The last time IU Basketball did not have a road or neutral site win during a season was in 1900-1901. You may have seen this fact thrown around after the loss to Illinois today, but if you have been listening to the podcast, you know that I have been talking about this possibility for quite some time.
I have been talking about Crean’s inability to win on the road in the B1G for quite some time, just listen to this podcast.
Let’s also not forget that after the loss today (and assuming a loss next Thursday) that brings Crean’s total on B1G Road Games (Tournament included) to 1-29. I know that people have tons of excuses (Insert Guy-Marc Michel comments here), but can we PLEASE start discussing these road losses as a serious issue that needs to be resolved?
Not only is this the first time in over 100 years since we have not won a road game, this 3 year period ties Tom Crean for the worst road record in Indiana Basketball history. Below are the years where Indiana has none or only 1 road/neutral game:
| Season | Coach | Final Record | Road Wins |
| 1900-1901 | J.H. Horne | 1-4 | 0 (Only win that year was vs Wabash) |
| 1904-1905 | Zora Clevenger | 5-12 | 2 vs Rayen AC & Buhl AC |
| 1908-1909 | Robert Harris | 5-9 | 1 vs Depauw |
| 1912-1913 | Arthur Powell | 5-11 | 1 vs Earlham |
| 1913-1914 | Arthur Berndt | 2-12 | 1 vs Earlham |
| 1914-1915 | Arthur Berndt | 4-9 | 1 vs Earlham |
| 1922-1923 | Leslie Mann | 8-7 | 1 vs Purdue |
| 1928-1929 | Everett Dean | 7-10 | 1 vs Minnesota |
| 1947-1948 | Branch McCracken | 8-12 | 1 vs Miami (Ohio) |
| 1954-1955 | Branch McCracken | 8-14 | 1 vs Notre Dame (Ranked #9) |
| 1963-1964 | Branch McCracken | 9-15 | 1 vs Wisconsin (2 OT 82-80) |
| 1965-1966 | Lou Watson | 8-16 | 1 vs Illinois |
| 1968-1969 | Lou Watson | 9-15 | 1 vs Wisconsin |
| 1969-1970 | Lou Watson (1/2 Year) | 7-17 | 1 vs Loyola (Chicago) |
| 2008-2009 | Tom Crean | 6-25 | 1 vs Chaminade (Neutral Site) |
| 2009-2010 | Tom Crean | 10-21 | 2 vs Penn State & Pitt (Neutral Site) |
| 2010-2011 | Tom Crean | 12-20 | 0 |
In the 3 years Tom Crean has been Head Coach he has 3 Road/Neutral site wins. The only other era that compares is 1912-1915 when the Arthur’s (Powell & Berndt) also combined for only 3 road wins, all against Earlham. While this season shows regression and not winning on the road is a major concern, Tom Crean’s consistent inability to win on the road is more troubling.
If you look at Crean’s last 4 years at Marquette, if you factor in Conference and NCAA Tournament games, he went 19-27 on the road in Conference or Post-Season games. Add that to the 1-29 he has posted here at IU and in his last 7 years, Crean is 20-56 on the road in Conference or Post-Season games!
The scary part of those stats for me, is that besides the 2005 team that won 19 games, the rest of those Marquette teams won over 20 games and were in the NCAA tournament. So even if Crean can somehow win 20+ games here at IU in the future, he hasn’t show anything in his past record to indicate that we will ever be a good coach on the road.
Besides the fact that we need to start playing at Earlham every year, what are your thoughts out there in Hoosier Nation? Does this worry you also?
Big thanks to Doug Yeskie’s IU Page, where I found most of my historical records.
