Predictions aside, IU is where they want to be

So did anyone see this one coming? I didn't, the media didn't, the coaches didn't and my guess is you didn't either.\nFour months ago, the Big Ten made like Miss Cleo and announced their predictions for the conference season. Unlike the popular prognosticator, the Big Ten's predictions were free and not for entertainment purposes only. \nIt is entertaining to see IU rise to the top of the conference while the preseason favorites drift into obscurity. With six conference games remaining, the Hoosiers find themselves right where they had hoped to be.\nIt was unanimous among coaches and the media that Illinois would be the team to beat in the 2001-02 conference season. Ironically, maybe they were correct. \nThe Illini have been the team to beat, and have been beat often. IU did it, as did four other Big Ten teams so far. Illinois was ranked second and received one first-place vote in week one of the season but has since lost seven times with a visit to Michigan State looming ahead tonight.\nIowa head coach Steve Alford undoubtedly masterminded the biggest flop in the conference and arguably the nation. Picked as the team to give Illinois a run for the conference title, the Hawkeyes are in danger of missing the NCAA tournament after losing six of their last eight. Alford might like the chance to pound Ohio University in the NIT.\nAnd then there are the Hoosiers. They were an optimistic group in October. They talked about the relief of knowing they were no longer playing for their coach's salvation. They were picked by the coaches and media to hang around, win their share of games and get the 8-10 seed by the time the NCAA tournament rolled around.\nPrior to the conference season, those predictions appeared imminent. IU dropped a two-point heartbreaker to Butler Dec. 29, pushing its record to 7-5 as it headed into Big Ten action. What would happen from Jan. 2 through the present would be more incredible than a low-speed highway chase led by a white Bronco -- certainly more entertaining.\n The Hoosiers have won all eight of their home games this season, including dominating five conference opponents by an average of 19.6 points. IU stands alone at the top of the conference after Ohio State sputtered on the road to the Spartans. The Hoosiers' 8-2 conference record has them poised to win their first Big Ten title since 1993.\nIU coach Mike Davis has this team believing that this is no fluke. With stifling defense, Davis has opponents frustrated in the backcourt and intimidated in the frontcourt. But good IU defense is like a bad "Full House" joke -- you just expect it.\nWhat wasn't expected was the emergence of different leaders on a game-by-game basis. Tom Coverdale has been consistent offensively throughout the year, and Jared Jeffries, though struggling lately, has been the driving force inside.\nBut it has been the play of Jarrad Odle that has been awe-inspiring. I nearly vomit from exhaustion just watching him. The Hoosiers need players like Odle to step up, especially on the road, where winning for any Big Ten team has been difficult.\nIU is far from a lock for the title with trips to Illinois and Michigan State ahead and Ohio State still to invade Bloomington. But this team wasn't predicted to be where it is, and Odle wasn't predicted to be dropping in two consecutive double-doubles.\nI predict IU will ignore any more predictions.