Bob Moats, Mike Wiemuth, and special guest Josh Burton from Everything College Basketball reunite to break down the rekindled border wars between Indiana, Kentucky, and Louisville as the three programs meet over consecutive Saturdays in December.

Growing Up in Basketball Country

The guys open with personal stories about how geography and family shaped their allegiances in the heartland of college hoops. Josh Burton shares his journey from a Kentucky-loving kid playing College Slam on Sega Genesis while his IU-fan dad looked on, to becoming one of the voices of Everything College Basketball.

• Josh's dad from Kentucky roots, moved to Indiana, raised UK fans
• The "ugly girlfriend" Brian Evans comparisons at the Boys and Girls Club
• Geography matters: South of I-64 = Kentucky rival, North = Purdue rival
• Economic migration brought Kentucky fans north decades ago

The Golden Age of the Rivalry

A walk down memory lane to when these matchups defined college basketball in the Midwest, featuring 50-50 splits at the Hoosier Dome and Freedom Hall that felt more like college football atmosphere.

• The Dome and Freedom Hall rotating neutral sites with perfect 50-50 ticket splits
• Bob Knight's late entrances causing entire stadiums to erupt (only 2% could see him)
• Mike Davis's 2002 incident liquidating 35% of his chip stack in one moment
• Freedom Hall's designated smoking room and nightmare parking lot
• The 2012 Sweet Sixteen in Atlanta: IU-UK reunion on the way to UK's title

The Modern Coaches: New Chapter, Same Synchronicity

All three programs now feature modern, uptempo coaches running similar five-out systems after years of divergent philosophies. The synchronicity creates potential for recruiting battles and on-court drama not seen since the mid-eighties.

• Kenny Payne: Possibly the worst major hire in 30 years (lost exhibition games to start)
• Pat Kelsey's beautiful flare screen offense at Louisville proving doubters wrong
• Mark Pope's year-one home run at Kentucky vs. year-two injury crisis
• Lamar Wilkerson recruitment: DeVries beats Pope for the elite shooter UK desperately needs
• First time since mid-eighties all three programs are nationally relevant together

Breaking Down IU vs. Louisville

The hosts dissect Saturday's Indianapolis matchup with tactical depth, focusing on Louisville's 36 three-point attempts per game and IU's rebounding challenges.

• Sananda Fru as the X-factor: relentless rebounder who gets all his points within three feet
• Why this is a Sam Alexis day, not Reed Bailey day
• Mikel Brown vs. Conerway/Enright: Can IU frustrate the talented but sometimes immature freshman?
• Long rebounds from 36 three-point attempts require boxing out 3-4 feet beyond the rim
• Foul trouble could doom IU's seven-man rotation against Louisville's 10-deep bench

Kentucky's Crisis and the UK-IU Preview

Josh Burton provides honest analysis of Kentucky's early-season struggles, from the Louisville loss to getting boat-raced by Michigan State and North Carolina, while explaining why Pope isn't on the hot seat despite fan outrage.

• Three marquee losses in three different ways: quit when opponents throw haymakers
• The connectivity problem: Do these players even like each other?
• How injuries have devastated Pope's shooting-based system
• Why 50% of Big Blue Nation needs to "shut the hell up" on Twitter
• Still 15th in KenPom at 5-3 with incredibly difficult schedule

The weekend ahead: IU-Louisville at 2:15pm in Indianapolis, followed by IU-Ohio State Big Ten Championship at 8:17pm - potentially the craziest IU sports weekend ever.

On the mics: Bob Moats, Mike Wiemuth, and Josh Burton (Everything College Basketball)

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Bob Moats and Mike Wiemuth break down how player compensation is forcing coaches and programs to think like Billy Beane, analyzing roster construction through the lens of buying wins instead of just buying players.

IU's Hot Start & The Omar Cooper Parallel

The guys open celebrating IU's 4-0 start under Darian DeVries while drawing parallels between miracle plays in football and basketball. Finding ways to win isn't just about spectacular moments—it's about putting yourself in position through smart aggregation of talent and data.

• Omar Cooper's impossible catch as a "games of inches" lesson

• IU rising in metrics by beating predictors

• Conerway's passing, Wilkerson's elite shooting on display

• Penn State fans still bewildered in grocery stores

The Moneyball Framework for College Basketball

Mike and Bob lay out how the classic "Moneyball" approach translates to today's NIL-driven college basketball landscape, where buying wins through buying points is the new reality.

• The key quote: "Your goal shouldn't be to buy players. Your goal should be to buy wins."

• One-seed teams need roughly 540+ point margin over opponents for the season

• Box Plus Minus (BPM) as the "on-base percentage" of basketball

• IU's last 500+ point variance seasons: 2013, 1993, 1992, 1990

Finding Undervalued Talent

The hosts identify the statistical thresholds and player types that offer the best return on investment in the portal and recruiting landscape.

• Players with 5.0+ BPM at mid-majors show "stickiness" when jumping to Power Five

• Elite one-seed starters average 8.7 BPM (roughly Yogi Ferrell level or better)

• 85% of one-seed starters have 6.0+ BPM

• The "Lance Jones bump" - finding best player on mediocre team who can elevate

• Target the Mountain West, A-10, and top mid-majors for 5+ BPM players

The Money Problem: Who's Overpaying?

Bob and Mike examine which programs are spending wisely versus which are trapped by their own wealth, using real scenarios to show how compensation complicates roster building.

• Example: $3M five-star with 3.0 BPM vs. $1.7M A-10 POY with 6.8 BPM

• The "hammer looking for nails" problem when you have too much money

• Ohio State's Anthony Thompson situation: Overspend or necessary premium?

• Why 50% of one-seed starters now come from the portal

• BYU reportedly paying AJ Dybantsa $5-7M - only 3-5 schools can compete

The New Three-Dimensional Reality

The compensation era adds a third dimension to roster construction that constrains even wealthy programs and creates new strategic challenges.

• Pre-NIL: Two-dimensional (program fit + player development)

• Post-NIL: Three-dimensional (add budget constraints)

• Top NIL programs creating their own pressure traps

• Market correction concerns: "Is that guy still worth $7M after a 25% correction?"

• Underground economy going public usually lowers prices—this did the opposite

Coming up: A rivalry show with Everything College Basketball's Josh and Peyton Burton (UK and UL fans), plus an extended film room session with Tony Adragna and Brian Tonsoni breaking down DeVries' system.

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Bob Moats and Mike Wiemuth assess which college basketball coaches are playing with house money and which are one bad loss away from the unemployment line in today's volatile college hoops landscape.

IU's Dominant Debut

The Hoosiers opened the Darian DeVries era with a statement win, completely eliminating mid-range jumpers in favor of modern offense. Bob breaks down film showing the conceptual principles that make this system fundamentally different from the past decade.

• Zero mid-range jumpers: the long two is officially dead at IU

• Tucker DeVries diving into opponent's bench, Conway's elite passing

• Rose 9 spots in KenPom after demolishing Alabama A&M

The Chip Stack Framework

Bob and Mike introduce their coaching evaluation model that replaces the outdated "four-year plan." In the portal era, coaches are playing Texas Hold'em, not building dynasties.

• Why the 4-year grace period is dead - it's all-in poker now

• The five tiers of success and where programs expect to be

• The "Earl Bruce Syndrome" - stuck at 20 wins with no upside

Coaches in Serious Danger

Four high-profile coaches face make-or-break seasons with dwindling chip stacks. From Carolina to Rutgers to Kansas State, these are the hot seats getting hotter by the day.

• Hubert Davis at UNC: From Final Four to 15-20, lost key transfers

• Steve Pikiell at Rutgers: The five-star experiment backfired badly

• Jerome Tang at Kansas State: Can't recapture year-one magic

• John Calipari at Arkansas: The perpetual talent churn continues

On Thin Ice & High Stakes

The guys examine coaches ranging from Butler's Thad Matta (stabilization hire gone stale) to Vanderbilt's Mark Byington (skipping levels on the way up). Plus, why football budgets are now eating basketball money at dual-sport schools.

• Micah Shrewsbury's boring Notre Dame after Penn State's offensive genius

• Porter Moser trapped in the Earl Bruce 20-win zone

• Mark Byington's high-risk, high-reward Vanderbilt entertainment

• Why midseason firings are the new normal

Coming up: A Moneyball conversation about roster construction in the NIL era and a potential IU-Kentucky-Louisville preview with Everything College Basketball.

On the mics: Bob Moats and Mike Wiemuth

This episode brought to you by the Back Home Network and Homefield Apparel.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.