I'm here for the rise of Hoosier football, but let's pump the breaks. They have done nothing yet and still face a pretty daunting climb.
Ohio State is a juggernaut. We'll learn a lot about James Franklin's Penn State this year (though the QB situation is a mess). Michigan, despite the criticism, is a pretty solid program. Schiano will have Rutgers competitive in short order.
I'd imagine they'll finish between second and fifth (of seven) in the division for the foreseeable future. Allen's done incredible work, and the program seems to be on solid ground, but I actually think going from 7/8 wins a year to 10/11 wins a year is much harder than getting out of the cellar.
BillDoran (07-14-2021),redsfanmia (07-30-2021)
Preseason "awards": https://www.thedailyhoosier.com/mich...ason-honorees/
Another one...
https://www.wcpo.com/sports/high-sch...ent-to-indiana
BillDoran (07-27-2021)
Assembly Hall (07-27-2021)
I'm definitely hearing some talk from the fans who's expectations are through the roof and I could definitely see some fans being disappointed in "only" 7 wins. I agree with Mr. Doran, as hard as this past climb has been, the next step's likely even tougher. The one thing Tom Allen's been able to establish that they've been missing for at least the 25 years I've been following the team and likely longer is that even if IU plateaus a little bit here, it's a safe plateau from where they were before.
Prior to Allen coming on board, it felt like every coach was coming into the program at the bottom and had to make every step a perfect one in order for IU to get to where it could consistently compete with the big boys in the division/conference. Any misstep, any failure in recruiting, any player who just didn't pan out, and IU could kiss its chances at 9-10 wins goodbye for another 2 years. At least.
Now, it feels like even if IU fails to meet expectations, this season. All is not lost. For one thing, failing to meet expectations is now 6-7 wins, not 2-3. For another thing, while this senior class has the potential to be pretty special, there's a ton of depth up and down the roster. You can really see where the talent of the recruiting classes has improved year after year after year. Plus with the ability to recruit the transfer portal, it's much easier to plug holes where needed.
Assembly Hall (07-27-2021),BillDoran (07-27-2021),Playadlc (08-22-2021)
Current recruiting rankings for '22: https://247sports.com/Season/2022-Fo...eTeamRankings/
Sampson enters the portal...
https://indiana.rivals.com/news/runn...ransfer-portal
True and I surmise this guy is some of the reason he left:
https://www.thedailyhoosier.com/iu-f...e-depth-chart/
I'm not particularly a fan of either program, but I'm looking forward to the Cincinnati/Indiana game next month. It's always nice to see programs who have not had as much success in the past rise up in the rankings so it's not the same teams all the time. All the better to have two of them on the field at the same time.
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