Louisville basketball: 3 matchups for 2020 ACC/Big Ten Challenge

Indiana

Busting Brackets Big Ten Power Ranking: No. 6

There’s a great line from the movie Step Brothers, that I believe applies perfectly to Indiana basketball head coach Archie Miller.

At the friggin’ Catalina Wine Mixer, Rob Riggle tells Will Ferrell:

“I don’t know what it is about your face but I want to deliver one of these right in your suck hole”

I find myself thinking the same thing every time I see Indiana on TV and Archie Miller scolding an official or one of his players who can’t like him whatsoever. Any time he speaks or does anything all I can say is:

“I don’t even hear what you’re saying right now because your face is driving me nuts.”

You may not even realize it, but I guarantee you that you feel the same way. In fact, every time you see Arch’ or anyone discussing Indiana matters, I bet this is that feeling you feel.

Even with that being the case, annoyingly, Archie Miller is set to return a very talented team in 2020 headlined by returning sophomore Trayce Jackson-Davis, who put the NBA off for a second season in Bloomington. He’ll be joined by rising seniors Justin Smith and Al Durham, who both had breakout seasons for the Hoosiers, as well as starting point guard Rob Phinisee and former four-star recruit Armaan Franklin.

Archie Miller’s teams seemingly have found a way to underachieve since he took over at IU, and last season was no different. Despite being much better than originally anticipated (including winning 10 of 11 nonconference games, including over no. 17 FSU), the Hoosiers still struggled with consistency, as some nights they looked like world-beaters while on others looked like one of the worst teams in the Big Ten. IU finished the regular season 9-11 in conference play and 20-12 overall putting them squarely on the bubble with work to do in the post-season tournament.

Louisville and IU did matchup three times in three years from 2016-2018 with Louisville winning a neutral site match-up in Indianapolis and taking a home game against the Hoosiers under David Padgett. However, Miller’s IU squad did edge Mack’s Cards in 2018.

Pairing two of college basketball’s blue bloods against each other is always a smart decision in events like these, but when it comes to two programs who are separated by a mere 100 miles playing at a historic arena with bragging rights on the line… it makes even more sense.

As much as I hate to admit it, Louisville will probably find themselves in a very similar position to where IU was last season. After losing their star in Jordan Nwora, along with multiple other big names, Chris Mack will play a rather youthful lineup with a ton of potential who could take their lumps as the season goes along.

In this matchup, I would tend to lean towards Louisville for a variety of reasons. First, coaching. Chris Mack is a better coach than Archie Miller, and any reasoning that leads to anything other than Louisville winning because of that is blasphemy. Second, the ability to defend. Indiana is not a relatively high scoring team, and if Louisville is able to slow Jackson-Davis, who will be a star in 2020, then I like the chances of the rest of the team scoring enough to outscore IU.

Most likely going on the road, playing at Assembly Hall would be a great experience for the young Cards and great opportunity for bragging rights (as mentioned) as well as a statement win early on.