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A new year means renewed optimism.
We asked our staff for a few bold predictions for 2023 in Indiana sports. Here’s what they came up with:
1. Matt Painter reaches first Final Four.
The Boilermakers are ranked No. 1 in the country (at least for now), so this might not be that bold of a prediction, but Purdue hasn’t reached the Final Four since 1980. And with last year’s Sweet 16 loss to Saint Peter’s, you take nothing for granted.
But Purdue is No. 1 for a reason. The Boilers have wins over Gonzaga and Duke already, the nation’s most dominant player (see: Zach Edey) and enviable depth. Matt Painter has won the Big Ten three times, but big-time success in March has evaded him and the Boilers. Though, let’s not hold our nose at three Sweet 16s and an Elite Eight in the past six years. There’s a certain program down south that would love a run like that right now. — Matthew Glenesk
2. Colts trade up to No. 2 in 2023 NFL draft
Finally in range to strike and pick their quarterback of the future, Indianapolis makes the sort of trade it’s known for avoiding, trading away future picks in order to get up to the No. 2 pick and make sure it gets its guy, Ohio State’s C.J. Stroud. — Joel Erickson
3. At what cost?
In that same trade-up idea, a deal to Chicago, would include Kenny Moore II and DeForest Buckner, reuniting the Colts defenders with former coordinator Matt Eberflus, now the Bears head coach. — Nate Atkins
4. Colts pick two quarterbacks
Ultimately frustrated by the team’s inability to find answers at the quarterback position, the Colts dip back into the draft pool in the third round to take Tennessee’s Hendon Hooker, who was making a bid for the Heisman Trophy before he tore his ACL. — Joel Erickson
5. Tyrese Haliburton makes NBA All-Star game
It won’t be easy. The East is loaded with strong backcourt candidates: Cleveland’s Donavan Mitchell, Boston’s Jaylen Brown, Atlanta’s Trae Young, Brooklyn’s Kyrie Irving, Chicago’s DeMar DeRozan, Cleveland’s Darius Garland, Miami’s Tyler Herro and Milwaukee’s Jrue Holiday just to name a few.
The Pacers’ last All-Star (Domantas Sabonis) was the man Hailburton was traded for. The Pacers have had an All-Star nine of the past 12 years (Paul George four times and Sabonis, Victor Oladipo and Roy Hibbert twice each). Haliburton looks likely to be the next name on that list. He’s averaging 20.5 points per game with a league-leading 10.2 assists and is the bona fide face of the franchise that has a buzz about it again. — Dustin Dopirak
6. The Pacers reach NBA playoffs…
… but as an 8-seed and survive the play-in round before losing to the Celtics. — Dustin Dopirak
7. Myles Turner signs a contract extension
A constant in trade rumors for what seems like his whole Pacers career, the center, now in the final year of his contract, was almost certainly on his way out the door. On a podcast with Adrian Wojnarowksi, Turner even suggested the Lakers should trade for him. But then the Pacers starting winning rather than tanking. And Turner is having a career year and says he’s having fun, getting a chance to pair up with an elite point guard in Tyrese Haliburton.
Last month, The Athletic’s Shams Charania reported the Pacers and Turner are negotiating on a new deal.
The Pacers have $25 million in cap space available, so they can sign Turner to a renegotiation and extension; potentially paying him more than he could receive from another team. They have until March 1 to reach an extension, as extensions can not be signed between March 1 and June 30 with free agency beginning on July 1. — Dustin Dopirak
8. Indiana women’s basketball reaches first Final Four.
Again for a team ranked in the top-10 this isn’t really that bold, except the IU women’s program has never reached an NCAA tournament Final Four. We’d feel more confident in this pick if Grace Berger was healthy enough to return to the court, something Teri Moren alluded to in her weekly radio show Monday. — Matthew Glenesk
9. IU football doesn’t win a Big Ten football game.
>> Sept. 2: The Hoosiers open against Ohio State (yeah, that’s a loss).
>> Sept. 30: After nonconference games against Indiana State, Louisville and Akron, they resume Big Ten play at Maryland. Terps have beat Hoosiers twice in a row and just won a bowl game, something IU hasn’t done since 1991.
>> Oct. 14: Then at Michigan (c’mon, man).
>> Oct. 21: Rutgers at home looks like a potential win, but IU has lost to the Scarlet Knights twice in a row, including a 38-3 disaster in Bloomington two years ago.
>> Oct. 28: At Penn State. All-time series record: 24-2 in favor of Nittany Lions.
>> Nov. 4: Wisconsin visits Memorial Stadium, but the Badgers will have the new coach smell and potentially potent new offense IU won’t be able to keep up with.
>> Nov. 11: At Illinois. IU actually has a four-game win streak against the Illini, but the Hoosiers surprised Illinois in Week 1 last season. The Illini rebounded to reach as high as No. 13 in the coaches poll and finished the regular season 8-4.
>> Nov. 18: vs. Michigan State. Circle this one if the Rutgers game goes south. IU has won two of the past three against the Spartans, including this season’s double-overtime thriller. You just never know what you’re going to get with MSU these days.
>> Nov. 25: at Purdue. Sure the Boilermakers have a new head coach, but they also have momentum and will be looking for a third straight Bucket win. — Matthew Glenesk
10. Scott McLaughlin will win the IndyCar Series title
A year after being teammate to the 2022 IndyCar champion (Will Power) and the driver who won five times and finished 2nd in points (Josef Newgarden), Scott McLaughlin will pace Team Penske in 2023 with his first series title in just his third year of American open-wheel racing. Without the couple blunders that held him back in fourth in 2022, McLaughlin’s meteoric IndyCar rise that took off in early 2022 will continue. Already with three Supercars titles for Penske before his IndyCar switch, he’ll immediately join the conversations around Penske’s most talented, successful, adaptable drivers in the team’s 50-plus year history. — Nathan Brown
11. IndyCar adds more oval tracks
After years and years of a passionate corner of the IndyCar fanbase clamoring for more oval races, the series will deliver for the second time in three seasons by resurrecting another traditional venue long thought to be gone for good. IndyCar officials will announce the return of the Milwaukee Mile for the 2024 campaign, giving the series six oval races for the first time since 2018 (outside the pandemic-altered 2020 calendar). On the coattails of the Trucks series’ return to the venue for 2023, the combination of proper safety upgrades along with a general facelift will be enough for Penske Entertainment officials to roll the dice on a track that struggled to draw decent crowds when IndyCar last visited in 2015 — importantly, even before IndyCar had returned to Road America just up the road. — Nathan Brown
12. Notre Dame returns to the College Football Playoff — and beyond.
Marcus Freeman’s no longer a rookie head coach. The recruiting has been as good as it’s been in decades. There’s crazy depth of talent. Once the Irish shore up the quarterback spot (Sam Hartman?), watch this program take another step beyond its 9-4 finish in 2022.
If TCU can make it to the national championship game in 2023, what’s to stop Notre Dame from doing the same? Watch out for the Irish. They’re coming. — Tom Noie
13. Center Grove wins another Class 6A state football championship.
Bold enough for ya? I think 2022 was the year to get the Trojans. It didn’t happen, though, as Center Grove notched its third consecutive title. There are some holes to fill on the offensive line, running back and elsewhere, but the defense has a lot returning, along with quarterback Tyler Cherry and receiver Noah Coy. The four-peat would match Warren Central’s title run from 2003-06. — Kyle Neddenriep
14. A push to five classes in basketball, baseball, softball and volleyball.
I’m not bold enough to say it is happening this year for sure (I can’t be both bold and beautiful), but I think there is momentum to get to a five-class system in those sports with enrollment cutoffs (2,000 and above in 5A, 1,100 to 2,000 in 4A, etc.). Sort of how football does it. — Kyle Neddenriep
15. Roncalli softball wins another state title … but not before its win streak is snapped
Listen, it’s kind of difficult to go bold (within reason) when it comes to offering a prediction on one of the nation’s best high school softball teams. But the level of talent in Indiana is absurd, and lest we forget, Roncalli had a few close calls late last season. Someone finally nips the Royals midway through the spring, but they allow just three runs (like, total) the rest of the way and coast to another state title. — Brian Haenchen
16. Noblesville boys soccer secures 3-peat
Noblesville coach Ken Dollaske had an eye toward the future in the aftermath of the 2021 Class 4A state championship game. It sounded kind of crazy in the moment with the Millers graduating five Division I players and returning just one starter, but they successfully defended their title in October and are set to return their leading scorer (Sam Holland) for a run at a potential three-peat. Sure, there are holes to fill elsewhere in the lineup, but I’m picking Noblesville over Brownsburg next year’s final (picks subject to change). — Brian Haenchen
17. The IHSAA takes steps toward adopting the shot clock, seeding the state tournament
If one of these actually hits, you all owe me a dollar. — Brian Haenchen
18. Indiana Fever have their best record since Tamika Catchings retired
Admittedly, that’s not the highest bar. Since Catchings retired from playing, Indiana has gone:
2017: 9-25
2018: 6-28
2019: 13-21
2020: 6-16
2021: 6-26
2022: 5-31
But at least, finally, that futility will be rewarded with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 draft, and with it, you’d expect a potential franchise-changing player Indiana has lacked since Catchings retired. A major issue has been the draft. Indiana picked in the top-4 in each of the past four seasons. Only one of those picks (NaLyssa Smith) is still on the roster. The Fever can’t miss with this pick. — Matthew Glenesk
19. Devin Mockobee leads Big Ten in rushing
This year’s leading rusher, Minnesota’s Mohamed Ibrahim, will be gone and No. 2 Chase Brown of Illinois declared for the NFL draft, with No. 3 Michigan’s Blake Corum likely to follow. Michigan’s other back Donovan Edwards, who rushed for 991 yards this season, will likely be the favorite, but don’t discount Mockobee. Sure this is probably too bold of a prediction considering new offensive coordinator Graham Harrell will want to throw it around the field, but Mockobee — now on scholarship — is clearly Purdue’s best returning offensive playmaker, and was a rare bright spot in Purdue’s Citrus Bowl loss before coming up just short of 1,000 yards for the season (968). — Matthew Glenesk
20. IU will start multiple quarterbacks in 2023
The worst-case scenario in the final game of IU’s season played out against Purdue as Dexter Williams II — one of the few sparks in what was otherwise a slog of a final month — went down untouched with a dislocated knee in the first quarter.
Williams had surgery in early December, and his future is hazy enough that Tom Allen wants to add another quarterback through the transfer portal before spring practice. It’s too far out to predict Williams’ status for the opener, but his health concerns and IU’s recent willingness to experiment at quarterback open up possibilities under center. Freshman Brendan Sorsby was one of four players who took snaps last season. He’s a possibility if Williams can’t play, as is the currently hypothetical transfer quarterback. — Wilson Moore
21. Charlie Spegal rushes for 1,000 yards at Ball State
Charlie Spegal was the 2019 IndyStar Mr. Football after winning back-to-back Class 5 state titles and setting high school rushing records (10,867 career yards, 70 TDs in a season) at New Palestine High School and went to Indiana as a preferred walk-on. He barely got on the field with the Hoosiers, spending all of 2022 on special teams after rushing 19 times for 62 yards, a mere 3.3 yards per rush, in 2021. That, however, was Indiana’s average yards per rush that season. Spegal has announced he is transferring to Ball State.
Carson Steele won the 2020 IndyStar Mr. Football and exploded at Ball State last season, rushing for 1,556 yards and 14 touchdowns on 289 carries. But Steele is in the transfer portal, opening up playing time with the Cardinals. Let’s be clear, Steele was a better college football prospect than Spegal, but there’s plenty of opportunity in Muncie.
Ball State averaged 4.5 yards per rush last season and the only back besides Steele to carry the ball more than 15 times was Vaughn Pemberton, who averaged just 3.8 yards on 35 rushes. If Spegal can get 200 or more carries, it would put 1,000 rushing yards in his sights. — Nat Newell
22. Indiana State wins Missouri Valley Conference tournament
The Sycamores are the surprise package early on in the MVC, sitting atop the league with a 4-0 record (11-4 overall). Indiana State has already matched its conference win total from last season — Josh Schertz’s first year as coach — and are led by two former big-time IHSAA scorers in Manual’s Courvoisier McCauley (averaging team-high 16.9 ppg) and Cloverdale’s Cooper Neese (11.3 ppg).
Indiana State hasn’t reached the NCAA tournament since 2011. — Matthew Glenesk
23. Purdue women’s basketball gets NCAA tournament bid
It’s been five years since the Boilermakers’ last trip to the Big Dance, but Katie Gearlds has Purdue playing well in Year 2, and the team has the look of a Big Ten contender in the not-too-distant-future.
Step 1, get back to the tournament. Currently among the “Last In” in new ESPN bracketlogoy, the Boilers are 11-3 and really should have beat Maryland at home. And if you can hang with the Terps, you’re on the right track.
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