As a Boilermaker, I obviously enjoy following the Big 10 conference. And while I always delight in watching the Hoosiers struggle, I was reminded of something that I wrote in the blog 4 years ago.

January and February 2017 were rough for my team’s rival. Things were going well – the Hoosiers were the #16 team in the country at 10-2. Indiana had been to the Sweet 16 in 3 of the last 5 years, and looked like they might do it again. Coach Tom Crean had taken over a program that was picking up the pieces from the NCAA violations caused by Kelvin Sampson’s recruiting practices.

Then OG Anunoby got injured, and the Hoosiers started to struggle without their star player. They finished with a 7-11 record in conference and ended up going to the NIT. The Athletic Director refused to host the NIT game against Georgia Tech, citing the concern that it would “devalue” the Hoosier’s famous Assembly Hall. And of course, they then fired Tom Crean.

I noted that there were only 8 programs in the country that had made it to as many Sweet 16s over the 5 years that Tom Crean did. And that it wasn’t his fault that they dealt with injuries. But Indiana had the expectation of national championships, and so Tom Crean was out, and up-and-coming Archie Miller was going to be the new savior.

Fast forward 4 years – and here is what Archie Miller has delivered to the school that should always be playing for national championships. The Hoosiers missed both the NCAA and NIT in 2018. In 2019, the Hoosiers at least made it to the NIT – they even got to the quarterfinals of the NIT. It looked like the Hoosiers might finally sneak their way back into the NCAAs in 2020 – as they were projected to be a 10 seed by many of the media bracketologists before the tournament was cancelled. And today, the Hoosiers fell to 12-14 after losing by 9 points to Purdue – making Miller now 0-7 against the rival Boilermakers.

All in all, Miller is 67-57 (in Crean’s last 4 seasons at Indiana, they were 82-53….), and looks like he will go another year without playing an NCAA Touranment game. The only season that the Hoosiers were able to get to 50% in conference was his first season when they went 9-9.

Programs and fan bases get crazy desiring championships. Who doesn’t want to win it all. But it is important to remember when you have a good thing going. When Tom Crean started at Indiana, they were left for dead with limited scholarships and post-season bans – and Crean had made Hoosier basketball relevant again. That wasn’t enough. Well, thanks to that not being enough, Indiana basketball has not been relevant for the last 4 years.

It is a shame, because as much as I love watching Indiana struggle, I know the history behind the Indiana Hoosiers’ basketball team. And there are very few places that love college basketball more than the fans at Assembly Hall in Bloomington. I am sure that at some point, winning basketball will resume at Indiana – but it might take some time. In the search for greener pastures, they didn’t realize they already had one of the best around.