You're listening to the Back Home Network presented by Home Field Apparel. All right folks, welcome back to Crimson Cast. Scott here with you and it's starting. We are doing our football preview shows. We'll probably release these in the order which you record them and this is the first one that I'm doing. We got a couple coming this week. So excited. We're like two weeks out from football. This morning it was like 56° the bus stop. Getting very excited. Have a great guest on.
We have Zion Brown from WIUX, also some indie star this summer. Excited to have him on. Before we get to Zion, just want to talk about a new sponsor we have on the podcast, which is Upland Brewery. Could not be more excited for this. They make some fantastic stuff. One of my favorite beers the they have a wheat beer, which is just awesome.
But today we're here to talk about the official craft beer of Upland. Upland Brewery is the official craft beer of Indiana University Athletics and their beer is the Hoosier Game Day Logger. If you've been at any of the IU sporting events, I'm sure you've seen it. It's the Crimson and cream colored beer bottle. It's fantastic. It's crafted by Upland Brewery Company in the heart of Bloomington, and this beer embodies the Hoosier pride in every can.
It features the iconic cream and Crimson candy stripes. The Hoosier Game Day Lager is a classically smooth and refreshing beer. It's in my freeze fridge right now, and it's brewed to perfection with a perfect balance of flavor. It's the ideal companion for every game. You can do it tailgating. You can do it at the game when you're cheering a Memorial Stadium or assembly hall to watch your favorite sport.
IU athletics are always better with beer, I would agree and capture the spirit of Hoosier basketball with every sip. Find the Hoosier game day logger at Upland's nine family friendly locations. There's one up here in Clay Terrace in Westfield so you can join me. I will be there for many IU Football Rd. games. They're also your local liquor store, neighborhood bar, and everywhere Upland beers are sold. Upland Brewery Company reminds you to drink responsibly and go Hoosiers. Zion.
You just turned 21 my friend. You're like 3 weeks in. How much Upland have you hit and what what's been your favorite? I turn 21 story thus far. So I haven't been to upland yet. I need to. I just got back to Bloomington yet or two days ago. So I will certainly be checking that out in the next day or two. But for me, my, my, I turn 21 stories right now aren't anything crazy. The thing about me is I have a summer birthday.
Obviously it was the end of July, but because of my birthday, I'm I'm some people do it the other way around where they would be going into their junior year of college. Right now I'm going into my senior year, which means all of my friends have had their like big Oh my God. I'm 21 months ago. And so for me it was just kind of like more of like a finally, like my friends can finally do things with me and not like feel like they're leaving me out of
things. But so I haven't had anything crazy going on, but I've just gone out, you know, once or twice every week since I turned 21. And yeah, it's been cool. But yeah, I don't have a huge. Oh my God, I had a crazy first night because everybody I know
kind of has already experienced. That I love it as, as someone in the mid 40s, I love how you just kind of casually throughout the, you know, once I've gone out, you know, once twice every week because once you hit the 40s, like I can go out once a week and then I'm, I'm crushed for like 3 days. So enjoy it. I remember I, I also am like you, I had a July, I have a late July birthday and I also went, started late. I mean, I was going 21 turning into my senior year. So I know the feeling.
We're like junior year, that last, you know, four or five months of school was like, dude, everyone's going out, everyone's drinking and you're just either hoping you have the right fake ID or it's like, all right, I guess I'm just hanging out with you guys when you get back from the bars. Yep, that is exactly how the last, like you said, probably five or six months of my life work. Well, you have a job to do after we're done with this. I know it's like 9:00. We're recording this.
Wait till like maybe 11 and then go buy some Hoosier logger. Go get some of the cans and they're great to have them. They just look awesome in your fridge. Like just having the candy stripes in your fridge looks awesome. That's that's a way to impress, impress the ladies. Now that you're 21, you come in, you have a fridge full of game day log. You're like, dude, Zion knows what's going on.
He knows what's up. Yeah, that that right now my fridge has, like I said, I just moved into a new place. It has water, grapes and beer so that we can just add more beer. I love we need to have like a we were going to have you on throughout the season. We got to have like a Zion fridge update because like the college fridge is one of the best. Like there, there will be take out pizza, some take out probably Thai food. And then, yeah, just like I love the grapes, beer and water.
That's that's a good mix. Maybe milk and eggs as you start to get closer to graduation. Well, Zion, I want to I want to start with this. You're a senior going into I, you know, at IU. What is your relationship with IU football? What I mean by that is you've been covering and kind of watching it in a unique time where they had a super high, a super dip, you know, for, for someone like me in my mid 40s, I've been watching going to football games since the mid to early early 80s.
And so I've probably come into this season and just into IU football fandom with kind of like, you know, just a Theta complete. It's like, Ah, well, you know, that that's what's going to happen. And IU, you know, that's that's what I expect to happen with IU football. I'm curious, someone is a younger fan who hasn't had, you know, you know the history of it, but you haven't lived it. How how do you come into a football season with IU? I'll just leave it there.
It's a question I've been curious to ask you. Yeah, it, it's so interesting to me because like I was in high school, my senior year was, you know, the year, the, the great 2020, you know, shorting season. And I didn't, I didn't actually decide I was going to IU until like the spring. So it was after football season, but like just watching that. And then once I did decide like get to campus, they're ranked I think 16th or 17th going into that next 2021 season.
And then it's been not at all what I expected when I got here, right? I'm I'm thinking, OK, like, like this team is probably going to make at least the bowl game every year I'm here. You know, they have a chance to, you know, make especially that first year, like maybe be in another new year 6 bowl and condition or to get to one. I should say not another one could say I screwed out of the one the year before that. But so yeah, that's what I was
thinking. And they have not made a bowl game in the three years I've been here. So the the relationship, I guess would it be like, I guess I got that glimpse, I would say in 2019 and 2020 of like I saw what it could be from, from a distance. I'm from Indianapolis. So I I watched, I paid attention, I saw what it could be. But I have not gotten to like fully experience, you know, a, a bowl season or like a a season that is like fulfilling in the
way that those two seasons. Were as a student, I'm curious to also ask you this, how, how do you view the excitement going into this season? And it's tough to tell because I know students aren't back on campus yet. But you know, you had last year, not a great football year. You had, you know, the the exiting of coach Allen.
Then you had the hiring of coach Signetti and you already saw, you know, his, his one time he went on the the assembly hall floor and had his comments like he kind of showed who he was. He's done more of that at media day. I'm just curious, as best you can tell, what's the vibe of the fans? I I would ask this way, like was the vibe as down as it felt for a lot of us at the end of the
Allen era with the students? And then have you noticed a reinvigoration of students or are they, are they think they're in kind of a wait and see mode? The first to the first point, yes, the vibe was was certainly down. Like it was just nobody was like super excited for games anymore
or anything like that. And to the second part, I would say it's in wait and see mode right now because of the fact that like now my class is the oldest class or the oldest undergrad class we haven't seen, like I said, a successful or even semi successful season yet. So even though that, you know, it's a new era, new codes, like I don't think too many people, especially, you know, the more casual viewers, like I can't wait to get out to games this year.
Now, if they start three and O right, they end up winning their first two games going to UCLA, even though that's a huge game necessarily. But if they go and win at UCLA, then maybe that starts to shift a little bit and they go three and O. But right now I don't think it's a a huge deal. Once again, like you said, no, the students aren't fully back on campus yet. I think one thing that actually will hurt them is that classes
start next week. So there's not there's usually usually classes would start this week and we're recording this on on August 20th and there and there's two full weeks of classes and then it's week one this year, for whatever reason, it's just that one week of class and then it's straight into that first Saturday of the year, which I think may slightly hurt that student attendance and and vibe week one, just because there's not a lot of lead up of like, you know, oh, the the
football game, it's next week, right. You know, you know what I mean? It's just not that same. So we'll see. Yeah, I mean, I that's a great point. I hadn't thought about that. You know, I I wonder how that 330 start is going to go for students. I do you see a full and fired up student section game one or do you think it's going to take a three and O start or, or to get things going?
You know, it's kind of an odd setup because you have the 330 start on Saturday, but like you said, it's only after one week of classes and then you go into a Friday night game, which which could be fun, but it's also like I could see, you know, students being like, oh, I forgot, dude, it game. It's Saturday morning. I forgot the game was last night. I could see that happening as well. You know, do you see, do you see kind of a slow start with the student section this year?
I do I just for whatever reason, I don't know if they'll be there right away like you said for that week one. Now if they if they happen to put up like let's say 40 something points week one, then maybe people are like, oh, OK, OK, this is like serious right? But I just don't see it right away. And you mentioned the Friday night game. I remember when they opened on Friday night two years ago against Illinois, I was calling that game. It was a great game, right?
Like that was that Connor Baslak like 80 something yard drive that he led to win the game. And at around halftime, close game, people just started filtering out on a Friday night and this is like, well, like it's just like so it was so odd to see, but it is it was kind of the culture on the team at that time once again, coming off a poor season. So I think the Friday night probably will hurt them again
this year. But once again, I, I think it just depends on what you do on the field because the year I came in that 2021 year, we were all hyped up about it. Even though they got destroyed at Iowa to, to start that year that did like Cincinnati and the Michigan State games were still, you know, crazy attendance for those games. So if you give them a few wins and something to be excited about, I think the students will show up.
And new student section this year yeah, you're moving over like and I'm I'm kind of putting you a tough spot of making you speak for all students. So Zion is speaking for all 30,000 IU students, but I'm, I'm curious, has anybody, are you excited for that? Any friends excited? And then I will, it's a two-part question. I'm also curious, you know, when, when I was back in the day, you know, when we had paper tickets when I went to school, football was just all first come first serve.
Is that the way the student section is still being done to your knowledge this year? Is it all first come first serve or they're like reserve sections? With the new section, are they changing up how students are getting to sit in that area too? To my knowledge, it's the same. I should have maybe gone back and looked at it when, when the news was announced. But to my knowledge, it is still
first come first serve. And I don't know if there's like a, a super big excitement about the change, but it, it just kind of like is what it is right now. And then maybe once the the season actually starts, it'll have a bigger effect and it'll, you'll see it, you know, live in action. But I I'm interested to see just how how much different it is now that section has moved over. It is, you know, I, I asked you earlier about being a younger IU fan.
It is, you know, it's, it's hard to get rid of some of those memories that I have. I, I, I've been playing, as I mentioned a couple times in this pot, I've been playing some good NCAA Football 25. I started a dynasty with IU and this might be saying more about my game plan. I'm pretty good. I'm not amazing, but I'm pretty good. But like the first game with IU and playing FIU and you know, I'm up like 21 to nothing. I'm doing great and then I'm going in for a touchdown.
I'm trying an option play. I pitched the ball. They they've done something the latest update options are like I'm fumbling all over the place. Could also just be me, but it's like I I fumble an option trying to pitch it out, FIU just runs back for a touchdown. I come back, I'm like, I'm going to run that play again. I run it again. I fumble again, FIU runs another one for a touchdown. I'm like, my God, this sucks. Like this just reminds me this
is such an IE thing. I know this is a a fake video game that I'm playing and I could just suck at the video game, but it was like I I had I had like PTSD and it's like, Oh my God, I could see this happening where suddenly it's like FIU has run back two fumbles for return so. It's tough. That happens week one. We know who to blame. Yeah, no, it's totally going to be me. And then we're just like, all right, Sig, hit the reset button, hit reset.
So you know, high level, what are what are you excited for with this team? It's it's an interesting team. We have some pieces coming back, but just you know, I'm starting to look at the depth charts, reading some stuff on bite sized Bison and it is it's a whole new slew of players. I mean, it's basically like a brand new team. I think the question is going to be, you know, how do these guys gel? How do they put it together? What are you looking at that you may be the most excited for the
coming into this season? I think I'm like everybody else where the receiving corps is kind of like the thing that fans out to me, obviously led by Elijah Sarat, but there's there's just so much talent there. What I am slightly concerned about this. I was thinking about this, you know, as we lead it LED into this podcast these past few days.
It, I feel like there's a chance it could become like this basketball thing where you know when, when you have a basketball team that has like five really good role players, but it doesn't work because you never know what style of play you're playing and they never know how many minutes they're going to get. I can kind of see that happening with this receiving core, right? Like where it's a thing where it's like, OK, Sirat's obviously the the one guy that'll probably
always be on the field. And then everybody else is kind of shuffling around so much that that maybe the, the chemistry with work isn't where it needs to be. But like I, I want to see kind of week one what, what, what Sigma side is kind of like the guys that he's going to use in that core and how they go about that. Yeah, I was looking. It's funny you mentioned that. That's what I was focusing on too, was the wide receiver core
getting ready for this pod. You know, the two things that stand out to me are a just how many new players are in that wide receiver core? How many guys it's going to be their first year at IU, But also just it's relatively small and you have Macaulay at 65, Sarah, like you mentioned at six two, but then Price is 59, Williams is 59, you know, crosses 511. Cooper's 6 foot. You have a pretty small receiving core. It's not bad.
I mean, it's not bad or good. It's just, I'm just mentioning that, you know, it, it seems like over the years when Indiana Indiana's had some pretty kind of sizable receiving cores, this one does feel like it's going to be relatively slight. So I do wonder if they're going to, you know, have to run more kind of longer patterns, crossing routes, just kind of open it up even more than probably what we're expecting.
They can't run the kind of slow possession offense that we've seen in the past, least I don't think so with that small of a receiving core. I agree and I I don't think that's the plan. Right, I don't think not. We're going. To see a lot of like short crossing routes like obviously those would be part of the playbook just as options for work, but I don't I don't
anticipate we see a lot of that. I think this team is is going to run some longer developing routes and with the online, I think the online should be able to hold up for that too. So I anticipate a lot of kind of deeper shots or or intermediate routes being run by by this group of guys. What are your thoughts on Rourke coming into this season?
I, I, I think they're coming in right now with what they had right, with, with Swordsby leaving and and bringing in Cherry. I think, you know, there's not much they could have done better, right? He's, he had a very good 2022 season. Was a little hurt last year, but I, I just feel like that steady veteran presence for year one for Signetti. I I feel like that'll be good for him. Yeah, I I mean it does feel like it it you know, you have like the Conor Basilak was kind of a an OK year.
I I, you know, that that would be my concern is going into it is like, is that what we're going to get? But every and we won't know until the game start, which is kind of like a no no kidding Sherlock moment. But you know, everything that I'm hearing reading is it does feel like this coaching staff has a plan, has a real focus and has an identity of what they're trying to do. And it and I think that is as important as you're going to
get. And it's you know, I don't want to say it's no knock on the Allen era because it is a knock on the Allen era, but they had a plan. But a lot of times that plan seemed ineffective or just didn't seem to make a lot of sense where they kept running it up the middle and then passing seemed to be a a secondary option. It does feel like everything that we're hearing is that, you know, coach Signetti has has a plan. He saw it at James Madison, like he he put together a very potent offense.
And so that that's kind of what I'm hoping. But I think we're all in that same boat where it's just at this point it's hope because we have nothing to to base it on. Exactly like we have no clue how good work will be at this level if he'll kind of bounce back from the the injury riddled season that he just had in 2023 at Ohio. But the the film and what he did in 2022, it stood out right. Like you could see this guy was a a really good college quarterback. It's just now finding out is was
that kind of a one year wonder? Was that like the best he'll ever be? Or if he can translate that and and put up similar production at the Big Ten level. What are you what are your thoughts for the season as a whole? What what to you is a a positive season for for you? Look, I think it has to be a bowl game, right? The way Kurt Dignetti has come into here and and talked about, you know, no self-imposed limitations, why can't we be Ohio State or Michigan?
To me, that means year one with this schedule, you should make a bowl game, right? I think anything less than that would be considered, you know, a bit of a failure. Now, obviously, I don't think this team is going to win 10 games either, right? Like, I don't know, maybe cursive Nettie thinks that. But like, realistically,
probably not going to happen. But to me, if you don't get to a bowl game, you, you have to look at it and say, OK, maybe let's let's temper expectations for what this arrow can be. Yeah, you know, it's, it's funny. I, I agree with you. I've not done my final kind of preview with Galen where we'll go through every single game, but I'm in the same boat. You are like, I I think a bowl game is a realistic expectation for this team.
And and the thing that I think people are sleeping on outside of the Indiana sphere is if you're just an outsider, you look at this like, all right, man, Well, your team sucks. Like you've been bad for a couple of years. You have a new coach now you're talking about a bowl game. Like, are you? Are you insane?
But The thing is you have to look at the schedule and I keep going back to people that are outside of the Indiana sphere is and I continue to talk about, you know, it's like this is a schedule bowl game. It's not knocking where Indiana is. I think Indiana is going to be better. But when you look at the schedule. So I'm going to take a moment here and I'll probably mention this a couple times during previews. So, you know, listeners apologize. You'll be hearing this many
times. Bite sized Bison did a great projection of the Big 10 standings throughout the year. And so you know that he took all of the projected standings of where they thought where media members thought teams were going to finish and kind of ranked them based on the ranges. If you look at that, so Indiana has three games, FIU, Western Illinois, Charlotte, which are non conference games, which let's just assume they're three. You know, I hope so.
We're just going to have to assume that if you look at all of the other Big 10 games. Based on teams that are below Indiana in those standings, and I'm not saying that those standings are, you know, you're going to beat everybody who's below you and beat, you know, lose everybody who's above you, but those are all teams that theoretically are ranked below Indiana. The teams that I have there are UCLA, Maryland, Northwestern, Michigan State and Purdue.
Those are all teams that are ranked below us. Maryland is ranked right at where we're at. So we're going to be positive and say we beat the team that's with us, which is Maryland. It's a home game and then we can beat every other team that's worse than us on that list. That puts us at 5:00 and 4:00 in the Big 10. That's eight and four for the year. That's a pretty Goodyear. I mean that that's going to a bowl. That's easily going to a bowl.
That's also being 6 and O going into the Nebraska game. You are bowl eligible after your first six games. So I'm with you and I also think this is a reason why, you know, Signetti, I don't say took the job, but This is why you make a coaching change. You look at this and you know, we've been talking about since podcasts for like 2 years. This schedule is set up to get you to a bowl, and the way the big tennis shook out, it really is set up to get you to a bowl.
Absolutely. And yeah, I, I wouldn't, wouldn't be surprised if that played a part in, like you said, Signetti taking his job is looking at the schedule and saying, OK, you're one, I can do something here, right? And, and that's why, like I said, I think that's why anything sort of a ball would feel like a disappointment. I, I think I would project them to be around seven wins this season. So it's doable.
Like you said, they could go into that Nebraska game six and out or five and one, and it wouldn't be anything crazy, but they could go into that game having already five or six wins on the board. Yeah, no, that that would be wild, them going in six and out to that Nebraska game. But it's not, you know, I, I've mentioned that to other friends and they think I'm insane, but it's like it's FI. You just go through the list. It's FIU, it's Western Illinois,
You're at UCLA. But that's not an insane Rd. gaming. That's a UCLA team that I'm not sure is much better than us. Again, they have a lot of questions. They have some new coaching, but that's not a home environment that, you know, I think it's, it's not a crazy environment. We'll just say that I think it's going to be a good number of IU fans at that game too. LA has a very big IU alumni population. You come back to Charlotte, you're home for Maryland.
You know, you're at Northwestern, but it's at Northwestern, which is like not their stadium. They're playing basically like a high school made-up, you know, made-up field right on the, the banks of the, the, the, the, the lake out there. Yeah, you could be six. And, oh, and then you're like, you're playing Nebraska at home. And Nebraska doesn't exactly have a stellar record over the last five years of, you know, closing out games either.
So I, I don't think it's out of the realm of possibility. I also know that, you know, where you get in trouble with IU footballs when you just start saying, all right, that's a win. That's a win, That's a win. Like it never works out that way. So they'll probably be, you know, four and two, maybe three and three going into that. But I I have a hard time honestly seeing the three and three going into that Nebraska game or unless things are really
off the rails. I think if they are three and three, that's where you're like, OK, this is because then you you get to that Nebraska game and you're like, are there three more wins on this schedule if you're three and three winning into that game? So I think you definitely look at this schedule and feel like this is this team should at least be four and two heading into that week and then going from there to try to get those extra two wins to make a bowl
game. As someone who's got one last year covering the team, you know, and you've covered the team under the Allen Air, what are your thoughts on just the difference of the approach than just the way that you have the coaching styles between Allen and Signetti?
It it is a whole lot different and, and you can tell now we've gotten to a point, I'm not sure if it was like this in the spring with the guys who hadn't played for Signetti yet, but now we've gotten to a point where you can tell it is it is wearing
off on everybody else, right. Just going to, I was at Big 10 media days near the end of July and just reading the stuff from, from fall camp, it's like, OK, they're starting to like have that same energy about the team and about themselves and, and bringing in that tough love and knowing that, hey, every day is going to be kind of rigorous as far as what is expected of me
here. And it's not necessarily just kind of no, no disrespect to Carmel, but it's not the same level of maybe complacency, you know, and, and so I could tell it's starting to wear off once again. We have no clue how that will actually affect the what they do on the field, but this team is definitely at the point where they are taking on the mantra of their coach. Yeah, no, they, they, they are. And, and do you, what was the student reaction or your reaction?
Just kind of the, the early Signetti vibes, You know, when he came out and said the stuff at Assembly Hall, you know, like, did did anybody any of this? Because for, for us as IE football, you know, kind of life where he's like, we took notice, like, oh, this is different. Did did that, did that really resonate with students or was it just kind of a cut here and here and there, here and there and then gone? That's a that's a good question. Like definitely that got students hyped up.
Yeah. But I'm not sure if it just was this like a normal, just, hey, that was exciting, or if it was like you said, the way you reacted like, wow, like nobody's kind of like talked about IU football like this in the past. But it definitely got people riled up that game. What? I can't, I can't remember. What game was that? Who were they playing that night? Do you remember? That's a great that's, that's so funny. I don't, but I also, I'm I'm getting old, man.
I barely remember what I had for dinner last night. I don't remember who they were playing. It wasn't it wasn't Purdue. I don't think it was Purdue, Michigan or Ohio State. So it wasn't like any of the teams he mentioned it. Was Maryland, It was Maryland because it was it was December, but it was that that first Big 10 game that you play in December of the basketball season. And so, yeah, that was the Maryland game. And so that's why there was a
decent student crowd. I believe it was a Friday night. And yeah, people were just going crazy when he said that. And and I think the students, once again, I'm not sure if they had that same like, wow, reaction. It's more so just like, yeah, like, let's go, let's do this, you know? Yeah, so you know, we're talking
about Signetti and his swag. I will also say one of our other sponsors, home Field apparel, check them out if you want to be the swaggiest, I guess at the at the football games, they have their can't miss kickoff boxes, which are just awesome. The Indiana one is is fire as the kids, as my son would say, it is definitely fire. It's not Sigma. I'm trying to learn the latest go. It's definitely not skippity, that's for that's for sure. So check out the home field apparel website.
Their kickoff boxes are awesome. They have all kinds of great stuff. They're coming out with new schools all of the time. Just came out with some of the Jack rabbits. South Dakota state, it's like blue, yellow. It's a great look. Check them out. Check them out at home field apparel. You can always get 20% off your first purchase using the promo code home 23. So check them out Home field apparel. All right, Zion, back to you. Well, let's finish this up.
What you know, we talked about what our expectations were, what you thought, you know, what a good season was for you. What you know, it's, it's always the question you got to ask at the end. Where do you think this season ends for IU? Do you want to give a win total like Bull noble? I'll kind of let you run with it however you want to go. But what are your your personal projections for IU this year? Yeah, so I think I do have them
at 7:00 and 5:00 is the record. I'll I'll settle at I'll go losses to since there's there's more wins and losses, that'll be easier to say the losses, I'll say losses to Maryland, Nebraska, Washington, MI and Ohio State. I think those are the five games they lose and they they win the other seven. And obviously that, I mean, they make a bowl game. I'm really bad with like remembering which bowl games are like, yeah, the big which ones go to which conference go to which games.
I don't know what game they would actually end up in in that scenario, but I have to go Southern 5 and end up in a bowl game. Any chance you see them pulling an upset over one of those? I mean, you just said they're all losses, so no. But any chance you see them getting close to pulling an upset against one of those, you know, top tier teams they're playing? Yeah, I think the Maryland and Nebraska games are both
winnable, right? And I think once we get to the Maryland game, we still probably won't know. I don't know what Maryland's schedule looks like. We still probably won't know a whole lot about IU still going as far as how good they are going into that game. So like, it wouldn't surprise me if they won that game and you mentioned it, if the Nebraska game was in Lincoln, I just chalk her up as a loss. But the fact that it is here, Nebraska, like you said, it's a it's a new team now, especially
even more so than last year. But like you said, they just had the the tendency to blow to blow games over the last four or five years. So I can see either of those games ending up as wins. Yeah, I, I'm, I'm. Looking at that Washington game as a really interesting game because I think it's a better team than we are. I'm, I'm not saying that, but they lost a ton. I mean, they lost their coach, they lost a lot of the players
that got them there. And before Caitlin de Boer got there, it's not like Washington was tearing it up year in, year out. They don't really have that amazing base. I think they're going to have a little bit of a regression to the mean. And that's that's a scenario where you could have an IU team. They're going to have probably the biggest head of steam going into a game at that point. Because they could be, you know, they could be 6 and O going to Nebraska.
They could be six and one going into Washington. Help. They could be 7 and O going into Washington. They can be five and two. That's still like, wow, we're we're going for bowl eligibility in the middle of October. When I look at the schedule, I honestly think that's probably, you know, an easier game to win and maybe the next week at Michigan State, which everyone kind of is chalking up to a win because it looks like Michigan
State might be a mess. Michigan State could be bad, but that's still at East Lansing, a place that IU is not played well historically, which you could say for almost any road value in the Big 10. But I just, I look at the way the beginning part of the season adds up with the road games being UCLA and kind of Northwestern with a huge
asterisk. I, I look at Washington as a, as a really interesting scalp that maybe you could get before you go into kind of the, the, the meat of the schedule where you play Michigan and Ohio State. Yeah, Washington is just such AI think IU fans will probably, if they don't realize this, get to realize this throughout the their time in the Big 10 coming
up here. It's to me probably the most interesting program in in all of college football because like they will have years like last year where they get a great team and get the national championship and they will have years where they where they win two games. Like there's no other program. I don't think in college football that like just swings as quickly and as much as Washington does as a program. So once again, like you said, they lost so much between transfers and the and the NFL
talent they had on that team. I have no clue what to expect from them this year, how good they will be. So I I could see that end up being a game IU can win. But like you said, I still would say going in there, they're more talented even with everything they lost. So right now I'm I think it's a loss for IU. But if we get there and it looks like IU is at their level and it's in Bloomington, it could certainly become a win.
Yeah, I mean that that this is what is so fascinating with IU schedule this year is, you know, a lot of years you feel like you have a good understanding of where some of these Big 10 teams are outside of Michigan and Ohio State, which I know where they are. They're way better than we are everybody else. I'm not quite sure what's going on with them and they're they're question Marks.
And if all of them go the the negative direction, we could be in for a great year that that never is the way it happened. Some of these teams that we're not sure of are going to go the other way and probably exceed expectations. But you know, UCLA, it's a new coach. Like who knows what's going on at UCLA. Northwestern is kind of up for grabs.
Nebraska seems to be on the uptick, but I feel like every year it seems like they're on the uptick and then it doesn't really turn into a team that is that much of an uptick. We just talked about Washington. Michigan State also has a new coach in the same spot. And Purdue seems to be a hot
mess. Like, I just, I don't remember a year where there's so many question marks in the Big 10 of the teams that we're playing, where I'm really just not sure what to expect out of basically every team we're playing outside of Ohio State, Michigan. Yeah, and and certainly I mean, IE fans will not miss the the Big 10 E finally, finally being removed from that. Is it?
It makes for easier schedules like this, even though they still do have Michigan and Ohio State, you know, there's not that Penn State game there as well. And it makes for a schedule like this. So there's a lot of question marks, right? I feel like right going into the season, it is Michigan, Ohio State and Penn State in the Big 10 that kind of, no, we know are probably going to be top 15 teams. Outside of that, I don't know how far the drop off is or if another team is in that category.
Nobody really seems to know in Oregon. I'm so sorry, I forgot Oregon, I apologize. Oregon. So it's those four and then the rest is like, who knows, right? So it'll make for such an interesting conference season. I will, I will end on this. We'll take a step back from IU football. Is there anything else you want to say about IU football? You know, you mentioned forgetting Oregon, which is normal. I've had the same thing where it's like I'm reading, you know, I'm doing a little basketball
preview too. And it's like what you say, Oh yeah, UCLA in the Big 10. Like it's, it's a wild thought as as as a younger, younger participant in this podcast. What are your thoughts on the conference realignment? Because because for those who are a little bit older, you know, I, I understand everything behind it. It all makes sense. There's still a part of me that I'm starting to get a little old man, get off my lawnish where it's like I, I don't know how I feel about this.
I do kind of miss some of the, the regionality of college sports and I feel like they're they're losing something. Obviously doesn't matter and they're going to go forward This. I'm just curious, what are your thoughts of how all the conference realignment is gone? Because you, you haven't really grown up with, you know, 20-30 years of experience of, you know, these conferences being set up. You've kind of come of age in an era when it's just basically everyone's moving all the time.
Right. And it still feels weird, like you said, I'm not, I haven't grown up in the same way with it as you have. But like, even to me, for some reason sometimes, especially in basketball and football and five in basketball, for some, for some reason, Maryland is still in the ACC to me every now and then when I think about this and it's just, it's going to be very strange. Like just the fact that a game like Oklahoma and Oklahoma State isn't going to be played anymore.
To me, that's like crazy. I remember I've watched so many like very good games between those two teams and just just stuff like that. It it, it is so odd. It's so strange. Everything before this year, like I said, like stuff like Maryland, Rutgers moving, stuff like the Big East falling apart football wise and kind of redoing itself. It was like, man, that kind of sucks. But it wasn't like, wow, I can't
believe this is happening now. I'm at the point where Oregon is in the Big 10 and I know they're probably going to be a top ten team and I just kind of blanked on them when I was thinking the top of the the best of the best in the Big 10. It's just, it is so odd. It is not going to feel right. I, even though I'm younger, it's not something that I'm like, oh, this is fine. Like, no, it's strange man. And I obviously I, I have, I completely understand all the
reasons for it, right? That has been well documented over these last two or three years. It's just very strange to look at and feel. Yeah, no, it is. And but we'll get it this year and you know, it'll start. But for all of that talk, it's like I'm going to UCLA, like I'm flying to LA for that game. It's like it's I'm fired up to see a game in the Rose Bowl. It's not the Rose Bowl, but it is. It is a game. Well, Zion, plug yourself. You're at WIUX this year. You're doing stuff with them.
Go ahead and plug all the all the stuff you're doing this year and any of your socials you want to you want to get out there. Yeah, like you said, I'll be on Wix this year. I will also be at that UCLA game calling that game on Wix. So you can listen to that. I'm doing victim plus men's soccer this year, coupling games there. You mentioned home field. I I'm done with the Indy Star for now, but story that came out in in July.
So go and check that out. You can probably just Google any star home field and it'll come up. I wrote a story great, great story on, you know, Connor and Krista and how they kind of built that up from from Hoosier crowd and everything like that. So yeah, those are there's a few places you can kind of find me throughout the year. What? What's your? Plan at you know, what's your plan after graduation? You, you, all of us have been been there.
We've been seniors. We're we're looking for like are you where, where are you at? Where are you looking at for your senior year? And then what you know past past senior year. I want to broadcast somewhere that is the the, the plan, the goal of the hope. I don't have anything set up like it is. It's a it's a market in the industry where you kind of have to wait till like February or March to really start looking. But yeah, I want to broadcast game somewhere. Well, I. Wish you luck.
We'll we'll have you back throughout the year. Let's, let's have you back a couple times and yeah, let's try and get together in in LA before that game. There's going to be a lot of lot of stuff going on. I that's going to be my 1 prediction for the early year. I think there's going to be a significant number of fans of that IUUCLA game. I've always been yeah. I just, I think New York has always had a really good IU
alumni base. There's a really good alumni base in LA for IU. And I think I think it's going to activate and you know, if they're two and OA little bit of a little bit of excitement, I could see again, we're not going to take over the stadium. But, you know, IU fans get engaged in ways that are that are sometimes surprising to programs. Like I remember going to the the the Gator Bowl down in Florida, we're playing Tennessee and Tennessee, we basically had a half and half crowd.
And it's like Tennessee has years of football experience. They are no question of better football legacy program than we are. But it's like we were right there with them and fan supports, right? Yeah, that's, that's my early calls. I think that UCLA game has a lot of fans. So when you're broadcasting it, if if we got a lot of IU fans there you you mentioned like hey, Scott and Crimson cast mentioned this. Give me give me a shout out during the, during the broadcast and the other.
End of that is, you know, let's just be honest, there is no reason for UCLA fans to be like excited about IU come to town. Exactly right. So so it's not like they're going to pack that the way they would. I don't know their schedule, but I assume one of like Ohio State, Michigan or Penn State might go there. And there's no reason for them to be like excited about IU the way they would for one of those other games. No, it's a. It's a great point and.
I've been, I've read a little bit like it looks like they're from their perspective, they're just completely glossing over this game. So that's a win. Like moving forward, they're just like, oh, we're part of the Big 10 now we get to just talk. But IU game is a win. Like this is fun. This is what Big 10 teams do. And and it very well may be a win, but I do see a good IU fan contingent there, which will be fun. So Zion, it was great having you. We'll look forward to having you back.
Enjoy the beginning of your senior year. Go get a Hoosier game day. Logger. Logger from Upland Brewery, Very easy for me to say and for all you listen to us there. Thank you for joining. We will have more football previews as this week and weeks leading up to the season starts, so until next time, this is Scott for Crimson Cast signing off.