CrimsonCast · Episode

Indiana football just added another piece of history: Fernando Mendoza is the first Hoosier to win the Heisman Trophy, and Galen Clavio and Scott Caulfield unpack what the moment means for the program, the fan base, and Mendoza’s place in Indiana sports lore. They also dig into the voting results and why Mendoza’s biggest moments (and biggest stage) ultimately separated him from the other finalists. Then it’s a hard pivot to Indiana basketball: the Hoosiers lose 72–60 at Kentucky, and the conversation turns to the team’s offensive issues, foul trouble, thin margins, and what it means for the Big Ten grind ahead under Darian DeVries. Timecodes 0:25 – Intro: Sunday morning, IU football waiting on the CFP quarterfinal opponent 0:53 – Mendoza wins the Heisman: immediate reaction + what’s coming later in the show 1:36 – Heisman ceremony production quirks (teleprompter, staging, set) + first laughs of the day 5:37...

HOLY COW what a game! Good for Indiana man. Follow me on twitch! Twitch.tv/Starforce_3

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IU men's basketball secured their first commitment of the 2026 class, pulling in 4-star guard Prince-Alexander Moody. GC is joined by Bob Moats and Mike Wiemuth from X's and Joe's to scout the newest Hoosier, discuss his future fit within the program, and talk about Indiana's renewed recruiting efforts in the DMV.

Scott and GC talk through an absolute gut punch of a loss for the Indiana Pacers in Game 7 of the NBA Finals. We discuss the impact of Haliburton's achilles tear, the difficulty in processing the injury in real-time, where this loss lands in the ranking of "worst losses ever" that the two of us have experienced as fans, and the implications of the injury on the Pacers franchise moving forward. We also discuss whether the Pacers may actually be the most cursed franchise in the NBA at this point.

Scott and Galen recap an amazing night at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, where we both were in attendance to watch the Indiana Pacers run away with Game 6. We walk through the biggest moments and top contributors, and talk about the atmosphere leading into the game. We then preview Game 7 between the Pacers and the Thunder --- talking through the keys for both teams, looking at the statistics from the first six games of the series, and talking through what an NBA title would mean for the Pacers franchise and the city of Indianapolis. NOTE: We actually did make some predictions for this game, but https://crimsoncast.substack.com/, so go check it out there!

Back Home Network hosted a live podcast this afternoon featuring Bob Moats (X's and Joe's), Ryan Phillips (Assembly Call), Taylor Lehman (Bite-Sized Bison), and Galen Clavio (CrimsonCast). We discussed the recent commitment of Aleksa Ristic to IU men's basketball and how his game is likely to translate to what Darian DeVries and the staff are looking to do. We also discuss the recent spate of football recruits, spotlighting the inroads that the staff has made in some key areas of the Midwest.

We welcome back Ben Portnoy from Sports Business Journal, as we continue to unpack the House Settlement and its effects on college sports. We discuss the NIL clearinghouse, the sudden wave of optimism in certain college sports leadership circles, how revenue sharing may end up working, and some of the other key elements that Ben is hearing about in his role as college sports business reporter.

On this episode of CrimsonCast, we take a look at the financial and organizational elements that have led to the current situation in college athletics. Huge increases in revenue, the creation of new television networks, and a lack of willingness to include athletes in the business structure have combined with predictable court rulings that leave the current system in a precarious position. We aren't sure where it's going yet, but this podcast gives you some sense of where it's been and how it evolved over time. (NOTE: The audio version of this podcast on Apple has the intro music, while the video version on YouTube and Spotify does not due to some techincal issues. Apologies and we'll do better next time!)

Welcome to the post-settlement era. At 9 PM eastern on Friday June 6th, the presiding judge in the House settlement approved the terms of the deal --- effectively waving the green flag on an era where athletes can be paid directly by athletic departments, where NIL deals are evaluated through a fair market value system, and where schools can opt in (or opt out) of being a part of top-level college athletics. We talk through the terms of the settlement and look ahead to some of the challenges that college athletics likely will face as a result of this. Later on in the show, we discuss the Pacers improbable Game 1 victory, and what that might mean for the rest of the series.

We're back with more Pacers talk, as Scott and GC are joined by Tony Adragna to talk about the team's exciting 4-2 series win over the Knicks and preview the NBA Finals matchup against the Thunder. We discuss how the Pacers got here in terms of roster construction, how they beat the Knicks, and how they match up against Oklahoma City.

Galen and Scott throw down some non-IU content, talking about their experiences at this year's Indianapolis 500 --- from the weather issues to the lack of exciting racing down the stretch to the tech inspection issues that overshadowed so much of the race this year. We then pivot to our experiences at Games 3 and 4 of the Eastern Conference Finals. We discussed the Pacers on-court matchup with the Knicks and how it has evolved over the series, the wild atmosphere for Game 4 in Gainbridge Fieldhouse, and what to expect for the rest of the series.

Scott and the doctor are joined by Jeremy Gray, the Senior Associate Athletic Director for IU Athletics, to talk about the long-awaited return of Hoosier The Bison -- an actual mascot for Indiana. Jeremy talks through the background of the bison as a mascot concept at IU, the student-led movement that took things to the next level over the past few years, and the creative process behind the reveal of the new mascot.

Taylor Lehman of https://bitesizedbison.substack.com/ joins DoctorGC to talk IU football! We recap Indiana's spring season, discussing the transfer portal additions that the Hoosiers made and how they have shaped the roster for the upcoming season. We also take an in-depth look at each of the position groups and get Taylor's thoughts on where they stand --- and how they stack up against Big Ten competition. We also discuss some of IU's recent recruiting successes, and why the 2026 class feels different from past years. Finally, we look at IU's SP+ projections for the 2025 season, how those compare to 2024's projections, and the pivot games that Indiana will need to win this year. 

We welcome Zach Browning from The Hoosier and On3 to talk about the recent recruiting successes for IU football, how this class looks a lot different than classes in the past, and what message Curt Cignetti and his staff have for potential recruits. We then pivot to basketball (25:58) and talk about the flood of official offers and visits that we are seeing from the men's program. We discuss the areas of impact in recruiting from Drew Adams, Rod Clark, and Kenny Johnson, the types of players that Darian DeVries is going after, and how this recruiting cycle is a unique one for the program.

Scott and Galen tackle the NBA, as we preview the looming Pacers-Knicks series in the Eastern Conference Finals. We discuss everything that has changed for the Pacers since a conversation that we had two years ago at IMS, and what it is about this current Indiana team build that works so well. We also discuss how similar the Pacers feel to the Indiana teams of the 1990s, and how the current landscape of the NBA actually feels more friendly to this type of team than what we saw in those days. We also take a look at what the key elements of this matchup are likely to be, and give our series predictions.

On this edition, Galen and Scott delve into some of the controversies and political machinations happening in the College Football Playoff this offseason. We discuss the move to a seeding system that ignores conference champions, the format of a 16 team playoff (which seems inevitable), the inequities of scheduling in the mega conference era, and how all of these things affect Indiana football.

We take to the live airwaves to cover a bevy of topics, including the slow-motion car crash of the House Settlement, Kentucky Athletics becoming an LLC, Arkansas exempting NIL payments from taxation and FOIA requests, and the real dangers awaiting college sports. We also talk about Indiana men's basketball and their recent recruiting offer spree, IU football's schedule and over-under projections, the national media's love affair with Illinois, and an update on the Bloomington Pizza Scene.

A relatively quick podcast --- well, relatively quick by CrimsonCast standards, at least --- talking about IU football's new portal commitment from California, the increasingly confusing NIL space and the possibility of an executive order (and why that won't matter much), a short update on Bloomington restaurants, and a few other items left over from this week's listener questions.

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