Hoosiers could go bowling

The hard part is over. The Hoosiers’ triumph over rival Purdue virtually guarantees the team its goal of playing a 13th game. IU now must do something it hasn’t had the privilege of doing in 14 years: wait to see if it gets the 13th game, and if so, find out where it is and who it’s against.\n“I just want to go to a bowl; I have no preference,” senior linebacker Adam McClurg said. “I’d like to go somewhere warm, but whatever happens, happens. I have an extra month with these seniors and this team. I couldn’t be more proud.”\nBy defeating the Boilermakers, IU not only brought the Bucket back to Bloomington but put itself in a prime spot for bowl contention. Coupled with Iowa’s upset loss to Western Michigan on Saturday, the Hoosiers have a number of potential suitors in a bowl game. The most likely bowl destinations include the Insight Bowl in Tempe, Ariz., the Champs Sports Bowl in Orlando, Fla., and the Motor City Bowl in Detroit.\n“For the Indiana Hoosier football team, it’s just good that we’re going to a bowl game,” sophomore wide receiver Andrew Means said. “But we got a great chance of going to the Insight Bowl because a couple of teams lost that we needed to lose. Hopefully they’ll choose us; they have no reason not to.”\nThe general sentiment of the team is that while it doesn’t matter where they play the 13th game, the Hoosiers would prefer to play somewhere warm. Out of the three most likely bowl destinations, the Motor City Bowl in Detroit is the least desirable. Even Detroit native Marcus Thigpen admitted he would prefer to play somewhere else.\n“I definitely don’t prefer going to Detroit,” Thigpen said. “I want to get away from there. \n“But we haven’t really talked about any bowl games, but now that we got the win under our belt, we’ll probably talk more about it.”\nBefore the Hoosiers would play the 13th game, they would first have a Thanksgiving break and a couple of weeks of practice. The challenge of staying focused and practicing in December would also be a new wrinkle for the program. \n“We’re going to go home Thanksgiving break, get some time off, and we’re going to come back and work on some things,” Means said. “I really don’t know what we’re going to do exactly, but once we know the game, we’re really going to hit it hard and prepare for the team that we’re going to play.”\nWith a game potentially looming against a mystery opponent at a mystery destination, there’s nothing more the Hoosiers can do in their immediate future than relax and reflect upon the regular season. Senior cornerback Christopher Phillips said he and some of the other players whose families live in the southern part of the country will stay in Bloomington and bond with each other before they get back on the gridiron for practice. \n“The Southern boys, we just stay here and (junior offensive tackle) Kenny Love always cooks us Thanksgiving dinner,” Phillips said. “But we just sit back here and relax.”