Bloomington, Indiana. On Saturday night, Assembly Hall was at a fever pitch because ESPN had been there all day promoting the game of the year, in my opinion. College Game Day was on the scene. At the beginning of the week, I told you all that the key was going to be the two team’s benches. From the word go, it was apparent that these Hoosiers were out to make the Wolverines be quiet, and lay claim to where they had once been, number one. This game had plenty of ebb and flow. It all started with a young man from Maryland, number 4, and number one in you Hoosier fans’ hearts, Victor Oladipo. As he has done so many times this season, when IU has needed a leader, he has taken the bull by the horns and said by his actions, “come with me, guys, tonight is going to be our night.” I do not care if the team we are playing has a number in front of it, that number will be meaningless at the end of the night when they leave Bloomington. This game was a very special game. There will be many other games. The reason why this one was so special is because everybody was clicking on the same page. They needed a team effort, and they got it all night long, even when number one was within four at halftime. It didn’t seem to phase the Hoosiers. This was a total team effort from the word go. Michigan just did not apparently have their heads in the game. They left their heads at the hotel. Before they knew what hit them, it was already 20-7 good guys, and how little effort they had to bring was really surprising to me. I thought for sure that the Wolverines would bring their A game, but number 40, a 7’1″ sophomore from Washington Indiana, made sure that they would feel the sting of the Hoosiers. Every play of the game that Michigan tried to make was sucker punched by the more aggressive Hoosiers. This was also impressive because it was win number 20 on the season, and this was no fluke. Michigan can talk all they want about the next time they see the Hoosiers. It will be in the Crisler Center in Ann Arbor, but it doesn’t matter where these Hoosiers are playing, they will be clearly a threat to give the Harbaugh family a basketball title.
