There are eerie similarities between Mike Woodson’s last home game as an IU basketball player, and his final game inside Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall as a coach.
Woodson’s senior season at IU, the 1979-80 campaign, started out with great promise. Led by Woodson, Randy Wittman, Ray Tolbert, Isiah Thomas, Butch Carter, Ted Kitchel, Landon Turner and others, Bob Knight’s Hoosiers were the preseason No. 1 team.
Wittman believes the 1980 team was better than his team that won the national title the following season.
“The 1980 team was better than the ’81 team that won the national championship, without a question,” Wittman said in 2020. “Because of injuries and him (Woodson) going down with back surgery, we weren’t able to be the team that I think we could have been.”
They weren’t No. 1, but most fans were optimistic about Woodson’s final season as head coach, and the polls backed them up. After assembling a talented roster during the offseason that included five players who earned All-Conference honors last year, Indiana was ranked No. 17 in the preseason AP Top-25.
Injuries had a massive impact on Indiana’s early season fortunes in 1979-80, as Wittman was lost for the year with a foot injury, and Woodson had midseason back surgery.
The setbacks haven’t been quite as dramatic this season, but Indiana has dealt with injuries. Trey Galloway was sluggish out of the gate after offseason knee surgery, and Malik Reneau missed several games with a knee injury.
Without Woodson and Wittman, IU struggled in 1979-80. They went just 10-7 from mid-December to early February, and barely resembled a team that had legitimate preseason national title hopes. Suddenly, they were a longshot to make the NCAA Tournament field. They’d completely fall out of the rankings in early February after falling to 14-7 overall and 7-5 in the Big Ten.
Woodson’s final team as head coach fell on hard times as well, losing seven of eight in January and early February, a stretch that lined up with Reneau’s injury once the schedule stiffened, and his struggle to regain his rhythm once he returned. IU fell to 14-10 overall, and 5-8 in the Big Ten. Their season was spiraling out of control, and Woodson’s retirement was announced on Feb. 7.
In 1980, Woodson returned for Indiana following surgery on Feb. 14 at Iowa, and the Hoosiers won five straight ahead of their home finale against Ohio State.
This year’s team found their stride on Feb. 11 at Michigan State, when they upset the eventual Big Ten champion Spartans. It was the first of four wins in five games to resuscitate their season.
Both 1980 and this 2025 campaign hit their regular season climax in the final home game. And in both instances the opponent was/is Ohio State in a do-or-die scenario.
With their dramatic late season run in 1980, Indiana put themselves in position to win the Big Ten with a win over Ohio State on March 2. The teams were tied atop the league standings at 12-5. It would be a winner-take-all Big Ten title game at Assembly Hall.
“The greatest game ever played in that building. Bar none,” IU Sr. Associate AD Jeremy Gray said this week.
“I wholeheartedly second Jeremy’s endorsement of the 1980 IU vs Ohio State game. That always will rank No. 1 for me and I announced a great number of them,” former IU public address announcer Chuck Crabb said.
Woodson scored 21 points in IU’s dramatic 76-73 overtime win over Ohio State in the finale to secure the conference title. Isiah Thomas also had 21 for the Hoosiers, and Butch Carter made free throws to force the extra session.
The 1980 Buckeyes featured star freshman Clark Kellogg, who now works for CBS and is a prominent part of the college basketball scene in March. It remains to be seen whether Kellogg will make an appearance on Saturday in Bloomington when CBS calls the game. Woodson and Kellogg are good friends.
Unlike the 1980 season, these 2025 Hoosiers have already defeated Ohio State once. The 1980 Hoosiers lost 59-58 in Columbus, while this year’s edition won 77-76 in overtime in January, their lone win in that seven losses in eight games slump.
There’s no Big Ten title on the line when Indiana (18-12, 9-10) and Ohio State (17-13, 9-10) meet again. But there is plenty at stake.
Both teams are viewed as firmly on the bubble when it comes to their NCAA Tournament hopes. A loss on Saturday could be a dagger for the loser, and put the winner comfortably in the field.
Woodson’s 1980 Hoosiers got the job done and beat the Buckeyes in Bloomington.
What say you, Woodson’s 2025 squad?
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