Team awaits decision

Once again, the men's soccer team made history this weekend. But not the way they wanted to. In a season that has had its share of ups and downs, Friday's 1-0 loss at the hands (or feet) of Ohio State in the second round of the Big Ten tournament was the team's most upsetting result to date. After the game, the Hoosiers seemed to be in a state of shock. Part of it was because it was their first loss in more than five years against a conference opponent. And part of it might have been because the Buckeyes were celebrating as if they had won the National Championship. \n But the shock was mostly because the Hoosiers had thoroughly dominated the Buckeyes for the last 80 minutes of the game, but had nothing but another mark in the loss column to show for it.\nSo after Friday's loss all the Hoosiers, and dozens of other teams across the country, could do is wait ... until 3:30 today, when the NCAA announces the 32-team bracket for men's soccer's version of "the big dance." And nobody knows that feeling better than coach Jerry Yeagley.\n"I certainly feel we are a tournament-quality team. Whether or not we get in and get a second chance now rests in the hands of the committee and in the hands of other teams depending on how they do," Yeagley said.\nWhat will make today's announcement so interesting is exactly what Yeagley mentioned -- some surprising results that have gone down in the past couple of weeks throughout college soccer. The only sure thing is that the surprise factor is not just being felt in Big Ten country.\nBut, since we are in Big Ten country, we might as well start here. Going into this weekend, IU was the only squad that was a bona fide shoe-in to go to the NCAA tournament. Penn State pretty much had their tickets punched, but Ohio State was still waiting in line at the gate to purchase theirs. \nWhat a difference a weekend makes.\nWith their two wins, including the aforementioned once-in-a-decade upset special, Ohio State not only got their ticket, but they are in their seats and listening to the flight attendant's instructions. The Nittany Lions also secured their seats by taking two games in Columbus. This assures the Big Ten conference of three NCAA bids, which isn't bad for a conference that puts soccer on the same importance level as club badminton.\nWhile the Hoosiers should not be in jeopardy of missing their flight intended for Charlotte, they probably won't get the first-class seats they were hoping for. The NCAA selection committee will have plenty of info on the Hoosiers to balance on the proverbial scale when it comes to a possible seed, which are given to the top eight teams in the tournament. While the Hoosiers played the nation's toughest schedule, and did quite well against some of the top opponents, they also suffered six losses, including three consecutive to end the season. No seed means there are no guarantees of home-field advantage come the second and third rounds of the tournament, which means more turbulence than the Hoosiers are used to.\nAnd just as things seemed to get worse for IU, then comes some good news involving some local squads. IUPUI, which finished the regular-season at 8-8-2, surprisingly won the Mid-Continent Conference tournament last weekend. Obviously liking the taste of success, the Jaguars followed up their conference title with a 1-0 overtime win against Marist on Saturday in an NCAA play-in game, securing their first ever trip to the NCAA tournament. On the same day, the Illinois-Chicago Flames defeated Fairleigh Dickinson 2-0 in their play-in game to clinch their second consecutive NCAA tourney berth. \nWhy are these results good for the Hoosiers, you ask? Well, the first round games in the "big dance" are set up as regional matchups, with small conference schools pitted against national powerhouses. This equation will probably hold true, meaning that Indiana would host a first round game against a good, but nonetheless inferior opponent. Indiana has already defeated IUPUI once this season, and while Illinois-Chicago comes into the tournament with a 17-3-2 record, their schedule has been nowhere near as difficult as IU's, or Bloomington North's for that matter.\nAnd still other schools from across the country wait to hear if they will get a seat on the flight to the College Cup, ranging in stature from unlikely upstarts Fairfield and Stony Brook to mighty UCLA and Seton Hall. While the selection committee has always had a tough job to in picking the best 32 teams and the top eight seeds from that narrowed pool, the results from the past couple of weeks have only made the fog surrounding the plane denser, meaning more confusion and more complaining after the bracket is announced.\nBecause of some unlikely teams achieving success and some of the usual suspects struggling down the stretch, it will be interesting to see who gets to take off and who gets left at the gate. While we may not ride first-class this year, that is not as important as making it through to the final destination.