We are in Week 2 of Indiana Men's Basketball Coaching Search Season, which means A) we have a long time to go until a decision is made, and B) we have a lot of candidates to talk about. On this episode of CrimsonCast, we dive into the numbers for four of the candidates being discussed in relation to the IU job. UCLA's Mick Cronin, Baylor's Scott Drew, Clemson's Brad Brownell, and Drake's Ben McCollum get the spotlight on this episode, as we look at each coach's prior accomplishments, style of play, success rate, and other important factors.

We start off Episode 1200 by discussing IU's loss to UCLA, the malaise that a lot of fans find themselves experiencing in not particularly caring about the outcome of the individual games, and the reality that IU is likely going to keep playing past the regular season due to some new contractual items with the Big Ten.

We then move on to talking about the coaching search - discussing the origin of many of the coaches in the KenPom Top 20, how hires generally work out, and why the idea that Indiana has to go hire a coach from a top program is out of step with the realities of the college basketball coaching world.

We're joined by Tony Adragna, our BHN teammate, to talk about his most recent article on Assembly Call and discuss the IU men's basketball job. One of the main narrative points that has come up during recent searches has involved the relative qualtiy of the Indiana job --- with many media members outside of the IU sphere (and even a few in it, along with some fans) claiming that there's something inherently flawed with the job, and that it's not actually that attractive or that good as a destination. We explore that perspective by looking back at the past four-ish coaching hires, discussing the tenures of each coach, and evaluating some of the factors that have led to each tenure ultimately not being successful.

It's the first full week of Indiana men's basketball's coaching search, and speculation is rampant about who the Hoosiers might be targeting and what type of coach might be the best fit for Bloomington. We've heard several names bandied about already, but one that has been mysteriously absent --- and who I think deserves some special consideration.

We start off the show by reflecting on an enjoyable day at The Upstairs Pub with IU fans and our friends from across the Back Home Network, before talking about the Michigan loss and the overall vibe in Assembly Hall and Bloomington. We talk through the Woodson news, the things IU needs to immediately address in the hiring process, and reflect on how challenging the next 6-8 weeks may end up being for fans.

IU announced on Friday that Mike Woodson would not be returning as IU basketball coach next year, setting off an avalanche of speculation on who the new IU coach might be. Here's some quick thoughts on the announcement, the timing of things, and Indiana's status as a job in the college basketball landscape.

Indiana lost at Wisconsin, and things continue to not work for this team. We talk about the performance issues, the miles being put on one particular group of players, the postgame comments, and the road ahead.

Indiana played hard at Purdue, gave a good accounting of themselves (for the most part), but still lost. We talk about the effort and energy, but also the execution issues that continue to plague the team in the clutch. There are no simple answers - it appears to be a combination of roster construction issues, coaching issues, planning issues, communication issues, and other items. With no clear resolution on the cards, there's not much else to do but talk about it - hence this episode.

As Indiana gets ready to take on Purdue this Friday, a decent number of fans appear to think that the Hoosiers have already blown their shot at the tournament. The truth is that they have not --- yet --- but the trends are not positive, with IU having lost four of their last five games. However, Indiana's not that far outside the field right now. We dive into a variety of numbers to explore where IU sits as a team on the eve of February, and talk about what the Hoosiers need to do in order to get back on the right side of the cut line.

Back for Part 2 of our football check-in, Scott and GC dive into some more listener questions. We discuss the potential stadium expansion and what it should entail, the overall gameday experience at Memorial Stadium, the floor and ceiling of expectations for IU football in the wake of the 2024 season, and whether IU fans will keep coming to games.