Bob, Mike, and special guest Robie Malcomson discuss how opportunities for athletes to earn NIL and share revenue are transforming the competitive landscape in college basketball.

Segment 1: How Does This New Landscape Impact How We See “Amateur” Athletics?

1. Who were Jim Thorpe, Phil Dickens, Sam Gilbert and Curt Flood? Why Do They Matter Here?
2. Why Could We Add Ed O’Bannon To This Group? How Has His Case Paved The Way For Direct Compensation?
3. In The Era of Tik Tok Stars and Influencers: Is Anyone Really an Amateur?

Segment 2: What Are The Impacts Of Paid Players On Who Finds Success (and Who Doesn’t)?

1. What Pathways Have We Or Could We See For High Major/Mid Major/Low Major Schools?
2. How Have Other Related Yet Distinct Factors Also Have Impacted Teams and Programs? 
3. Why Water May Find Its Level In The Coming Years Like It Has In Other Sports Models?

Segment 3 and Wrap Up: How Will The 2024-25 Season (and particularly IU’s Activity) Demonstrate Some Of This And What We’re Looking For?  

Some relevant videos and articles:

• Sparta v Thebes
• O’Bannon v NCAA
• Curt Flood
• Jim Thorpe
• Mary Lou Retton
• McCaskeys and Kevin Warren

Robie is host of the Trapped in History podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/trapped-in-history/id1753424077

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Bob and Mike open with some discussion about (what else?) IU football, as well as Hoosier Hysteria and some IU basketball recruiting.

Then it’s down to business for the main segment, which is dedicated to one of the most common buzzwords heard today when watching hoops: “modern” basketball.

What exactly does that term? And how are offensive and defensive systems evolving?

Segment 1: If Everyone Runs Motion and Plays Help Defense, Why Does It Look Different Than It Did?

1. What is a “good” shot? Getting Your Shot and Preventing The Other Guy From Getting Theirs
2. What It Was and What It’s Evolved Into? The Move From Passing to Dribble Penetration
3. How Do You Balance The Need For Freedom Against the Necessity of Structure?

Segment 2: Leads, Posts and Wings- How Changes In Player Skill and Athleticism Is The Leading Factor In What Teams Do.  

1.  What Does The Modern Player Look Like? (And Yes, They Are Built Better)
2.  Why Team Chemistry Still Matters A Great Deal? Longevity + Culture= Winning
3. Davids and Goliaths: How To Mitigate Your Weaknesses Versus Your Opponent’s Strengths?

Segment 3 and Wrap Up: The World Is Flat: An Idea and Innovation Can Span The Globe The Next Day

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It’s October, the month of scares and frights. So what better time to dive into one of the most terrifying subjects in sports: the psyche of fans!

Specifically, Bob and Mike analyze fan biases and how they’re evolving. They also discuss the impact of these biases, and the expectations they create, on programs and coaches.

Segment 1: Why *Do* Fans See Their Program As “The Unicorn” in a Field of Plow Horses?

1. What Are Frequently Seen Fan Biases?
2. How Have Those Biases Played Out Over The Years? 
3. How Are Biases Evolving?

Segment 2: How Do Biases Impact What A Program Does?

1. What Does Playing (Your School’s) Basketball Actually Mean?
2. Why Are These Players (Your School’s) Type of Player?
3. What Are Outcomes of “Divergences” Between Fans’ Biases and Programs’ Paths? 

Segment 3 and Wrap Up: Why Do We (Mike and Bob) Do This To Ourselves In Our Personal Fandom?

In their next episode, Bob and Mike will discuss modern basketball and how both offensive and defensive systems are evolving. 

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Bob and Mike take a little detour from their typical college basketball deep dives to discuss the most exciting current topic in Indiana sports: college football!

They share their own college football stories, look around the college football landscape, and discuss the encouraging beginning to the Curt Cignetti Era.

Two videos mentioned during their discussion:

• 1991 Florida State at Michigan
• 1979 Holiday Bowl: Indiana v BYU

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Bob, Mike, and special guest Beau Haynes discuss the past, present, and future of the vaunted blue-blood head coaching job. How much have things really changed?

Segment 1: What Makes A Program’s Blood Blue?

• Which program are at the top of the social register and how did they get there?
• How do their fans and the program set expectations and maintain “standards?”
• The search for the next Lama, Pop, or Godfather: why are blue-blood hires different?

Segment 2: Do These “Blue Blood” Designations Really Matter Anymore?

• Why do prospective hires see offers they can refuse?
• Do 18-year-old kids really know about the history of Chuck Taylor?
• How have some programs broken into the country club locker room?

Segment 3 and Wrap Up

• Does the modern landscape allow for true blue bloods anymore? 

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Bob and Mike look back at last season and trace some highs and lows from different teams that went heavy in the portal to build their rosters.

Segment 1: How The Portal Worked Well For Some

1. The Levels of Success In College Basketball (Chart 1)
2. South Carolina
3. North Carolina

Segment 2: How It Didn’t Go Well For Some Others

1. Reviewing The Chip Stack Theory
2. Washington
3. Missouri 

Segment 3 and Wrap Up: Indiana’s Portal Haul

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Bob and Mike are joined by Galen Clavio to reflect on one of the most tumultuous times in the history of Indiana University sports: the final years of the Bob Knight.

Segment 1: The End of the Beginning to the Beginning of the End: Closing Out the Breaking Away Years

1. Plaid Jackets to Sweaters, NapTown Rising, and Cowboy Bob Riding Off -- Life in the Mid 80s
2. Moving Past The Brink -- Cracks in the Foundation and Facade 
3. A New Sheriff Comes To Town -- Is The Town Big Enough For The Two Of Them

Segment 2: Paradise Lost

1. “We Need Players”- America’s New Public University Has An Obsolete Athletics Department 
2. “Has The Game Passed Him By”- How Changes In The Game Impacted Mindsets
3. “Death By A Thousand Cuts”- The True Meaning of Zero Tolerance

Segment 3 and Wrap Up: Why This Still Matters?

Next up, in episode 15, Mike and Bob will be looking at some transfer portal case studies to determine how some teams found success and others found the floor last season.

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On this edition of Xs & Joes, Bob and Mike discuss a topic of paramount importance to so many college sports programs across the country: history and legacy. How much does it actually matter for present-day winning?

Segment 1: How To Define Programs’ Legacies?

1. A Winning Tradition: Past Performance Does Not *Necessarily” Predict Future Results
2. A Program’s Mount Rushmore: The Images That Represent Who You Were And Are
3. Are You Cover or SI or Game Of The Week Worthy: The Changing Landscape of Media

Segment 2: Blue Bloods/New Bloods: Leveraging Your and/or Others’ Histories

1. How Some Traditional Powerhouses Have Reinvented Themselves
2. How Other Programs Have Broken Through- Temporary and Consistent Performers
3. Are We Down or Dilapidated- When Does A Program Become “Grey Gardens”

Segment 3 and Wrap Up: Traditions and Fight Songs 

And Mike and Bob tease a special guest for episode 14: Galen Clavio!

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On this edition of Xs & Joes, Bob and Mike record an episode they’ve been wanting to record for a while: a deep dive on freshman expectations.

Elite-level freshmen arrive on campus with high expectations, but at what level of fairness to them? How much is reasonable to expect from a freshman?

That’s the main topic this week.

Bob and Mike open with discussion about their summer travels, Tony’s book, Austin Render’s new BHN podcast The Dribble Drive.

And, of course, they discuss Homefield’s Sweet Summer Seven Subscription Box.

Segment 1: Help Is On The Way: What Are Expectations Placed on First Year Players?

• What Do Coaches Expect? (Slides 1-4)

• How Does That Match Up To Players’ Views On Their Roles? 

• Should Fans Be More Realistic In Their Expectations?

Segment 2  Crossing The Sinai Desert: How To Judge A Freshman’s Contributions? 

• What Does A High Level Freshman Performance Look Like?

• What Does A “Failed” Freshman Year Look Like? 

• What Is A Good Baseline Of Expectation? 

Segment 3: The Future of Freshmen

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On this edition of Xs & Joes, Bob and Mike step back into their wheelhouse: busting myths … or in this episode’s case, maybe killing sacred cows?

They open with a wistful goodbye to the Irish Lion and discuss everyone’s most beloved collegiate apparel company.

Then it’s time for a frank discussion about the film that helped cement Indiana’s reputation as the basketball state in the minds of so many.

Segment One dives into the real story that inspired Hoosiers: the Milan Miracle.

• What really happened in 1954?
• How did the timing of Hoosiers’ release impact its cultural significance?
• Why it is still such a great and relevant movie

Segment Two then dives into the misguided mythos of Hoosiers.

• Native Indiana players always have a reputation for punching above their weight
• Personal fan preferences are superior to proven methods by winning programs
• Teams should win more with less talent

Bob and Mike close with a discussion about the recently deceased Tates Locke, who had a strong Bob Knight connection, and another Indiana-based basketball movie.

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