TRE to individual programs, and providing daily team insight and analysis. We'll work in reverse chronological order from last year's conference finish. We hope that this approach will allow us to more completely appraise each club. We owe our organizational inspiration to our friends at Team Speed Kills, who pioneered the installment preview last year.
As our masthead reflects, the first stop on our virtual road tour is Bloomington, Indiana. Let's travel I-37 South to Monroe County to visit a perpetual Big Ten cellar-dweller: the Indiana Hoosiers.
FIRST IN A SERIES: THE INDIANA SPRING FIELD GUIDE
Indiana at a glance...
First Season: 1897
Head Coach: Bill Lynch (3rd Year, 14-23, .378 winning percentage)
All-Time Record: 433-591-44 (.426)
2009 Record: 4-8 (1-7 Conference)
Offseason Cliff Notes...
The Hoosiers ended 2009 on the heels of a five-game slide that irrevocably severed any aspirations of playing in the postseason. In a late-January decade in review feature, we called the Hoosiers the "whipping boy of the Big Ten," pointing to their one winning season in the Aughts, 0-21 record against Penn State, Ohio State, and Michigan, a losing series record against every team in the Big Ten, and six 1-7 season in-conference finishes. Still, when we handed out coaching grades last month, we gave Bill Lynch a straight B for "patching up the talent mismatches the best he could and keeping the Hoosiers close against some top teams." Our writers were most impressed by Lynch's use of his tall wideouts to shield defenders on jump balls and slant passes, and offensive agression.

Is this the future of Indiana football?
The offseason has been relatively quiet to date. On National Signing Day Indiana announced a 25 member class that ranked last in the Big Ten, but was widely considered to be the school's strongest in years. Highlights included quarterback Kofi Hughes of Indianapolis Cathedral who earned honors as the state's Gatorade Player of the Year. The Hoosiers made a small splash early this month when they announced that star Indiana high school coach Mo Moriarity would join the staff as the team's offensive line coach. The move led the Crimson Quarry to speculate about Bill Lynch's future. As they reported:
Moriarty, who is 55 years old, walked away from one of the best high school jobs in the state to accept a job with a coach who will be on all of the preseason "hot seat" lists. Is Moriarty bullish about IU's chances in 2010, with a fine nucleus of skill position players returning? Has Bill Lynch been guaranteed 2011 by Fred "contracts mean something" Glass? Do he and his wife simply want to return to Bloomington, where they lived for nearly 20 years, even if it means he's back on the job market in December?"
If nothing else, the hire gives the Hoosiers some traction in in-state recruiting.
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Keep Mining the Greg Robinson Comedy Gold
We normally don't pay attention to basketball, but when the two institutions of this site's name face off in the Big Ten tournament, and Michigan hits the game winning shot with 2.2 seconds left has their heart ripped out and shown to them on a platter by Evan Turner, it's worth noting.
And when Bruce Feldman puts it in perspective, it's definitely worth a post.
Still more than five months to go people...
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Summation: Illinois in the Aughts
This concludes our series recapping the last ten seasons in the Big Ten.

I. Overview
I was trying to think of the best comparison for the amazing decade that the Illinois Fighting Illini just completed. 10 seasons - only two with winning records. But those two good seasons landed the squad in two BCS bowls. That makes them great. After looking through other sports, I finally found the right match. Illinois spent this decade as the Cincinnati Bengals. Let's go to the tape.
Illinois: 10 years, 2 winning seasons, 2 BCS Bowls, 0 minor bowls, 0 winning seasons without a bowl
Cincinnati: 10 years, 2 winning seasons, 2 Division Titles, 0 wild cards, 0 winning seasons without making the playoffs
If you add in the fact that the two squads combined to lose their 4 bowl/playoff games, it's a really good match. Go big, or stay home. In the NFL, it's not quite as odd to have teams rising up for one season and falling back to mediocrity. The rules are stacked to encourage that. But in college football, recruiting, easy non-conference schedules, and the overall arc of programs are designed to limit one year blips. Yet, Illinois managed two in a decade. It's odd; it's not necessarily good. Let's take a look...
The Big Ten Decade in Review Series:
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Big Ten Prospectus - What Is Your Team Really Worth to the Conference?

In a world where conferences hire investment banking firms to evaluate potential acquisitions, it's incumbent for us to take a look at the Big Ten portfolio as it currently exists. Have you ever asked yourself what you're really worth to the conference? Now you can find out.
Using the same variables that are in play in conference expansion, I've tallied the roster in four key areas: 1. Revenue, 2. Demographics, 3. Competitiveness, and 4. Academics. Who are the league's true high rollers? The results may surprise you.
As always, a few ground rules. First, it's important that we're impartial in our evaluations. To remove any measure of subjective bias, our analysis will be anonymous. I've assigned each school a random number which will carry over from category to category until we reach our ultimate conclusions. Second, each category will be weighted equally and the rankings will be derived from commercially recognized figures. The formulas will be explained in each individual section. Finally, to evaluate the league's members in the open marketplace, I've selected three representative controls from outside the conference. They are fair competitive congeners that (albeit subjectively) have met and exceeded national expectations.
Let's get started.
In this first economic category we'll look to the following hard factors: 1. Athletic Department total revenues (as determined by the Orlando Sentinel's 2007-08 survey, and 2. Total league attendance (as determined by the NCAA in 2009). Total revenues comprise 75% of the ranking composite, while attendance makes up the other 25%. The eleven current Big Ten members, and three control schools stack up as follows:
| Rank | Program No. | Revenue | Attendance |
| 1 | 11 | $117,953, 712 | 105,261 |
| 2 | Control No. 1 | $106,030,895 | 90,635 |
| 3 | 2 | $99,027,105 | 108,933 |
| 4 | 10 | $91,570,233 | 107,008 |
| 5 | 8 | $93,452,334 | 80,109 |
| 6 | Control No. 3 | $83,352,439 | 80,735 |
| 7 | 9 | $81,148,310 | 70,214 |
| 8 | 6 | $77,738,746 | 74,741 |
| 9 | 4 | $63,782,454 | 50,805 |
| 10 | 5 | $62,093,614 | 50,457 |
| 11 | 3 | $57,167,843 | 59,545 |
| 12 | 1 | $54,839,398 | 41,833 |
| 13 | 7 | $41,835,733 | 24,190 |
| 14 | Control No. 2 | $21,777,002 | 32,782 |
Category 2: Demographics
In an attempt to measure native television audiences, I've taken the population of the state the school is located in (as determined by the 2009 estimates of the U.S. Census Bureau), and weighed it against the size of the nearest metropolitian area (as measured by this list of the most populus incorporated areas in the United States). Both factors are considered equally at this step in the analysis. Here are the rankings:
| Rank | Program No. | State Population | Metro Population |
| T-1 | 7 | 12,910,409 | 2,853,114 |
| T-1 | 3 | 12,910,409 | 2,853,114 |
| 2 | Control No. 1 | 18,537,969 | 807,815 |
| T-3 | 6 | 9,969,727 | 912,062 |
| T-3 | 2 | 9,969,727 | 912,062 |
| 4 | Control No. 3 | 6,423,113 | 2,853,114 |
| 5 | 11 | 11,542,645 | 754,885 |
| T-6 | 1 | 6,423,113 | 798,382 |
| T-6 | 5 | 6,423,113 | 798,382 |
| 7 | 10 | 12,604,767 | 310,037 |
| 8 | 8 | 5,654,774 | 604,477 |
| 9 | 4 | 5,266,214 | 197,052 |
| 10 | Control No. 2 | 1,545,801 | 205,314 |
| 11 | 9 | 3,007,856 | 197,052 |
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