On January 12, the men's basketball teams in Columbus and Bloomington had identical records.
Ohio State and Indiana were starting to wobble right as the calendar turned to 2023. Both had started a respectable 10-3, but matching three-game skids later they were 10-6. A mutually brutal start to conference play.
Silver lining, it was still early January. Good news, both teams had plenty of talent. Room to improve; time to bounce back.
Neither program has ever been comfortable dropping two straight, or even just a single game, so three in a row was rarified squalor. Ohio State and Indiana both own north of 1,800 wins apiece while winning well north of 60% of their games historically.