6 wins might not be enough for IU football team to make a bowl game

The IU football team knows all too well that a team needs six wins to become bowl eligible. Over the past two seasons, IU stands at 0-6 in games that would grant them bowl eligibility. \nBut notching that elusive sixth win, while making IU bowl eligible, does not guarantee them a bowl berth. \nIn order for the Hoosiers to achieve their goal of “playing 13,” it is likely the team will need to win two of their remaining three games.\nThe Big Ten is ensured seven spots in various bowl games with which they are affiliated. Currently, there are six teams in the conference that have already won six games – Ohio State, Purdue, Michigan, Wisconsin, Penn State and Illinois. Three more teams – IU, Michigan State and Northwestern – are all 5-4. The only team in the conference that is out of bowl contention is Minnesota. \nIU could still make a bowl game not reserved for the Big Ten, but no 6-6 team may be chosen ahead of a team in another conference with a better record, making it almost impossible for IU to be 6-6 and still make it to a bowl game.\n“You may say I’m not doing my job, but I really haven’t even looked at that,” IU coach Bill Lynch said. “We had an e-mail come through this week kind of detailing a whole bunch of (bowl scenarios), and I didn’t even look at it. We’ve got our hands full stopping (Ball State quarterback) Nate Davis. The same thing, if I get carried away looking at this scenario and that scenario, then we’re not doing what we have to do, and that is get ready for practice today and have a great day.”\nThough Lynch and his staff said they haven’t paid attention to the different bowl scenarios, junior wide receiver James Hardy said he’s aware the Hoosiers likely need two wins. Hardy said the seniors called a players-only meeting Monday to discuss the state of the team, but they also discussed the need for two more wins to play a 13th game.\n“I actually brought it up in the players meeting we had today, but we got to go in and think we have to win the last three games,” Hardy said. “We just got to come in and have fun again, not have mental mistakes like we have the last couple weeks, and I think we’ll\n be fine.”\nAfter their players-only meeting, the Hoosiers went out to practice and turned their focus from what happened during their current three-game losing streak to Saturday’s opponent, Ball State.\nSophomore quarterback Kellen Lewis said the best way for the team to get back to its early season form is to focus solely on its upcoming games. \n“It’s one week at a time,” Lewis said. “Everyone’s looking at Ball State, nobody’s looking down the road quite yet, because obviously if you do that, then you’ll get upset.”