Indiana vs Southern Indiana Exhibition: Game Thread

The Hoosiers will tip off their basketball season with an exhibition game tonight. The opponent will be Southern Indiana, a Division II team. The game tips off at 7 p.m. ET, and the venue will be Assembly Hall.

Unfortunately, it will not be televised, and chances are you won’t watch it live.

Tonight’s exhibition will be one of two games this year that will be broadcast on BTN Plus. The other will be against UC Davis on November 23.

To watch these two games, you’ll have to shell out $10 to purchase the monthly BTN Plus School Package. Or, if you’re interested in watching non-revenue sports and all events that aren’t televised, you can pony up $80 for the annual pass. A conference wide pass is also available for a higher fee. They’re student produced productions, which have by all accounts improved in quality over the last couple years.

Sure, $10 isn’t that bad and most folks probably have no problem paying it. Lord knows there are dumber things I spend $5 a piece on. But it’s an unnecessary money grab by Jim Delaney. In the age of cord cutting and the shift to individual streaming packages instead of cable, it’s greedy. A regular BTN subscription does not grant you BTN Plus access, nor does a BTN Plus subscription grant you access to BTN. You want to grow your product and reach a wider audience? Make it accessible while still providing value to the customer.

It’s a scam.

There’s a lot of excitement around this team, and a lot of people are excited to watch them in action against someone other than themselves. And they should be! We’re excited too, and this season could end up being a lot of fun.

But it’s hard to justify ponying up the cash for what will ultimately be a meaningless exhibition. The game replay will be aired on BTN at 11 p.m. on Friday night. You can even get tickets to the game on the secondary market for under $30. Sure, it’d be great to see how Romeo looks. I think we all want to get another look at how Rob Phinisee running the point. There’s lineup versatility and the potential to be a really good defensive group that has optimism high.

Is it worth the $10? Some may say yes. Others might not. Nobody will judge you either way, but it’s a shame that it’s a decision that we even have to make.

If you so choose, discuss the game here.