What’s the deal with the Hoosiers?

Some people love to state the obvious.\nLook at Jerry Seinfeld – he made a career out of it. But sometimes, no matter how apparent something is, some people just need things pointed out to them.\nSo to put it gently, the Hoosiers haven’t been very good in Big Ten play of late. They haven’t had a conference record of .500 or better since 2001.\nIn the last five seasons, IU has gone a combined 7-33 in the Big Ten. The team’s winning percentage is barely hovering over the Mendoza line. The Hoosiers have been getting their wins out of the way early in the season, only to fall apart down the stretch like a certain lovable Chicago baseball team.\nIt’s been nearly four years since IU won a game in the month of November. But all of that is in the past, obviously. Everyone is aware that this is a new Hoosier team and a new season.\nBill Lynch and the Hoosiers have a conference schedule this season that most college coaches could only dream about. The Hoosiers are spared from playing the two toughest conference teams from last season – Ohio State and Michigan – who they lost to by a combined score of 78-6 in 2006.\nAlthough playing Michigan this year appears to be a guaranteed win if your school can field a team. The Wolverines season ended faster than you can say Mario Manningham. I don’t know why, but there is something almost euphoric about watching Lloyd Carr and Chad Henne exchange devastated expressions.\nWe’ve learned from Michigan that no out-of-conference game is a sure win, but the Hoosiers have slated where they are heavy the favorite. IU will host Ball State on Nov. 3 – if the Hoosiers can beat them, they will only need to win two conference games in order to become bowl eligible and fulfill their season-long goal to “Play 13.”\nA home loss to Illinois put a slight dent into IU’s bowl bumper, but nothing that a hammer and some elbow grease can’t fix.\nWhere will the other win come? I’d expect that the Hoosiers will be able to beat either Minnesota at home (Oct. 6) or Northwestern on the road (Nov. 10), if not both. IU will face the cream of the Big Ten back-to-back weekends in October when they play Penn State on Homecoming weekend and Wisconsin the next.\nThe most important game of every Big Ten season for the Hoosiers is the Old Oaken Bucket game against Purdue. The Boilermakers have destroyed the Hoosiers for the past decade in the rivalry game.\nThey’ve won the last five Bucket games and nine of the last 10. With IU’s recent resurgence, this year’s game could rekindle the recently uncompetitive rivalry.\nThe Hoosiers have their best chance in years to have a successful Big Ten season and reach their goal of playing in a bowl game. It doesn’t take an expert to realize that – I’m just stating the obvious.