Miller Kopp and Mike Woodson

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Mike Woodson’s Indiana University men’s basketball team will play its first NCAA Tournament game in either 15 or 16 days, likely as a 4- or 5-seed.

Here is The Question people are asking from Hammond to Batesville and from Tell City to Huntington, with special inquiries percolating in Kokomo, Michigan City, Rossville, New Castle and Jeffersonville:

Which Indiana team will the world see?

The one that swept formerly No. 1 Purdue by hanging an 8-point loss on the Boilermakers Saturday night in Mackey Arena?

Or the one that has been swept by Northwestern and Iowa — and buried by double figures during seven of its 10 defeats?

I believe I know the answer.

The Hoosiers have shown who they are time (Iowa 90, IU 68), after time (Michigan State 80, IU 65), after time (Penn State 85, IU 66), after time (Kansas 84, IU 62), after time (Rutgers 63, IU 48), after time (Saint Mary’s 82, IU 53 — 2022 NCAA Tournament) over the last 12 months.

Good, but not great. Solid, but not spectacular. Improved, but ultimately flawed. Not ready to win four consecutive games when it counts. 

This is a group that either does not understand or embrace the consistency of effort, preparation and concentration required to succeed at the top level of college basketball.

It’s a group that could benefit from the return of Xavier Johnson, one of its few alpha male defenders. Johnson is the rare Hoosier who would not have taken the embarrassment that his teammates took from the Hawkeyes Tuesday night at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall.

Missing since Dec. 17 with a broken foot, Johnson dressed for the Iowa game but never left the bench. Outsiders can only guess how many effective minutes Johnson can give the Hoosiers over the next two or more weeks.

Clearly agitated, Woodson talked for barely two minutes following the Hoosiers’ 40 minutes of impotence against the Hawkeyes.

He apologized to Indiana fans. He said the performance was unacceptable. He called it “a bull (droppings) performance.” He said the Hawkeyes “had their way” in everything they wanted to do.

True. True. And most assuredly true.

This is also true: It was not the first time this group has demonstrated it lacks the resolve and maturity to string together tough and critical wins the way the best teams do it in March.

The puzzling loss at Northwestern last month followed a solid stretch where the Hoosiers defeated Purdue, Rutgers and Michigan. The Hoosiers started Big Ten play by getting punked at Rutgers, three days after celebrating a home win over North Carolina.

And they were run off the floor in the NCAA Tournament by Saint Mary’s last season after winning a First Four game against Wyoming and making a nice run in the Big Ten Tournament.

That’s not the DNA of a team primed to make something magical happen in March. Woodson likely knows that.

He also likely knows how his coach at Indiana would have responded to a performance like the one Woodson’s team delivered Tuesday night — with a Bob Knight bonus practice later Tuesday evening or early Wednesday morning.

Those days are over.

Practice time is limited and closely monitored. Woodson said that his players had Wednesday off and would return to the gym Thursday to prepare for IU’s Senior Day finale when a desperate Michigan team will visit Assembly Hall at 4:30 p.m. Sunday.

Those days have been replaced by these days: After Indiana won Saturday, the Hoosiers celebrated with extra gusto because they finally swept the Boilermakers and won at Mackey for the first time in 10 seasons.

Woodson told his team to enjoy the Purdue victory on the 2-hour bus ride back to Bloomington and then move forward to the next game. It was on the locker room video, which was shared on social media.

This was not part of Woodson’s instructions: One IU player took the next, totally 2023 step. He grabbed a screenshot of the locker room celebration, teamed with his NIL hookup and had a T-shirt available to be purchased for $26 well before tipoff for the Iowa debacle.

Err ball.

At Indiana there should be three things to celebrate and put on T-shirts: a Big Ten regular season title; a Big Ten Tournament title and and NCAA championship (or at least a trip to the Final Four, considering the Hoosiers have been missing from that event for 21 years).

This 20-10 Indiana team was picked by many to win the Big Ten regular season title. The bull dropping performance against Iowa confirmed that goal will not be met.

Next week the Hoosiers will depart for Chicago and the Big Ten Tournament, which the program has never won in more than 20 seasons. Then, in 15 or 16 days, Woodson’s team will start its NCAA Tournament journey.

Will they play like the team that swept Purdue — or the one that no-showed against Iowa and Northwestern?

That’s what will go on the T-shirt of how this team will be remembered.

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