With win over Michigan, Indiana wins Big Ten
By COLLIN O’CONNOR
ISL Correspondent
It’s hard not to look at sports romantically sometimes. There’s just some stories that come from these games that are hard not to look back on with a story-book feel.
This group of seniors for Indiana comes with a story like that, and it’s hard to ignore. Each one of them committed and signed on to an Indiana program that was struggling to win even one Big Ten game when they walked on to campus. Now, as they look towards graduation and pursuing a career, they’ve led the transformation over the last few years in again making Indiana a national basketball powerhouse.
Winning just four Big Ten games in their freshman year, this team finished off a four-loss Big Ten season in an incredible fashion that showed that fate may have just been on this story’s side. A shot can’t get any closer than Michigan’s last attempt of the game that was half-way down on the rim but tipped right back out. And, after the season this conference gave the fans, the end to that game between the No. 2 and No. 7 teams in the country couldn’t have ended any differently.
Michigan held it’s fate in its own hands but failed to knock down free throws down the stretch that added to Indiana’s chances of completing that comeback. However, Cody Zeller’s game winning basket was a chance for him to let the media know that there’s more than just one star on this team. Victor Oladipo has received all of the spotlight in recent weeks, but Zeller was as big of a factor as ever, especially in the last minute.
With the win, Indiana completed its regular season goal of being the outright Big Ten Champions, the victor in the best conference in college basketball. However, its romantic meaning is so much more. It symbolizes this team getting back to the top of the mountain, restoring a program’s rich history after a huge fall.
Indiana fans were proclaiming “We’re back” after the regular season win over Kentucky last winter, but this program is definitely there now after finishing the season at the top of the Big Ten standings.
Now, however, there’s still work to be done. Barring something pretty incredible, this Indiana team will be a one-seed in the Midwest Region for the NCAA Tournament. This will put the Hoosiers in position to compete for a national title, the overall goal for the season.
Looking back, it’s impossible to believe this team was struggling to win even a couple of conference games. Now, they sit atop of the hill of the NCAA basketball landscape and in the forefront of the national title picture.
