You're listening to the Back Home Network presented by Home
Field Apparel. Welcome back to Crimson Cascade
and Clavio. Joining you.
It's Saturday, January 18th of the year 2025 big win for IU
men's basketball. Last night is a knock off Ohio
State. At Ohio State we're going to
talk with one of our long time Crimson cast listeners and
occasional contributors who was there and we're going to check
in with her on what that experience was like.
It was a wild game. For those of you who are
watching on television, I know it was certainly wild.
I was watching with some friends at Hard Work Brewing Company in
Bloomington, which if you haven't tried that spot out, I
would recommend it. A really good beer and a nice
open space in there and they were nice enough to put the game
on television. It's actually the second year in
a row I've been at Hard Work watching Indiana at Ohio State
and both games have been kind of nuts.
Last year, Anthony Leal hits that shot at the end to win and
this year a big play at the end of overtime and they end up
picking up the victory there. So anyway, we're going to talk
about the game kind of a shorter podcast today.
So we'll focus on that and looking forward to seeing what
happens here over the next couple of of weeks.
Obviously with IU is it's going to be interesting as we talked
about in our last podcast, certainly a lot of negative
possibilities, but also some positive possibilities as well
as this Indiana team is truly talented enough that they could
win pretty much any game on the schedule.
It's just the consistency that's the issue.
And it was nice to see some of that last night and some some
more fight, especially on the defensive end than what we saw
in the couple of previous games. So we'll talk about that in just
a second. But first of all, just a
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cast, but for all of the other shows within the back home
network family. OK and would like to welcome.
I think for the first time officially on the show, we've
got Ali Sonzenbacher. Some of you may may know her
from her time and I use sports media as Ali Hausfeld, but Ali
has we've been communicating pretty regularly for the last
like nine years about IU and Ohio State and all these things.
And she was at the game last night.
And this is I feel like you and I, we need to like more fully
explain like how the IU Ohio State, like ally perspective on
things has blossomed here over the last year especially.
So like, tell, tell the people, first of all, like where you're
positioned in all of this right now because it's fascinating to
me. First of all, if you're if
you're watching on the video, I am supporting my supporting my
Back home network T-shirt. So I'm really pumped to be on
the podcast for the first time. I was actually a Christmas
present for my sister. You sniffed your notes.
Where to shop? This is good.
So oh. Yeah.
Oh yeah. So I graduated from IU in 2016.
Not yet the media school. I was actually part of the
School of Public Health, so I always like to laugh about my
Bachelor of Science in Kinesiology.
Something you and I share. That was where I taught before
the media school launched. So that's where we met each
other, yes. Yes.
So I moved to Toledo, OH after graduation and worked for the
CBS affiliate there as a reporter.
And I met my now husband there who played football at Ohio
State. We ended up moving back to
Columbus. Well, I hadn't been in Columbus,
but in 2019. So I've been living here since
2019. He now works for the radio
station here doing some Ohio State football commentary.
They don't talk about basketball that often, but whenever they
do, I'm like, hey, here's what you need to know.
Here are your tidbits. Because, you know, I'm trying to
watch Big 10 basketball as much as I can, but so I always try to
catch IU when they're in Columbus.
But obviously not the result I wanted on the football side.
But I'll take the I'll take, I'll take the win last night.
And I was at the game last year when they came back in the
second-half with my brother and we both said that that was one
of our favorite IU away games that we had ever been to.
Regardless of what was happening during that season, it was just
an exhilarating comeback. It's interesting 'cause you
know, I think we've all experienced this.
If we followed IU for any length of time, and especially if we've
been to Rd. games, you can have seasons that just aren't going
well and then you'll have a game where it's like, wow, that was
incredible. Or like, how did, how did that
work out the way that it did? Happens at home too.
I remember like the first time I think that IU won against
Wisconsin under Tom Crean, it was like it was not a great
season. It was like it was 2014 and it
was like a double overtime game. And it's like, where did that
come from? And, and, and so maybe I'm
mixing that up with the first time Archie Miller beat
Washington or Wisconsin. I can't quite tell, but yeah, a,
a, a fascinating game last year when Indiana went to Ohio State
and not too different in terms of like some of the
implications. You know, that was a game where
Indiana had lost, I think for their previous five last year.
They go in, there's not a lot of hope and they play Ohio State
pretty tough. And then they end up with a
chance at the end and and a big shot gets knocked down by
Anthony Leal. And that was kind of the last.
That was like the last straw, it felt like, for the Chris
Holtzman era. Yeah, at Ohio State, 'cause he
got fired not terribly long after that, right?
Yeah, No, they had one more game on the road after that, but that
was like their last home game. I mean, we bought tickets the
day of. We were like 6th row.
I think they were like $10 apiece.
I mean, people had at that point in Columbus had had kind of
given up. So when when IU was down by, I
think it was 18 in the second-half, I was like, all
right, well, this. OK, We had some technical
difficulties there. Sorry for that, But we're back.
I think we're good to go. And we were talking about it was
the end of the Chris Holtman era.
Last time you were at the game essentially like right
afterwards and there wasn't a lot of, I am curious before we
move on, like how many people generally go to basketball games
at Ohio State when they're not like a top ten team?
I mean, even last night, like the the upper section, it's such
an interesting arena because it reminds me so much more of an
NBA arena. It's a very comfortable place to
watch a basketball game. And that's something that Dana
and I talk about often is like, maybe if it wasn't so
comfortable, it wouldn't be so quiet in here because it's like
you're just, it's almost like you're just like enjoying the
viewing experience, like you're not a fan of the game, like
you're not as close to the court.
And it's kind of spread out more.
It's a great venue for concerts. But yeah, like the 300 level, I
mean, you could sit anywhere you want it up there.
There was barely anyone there last night and we went to the
game against Oregon. I mean, same thing.
They just don't have a ton of excitement around that program
until they have, you know, a a ranked number by by their their
school. And it's been a weird year for
them this year where they they've beaten Kentucky on a
neutral floor and they beat Texas.
But then they've, they've had other games where they've
struggled and, and obviously, you know, they're under a new
coaching staff and you know, they're, they're, it looked like
they were in really good shape from a, a net perspective.
And I think they're like a 30th in Kenpom.
And this was a game that according to the numbers,
Indiana wasn't supposed to win. You know, I think Ohio State was
something like a 5 or 5 1/2 point favorite.
So we obviously saw what happened with Indiana in the
last couple of games, particularly that Illinois game.
So what are you thinking going into the arena in this game?
I mean, honestly, I just, I wasn't that excited about it,
but I guess I was less anxious than I think I normally would
have been if we weren't coming off of 225 point losses only
because it's like, well, it can't really get any worse.
You know, it can't get worse than what, than what we've seen
the last two games. So part of me was like, I just
think that like that Illinois game had to be some sort of
breaking point. I mean, we heard it after the
game from Lou Goody and Anthony Leal.
And I was like, I I just doubt that they don't show up in this
game. Whether them showing up is going
to be enough to win, it kind of just depends which Ohio State
team shows up. Yeah.
And for, I mean, let's talk about Indiana first.
I mean, they, they certainly showed up, although it was, it
was interesting how that manifested because, you know,
Luke Goody, I think ends up with a season high in minutes and
was, you know, offensively, you know, you could probably say he
was the key player, but it was really close to the Omar Balo,
who also played a significant number of minutes, both of like
Balo played 40, Luke Goody played 41.
You know, Balo had 21 points and 15 rebounds.
Goody hit 4 threes in the game and all of his free throws.
And like, you could tell on television and I'm curious what
it was like there. Like, it really felt like those
two in particular were just kind of dragging Indiana up the hill,
especially as they started to make that comeback coming out of
the first half and into the second-half.
Yeah, I felt like there were still things during that game
that were the same things that have frustrated fans this whole
season, like the shot selection at times getting driven.
The amount of and ones that Ohio State had was just infuriating.
But I just felt like the intensity was there, you know,
like Ohio State would punch and Goody even talked about this
after the game. Like if you're going to get down
6 points, we can't just give up. I felt like they're the the
defensive intensity was there, even though there were still
lapses of of people ball watching and losing their guy.
And then there's an open 3. But I just felt like every time
they would go back, especially to the defensive end, it was
like they were still bringing that intensity.
That was just straight up nuts. Yeah, no, it was, it was
interesting because one of the things about this IU team that's
been frustrating is you never know when the intensity is going
to come. And there's games where it just
doesn't happen at all. Or there's games like Illinois
where it it's not there in the first half and then it's there
in the second-half for a little bit and then it kind of goes
away again. This game, this game was pretty
even to start with. You know, we got to about the 10
minute mark and I think it was 1816 or 1818 and it was like,
OK, well this is going to be one of those just back and forth
types of games. And then Ohio State goes on this
run and I think at one point they were up nine.
It was like 30 or maybe it was, I take that back, it was 3326,
so they were up 7, but it felt like things could really tip
over for Indiana at that point. I think Ohio State was at their
highest winning percentage, which was at like 89.2%, which
is normally pretty hard to come back from.
Did you feel like at halftime Indiana had it in them to come
back in this game, or did it feel like things had started to
unravel at that point? I mean, honestly, it's such an
interesting thing again, watching the game there because
I didn't feel like the crowd was going to take IU out of it until
Ohio State started going on that run with like 3 minutes left in
the game and IU couldn't score. Then.
Then it seemed like they were a little rattled by the crowd
because that was the first time we'd really heard that.
But at halftime, I mean, I'm like, OK, Miles Rice sat what,
16 minutes of that half? I, I still felt like being down
6 at that point with the abysmal shooting performance that we
saw. I was like, OK, I don't, I don't
think they can't come back from this.
Yeah, and I mean, and the second-half was really
fascinating because, you know, Indiana comes out and they get
all the way back in, they tie the game, they start to take the
lead, and then they just blow it wide open with about 7 minutes
to go, you know, And I think at one point it was it was tied or
close to Tide. I think it was 5554 Ohio State.
And then what, 3-4 minutes later, it was 6858 Indiana.
And you're like, oh, this is great.
They've won the game. There's 5 minutes to go, They're
going to coast to victory here. And then as you said that that
that comeback happens Ohio State over the last like 3 minutes of
the game and the first part of overtime was on a 12 or one run.
And it's like, how did this happen again?
Like how did Indiana get themselves into this position
again? You know, just just getting the
the game to overtime kind of felt like a little bit of a of
an accomplishment given how many shots Ohio State had at winning
it in regulation. I would say yes, but also those
like that, those 3 bunnies that were missed in a row, one by
Goody and then two by Balo at the end, I'm like, oh, like
we're right there. Like just take it.
I, I just, I guess I even felt like even with that scoring
drought, like there were two moments in the second-half where
I was like, OK, this, this team showed up in a different way
today. One was when it was like
Galloway left Mobley for a wide open 3 at the top of the key.
And it was, I think it was Bolo who was shooting free throws the
next possession after that, the entire time that he was shooting
the free throws, Goody was just shouting at Trey Galloway.
And I was like, I don't, I don't know if you've heard that, Like,
I don't know if it's a meme or like a TikTok sound like the
girls are fighting. I like I said to Dane, I was
like, uh oh, the boys are fighting.
But I was like, that is something that like, I don't
know if you could see it on the broadcast, but I mean, it lasted
over a minute. And I'm like, that is like the
kind of attention to detail that this team has lacked.
And then another point was when Bella went up for that defensive
rebound, he came down and he like, came down awkwardly on his
back and he slid and they ended up calling a travel.
But like, the reaction from him, it was not just like, OK, like,
let's move on it. Like he was so mad and then he
was arguing with the ref after that that he got shoved.
They showed the replay. He didn't get touched.
But but I was like, you know, that is like the type of
intensity that like, even if you're going to get driven, like
it's fine, but like, show us that you're showing up in this
game. And I felt like those two big
moments, I was like, this is what fans want to see from this
team regardless of what happens the rest of the season.
Like bring that that intensity. Yeah, I know.
That was absolutely something that had it.
It appeared in my mind as well. And it's the thing.
I mean, I think so much of Luke Goody's worth on the team is
kind of interpreted through how many shots he's hitting from
outside. And yet this is I mean, we saw
this in Atlantis. Like he would have moments where
he would go over and kind of yell at at some of the guys like
you got to do this and this it is it is interesting that he's
had to come in from outside in a lot of cases and and bring that.
There's probably some items that we could pull on there on
another day to talk about. But I, you know, it is, it is
fascinating watching him kind of grow into a very vocal
leadership role. And it's kind of happening right
all around the same time that his numbers are getting back up
to what they were last year. Like with the performance last
night, he's at 38.4% from three on the season and he's shooting
46% from three in conference play.
Last year he shot 39% from three for the season, but only 37% in
conference place. So we'll see how that meters
out, but that that bodes well, especially since he's starting
regularly now with Malik Renew out of the line up.
I I wanted to hit on before we get to what happened in the
overtime. I haven't watched that much Ohio
State this year, but I was I'm amazed at a how talented some of
their players are individually, but B, the number of absolutely
like ridiculously terrible shots that they put up.
Like I think there were three threes they took that didn't hit
the rim, just just termed off the glass and went a different
direction. I I think I see that once a game
maybe, but not three times and not from the same guy each time.
Which is it felt like they were all coming from Mobley
yesterday. Yeah, they're a wildly
inconsistent team. Like the game before they played
IU, they were down at Wisconsin by 17 at halftime and you know,
we're right in it ended up losing by two, had a chance to
win. Bruce Thornton himself is such a
talented player. I mean, the he just abused IU on
on defense and their their inability to recover when he was
driving on them. But yeah, Mobley's good and
Thornton's good. Bradshaw has been like wildly
inconsistent. I felt like Kentucky, like they
seem to be an odd team in the fact that like the Kentucky game
felt really emotional for them because of that's where Bradshaw
came from. And I felt like they came out
with so much intensity and and purpose in that game.
They have talented players. The Dmiti Johnson situation is a
is an odd one. And who knows if he'll end up
coming back, but I I think that like he would add a whole other
element to this team, but then struggling like inside and
really having like a center, I think it's just going to a true
center is going to make it really hard for them to plan in
the Big 10. Yeah, it's tough.
I mean, they've lost all the games they've lost this year had
been to teams that were in like the top 35 of Ken Pot.
I mean, they've lost to Texas A&M on the road pit by one point
at home. They got blown out at Maryland,
which is weird. They lose to Auburn, which
everybody loses to Auburn. MI State, who's good at home,
Oregon at home. The game you were at that
Wisconsin game. And you know, from the numbers
perspective, this was the first game they lost to a team outside
of that realm. And and yet they almost won it.
And you know, you, you look at that overtime period and the
first couple of minutes overtime, it looked like Indiana
was just dead in the water. I don't know what it was like
from your perspective in your comfortable seats watching the
game, but it just, it kind of felt like Indiana had like was a
spent force at that point and Ohio State had gotten their mojo
back and was going to coast with it.
Yeah, there were a few offensive possessions at the beginning of
overtime, like what is going on here?
And I, I mean, I just think that Ohio State was a lacking purpose
on the offensive end. And maybe that that just was the
difference in in IU being able to to finish it out.
But yeah, overtime, the first half of it, it felt like Ohio
State had all the momentum. Then IU grabbed a little bit of
it and then it was like, hey, let's hold on for dear life
here. Yeah, and the just the way that
the overtime flowed, yeah. I don't, I, I look at those win
probability charts a lot. You rarely do you see a game
where one team has a a nearly 90% winning chance in the first
half, The other team gets all the way up to a 95% winning
chance in the second-half with like 3 minutes to play.
Then the other team comes back and has an 82% win chance.
And then it ends up that the other team ends up winning the
game. It was, it was so hard to
follow. I was fascinated, I guess, by
two things. Like one, neither team really
seemed to know exactly what it wanted to do in the overtime.
Indiana was was fortunate in a lot of ways in terms of like how
the last couple of possessions played out.
I'm still trying to figure out what the plan was for IU.
It couldn't have been on that last possession.
They couldn't have really wanted Canon Carlisle to be the one
dribbling the basketball. I don't know why a Miles Rice
wasn't in the game. Mike Woodson was pissed with
that play. But I'm like, I this is exactly
what you set up at the beginning.
I'm not sure what you have to be mad about here.
I thought that that that was such an interesting possession
because like they had been stubbing rice out on the
defensive end, but then they never subbed him back in for
that offensive possession. And I wanted to stand up in my
seat and say, wait, is Rice supposed to be in right now?
Like what is going on? So I was just a little confused
by that because I do think that I, and I'll give Mike Woodson
credit, I felt like the the substitutions, other than maybe
leaving Miles Rice out the entire first half were so much
better in this game. Like I know that Goody and Balo
played the entire second-half in overtime, but I felt like they
needed to. So I just I thought that that
was interesting. I mean, it was the same thing
with like the the end of regulation where he had clearly
drawn up a play. You know, I'm watching him.
They're waiting until there's about like 10 seconds left on
the shot clock. He like tells everybody to go
and then it ends up with Rice just like dribbling into a, a
mid range jumper that he missed. I was like, I just, I'm not sure
what the plan was here, but I I don't know why that that ball
didn't go to Bolo. Yeah, I mean, it was a really
short bench for IU. Only seven guys played total and
and we basically didn't see Mackenzie and Baco for the
entire second-half or overtime. They were, I think he played a
couple of minutes at the beginning.
We didn't see Miles Rice. Miles Rice played 15 minutes,
Langdon Hatton played five. It was a really tight bench,
which is probably, I mean the guys that played and I think
Anthony Leo playing 31 minutes is, is an indicator of a lot of
things. But it, it is really
interesting, you know, shortening the bench and and
sticking with this group like it.
It does feel like if they get proper spacing offensively, they
get enough, just enough defensively out of that group
that they can pull off some victories.
And that last sequence that that got Indiana, what ended up being
the winning basket was a good example.
I mean, you know, they get a a decent shot at the rim.
It doesn't go in, but Omar Balo gets the rebound and immediately
cites Luke Goody, who's well spaced over in the corner,
knocks the three down. And I mean, I don't think
anybody thought those were the last points that were going to
be scored. That was at the minute 7 second
mark. And it was like, you know, the
next possession, Mobley hits or misses the three in the next
position. Indiana has the the turnover and
then Ohio State gets an opportunity.
I still don't know what Ohio State thought they were supposed
to be doing on that last offensive possession that was
they waited so long to get it going.
Anthony Leo made a great defensive play.
And yet, even with that, Bruce Thornton had a wide open look
that went halfway down and somehow came back out again.
We were on the behind the basket on the opposite end, So I felt
like I had like a very clearview of Thornton shooting that three
and I'm like, oh, that looks that looks online and I'm just
like watching like Trey Galloway's on the ground, like
he is wide open. So I mean I just yeah, that was
a a messy possession. I thought that, you know, it was
going to be a great story to end the game with Leo having that
lockdown, defensive possession. And when Thornton got that wide
open look, I was like, oh, no, this narrative could change
really quickly. I I'm glad it didn't, obviously,
but that was yeah, that. Yeah, it was, it was, it was
wild to watch 'cause I as soon as he put it up, I was like,
that's going in. Like the only hope is that he
didn't get it off in time. And then it, it, it rattled out
and I think he was as surprised as anybody.
Like he he turned around after that shot and was like, I, I
can't believe that didn't go in. So yeah, I mean, it was were
there other IU fans in the arena?
Like was was there any other corner reaction on that?
Yes. I mean, I just thought of this,
but it felt like the like tale of two messes, like both teams
were just like just a mess. But there were a decent amount
of IU fans. It's there was a funny family in
front of us where the mom was the IU grad, the dad was the
Ohio State grad and the kids with them were Ohio State fans.
And I was looking a Dane. And I'm like, is this my future?
Like just me just rooting, you know, being the only one here,
like rooting for IU. And then I was actually sitting
next to a girl who I didn't talk to her until like, you know,
halfway through the second-half, but she's wearing all white.
It was a whiteout. We'll come to find out.
She's a Purdue grad. She's a Purdue fan.
And she just, she just came to the game to root against IU.
So I feel like that was like a that was honestly like a tale of
of the crowd, like the students were standing.
And I mean, they got loud when Ohio State started to go on that
run to end regulation. But it was just so odd in there.
It's just such a weird environment because I do think
that like during timeouts, you know, they do fun games on the
video board and it's loud. And I'm like, this crowd could
make an impact on this game because clearly when they're
getting loud, IU was a little flustered on offense.
So I, I don't know, I just, I don't even honestly know what to
make of that game. I just was walking out of there
like I'm just glad that IU won, but what was what was going on?
Yeah, it's a it is. It's a weird 1 to parse 'cause I
mean, you've, you've got to look at that and say, well, give
Indiana a lot of credit because they could have folded up tent
after the last couple of games. But they come out and play with
some some passion and energy and that's good.
It's it actually they they fell a spot in Kenpom.
They went from 57th to 58th and. Didn't they go up one in the
net? Yes, they did.
I mean, the problem is this was a game that statistically
Indiana should have lost, but they ended up winning it, you
know, But it was it was really borderline.
The defense allowed one point O 7 points per possession, which
does not help their overall number there.
And their offense, well, fine, was kind of subpar, I think from
what it would have been expected.
It's it's one of those games where you can kind of read
whatever you want into it. There's a lot of people in the
IU fanbase who have kind of shrugged their shoulders and
said, all right, well, hey, they won great.
There's some people who are like, see the, the season's got
a long way to go. And then there's other people
who are like this, this changes nothing.
I don't know where to land on all of that.
It was one of the better offensive performances Indiana
had relative to opponent cause Ohio State is normally a lot
better at stopping teams from scoring.
So I think Indiana gets a lot of credit for that.
You know, and and you look across a lot of the statistical
trends we've talked about on the show, they were very present in
that game, right down to IU not turning the ball over, but not
turning Ohio State over either, which is something that they
tend to they tend to get turned over a little bit more.
So I don't know it it's one of those games where now Indiana
plays an opponent that's kind of on their level with Northwestern
coming up here in the middle part of this upcoming week on
the road. Can they maintain that same
level of energy? I think I read somewhere that
Mike Woodson's yet to beat Chris Collins, you know, in a, in a
head to head matchup, which that's a weird stat, but you
know, but it feels like I don't, I know Indiana's played
Northwestern at home, but it feels like Indiana only plays
Northwestern in Evanston. I, I don't know why, but it's
like every time in the Northwestern schedule, Oh, it's
there. So it, it's again, it's one of
those things, like you said, where there has to be
consistency. They have to sustain this.
If you can go in and win at Ohio State, who's certainly more
talented than the North than Northwestern is, I don't know
why you couldn't go into Northwestern and win that game,
but it's going to require that same degree of effort.
I just feel like, I mean, even going back to the the RT Miller
era, I feel like there are just some teams in the big 10 that IU
should beat, but it just like never happens.
It's like why Northwestern? I mean, that's why that that win
at the Palestra felt so good because I was like, this is just
like finally, like playing at Penn State has just been
terrible for IU in the past. But you know, I, I feel like I
obviously felt very negative about where the season was
headed after the, the two games before this.
But I will say, like my first game watching in person, the the
energy coming from the bench to me was more than I've seen on
TV. And I was very impressed with
just like the way that people were up and I mean the, the
level of intensity, but I'm like, just just keep doing it
right. No, I think, I think that's what
everybody's saying. It's like, that's great.
I love seeing that. That's got to keep going.
And I, I, I think the jury is still out about whether that's
actually something that's going to continue.
Because again, I felt like we saw that in the game at the
Palestra. I feel like we saw that to some
degree in the game against USC, and then it just kind of
vanished in the next two games. Why?
I don't know. Why was it back for this?
I don't know. You know, maybe maybe this just
ends up being one of those games or the seasons that just is very
schizophrenic the rest of the way.
It's going to be fascinating to watch.
One of my favorite things from watching in person.
That and I, they mentioned this every game, every time there's a
new broadcast team, I feel like they feel like they have to talk
about Umar Bala's free throws and the switching of the hand
and the thank you to Calvert Chaney.
But I was watching Calvert Chaney whenever Bala was at the
free throw line and I felt like he was just like willing them to
go in. I've he's just totally forward
in his seat, like his hands are crossed.
And I was like, I just, I love that intensity from him.
He's like, this is my, my protege.
Like you got to make these, man. Yeah, it's a sizable difference
shot 49 1/2 percent last year. He's at 59% this year basically.
So that's and and, and better here lately.
I think his, his conference only free throws are up to 61%.
So this is good. This is, this is a, a positive
thing to see alongside of what we saw out of Luke Goody and,
and certainly some good play from some of the other guys out
there as well. Well, well, you're, you've got
to go to every IU Ohio State game at, at in Columbus at this
point, which I know you were going to do anyway.
But I, I have to go back to the same because I've been to the
same bar two years in a row now. And it's not one I go to any
other games for. And, and they've won both of
those games. So now I feel obligated to head
back there now. I know I my only disappointment
is that the the women's team isn't coming to Columbus this
year. We went to that game last year
and that was a frustrating one. Yeah, I I think that that was
really the difference between them being in the race to win
the Big 10 and not it was that was a frustrating 1.
So maybe I'll stay away if they if they do come back.
But but the men's team, I've got a good streak going.
Football. Football, though.
The. Two games I went to were there
two losses, so I will I'll I'll have to enter next season with
caution. I mean, fortunately, the only
time Indiana State would play would be either in the Big 10
title game or the national title game or somewhere in the
playoffs next year. So we got that going for us at
least. Yes, yes.
I mean, gosh, I just, I, I loved, and I hate to turn this
to football, but I just loved Kurt Signetti's tweet so much
with his, his notes on his desk, with his rankings.
When, when that's getting brought up in in Ohio State
circles around Columbus, I'm like, I just love that so.
Much. Yeah, the Signetti people,
people who want to criticize Cignetti don't realize how
unusual it is for anything that an IU football coach does to
become national news. It's being talked about at Ohio
State message boards. It's on the college football
Reddit. You know, it's just all over the
place, like that one little sheet of paper.
It's it's been a masterful job by him for the last calendar
year, using his desk to send messages that people pick up on.
Yeah, I just, I think living in Columbus and just being immersed
all the time with with the Ohio State fan talk has just been
such an an interesting thing to me, especially this season with
their their football season, but but also with basketball.
I mean, Dane was on the radio today and they were talking
about the loss last night and they kind of talk about Dusty
May like he's the one that got away for them.
And I just think that that is so interesting because I'm like,
you know, I think that there's a lot of IU fans that that are
also saying that. So it's it's hilarious that that
that is their like main thing. It's like, well, let's see how
this works out with Diebler. But wow, we really could have
had Dusty May. Yeah, it's, I mean, and Dusty
May's done a great job at Michigan, but I've, I've seen
those same things from Ohio State fans in some circles and
it's just a really fascinating thing to unpack.
I I do want to ask you before we wrap up, you know, the, the
national championship game is Monday night, Notre Dame versus
Ohio State. What's the attitude?
I mean, the, you know, we so much got talked about with the
Ohio State fans and, you know, losing the Michigan game and all
of the angst and the the disappointment and the anger
around Ryan Day. And they've looked really good
in the playoff. They're a nine and a half point
favorite or something like that in this game.
They're a a really good betting favorite to win the national
title. So how has the discourse been
around football over the course of the last couple of weeks?
Like where, what? What's the temperature of their
fan base right now? It's it's really interesting
because I feel like half of the fan base is very confident and
in my opinion, underestimating Notre Dame.
And then the other half of the fan base is mad that Ohio State
is, you know, an 8 point favorite in this game.
Saying like, I just, I don't know how we're going to match up
against this team so much as being made of Notre Dame, saying
that, you know, they're sticking with man coverage and, and
everybody's like, OK, Jeremiah Smith is going to have, you
know, 2 touchdowns, 150 receiving yards.
So it's interesting. I, I do think that like if they
were to lose on Monday, the positive momentum that has been
built up since the Michigan game and then also that that Jack
Sawyer play last week. I, I just will be very, I mean,
where does that fit in Ohio State history if they go on to
lose this game? So I, I just, I, you know, I
think that people are pretty worked up around here just
because it's like this team's set its goals at the beginning
of the season that they wanted to win a national championship
and people had those expectations.
So if they don't, I think it'll just be a very interesting
offseason for the Buckeyes. We'll keep an eye on it.
Obviously always curious and and great to have you embedded in
the culture over there so that we can get eyewitness reports on
what's going on with things on a regular basis.
Yes, I sometimes I enjoy being embedded in the culture more
than other times. It just kind of depends on the
day. Well, I don't want to.
I don't want to taunt the Wi-Fi gods any more than we already
have. So we'll go ahead and wrap up,
but Ali Sondzenbacher joining us was there at the Ohio State IU
game last night. And, and I really appreciate
your thoughts and great to have you on the show for the first
time. We'll do this again sometime
soon. I know.
Thank you for having me on. I appreciate it.
Yeah. No, no problem at all.
We will do it soon at some point, but for now, we'll go
ahead and wrap up. This is Crimson cast for Ally
and for the entire back home network family.
I'm Galen Clavio saying thanks for joining us here on the show.
We will catch you folks. On the flip side, probably be
back with Scott sometime early next week.
We'll talk preview Indiana Northwestern.
We've got more football talk coming, folks.
We're going to recap the transfer portal period with
Taylor Layman. Until then, stay never daunted,
bring back the Bison. So everybody.