ESPN’s decision to bring College GameDay to Bloomington this Halloween weekend gives Indiana a rare spotlight, and it also creates one more question to answer: who should serve as the guest picker for the final segment?
The choice is tied, at least indirectly, to Wisconsin. The Badgers’ win over USC on Saturday night ended any chance of the show heading to the Coliseum for the matchup with Ohio State, and that opened the door for Indiana instead. Now the show lands in Bloomington for the reigning national champions and a 7-1 Indiana team that is literally inches from being unbeaten as it prepares to face Minnesota.
There are a few names that make sense, starting with the most sentimental one. Lee Corso retired after the season-opening game between Ohio State and Texas last season, and the show has not felt quite the same without him, even in the limited role he had at the end.
If he showed up just to put on a Hoosier the Bison mask and said nothing else, that would be enough. It is probably not happening, but it is easy to want it anyway.
Another possibility would bring a different kind of star power: the Indiana graduate who won two gold medals at the 2016 Summer Olympics. Her presence would also shine a light on another major athletic program at Indiana.
Victor Oladipo would be a crowd-pleasing option as well. He remains one of the most beloved Hoosiers and one of the program’s best basketball players in relatively recent memory, and his current work in sports media would only add to the buzz if he walked out on Saturday.
John Mellencamp is another obvious Indiana name. He is as Indiana as it gets, and he is the kind of figure who could have Bloomington “Crumblin’ Down” by noon on Saturday. That said, he may be almost too obvious a pick.
The biggest name on the list is the most famous Indiana graduate and a major reason the Hoosiers have become a football powerhouse. His brand would be the largest of the group, and he is a proud Hoosier. The only issue is that he might be just a little too easy to guess.
Then there is the current voice of Monday Night Football, a broadcaster who also has called the World Series and the Super Bowl and began his career at Indiana. He is accomplished, fun, and never shy about showing his Indiana pride. Since he already works NFL games for ESPN, pulling it off should, at least in theory, be possible.
If ESPN lands that last one, it will have found the best realistic answer.
In Other News...
Purdue Gets An Immediate Reality Check In Matt Painters New Era
Purdue is heading into a fresh chapter under Matt Painter, and the early storyline is less about nostalgia than replacement. With Braden Smith gone, the Boilermakers will lean more heavily on the next wave of contributors, including C.J. Cox, Omer Mayer, Daniel Jacobsen and Caden Pierce, as Painter reshapes the rotation around a group asked to do more almost immediately.
The first test will come against a familiar kind of measuring stick: a ranked Gonzaga team that is also navigating change, with the Bulldogs adjusting to life in the Pac-12 and building around a mix of transfers and a new arrival from Real Madrid. It is the sort of matchup that can reveal a lot in a hurry, especially for two programs coming off recent success and trying to prove their new-look lineups are ready for the grind ahead. [Read more 🡒]
Purdue Gets An Encouraging Kenna Wollard Health Update
Kenna Wollard has started to rejoin the Purdue volleyball world in small but meaningful ways, a welcome development for a program that has kept her in its thoughts while she has stepped away to focus on her health. The Boilermakers have made it clear all along that their support for Wollard extends well beyond the court, with head coach Dave Shondell and teammates publicly standing behind her as she navigates a difficult stretch.
Wollard has been spending more time around the group lately and even traveled with the team, signs that the connection between player and program remains strong even as her day-to-day routine has been centered on treatment and recovery. For Purdue, any positive update involving Wollard matters on a human level first, but it also carries a quieter kind of significance for a team that has watched one of its own fight through an uncertain season away from volleyball. [Read more 🡒]
Purdue Heads Into Gonzaga Test With Problems Matt Painter Must Fix
Matt Painter did not need the final score of Purdues exhibition loss to UConn to know there is work to do. The Boilermakers were pushed around in several areas that matter most in November and beyond, and Painter pointed directly to rebounding, physicality, execution and defensive communication as the things that have to sharpen up before the games start counting. With the regular-season opener looming against No. 15 Gonzaga in the Hall of Fame Series in Las Vegas, Purdue has already found out that the early margin for error is slim.
Painter also knows the matchup ahead will demand more than just cleaner half-court offense. Gonzaga has a way of turning missed shots and loose possessions into quick points, so Purdues ability to limit transition chances is going to be a major early test. The Boilermakers are getting the kind of blunt feedback that can help in November, and now the question is how much of it they can clean up before facing one of the sports most demanding opponents. [Read more 🡒]