Indiana, Iowa struggle rebuilding a hoops foundation

Iowa and Indiana boast basketball tradition - and current rebuilding projects.

Despite ranking fifth (Indiana) and 10th (Iowa) all-time according to a statistical rating index designed by Sagarin, the programs have stumbled in recent years well below their traditional status.

Seven games into the Big Ten season, the schools are tied for last place with one win apiece. Iowa has 16 league wins in the last four years; Indiana has six the last three years. But both programs are rebuilding for different reasons, and the Big Ten's re-emergence of a powerhouse league has kept the schools from making strides within the league.

The Big Ten has six schools ranked among the nation's top 25, including top-ranked Ohio State. Ten of the 15 players on the Big Ten all-conference team from last year returned.

Indiana (10-10, 1-6) last won 20 games three seasons ago and hasn't claimed the league title since 2002. The Hoosiers' program virtually was wiped out in 2008 when former coach Kelvin Sampson resigned following recruiting allegations. Only one scholarship player and 1.6 points per game returned for the 2008-09 season. Coach Tom Crean has had to rebuild the Hoosiers from scratch coupled with injuries to top players Maurice Creek and Verdell Jones III, Crean has struggled to push Indiana forward.

“There's rebuilding, then there's what we've been doing for the last three years and that's comes at a really bad time when you have the league as strong as it's been over a period of years,” Indiana Coach Tom Crean said. “All you can do keep strong on what you're trying to do daily and make sure that you never get away from the plan, the blueprint, the vision that you have for the future. You can't live too far into the future, but you have to make sure that you know that you're building for it.”

Iowa (8-11, 1-6 Big Ten) could miss the postseason for the fifth consecutive season. Over those five years, the Hawkeyes have had three head coaches and limped to a school-record 22 losses in 2009-10.

First-year Iowa Coach Fran McCaffery concentrates more on getting the most out of his players rather than worrying about the other teams' prowess - at least this year.

“What you have to do is focus on your own team to try to get better,” McCaffery said. “Try to develop your young players and obviously aspire to be one of the better teams in the league and compete with those teams, which we've done and which we haven't done. We've done both.

“We've played Ohio State tough, and we didn't play them so well. We played well at Minnesota, and we didn't play well at Purdue. So what you try to do is make sure you don't get consumed by it but you learn from it.”